http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:dcschmo&section=today deviantART RSS for by:dcschmo en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:42:49 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/12917009/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/12917009/ Thu, 10 May 2007 22:52:06 PDT
That's pretty much my epic adventure. Maybe more details will come later.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/12370476/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/12370476/ Sun, 01 Apr 2007 14:50:23 PDT EDIT: Apr 01

>examine mirror
Dante is lost. He has a collection of belongings, a place to live, a job, even a retirement plan. But he's never tasted hardship -- the real kind, that leaves scars -- and never really tasted happiness either -- the real kind, that lasts forever.

He wants to have a story. So badly. He tries not to think of himself as a princess trapped in a tower, though he surely is trapped. Maybe he can be a pilgrim lost in the dark, or an antihero waiting for the right moment to stage his return. These are all fictions -- not stories. They are comfortable.

He reads so many books now. He watches so many people.


A girl stands looking into space, a lantern in her right hand.

>examine girl
Alicia is good at waiting. This is a joke she tells herself and no one else; she works as a waitress in an Italian restaurant she would call "nice enough." So much of her life is nice enough. She went to a decent college -- not a state school, but not really prestigious, either. She tried to get into grad school, but she wasn't accepted anywhere.

The funny thing is it didn't feel bad to get all those rejection letters. She just moved on to what was possible. A small apartment and a small job. Not small -- nice enough. She doesn't feel bad. When she knows what she wants to be, she'll know.

It just takes time. She believes this without question. Does that count as faith?

--Blue Chairs, Chris Klimas

---

This is a personal journal entry. I trust you will read it or not read it accordingly. There are also a few spoilers for FLCL. Even if you don't read it, I recommend that you check
out Photopia by Adam Cadre. [link]

---

[link]

Today I played-- off to a bad start, that's the wrong word. I -experienced- Adam Cadre's Photopia. It's a work of interactive fiction. For those not familiar with the genre, IF is effectively a story in which the reader takes control of the central character. You could call it a role-playing game, except that IF does not necessarily lend itself to the term "game", as is the case with Photopia: a series of short vignettes, comprising a plot. It's like a mildly experimental short story with a text parser.

I think that the most memorable works of fiction to me are those that tear a piece of my heart out, leaving me bleeding, sprawled across my desk with a facial expression of mixed shock and grief. When I think back to these works, I feel like that part of me is still missing. I think that when I experience them, they fill me with themselves, replacing my consciousness with them. But they end, withdrawing with a tearing wrench, like pulling a barbed arrow out of flesh. Photopia, FLCL, Elfen Lied, The Master and Margarita, King Lear; they have destroyed me.

Many times, I have described myself as a hopeless romantic. It's thoroughly accurate: I am in love with too many fictional characters, they are too deeply etched into my person. In fiction, every element of a character is specifically defined. Through examination one can get to know characters; through speculation and extrapolation, one can make them feel real, whole.

When I watch FLCL I feel like I could be Naota; when, at the climax of the final episode, he tells Haruko that he loves her, it is an expression of my emotion as well as his; when she leaves him behind, a barbed arrow tears out of me. I have constructed elaborate metaphorical explanations for the plot, trying to prove to myself that Haruko and Naota are actually in love and will stay together forever. I don't believe in sad endings- I don't want to, anyway.

Frankly, my life has been excessively boring since the day it began, with three notable exceptions of differing spans. Of course, by "boring" I obviously mean devoid of romance. It's why I can't stop living vicariously. Fiction is an escape from nothingness into, well, anything. When you get into that mode where everything outside of the work is blocked out, when you really empathize with the characters, that's when your life is replaced by theirs. Replacing my life with any good story--that sounds like a good trade-off to me.

Except for that I don't exist anymore.

As I said, fiction is destroying me. Or it's making me realize that I never existed in the first place. In conversation I have little to say, and few opinions to offer. All I have to talk about is fiction- have you seen this or this movie, anime, read this book? Because that's all I am, it's all I'm comprised of. There's nothing else in my life. I may have friends, but that's all I talk about with them, when it comes down to it. Sometimes I have to wonder, what do... ]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/11217569/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/11217569/ Thu, 28 Dec 2006 00:21:44 PST
Woot new music:

The Boy Least Likely To -- Bright and esoteric, like They Might Be Giants on happy drugs.
Fiona Apple -- Singer-songwriter with a dark, soulful voice and a good ear for arrangement.

Until next time!!

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/11058359/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/11058359/ Thu, 14 Dec 2006 04:32:10 PST
Aaaand I'm done with my first semester of college! w00t!

Probably my favorite course was drawing (and I'm not just saying that because my instructor Steve will probably read this at some point ) It was by far the most demanding of my courses, which perhaps says more about my other courses than it does about drawing. I'm really happy with where I am with drawing, and hopefully I'll keep it up in my boring classes--er--in my free time. Piano is pretty shweet, and I'm going to continue it next semester, which is also pretty shweet. Everything else is meh. The computer science exam took me longer than expected, like 45 minutes (out of 2 hours allotted).

WII CORNER: Trauma Center is f'ing amazing, as is the Gamecube backwards-compatability (I'm catching up on Metroid Prime right now).

