So there I was, ready to spend the entire day doing the Halloween event in City Of Heroes and then I get @littlebushbaby to finally stop using Internet Explorer and install Firefox.
45 minutes later and the two of us are browsing through the Firefox Personas and she's picking ones to use at Xmas this year!!!
It's so easy to get sidetracked when you set out to do something. It happens all the time. You think I'll go and do that and then suddenly something happens which makes you lose track of what you were doing (or attempting to do) and suddenly it's 3 hours later and you're nowhere near anything you remember doing.
Why are we like this? The minute we set our minds to perform a task, it's like a whole host of shiny things suddenly crop up. I get so involved in writing for the first day... and then I find it so hard to get back into it - I've got a game to play or a book to read or a movie to watch or I have some where to go.
Heck, I just stopped typing this up for 10 minutes whilst I rearranged where my searchbox is in my browser!
Fickle we might be in our tastes and choices, but it's our actions which get influenced by random choices too. It's almost a wonder that we ever get anything finished.
Still, I'd much rather experience much of everything than everything of one thing.
Saturday 23 October 2010
Sunday 3 October 2010
A Musical Oddity
Woo hoo - The Doctor Who Season 4 Specials music is out tomorrow! More music by Mr Murray Gold.
I've got a confession to make. I find Murray Gold's music wrong.
Completely and utterly wrong.
It's not his fault.
Let me explain. The soundtracks for the television show have been fantastic. I've enjoyed every CD, with 3 or 4 tracks per CD standing out and ending up on my oft-repeated playlists. So what's wrong with it?
They never seemed to end up in the right place in the TV show? The music itself never seemed to represent the scene that played behind it. Nowhere was this more evident than the first time we heard the track Gallifrey. It really does evoke the idea of the Doctor's homeworld. But it didn't play over a nice panning shot of the planet when it first showed up.
And that's when I started noticing the same for a lot of the other tracks. They were good tracks, orchestral, choral, dramatic and so very often used in the wrong place in the episode.
It's not just Doctor Who though - there's plenty of musical themes which don't belong with the scene they've been placed with. Saving the World, the continent lifting them from Superman Returns sounds more like a "hero beaten down, then gets back up to fight" moment (which technically I suppose that scene was, but I'm thinking more about a physical action.... yes, lifting a continent is pretty physical, but I mean a conflict and why the heck do people complain that Superman isn't "Super" in that movie, he was lifting a fecking continent into space, it just makes me mad when... okay,I've gotten so far sidetracked now, I'm going to jump back to the (sort of) point).
When I first heard the theme from Glory or The John Dunbar theme (from Dances with Wolves), I'd never even seen the movies. And so, I'd placed an idea of what was going on into the theme before I'd seen either movie. It never quite clicked when I saw the actual movie.
So I hear music and sometimes it fits into the movie perfectly and I can't replace the scene that occured in my head (The Battle For Peace from Star Trek VI is one such track that I can't imagine anything else other than the Enterprise battling the cloaked Bird of Prey), whereas when Star Trek III's Stealing the Enterprise or Star Trek II's Run From Reliant, whilst always being "Chase" or "Escape" music, mean so much to me when I have stories in my head.
I love music which does this. And when I see it in what I class as the "wrong place", it just grates. (Imagine hearing the theme for Eastenders over the title sequence to Mission Impossible, that what it does).
Now I've gotten past this quite easily. And most times, the music fits the film or programme perfectly. I'm sure there will be a track or two tomorrow which the next time I watch an episode of Doctor Who will set my teeth on edge because it's not the same as the picture in my head, but that's well worth it for the new motifs I'll hear.
Music is a fantastic medium. I could be watching the next mega blockbuster movie, with more creative ideas in it than the last clever movie (was it really The Matrix? Seriously, if you forget the overstuffed sequels, that was such a brilliantly clever movie) but it'll all fall apart for me if the soundtrack has been written by an unimaginative simpleton (or someone using the same track as their last movie.... Danny Elfman, I'm sorry, but do you know how many tracks of yours I've got called The Final Battle? And at least half of them sound the same).
