#fun fact: the last three i initially wanted to all be matching but the compositions got away from me

[iersei]

Day 10: City

just a little human girl and her journal in the big city

~

Frogtober Prompts

Prompts created by @boobchuy

~

✧Taglist✧

@reyraccoon @midnightcrossroads @yourpersonaltimebomb @darcysd20 @hey-its-puddlesock @arcadiii @your-local-hurt-comfort-junkie-1 @eggsbaconbread @gayfrogcoven @starryemeralds @banyanas @marcy-wu-on-the-brain @clumsy-artsy @valipad @sapphicinthewild @stormy-space-jellyfish @saturniidd @aldriix 

[curiosity-killed]

second look

part 1 | part 2

fun fact: Sirion’s name means protector/guardian bc it’s my made-up language in my made-up country in my made-up story and I can make it mean what I want

Word count: 1936

A week later, Sirion is assigned to the prince’s personal guard. Some of his surprise must show on his face, because Jemma’s lips quirk up in amusement. “He must have liked you,” she says. Two guards go with him under his command, and he stations them outside the door, to take the place of the watch before them. Sirion himself takes a deep, bracing breath before pushing open the study door. He’s never been in royal chambers before, and he can scarcely guess at the opulence of the imperator princep’s private chambers. Gold everywhere? A hundred generations’ worth of artwork and souvenirs from war? Of all the imperator princeps, only Anharad never slept here, and it was she who oversaw the rooms’ design, back when Ancelm was only a dream and the throne still sat in Aerisilia, that long-dead city remembered now only in legend. He passes through the narrow entry hall, tight and dark, and into the sunlit study. He met with the lieutenant he’s to replace – Brandolin – outside, and the room is silent and empty save for the prince sitting at his desk.

The room is sparser than he expected: bookshelves stretch nearly to the ceiling on two of the walls, and three narrow windows cut through the third, letting in long shafts of afternoon sun. Twin archways, curtained, stand on either side of an unlit hearth on the fourth wall. A grille closes off that opening, though if he’s honest, he can’t imagine how someone would find a way through that chimney anyway. “Good afternoon, S-I-R-I-O-N,” the prince signs in greeting.

Sirion bows low, arm folded over his chest, before replying. “Thank you, Your Eminence.” Wrinkling his nose, the prince slides his quill back into the inkwell and turns his attention fully to Sirion. He has dark eyes, nearly black, and they’re surprisingly intense when they’re focused on him alone. “Please, ‘Callebero’ will suffice,” he signs, using a shorthand gesture for his name. Sirion has seen the sign used around the captains and some of the senior guards, but it feels presumptuous to address the imperator princep with only a quick backward flick of his hand. His proper title requires both hands and three composite signs, and it somehow seems more fitting than this quick tilt of one hand. “You do not mind the informality?” he asks cautiously. The prince shrugs. He’s dressed all in black today with only silver trim on his sides and collar. Only his crown and the thin, drop-like earrings swaying from his ears glitter gold. It gives him a severe appearance that belies his youth. Dressed like this, he looks like the imperator princep. “The captains have been chasing after me since infancy,” he says, “and you lieutenants will one day be my captains. How can I trust you to give me your honest judgment if I insist on absurd titles and honorifics? It seems calling me by my name is at least a step toward being willing to tell me when a plan is foolhardy – or worse.” The corner of his lips quirk up towards the end, as if at the thought of anyone being so bold. Sirion can hardly imagine it. Young as he is, he is still the imperator princep – the bloodsworn commander of the empire. A word from him could sever anyone’s head from their body. “Then, I thank you for this trust, Callebero,” Sirion signs. It feels wrong, but he will have to get used to it. The last thing he wants to do is hobble his own advancement by insulting the prince over such a silly thing. For his part, the prince seems to relax at the loss of the honorifics. “And thank you for yours, S-I-R-I-O-N,” he says. Sirion hesitates before: “If it pleases you, most everyone uses ‘Sirion,’” he signs, signing the nickname twice for clarity. It’s a play on the meaning of his name, of sorts: the sign for ‘shield’ unfurling into the first letter of his name. The prince – Callebero – watches closely before nodding with a little smile. “Then, it is a pleasure to meet you, Sirion,” he signs. It seems silly, and Sirion has to fight to hide a smile. Of all things, he hadn’t expected to be amused by the prince. He settles into parade rest to keep an eye on the doors and windows. A grown adult couldn’t fit through the windows in one piece, but an arrow could make it through with enough skill and luck. The archways to the prince’s quarters are another concern, of course. According to the plans they all memorize of the palace, there is a door leading from there to the hallway and another leading to the prince’s bath, which, of course, connects to the public baths. Even with guards and servants along the route, a determined assassin could find their way to the prince through the warren beneath the palace. Curtains hang down to the floor in the archways, swaying in the afternoon breeze. A rogue gust catches the curtains and flicks open a glimpse of dark wood, a stack of books – Sirion averts his gaze. “I don’t suppose you have much practice reading proposals, do you?” The question jars Sirion, bringing his attention swinging from the entry hall to where the prince has his head braced in one hand. He glances up for Sirion’s reply. All Sirion can manage, though, is confusion. “I’m joking,” the prince says. He sighs. “Well, more like wishful thinking. I still have – oh, seventy more petitions to read, and my eyes are starting to cross.” Sirion frowns. “Beg pardon, but you are reading petitions?” he asks. It seems an innate contradiction. For centuries, petitions have been an immutable facet of the government, the rare chance for the citizens to speak with their emperor. He’s never heard of them being written down. “Oh, right.” There’s a pause, where Sirion nearly regrets asking, before the prince goes on, “When I was crowned, it was – easier to bring the petitions back to discuss with advisors than trying to recall two hundred verbal petitions every single week. Now, I guess I’m just accustomed to the routine, and it seems a nuisance to change it. After all, not every petitioner can afford to stand in line for three hours, and it seems unjust to refuse them the opportunity because of age or injury or obligations.” Oh. Despite how juvenile he’d initially thought the prince, it’s easy to forget that he was a child when he took the throne. Sirion can’t imagine sitting in that stone hall for hours on end as a nine-year-old, much less having to remember and pass judgment on all those petitions hours later. Even as an adult, he doesn’t know how he would approach such a task. More than that, it’s surprisingly nice to hear the imperator princep think of his own people, even in a small way. For the first time, Sirion feels a genuine sense of regret for what he’d thought of the prince from their first meeting. 