D&D CORNER: wooooo rangers

MUSIC CORNER: I've reached this point in my music collecting where I don't actually feel the need to expand, because my collection is massive enough that I have something for every mood I could possibly be in. Always recommend me stuff anyway.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10777424/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10777424/ Sun, 19 Nov 2006 12:11:58 PST
Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10722473/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10722473/ Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:43:30 PST
Also: Guitar Hero II ftw.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10339433/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10339433/ Mon, 09 Oct 2006 17:12:02 PDT DEFCON [link] is an amazing game by an amazing company that has yet to make a less-than-amazing game. There are two ways of playing DEFCON: with a sense of black comedy (think Dr. Strangelove), or with intense guilt. (Or with extreme prejudice, but in that case, you should probably be locked up.) It's downright chilling what such a fun game represents. Get it before mothers start complaining that it's making their children launch ICBMs at Russia.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10211991/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/10211991/ Thu, 28 Sep 2006 07:03:26 PDT ...but my new SLI setup is gonna be SWEET!

New specs:
ASUS A8N32-SLI motherboard (assuming the PSU didn't fry it)
Athlon 64 X2 2.0GHz dual-core processor
3GB Corsair RAM
2x Geforce 7600GT 256MB PCI-E16x video cards
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum sound card
660GB HD space
580W PSU!

Moral of the story: don't skimp on your PSU. It's like skimping on your spinal column--it's what powers the rest of the machine.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9956772/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9956772/ Sun, 03 Sep 2006 22:18:49 PDT Hoping to find a scanner somewhere convenient. I'd like to upload the work from my drawing course.

Little games you should be playing:
Cloud
flOw
Clack

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9871236/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9871236/ Sun, 27 Aug 2006 09:31:37 PDT
More on this later. I just want to say that being a freshman is awesome, if only because of the free food. (I left on the 22nd, and have yet to pay for a meal.)

Someone teach me how to wavedash!!

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9479778/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9479778/ Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:09:47 PDT
The bad:

- My desktop PC's primary hard drive failed. Fortunately, I still have my laptop (sort of- I'll get to that), and I was able to salvage all of the data I wanted without too much difficulty... nonetheless, I need another hard drive.

- My laptop is acting a little wonky as of late, mostly in the internet connection-ness and speed-ness. I think the two go hand in hand. I always say that whenever I get symptoms of computer issues, they are always rather fresh and original, and that's the case here: after being on for 10-20 minutes or so, my internet connection drops (whether wired or wireless), and windows start taking a long time to open. I discovered that when investigating the cause of the connection drop... when I tried to open up Network Connections and nothing popped up, three times in a row. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, the window opened those three times. So... yeah, issues. I also need a memory upgrade- 512MB doesn't cut it anymore.

- I was planning on going to Michigan with my bestest friends Zach and Franklin (and Mark? I think?) this weekend, but I was working three of the four days and wasn't able to get off. -_- At least I was around to perform an emergency harddriveectomy. (And I probably earned $70-ish to contribute to the PC hardware fund.)

The good:

- Following my hard drive crash, I bought myself a new hard drive ^__^ It's a 500GB SATA drive, a huuuuge upgrade from the 120GB ATA that failed. (It will actually hold all of my music! Shock!) Aaaand I figured that as long as I was paying the shipping... I might as well ALSO buy 2GB more memory for my desktop. So I'll have 3GB of memory and 620GB disk space on it shortly ^________^

- I've rekindled my long-standing love affair with my Sega Dreamcast. I mean, hell, DC is in my screen name, of course I love the damn system. So I played through Sonic Adventure, grabbed a few more emblems in Sonic Adventure 2 (I'm at 175/180 now... still have 3 All-A emblems and the last 2 goals on Cannon's Core left), got the internet on the thing working FINALLY (admittedly about five years too late to play Phantasy Star Online online), and... obtained some of the games that I never got around to buying so many years ago (Soul Calibur, Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue II). Apart from some disc-reading problems stemming, I'm sure, from old age, it's doing excellently.

- In related news, as I somewhat implied, I also rekindled my Sonic the Hedgehog addiction. I kinda let that slide since Sonic Adventure 2's release, so I never got around to playing Sonic Heroes or (lol) Shadow the Hedgehog. (I'm sort of dreading the latter based on the reviews, but what the hell kind of Sonic fanboy am I if I don't play EVERY Sonic game? And besides, I liked Sonic 3D Blast against all odds.) Very much looking forward to the two upcoming Sonic games- I honestly will admit that I was not seriously considering buying a console from this generation until I heard about the upcoming releases.

- I have money!! (Admittedly less, after buying a SATA drive and 2GB of memory.) w00t for having a job.

- Since I still haven't gotten into my intro Japanese course, I picked up a few more credit-hours' worth of class: I'm taking an intro Piano course! I'm hoping to achieve a proficiency that will actually assist with my composition (which I might actually start up again, really). Here's to getting a Comp Sci Master's by taking piano, drawing, and poetry reading!

- I have every episode of Mythbusters, which I'm steadily working my way through ^_^

I dunno where I'm going artistically. I'm unlikely to do a lot of (read: any) photography anytime soon, sadly, because I can't exactly afford to use film (I actually do have access to a darkroom for free, but chemicals + scanning = $$). And digital SLRs really, really don't come cheap. Music just hasn't been there for me- I probably need discipline to keep composing, but I've stubbornly relied on inspiration this far, and I'm hoping that someday I'll get some more of it. Poetry is likely- I was happier with GMT-08:00 than almost all of my previous work (perhaps all of it), and I hope that I reached a new level of skill rather than got lucky. I've been getting some good writing done at Ravinia (another bonus to working there, I guess), so here's hoping that tonight is a slow night.