Movies need music. Life needs music.
Find yourself a musical track that you relate to something, whether it be church, a musical, movie or anything else (heck, the ice cream van carries a nice jingle) and try to imagine something else to it. Don't go too far from the source (at least to start with) and see where your own creativity takes you.
I've got a confession to make. I find Murray Gold's music wrong.
Completely and utterly wrong.
It's not his fault.
Let me explain. The soundtracks for the television show have been fantastic. I've enjoyed every CD, with 3 or 4 tracks per CD standing out and ending up on my oft-repeated playlists. So what's wrong with it?
They never seemed to end up in the right place in the TV show? The music itself never seemed to represent the scene that played behind it. Nowhere was this more evident than the first time we heard the track Gallifrey. It really does evoke the idea of the Doctor's homeworld. But it didn't play over a nice panning shot of the planet when it first showed up.
And that's when I started noticing the same for a lot of the other tracks. They were good tracks, orchestral, choral, dramatic and so very often used in the wrong place in the episode.
It's not just Doctor Who though - there's plenty of musical themes which don't belong with the scene they've been placed with. Saving the World, the continent lifting them from Superman Returns sounds more like a "hero beaten down, then gets back up to fight" moment (which technically I suppose that scene was, but I'm thinking more about a physical action.... yes, lifting a continent is pretty physical, but I mean a conflict and why the heck do people complain that Superman isn't "Super" in that movie, he was lifting a fecking continent into space, it just makes me mad when... okay,I've gotten so far sidetracked now, I'm going to jump back to the (sort of) point).
When I first heard the theme from Glory or The John Dunbar theme (from Dances with Wolves), I'd never even seen the movies. And so, I'd placed an idea of what was going on into the theme before I'd seen either movie. It never quite clicked when I saw the actual movie.
So I hear music and sometimes it fits into the movie perfectly and I can't replace the scene that occured in my head (The Battle For Peace from Star Trek VI is one such track that I can't imagine anything else other than the Enterprise battling the cloaked Bird of Prey), whereas when Star Trek III's Stealing the Enterprise or Star Trek II's Run From Reliant, whilst always being "Chase" or "Escape" music, mean so much to me when I have stories in my head.
I love music which does this. And when I see it in what I class as the "wrong place", it just grates. (Imagine hearing the theme for Eastenders over the title sequence to Mission Impossible, that what it does).
Now I've gotten past this quite easily. And most times, the music fits the film or programme perfectly. I'm sure there will be a track or two tomorrow which the next time I watch an episode of Doctor Who will set my teeth on edge because it's not the same as the picture in my head, but that's well worth it for the new motifs I'll hear.
Music is a fantastic medium. I could be watching the next mega blockbuster movie, with more creative ideas in it than the last clever movie (was it really The Matrix? Seriously, if you forget the overstuffed sequels, that was such a brilliantly clever movie) but it'll all fall apart for me if the soundtrack has been written by an unimaginative simpleton (or someone using the same track as their last movie.... Danny Elfman, I'm sorry, but do you know how many tracks of yours I've got called The Final Battle? And at least half of them sound the same).
Movies need music. Life needs music.
Find yourself a musical track that you relate to something, whether it be church, a musical, movie or anything else (heck, the ice cream van carries a nice jingle) and try to imagine something else to it. Don't go too far from the source (at least to start with) and see where your own creativity takes you.
Saturday 2 October 2010
Everything changes
I suffer from a distinctive lack of attention. The minute I see something new and shiny, then I'm off to look at it going.... "ooooh, I want."
This has led to a ton of abandoned projects over the years. I used to write almost every day. I wasn't the most original person or the best writer, but for my audience of my wife, I managed to make her smile and enjoy herself. (And she isn't afraid to criticise where it's due).
Now what I'm doing here (that would be the blogging thing, do pay attention) isn't new for me. I've done it multiple times over the past few years. But my brain clicked over into the ooooh.... do that, go on you know you want to.