“How do you go about picking the petitions to fulfill?” he asks. Perhaps it’s overstepping the boundaries of propriety, but if the prince insists on Sirion using his first name, he can’t imagine this will cause much of a rebuke. And despite himself, Sirion is intrigued. If he’d thought about the petitions at all, he would have assumed that the prince passed the task off to some committee of advisors or just picked whichever he remembered from last hearing them. The prince laughs, a bright grin flashing white over his face and scrunching up the skin by his eyes. “With great reluctance,” he says. Despite himself, Sirion can’t quite help a smile at the joke. The prince goes on, a little more serious but still far from solemn. “I try to read through all of them by at least two days before the next hearings,” he says. “That way I can think over them a bit and have my mind clear in time to listen to the next round. Each week, I try to pick which I would select if these were the only ones I heard all month. And then, at the end of the month, I make the final decision.” “That is quite a process,” Sirion remarks. The prince laughs and nods. “Yes, it’s a wonder I get anything else done,” he says before pausing. The corners of his lips are still pulled up, but he bites briefly at his bottom lip before shrugging slightly and looking up. “To be honest, though, I think it’s the part I like best about being the prince. It feels…more direct somehow, than the rest of it.” Canting his head, Sirion gives a slight nod as he processes that. As little as he knows about ruling, he does imagine it to be a distant thing. After all, with the Council of Regents in place, it seems the prince could delegate all his work and run off free. He’d always imagined that to be the prince’s will: from his first impression, the prince had seemed wholly disinclined to work at the labors of ruling. Sirion’s beginning to understand that there’s more to the young ruler than he’d initially thought — but he’s surprised now by wondering how much, by wanting to know. “Not war?” he asks. He’s not sure why he does except that he can’t help thinking of that sparring match. The prince had moved with a focus, an intensity, that didn’t come from idle study, and there was little in the world more direct than battle. Now, though, the prince stills and his expression slides into something curiously blank. There’s no anger or disdain, but the easy smile that had curled on his lips and in the creases by his eyes has dissipated. He cants his head, lifts his eyebrows in something like a shrug, and the moment’s broken. “Well, it is more direct,” he admits. “My apologies, imperator,” Sirion signs. “I overstepped.” The prince snorts, a huff of laughter that startles Sirion more than the sudden blankness, and he shakes his head as he turns back to the petitions. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he says. “There’s a reason our title is imperator. War is the domain of the prince — I just…I guess I don’t think of it as ruling, much.” He glances up, that smile returning in amusement in his gaze. “And I told you, it’s just Callebero.” This time, Sirion breathes out a laugh and nods. “Very well, Callebero.” Satisfied, the prince’s grin grows a little and he turns back to his work. Sirion can’t quite stifle his own smile as he returns to parade rest. Despite his earlier confusion and trepidation, he feels almost relaxed now. His eyes still scan over the room’s entrances for any hint of a disturbance — even the ridiculous fireplace – and he listens closely for any call from the corridor — but it seems a more pleasant task now. The occasional rustling of papers as the prince turns over a petition and adds it to one stack or another, the quiet hum he gives of consideration, are a strange comfort. It’s evening by the time his shift ends, and he passes the duty on to the Royal Protector with a bow and full debrief. The prince has moved on from petitions to some scroll that’s longer than the desk is wide, and he looks up only briefly to bid Sirion goodnight with a smile and flick of his free hand. Walking down the torchlit hallways back to the barracks, Sirion finds himself hoping that he’s put on guard duty again.  