And on that note, it's time for work.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9348037/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9348037/ Tue, 11 Jul 2006 21:03:05 PDT
And academically it's going to be pretty sweet. Here's my courses for first semester:

- Linear Algebra and Applications
- Honors Intro to Computer Science
- Oral Interpretation
- Studio Art--Drawing
- Waitlisted on Japanese I (will drop Studio for it)

I also have 33 credit-hours going in from AP testing and from the Spanish assessment that I took at Orientation (I somehow managed to score 4 credit-hours for guessing my way through a test I never learned the material for in the first place). Yay for reading from context. Anyway, that basically means that I'm done with freshman year. Furthermore, I'm going to go with a course path that will net me a Master's in Computer Science in five years--and, since I have two semesters' worth of credit-hours already, that means that I could quite possibly have a Bachelor's in both Comp Sci and Math and a Master's in Comp Sci in just four years. It is a sweet deal.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9281754/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9281754/ Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:12:39 PDT
- watched four or five movies
- completed two RPGs (FF6 is amazing, although in true FF fashion the ending sucks)
- tried & failed to write some new music
- wrote a poem or two
- read a book or two
- worked a lot
- slept

What a lame week.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9152761/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9152761/ Thu, 22 Jun 2006 20:50:00 PDT


That is all for now.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9080331/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/9080331/ Thu, 15 Jun 2006 18:50:11 PDT
- wake up/shower (2-3pm-ish)
- go to work at Ravinia
- go home and eat
- waste time until 7am-ish
- sleep

Not highly exciting. Occasionally something will break up the routine (like the Brokeback party! ) but that's pretty much it. Why, then, have I not died/reduced to a mindless drone from the boredom? Largely because the Ravinia Gate Staff is awesome. My work is tedious and mechanical, to be sure (taking tickets... woooo) but the people make it worthwhile. Today, we had a party for JPR's birthday--JPR being the guy who last year gave us his driver's license as collateral to get into the park on a sold-out night and never returned; we still have his license. To fill the mindless hours we have heated competitions (today: guessing JPR's weight from his picture; there was even a prize) and tell wacky stories and just have a plain old good time. It sure didn't feel like I worked 5 1/4 hours today. Yay for Gate Staff!

Anywho, I'm starting to get a bit back into the swing of doing some productive stuff. Last night I typed up a poem that's been sitting around waiting to be edited; now I'm doing probably my most ambitious fractal since Lifelines. I keep meaning to sit down and compose, now that I've had plenty of time off to recharge. Things are looking good. w00t!

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8821220/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8821220/ Fri, 19 May 2006 23:14:45 PDT
Today I was on a field trip with my Java class to High Voltage Software. They made the Hunter series (and not much else, but whatever); it was pretty cool to visit a game studio since that's what I want to do when I get out of college. The manager leading us on the tour joked that if any of us got left behind we would be put to work; I considered it

Prom is tomorrow. Exciting! I love excuses to dress nicely! Maybe more on that later, like, after it happens. I'm totally looking forward to playing Twister downtown. And Kristy and I are going to be shnazzy

So a few guys got together tonight to watch FLCL. For those of you that don't know, FLCL is an anime that is at once both insanely spastic and profoundly introspective. For a pretty good example of this, on this viewing I interpreted the giant robots sprouting from the main character's head as physical embodiments of his growth to maturity. I f'ing LOVE FLCL. It's six episodes long, so the entire show is shorter than like one Lord of the Rings movie. And the episodes are PACKED with food for thought as well as wtf-inducing action. Eventually you get to the point where you don't even flinch as a character unexpectedly bursts through the window and crashes into the TV in the middle of an otherwise ordinary scene. And it's poignant and poetic at the same time. Wow.

I have two potential jobs this summer! The fallback plan is to work at Ravinia; something like $6/hr, and at least I know people there. But my other potential job: I could end up interning for a software company that a member of my church congregation is in! I would get paid like 3 times as much AND be programming; it's economical, and it's a small foot in the door for programming jobs down the line. Here's hoping that AP Java taught me something.

Oh yes! Last Tuesday was the LAST BAND CONCERT OF HIGH SCHOOL EVAR ;_; And we played my own Legionary Fanfare ^____^ It was soooo coooool. Apparently Mr. B was just planning on reading it a few times and making a recording, but I wisely gave everyone such good parts that they wanted to keep playing it! Finishing performing the world premiere (lol) was, I swear, the most rewarding feeling an artist could possibly have.

Last day of school on Tuesday! w00000t! I'll miss DHS, sure, but it's really time for me to move on. I'm soooo looking forward to college. IU Class of '10!

Aaaaand I mentioned in my previous journal (so long ago) that I had just gotten my PC up and running. It is BEAUTIFUL. After playing many many hours of Oblivion on it at pretty damn high GFX settings (near all the detail sliders maxed, 1024x768 with 2x AA [looks better than 1280x1024 without AA], and generally no lower than 25fps), I am crazy pleased. My motherboard has room for tons of expansion, with the ability to add 4 SATA hard drives, 3 GB more memory, and an extra graphics card; I'll see how the programming job turns out That said, I'll probably want an electric guitar before upgrading this PC any more.

There's a new composition in the works I have the english horn solo part written in full, now I just have to write the accompanying piano or string quartet, depending on how it turns out. Actually, I might just write both versions. We'll see!