I've been posting on Twitter a fair bit recently and I think that today's very quick, very rewarding exchange of information and ideas may have been the cause of this. I don't expect to have much of a following on this blog, but at least the few people who deign to follow me on Twitter will get to know when I've posted.
I'm looking at this thing as a impetus to get back to writing. I make no promises, allusions or demands on myself (probably because that would detract from the "ooooh shiny" of what I'm doing now, but it's the general, vague, completely unspoken plan. (I typed it. That means I've got to do it now. Damn.)
So why post now?
I got introspective. I saw an image today and liked it. It made me go. I want that (and thanks for giving it to me. You know who you are).
But it's not an image that I would ever have imagined liking a few years ago. I'm not quite sure why that is. We all change sure, but it's actually becoming aware of said change that leaves me feeling different.
Generally, I'm the same person. I love sci-fi. I love epic, complicated stories that are complimented by a good soundtrack (whether it be movie, or just the perfect timing of a track clicking over as I'm reading a good part). But there's more subtle blends there.
I like to think it's due to the people I meet. I'm not a very social animal (says the man blogging and twittering) and I don't think that's going to change. But there are those who get in there, who have similar, if slightly different interests (or even completely opposite ones!) and it changes you. Subtly at first, but then you find yourself being different.
So whilst I'm no longer the person I was a few years ago, I'm fairly happy with who I am. I'll still be me, even if I'm not me any more. (The Doctor Forever track hit it's crescendo there while I typed this. If that's not perfect dramatic timing, I don't know what is!)
Can I just say thank you to those who have made me who I am? My loving wife, without whom I would be nothing. My far-away friend who isn't around us much these days, but I still can't imagine my life without him. And that other person who changed me in more ways (subtle ones) than one (I love the phone!).
As you can probably tell, I'm still not comfortable giving out too many details of my life here, but those who need to know who they are probably already do.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop by any time.
This has led to a ton of abandoned projects over the years. I used to write almost every day. I wasn't the most original person or the best writer, but for my audience of my wife, I managed to make her smile and enjoy herself. (And she isn't afraid to criticise where it's due).
Now what I'm doing here (that would be the blogging thing, do pay attention) isn't new for me. I've done it multiple times over the past few years. But my brain clicked over into the ooooh.... do that, go on you know you want to.
I've been posting on Twitter a fair bit recently and I think that today's very quick, very rewarding exchange of information and ideas may have been the cause of this. I don't expect to have much of a following on this blog, but at least the few people who deign to follow me on Twitter will get to know when I've posted.
I'm looking at this thing as a impetus to get back to writing. I make no promises, allusions or demands on myself (probably because that would detract from the "ooooh shiny" of what I'm doing now, but it's the general, vague, completely unspoken plan. (I typed it. That means I've got to do it now. Damn.)
So why post now?
I got introspective. I saw an image today and liked it. It made me go. I want that (and thanks for giving it to me. You know who you are).
But it's not an image that I would ever have imagined liking a few years ago. I'm not quite sure why that is. We all change sure, but it's actually becoming aware of said change that leaves me feeling different.
Generally, I'm the same person. I love sci-fi. I love epic, complicated stories that are complimented by a good soundtrack (whether it be movie, or just the perfect timing of a track clicking over as I'm reading a good part). But there's more subtle blends there.
I like to think it's due to the people I meet. I'm not a very social animal (says the man blogging and twittering) and I don't think that's going to change. But there are those who get in there, who have similar, if slightly different interests (or even completely opposite ones!) and it changes you. Subtly at first, but then you find yourself being different.
So whilst I'm no longer the person I was a few years ago, I'm fairly happy with who I am. I'll still be me, even if I'm not me any more. (The Doctor Forever track hit it's crescendo there while I typed this. If that's not perfect dramatic timing, I don't know what is!)
Can I just say thank you to those who have made me who I am? My loving wife, without whom I would be nothing. My far-away friend who isn't around us much these days, but I still can't imagine my life without him. And that other person who changed me in more ways (subtle ones) than one (I love the phone!).
As you can probably tell, I'm still not comfortable giving out too many details of my life here, but those who need to know who they are probably already do.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop by any time.
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