[velva54896754502-blog]

Pop Music Videos By BTS, TWICE And BLACKPINK Temporarily Eliminated From YouTube

Why all trendy pop music sounds the identical. Derived from the traditional lutes of renaissance Italy, the mandolin got here into its current kind as a short-necked instrument with eight paired strings in early eighteenth-century Naples, and it has endured as an necessary instrument in Italian fashionable music. Minor composers of the time wrote music for the mandolin; later operatists similar to Handel, Mozart, and Verdi scored occasional passages for the instrument when atmospheric touches were needed. In any other case the mandolin was thought to be a minor-league instrument with limited potentialities. A flurry of research exhibits that music is the predominantly standard art type. A survey I ran some years ago with readers of the arts section of London's Sunday Times newspaper confirmed that even these connoisseurs rated music as both their favourite and the most important of the arts. In contrast, there is no public clamouring for a weekly Prime 10 list of sculptures, or for Apple to release iInterpretativedance software program which allows downloads of the important thing productions that opened this week.

Yo-Yo Ma is perhaps the most famous and properly-beloved cellist on the earth. He was born in Paris in 1955; his family moved to the US when he was 7. He performed for President Kennedy that year. He played at Carnegie Corridor for the primary time when he was sixteen. He is received 18 Grammys and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And for this special episode of Tune Exploder, the final episode of this year, Yo-Yo Ma's goes to break down this piece—which he didn't create, however he is performed so many times. It is the Prelude from Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite Number 1 in G Main. It's one of the most famous items of music written for the cello. Yo-Yo Ma first recorded the Bach Cello Suites in 1983, at age 27. He recorded them once more in 1998. Now, at age 62, he is recorded them for what he says could be the last time. It's for an album known as Six Evolutions: Bach Cello Suites. Yo-Yo Ma talked to me about what's modified about the way he approaches this piece of music. By varying the quantities of water in each bottle, it's attainable to create a musical scale. That is why this exercise requires eight bottles, one for each observe of the musical scale. Attempt it with clinking the bottles and with blowing over the tops of the bottles. What variations do you discover? If you want to actually put on a present, use meals coloring to color the water in every bottle in a different way. Of course, the meals coloring does nothing to have an effect on the sound, but it surely does make it appear to be you really know what you're doing! The final word purpose is to play a music after which to get individuals to drop a couple of bucks into your hat. See, this ebook is already making you cash. It is a style that does not go mainstream. It's a good thing considering that having mainstream music will make bands appears to be like inventive and mental control over their music, which is what hip-hop, pop, and fashionable rock is failing in a approach. But with indie rock, it's finally a genre that opens doors to nicely written lyrics, nice beats, inventive sounds, revolutionary route of music, pop music wikipedia simple english and intelligence but fun listening. Fashionable music fails to make anything forever memorable, however but for indie, it at all times marks the spot as the very best of all time when an indie rock albums is released. Alternatively, whereas there may be plenty of trash within the music industry, accounting for normally round 30 of the highest 40 songs every week, there nonetheless is loads of good music to go around, you simply should look more durable. Sometimes some really actually good songs come out, like for instance All of the Lights by Kanye West, The Present Goes on by Lupe Fiasco, Chandelier by Sia, Rap God by Eminem, and See You Again by Wiz Khalifa. I name these songs golden nuggets as a result of it's important to shovel by way of a variety of crap to seek out them, but they're gems of the music trade. Now a cultural mainstay, José Feliciano's iconic Christmas basic, ‘Feliz Navidad', absolutely embraces the flamenco guitar and seamlessly interweaves Spanish and English. Feliciano was the primary Latin American artist to launch albums in each languages - a components that had already been long adopted by non-Latin pop artists attempting to broaden the international enchantment of their hit singles. From Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra (whose 1967 collaboration with Antônio Carlos Jobim introduced bossa nova to a new viewers), to Madonna , Beyoncé and even Kendrick Lamar , each generation has a star who seeks to bridge the cultural gap between English-language and Latin pop music. Over three decades, Paul Griffiths's survey has remained the definitive research of music because the Second World Warfare; this totally revised and updated edition re-establishes Trendy Music and After because the preeminent introduction to the music of our time. The disruptions of the warfare, and the struggles of the ensuing peace, were mirrored within the music of the time: in Pierre Boulez's radical reformation of compositional method and in John Cage's development of zen music; in Milton Babbitt's settling of the serial system and in Dmitry Shostakovich's unsettling symphonies; in Karlheinz Stockhausen's growth of digital music and in Luigi Nono's pursuit of the universally human, in Iannis Xenakis's view of music as sounding mathematics and in Luciano Berio's consideration of it as language. The initiatives of those composers and their contemporaries opened prospects that haven't yet stopped unfolding. The style's identify capabilities a lot as Foucault described the author's identify in literature. 2 2. For an account of the various methods of understanding and finding out genres of music, see Classification as Tradition: Sorts and Trajectories of Music Genres" by Jennifer C. Lena and Richard A. Peterson. View all notes Like the creator's title, a named genre performs a classificatory function. Such a name permits one to group together a sure number of texts, outline them, differentiate them from and distinction them to others." The text" of heavy metal bands—their output of songs variously mediated—capabilities simply as the fact that several texts have been positioned underneath the identical title signifies that there has been established among them a relationship of homogeneity, filiation, authentication of some texts by means of others, reciprocal explication, or concomitant utilization" (Foucault 452).