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8667106/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8667106/ Wed, 03 May 2006 22:25:53 PDT
New specs for the interested techy sorts: ASUS A8N32-SLI motherboard, AMD Athlon X2 3800+ dual core processor, GeForce 7600 GT gfx card, Audigy 2 ZX sound card, 1GB RAM (the next thing to upgrade).

In other news, the AP Computer Science test is insanely trivial. Can't discuss details, of course, because the CollegeBoard is full of information nazis--but I'll just note that I completed one of the four free response questions in 2 minutes (you get an hour and 45 for that section). Easy. Two more APs, and I can already tell that the AP Physics is going to rape my mind.

Musicwise: I've been listening to my extremely limited bluegrass collection recently. Nickel Creek's self-titled debut album is spectacular; their later stuff, I think, moves too far away from the bluegrass awesomeness and too far into your average acoustic pop trite. Wasted talent. At least the debut is awesome. Also excellent, of course, is Bela Fleck - Tales from the Acoustic Planet Vol. 2 is quite good.

Photos! I've started scanning some of my film stuff, as some may have noticed (Casual Waltz and Umbrellas); I hope to get more of it up ASAP. Just that my scanner is awful, so I have to do it at school where the scanners take 15 minutes to scan a photo (and I have to spend another 45-60 to Photoshop all the dust and crap off of the scans).

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8494398/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8494398/ Sun, 16 Apr 2006 22:18:30 PDT
New motherboard (Asus A8N32-SLI)... ~$225
New processor (Athlon 64)... $300
New graphics card (7600GT, because I need a PCI-E card and my X800 is AGP)... $180
Laptop (because I need one for college)... $a lot
MP3 player (because it would honestly be cheaper than burning all of my music to CDs)... $120-$280
Tuition... $a billion

......yeeeeah. Any rich people hanging about?

Oh! And it wouldn't be a journal entry if I didn't give you all some new music to check out. Listen to Ozric Tentacles: they are fucking amazing. Prog rock meets psychedelic trance. I can't get over how much I love this band. (Thanks to ~dedbeet for pointing them out!)

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8411409/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8411409/ Sat, 08 Apr 2006 19:45:45 PDT



Today I discuss a band which I have been looking for an album from for a long time. I recently (in the last few days) came across three, so let the review commence!

Deadsoul Tribe [ Progressive Metal ]
Deadsoul Tribe is a really excellent band. Now, I have said this about lots and lots of bands. I really mean it here, enough that I will repeat. Deadsoul Tribe is a really, really excellent band. It features singer/writer/multi-instrumentalist Devon Graves, formerly of Psychotic Waltz (still looking for albums by them) along with drummer Adel Moustafa, guitarist Roland 'Rollz' Kerschbaumer, and bass guitarist Roland Ivenz. In terms of sound, there are two frequently referenced spectrums on which progressive metal bands are rated: heaviness and similarity to other bands (generally Dream Theater). In terms of the former, I would consider the band overall as fairly heavy- not brutal like Meshuggah or the heavier bits of Opeth, but the music overall packs a harder punch than Dream Theater's Awake or the like. In terms of the latter, I would say that the closest relative that comes to mind is Pain of Salvation, a band that I don't believe I have yet recommended at length and which I certainly recommend now (listen to The Perfect Element, Part I), or perhaps Riverside with most of the Porcupine Tree sound reduced. The three albums I have listened to (2003's A Murder of Crows, 2004's The January Tree, and 2005's The Dead Word) all have seemed equally accessible; I'm listening to A Murder of Crows now, and I would say to check out that one first, followed by The Dead Word. Go forth and listen!

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8179679/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8179679/ Thu, 16 Mar 2006 15:12:24 PST

Three great albums today for you folks to check out.

Circus Maximus: The 1st Chapter
Prog metal, much in the vein of Dream Theater and Queensryche. Fans of either would probably be pleased with this release; the influence of classics like DT's Awake and Queensryche's Promised Land abound, while being overall a touch heavier than either.

Joe Satriani: Super Colossal
While not quite released yet, I can already tell you that this release from the godlike guitarist is... uh... going to be a fantastic album! Likely one of the best of 2006. Standout tracks include the title track, It's So Good, Redshift Riders.

Mind's Eye: Walking on H2O
For some reason, this band reminds me of Genesis (from the Peter Gabriel days, of course). Another best-of-2006 album, Walking on H2O is a great, energetic prog rock offering. The first real track "A Rabbit In The Hat" pretty much sets the mood for the whole album.

Listen to this:
]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8153805/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/8153805/ Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:42:31 PST The Art

// writing //
StageWrite was rather successful! Rockin' Beatz, naturally, was a crowd favorite. I have performed it ten times since Friday afternoon. Wheeee.

// photo //
My first roll for Photo class came out meh; the second came out mostly meh. Lots of blur that wasn't supposed to be there- damn shaky hands.

The Music

// recommendations //
Today's recommendation is a band called Sieges Even- some more good ol' prog rock. The Art Of Navigating By The Stars is a good album.

Last week in music:


]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7982412/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7982412/ Thu, 23 Feb 2006 15:49:44 PST The Art

// photo //
Developed my first real roll earlier this week; I probably have one or two decent shots off of that.

// writing //
Two of my pieces were accepted into StageWrite, the ultimate DHS performance of poetry and prose: "Sonnet 1" and "Rockin' Beatz". At least the latter will certainly be super fun to perform.

The Music

// recommendations //
For you post-rockers out there, you probably already know about Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, and Red Sparowes-- if not, listen.

For you prog-rockers out there, you probably already know about The Flower Kings and its various offshoots and side-projects (Karmakanic, The Tangent among them). If not, listen.

For you metalheads out there, you probably already know about Sonata Arctica. If not, listen.

For you jazz-rockers out there, you probably already know about Return to Forever. If not, what is wrong with you? It's like in the undisputed top 3 fusion bands of all time.

Today's albums to check out:
Explosions In The Sky: The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
Mogwai: Happy Songs For Happy People
Red Sparowes: At The Soundless Dawn
The Flower Kings: Unfold The Future
Karmakanic: Wheel Of Life
The Tangent: The Music That Died Alone
Sonata Arctica: Ecliptica
Sonata Arctica: Winterheart's Guild
Return to Forever: Romantic Warrior

The Life

What life?

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7766329/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7766329/ Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:23:11 PST The Art

// photo //
There's basically one shot worth looking at from my first roll, maybe two or three at best. (Better than I expected!) My scanner is t3h sux0r so I may or may not get to submit to my scraps. If I do, remember that the quality is awful in part because of my scanner ^^ Looking forward to actually developing my shots by hand, so I can at least have an 8x10 to scan.

The Music

// recommendations //
Alright, so in my last journal entry I kind of offhandedly mentioned Riverside as a band worth checking out. Let me clarify. RIVERSIDE OWNS. I just listened to Out of Myself and Second Life Syndrome back-to-back, and I have to say that the latter is one of the best albums of 2005. (And it has Dream Theater: Octavarium and Sufjan Stevens: Illinois to compete with!) If I had to compare Riverside to anything, I would say it's somewhere between late Porcupine Tree (Stupid Dream onward) and Devin Townsend. Check Second Life Syndrome out, you'll be impressed.

The Life

// mmorpgs //
This is hilarious, at least in my eyes. Just as my interest in Guild Wars started to re-wane, I was informed that a particular MMORPG had recently become free, at least in a slightly crippled state. So, I loaded up my Java interpreter to make a brand-new character on--yes--Puzzle Pirates! Turns out I've spent long enough away from the pentominoes and gunpowder that (a.) it's once again interesting, and (b.) I kinda suck again! Thankfully, since I'm not paying for the thing, I can feel comfortable with only playing casually. I'm currently looking for a crew that is talented enough to pull in good money but friendly enough to accept a casual player. And learning how to reach Ultimates again. (At least I still own Shipwrightery- I wasn't 7th in the ocean for nothing. Still get Incredibles every time ^^)

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7751709/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7751709/ Mon, 30 Jan 2006 13:35:02 PST The Art

// photo //
So now I am a photo n00b, 11 shots into my first roll. How cute! I'm looking forward to seeing how this roll turns out, so that I know how far I have to go yet. I consider myself a pretty objective and fair critic of art, especially photography, and so it will certainly be interesting to see how far my first shots fall below my usual standards. Thank God I'm at least familiar with Photoshop; I can cheat minor camera errors a little bit.

// writing //
The other day I submitted five of my pieces to StageWrite, my school's verbal presentation (if you will) of poetry and prose. Beats me if I'll get anything in; performing poetry would be a fun experience though.

// visual art //
I might scan some fun cartoony characters I drew a while back and put them in my scraps soon. Iced Toga Man is brilliant.

The Music

// smrq //
I've been working on Legionary Fanfare for too long now, and I think that the long process has finally approached its conclusion. The latest MP3 is available at my webspace; no major recent changes to that except the exchange of an english horn in for the oboe in the solo section at the modulation to Bb minor. I've been working almost exclusively in Finale, getting the actual score ready for our ACTUAL BAND to play, and I get to extract the parts today and hand them over to Mr. B within the week. At that point, it will be pretty much officially over. w00t.

Also: I never mentioned it before, but I went out on a limb and performed an extremely dumbed down version of "The Blind Messenger" a few weeks ago, solo voice y acoustic guitar. It was a good experience; performance freaks the hell out of me when I'm not used to it, and I'd really like to play or sing in a band sometime. Just have to get better at singing and guitar!

// recommendations //
Sufjan Stevens--- It's about damned time that I heard Sufjan Stevens; Illinois is probably my favorite album at the moment. "Casimir Pulaski Day" absolutely owns. You have no excuse not to listen. See this review for more information on why Sufjan is your new favorite musical artist.

Devin Townsend--- For the fans of heavier prog. Devin never reaches the raw growling of Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt, but can get a bit screamy at times--not that that should stop anyone from listening, because it is done very tastefully. His 2006 release Synchestra is a great place to start, being at once modestly accessible and still true to the core Devin Townsend sound. It's probably his most progessive and least metal album. If you happen to like the metal half, perhaps check out Accelerated Evolution.

Today's other recommended listening--- Kevin Gilbert, Polyphonic Spree, Riverside, The Books

For older recommendations--- The Music Entry

The Life
My life basically revolves around school, Legionary Fanfare, and Joppa at the moment. It's sort of a sad existence; meh. College will come around soon enough. No videogames for now to speak of.

By the way, my sister recently (like in the last couple days) became officially engaged; w00t for her. The wedding won't be until she graduates from college, I'm sure; either way, I'm really happy for her. Her fiancee is rather nice and has good taste in music ^^ (but bad taste in MMORPGs- WoW? bah!) Both of them are going into music, so they're screwed financially, but hey- whatever. Roll the bones, eh?

The Links
My last.fm
smrq

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7378844/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7378844/ Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:29:17 PST Ayreon
Gordian Knot
RPWL
Arena
Kino
Marillion
Talking Heads
Bass Communion
Riverside
Jim's Big Ego
Red Sparowes

I just had an idea for the medium that I think would be perfect for this little project. I'm going to look into setting up a wiki (or see if there already is one!) that can contain reviews of bands and suggestions for other bands to listen to if you like any particular one. That would be neat.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
- I thought this band was obscure until I saw the liner notes of their triple (!) album Little Worlds, which seems to indicate that they know everyone important in the music industry and asked them to play on the album. They're somewhat like a mixture of bluegrass and jazz, combining Bela Fleck's banjo with Jeff Coffin's sax, alongside Victor Wooten's awesome bass and Futureman's, ah, synth percussion oddness. Recommended albums: Little Worlds, Outbound. (Off The Top from Little Worlds is phenomenal.)

Dream Theater
- Features incredible musicianship, incredible diversity in composition, and almost perfect production. (Almost, because the bass, John Myung, is almost universally mixed too low. He shreds on a goddamn six-string bass, and they don't even let you hear it. I had no idea how skilled he was until I saw Dream Theater live.) Their concept album masterpiece is Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, which is fantastic on just about every listen. (I've listened to it fairly obsessively for at least 2 years now, and it's still fresh and original.) Other highlights include... their entire discography. Images and Words is a good place to start if you're coming to the band from a prog rock background; Train of Thought, or maybe Awake, is a good starting place if you're into harder metal. Almost every group in progressive metal today has been influenced significantly by Dream Theater's music.

James LaBrie
- Dream Theater singer. I haven't listened much to the MullMuzzler albums, which are supposedly pretty good, but I am familiar with his recent solo album, Elements of Persuasion. If you want the soft James LaBrie from Dream Theater songs like Disappear and Through My Words, look elsewhere- this is heavy stuff, all the way through.

The Jelly Jam
- Supergroup trio featuring Ty Tabor (King's X), John Myung (Dream Theater), Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs). It's been described by the members as more or less a straight-ahead rock group that slips progressive elements into the music when critics of prog won't notice. In that way, The Jelly Jam is an easy group to get into; rarely complex for its own sake, they focus on making great catchy songs first and then complicate them once you're in the groove.

Joe Satriani
- Extraordinarily talented guitarist with a very distinctive style. Almost every song he has done is purely instrumental (and to be honest, those that aren't tend to make me wish he had stuck to the instrumentals). Frequently touted as a "vocal" guitarist, Satriani proves that you don't need a vocalist to do verse-chorus-verse well- his guitar does all the singing you need. Backing band is irrelevant- all of his albums are like solo albums, except that he doesn't have a standard band to get away from. Highlights: Is There Love In Space?, Crystal Planet, Engines Of Creation (if you like a bit of electronica with your guitar). Other than John Petrucci, my guitar god of choice.

John Petrucci
- Dream Theater guitarist. AFAIK, only has one solo album, but a good one: Suspended Animation. If you like Dream Theater and/or Joe Satriani, you'll enjoy it. If you're not familiar with either Dream Theater or Satriani, you should probably listen to them first.

Jordan Rudess
- Current Dream Theater keyboardist. Has lots of fine solo albums, generally either classical piano (4NYC, Secrets of the Muse) or progressive rock (Feeding the Wheel, Rhythm of Time). The former should appeal to any fan of classical solo piano; Rudess is immensely talented not only technically, but expressively. And the prog rock albums are excellent if you have any appreciation for the keyboard in rock music; Rudess shreds on his synths like no other could. The four albums already noted are recommended.

King Crimson
- Arguably the fathers of progressive rock as we know it, thanks to their landmark (first!) album from 1969, In The Court Of The Crimson King. It's very difficult to know where to start with this band, as they have been undergoing constant shifts in instrumentation, members, and direction. I would recommend starting at the beginning with In The Court, with 1981's Discipline, or the latest album, The Power To Believe. All showcase extremely different bands- the only member that has been a part of the group in its 36-year history is R... ]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7249569/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7249569/ Wed, 07 Dec 2005 17:58:53 PST
Also: Eric Whitacre, possibly my favorite contemporary composer, has apparently (as I recently discovered through a long strand of Wikipedia entries beginning with "Lebensraum") completed the mind-boggling accomplishment of combining trance, opera, and Milton's "Paradise Lost". The first staging was in June 2004; more importantly to me, a performance comes within breathing distance by February, when it will be performed in concert at Northwestern University's Pick-Staiger. I must go.

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7154555/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/7154555/ Sun, 27 Nov 2005 01:51:07 PST
In other news, for those of you that worship my musical taste (and there are those, believe it or not): listen to Shadow Gallery. The closest relative in my mind to them would be Dream Theater (on the SG album "Tyranny" there is even a short cameo by DT vocalist James LaBrie)- it's pretty straightforward progressive metal. And they do it well. "Tyranny" and "Room V" together make up a pretty slick double concept album, the story of which I'm still piecing together (the lyrics to the latter are unavailable on the internet, which makes it difficult). I can personally recommend "Tyranny", "Legacy", and "Room V"--my favorite is the last, although all are great. I've also finally started listening to Pink Floyd's "The Wall"; I had the hardest time getting into it for reasons unknown. I still think the ending is weak though.

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6865076/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6865076/ Tue, 25 Oct 2005 14:39:17 PDT - I'm playing Guild Wars again. It's slowly retaking control of my life.
- I got accepted to Indiana University (more or less- I'm in as soon as they get my test scores); still working on my Carnegie Mellon app.
- I've written a lot more than I've posted; the lack of sharing is due, primarily, to laziness with respect to typing my poems up.
- Omg driver's license tomorrow. About goddamn time.
- Sudoku is ADDICTIVE.
- I heart my grandma.
- Marching band is over, for the most part (there are still playoff games to play at, but the regular season is finished). I got a Director's Award and Spirit Award last night at Bandorama (the marching band concert)--happiness. Mr. B, like all great teachers, is a little frugal on the side of giving out compliments, and so every positive reinforcement from him is a great feeling.
- Cream soda = sustenance! I need my cream soda! WHY DO I HAVE NO CREAM SODA?

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6499210/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6499210/ Tue, 13 Sep 2005 23:09:11 PDT
In other news, if you haven't noticed, v2.0 of Legionary Fanfare (formerly Fanfare for Band) is available on my music website. [link] I've sent the mp3 and the sheet music to Mr. B, and he's taking a look at it. Apparently, our band will get to play it sometime in November or December - which is goddamn amazing.

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6355711/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6355711/ Sun, 28 Aug 2005 23:52:25 PDT
1. New computer case, status update: I spent a good portion of today unscrewing all the various components from my computer and screwing them back in to my ultra-sexy case I just got. Since I'm typing this, obviously everything is working fine The case is even sexier with the hordes of blue LEDs that are illuminating it- each of the six fans are illuminated, as well as four LEDs in the front and a blue backlit temperature gauge. It's pretty awesome.... and now, I have an old computer case lying around, which brings me to...

2. Old computer case: I discovered after moving into the new case that I almost have a second computer from all the leftover parts! All I need is a power supply unit and memory- I have the motherboard, a small hard drive (13.5GB), network card, USB and Firewire cards, and lots of assorted cables and screws. So, if I can get my hands on a PSU and some memory, then I will have a dedicated PC for rendering! If I want to render stuff I'll probably need at least 1GB of memory, which isn't cheap, and add that to a PSU (probably want the Aspire 500W designed for my new case, so I can take the old one out and put it on the render PC) and the cost comes to $200-ish: [link] Kinda pricey for me, but not bad for essentially another computer. ....and I could have LAN parties against myself If I get a DVD-RW drive, then I can put my old CD-RW in it too and render fractals and burn them and all that. Otherwise, that's what networking is for... although I have to install network drivers with a CD. But that's what external drives are for. Assuming I don't have to install drivers for that from a CD. Bloody hell.

So, new case, and need $200 for another computer. Not bad.

Oh, and 3. Marching band is goddamn amazing. I could hardly talk Friday night and Saturday morning from all the excited shouting and cheering. (The opposing team gained a 1 point lead with 32 seconds left in the entire game, and our team nonetheless managed to race down the field with three spectacular 30-yard or so passes and score a touchdown with four seconds left. To say it was exciting would be an understatement.) And the halftime show consisted of the Mario and Zelda themes. Hard to beat that.

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6309616/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6309616/ Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:05:16 PDT
1. 1000 pageviews! (About time ) The 1000th view didn't speak up, so I guess I get to keep the and for myself!

2. Lifelines (Print Available) - this one took 54 hours total to render, but it was worth it- of course, the print looks better than ever! I don't really give a damn if anyone else buys it (I'd appreciate it though ), as I really just want it on my own wall.

3. School! Now, while this might normally be seen as a "Noes", I have awesome teachers all the way down the board and am entirely in classes that I want to take! Add the fact that it's senior year of high school, and you have all the ingredients for a damn good year. (Multivariable calculus is going to be the easiest class ever. The teacher said that we might look at my fractals tomorrow ) AP Physics is going to be death, but phun death (yes, physics + fun = phun). AP English is going to rock. Don't mess with the poem. Creative writing will presumably be just as good. Naturally, band needs no explanations for how amazing it is every year (and marching band = 1337... videogame music show!) AP Java = t3h r0x0r. Svetty brought in a Colecovision today and was playing Ms. Pac Man while he was giving us the first-day-of-school-talk-stuff. Apparently we get to program Othello this year in addition to the requisite Blackjack program for every programming course. And gym is gym. Eh.

4. New computer case! It is t3h s3x. Very much so. Just look at it. [link] Probably going to move my computer into it this weekend.

5. My binary blanket is the comfiest thing that has ever existed in the history of time itself. Even comfier than this emote

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6245886/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6245886/ Tue, 16 Aug 2005 18:03:34 PDT

I dunno what the next print I'm going to render will be; CW almost certainly took the least time, at 27 hours of rendering and about an hour of redoing the post-work. I would love to do Lifelines... but three fractals = 81 hours (more, actually, because one of the three is pretty slow to render). But then... I'll have to render it sometime. (shrug)

As far as my life goes, marching band has started and it is truly 1337. Not only is our first half-time show comprised of video game music (the Super Mario overworld theme and the Zelda overworld theme), but we actually have a decent instrumentation (four sousaphones and even more trombones!) and the drumline could kick the ass of last year's drumline in a heartbeat.

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6212391/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6212391/ Sat, 13 Aug 2005 06:10:36 PDT
P.S. I also have two and a half books to read in the next week and a half or so. I probably shouldn't be making new fractals at this time anyway.

EDIT: Decided to tone it down from 9000x6000 to 6000x4800, on the basis that nobody in their right mind would buy a print that needed 9000x6000 resolution from me anyway. Plus, it seems that my 30-35 hour estimate was based off of a rather slow fractal; rendering Church Windows at 6000x4800 took about three hours to render the first strip of nine - thus, 27 hours total. (Although, that means that the slow fractal will take something like 270 hours!) And I got through another chapter of Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and raised another level in #IdleRPG. Things are looking good!

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6074242/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6074242/ Sat, 30 Jul 2005 03:42:51 PDT [link]



]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6014427/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/6014427/ Sat, 23 Jul 2005 16:18:27 PDT
PC Games:

Myst series: Myst, Riven, Myst III: Exile, Myst IV: Revelation

Until The Sims came along, Myst was the best-selling PC game of all time, and for good reason. Although often frustrating to the point where you might get the urge to throw various computer parts out of the nearest window, the entire Myst series is nonetheless an incredible experience that nobody should miss out on. The Myst saga includes the four games mentioned above as well as Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and its two expansion packs, which I unfortunately cannot recommend as highly as the others due to the fact that its main attraction, online cooperative play, never got off the ground because of financial problems. Additionally, there are three books in the Myst series that add a stunning amount of depth to the storyline, and all are worth reading at least once.
Now, although the Myst series possesses a spectacular storyline, it would not be nearly as attractive if the games themselves weren't as fun- and rewarding- as they are. They are difficult, I will admit, but the sense of accomplishment at each chip of progress you make is overwhelming. Besides, even if you use a walkthrough to bypass the hardest of puzzles, they are a wonderful sight; every one of them sports graphics that were more than cutting edge in their own times and still hold up today. (Keep in mind, for instance, that Myst was released in 1993- the same year as the original DOOM- and Riven in 1997- the same year as Final Fantasy VII.) You can pick up the Myst 10th Anniversary collection and get the first 3 games in one package on one DVD apiece for less than a new game anyway. (And since they're on DVD, it eliminates the 5 CDs - and horrible disc swapping that came with it - of the original 1997 release of Riven!)

Fallout

An outstanding example of a non-linear RPG. The Fallout games are set (unsurprisingly) in a post-apocalyptic setting, giving a brilliant and chilling view into what the world might have been like if the Cold War had turned out differently. If you look at the reviews on GameFAQs.com, you might notice that neither Fallout 1 nor 2 received a review of less than 8/10 from any player! The numbers practically speak for themselves- you can't go wrong with Fallout, provided that you can appreciate a little dark humor. The gameplay is flawless, with a battle system that puts almost any other RPG to shame, and the story is fantastic. The graphics show each game's age, but that is a point that hardly matters- they look fine especially when compared to other classic games. Again, you can pick up both Fallout 1 and 2 in a cheap set, so you have nothing to lose from purchasing these excellent games.

Zork

It doesn't get much more classic than the most popular text-based game ever. The Zork series is famous for its brilliant and goofy sense of humor, not to mention some fiendishly brilliant puzzles. (Fully mapping out the labyrinth in Zork I with no assistance is a feat that I am particularly proud of.) I really don't need to go very far in my Zork advertisements, however, because the Zork games all have one major selling point that trumps all others: you can get them for free. The first 3 games of the series are available from Infocom's website here: [link] Now admit it, you have no reason NOT to get them all right away. The downloads are less than 100KB each. I just downloaded them all in less than 5 seconds. What are you waiting for?

The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain, The Time Warp of Dr. Brain

I bet most of you missed out on these two, and it's thus probably too late for you to fully enjoy them. Educational titles have received a bit of a bad reputation among gamers, but I feel that I must step up here and vouch for the sheer brilliance of these. In my mind, they define family fun as it applies to gaming; both, but especially the latter, are a challenge to players of all ages. Both games are basically a collection of several types of puzzles that challenge and improve specific mental abilities, from spatial perception to logic to memory to musical ability. I wholeheartedly believe that a good portion of my mental abilities today stemmed from extensive play of Dr. Brain. Please, buy these games for yourself and especially for your kids, whether you have them yet or n... ]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5973757/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5973757/ Tue, 19 Jul 2005 01:21:07 PDT
In other music news, ~BlueStrata and I are well on our way to finishing our second Dreamlily collaboration, entitled Dances With Robots. I have no estimated release date for it, since that all depends entirely on how long it takes for me to be happy with it-- and God knows how long that will be.

Writing-wise, I've had little to no inspiration for writing as of late. Too bad.

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5811715/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5811715/ Fri, 01 Jul 2005 12:32:34 PDT But nonetheless I'm giving it a shot.
I'm writing now within its strict confines
So check this page soon; miss it you shall not.

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5314468/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5314468/ Mon, 09 May 2005 19:02:25 PDT BlueStrata and I have teamed up musically and poetically to bring the world Dreamlily, our latest and greatest collaboration project. Our first offering: a rocking psytrance tune by the name of Illithid. [link]

And as always, my solo work is available at smrq [link]

]]> ~dcschmo http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5265929/ http://dcschmo.deviantart.com/journal/5265929/ Wed, 04 May 2005 14:38:03 PDT [link] ]]> ~dcschmo