The trouble with analysis around music and cannabis is that the reported experiences are often private, subjective and intensely diverse. When Bob Dylan famously introduced the Beatles to cannabis at the Delmonico Resort in 1964, Paul McCartney thought he'd attained true mental readability for the first time in his life." The rest of the social gathering was rolling in matches of laughter, and supervisor Brian Epstein grew to become so stoned he could solely communicate, ‘I'm so high i loved this'm up on the ceiling.'" Still, the British pop outfit would go on to experiment with hashish — among other psychedelic medicine — to influence the evolution of its well-known sound.

[filmfilmmagazine]

Linklater on Linklater : self-interview by the Slacker filmmaker (The Austin Chronicle, 1991)

“Austin has the highest per capita ratio of wonderful people and the lowest percentage of assholes of any city. I believe I'll be based here for quite some time." When Richard Linklater made that announcement to the Chronicle back in 1991, at the height of Slacker's success, it would have been reasonable to believe that he was blowing at least a little smoke. But three decades, five Oscar nominations, and $300 million in the global box office later, he's still hanging around – an older, wiser version of the indie innovator whose latest film, live-action/animation hybrid coming-of-age period piece Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Adventure, has been acquired by Netflix, and was still made in the ATX.

But 30 years ago, he was the newly minted hometown hero. In typical fashion, when the Chronicle sponsored a screening of Slacker at the Dobie on Sept. 22, 1991, we ran a story under the unwieldy title of: "The Art of the Interview: Self-Revelation or Self Torture? Richard Linklaker Interviewed by ..." There's no byline, because the subject was the author: Linklater, still whirling from the seemingly never-ending press tour, sat down with himself to dispatch, once and for all, the most meaningful answer to the most generic questions he had been asked over the summer months.

Here's a snippet, for the first time since its original print appearance, is the whole story of surviving Slacker, in Linklater's own words - Richard Whittaker.

After nearly 140 Slacker interviews in the last two months, automatic pilot has taken over, like an actor in a long-running play summoning energy before each performance, or an instructor making an ages old lecture seem witty and spontaneous. This publicity grind also seems to resemble a psychoanalytical session: Someone gets paid to ask prompting questions and listen to you drone on and on – and I do find myself discovering new things in the process. It's been a forced transformation from being too shy to address an audience to being live on CNN in front of millions. The final stage in the filmmaking process is apparently being a professional mouth and ranting on about things that have only the slightest connection to whatever "qualified" me to be ranting in the first place. So I thought a "composite interview" of all my interviews might able to include many of the natural questions the film invites, as well as more than just the snippet of my answer that happens to fit an interviewer's agenda – the luxury of my being both interviewer and subject here.

So, first question:

RL: So, just what is a slacker?

RL: (Acting like he's never heard the question before.) Hmmm... Slackers might look like the left-behinds but they are actually one step ahead, rejecting most of society and the social hierarchy before it rejects them. The dictionary defines slackers as people who evade duties and responsibilities. A more modern notion would be people who are ultimately being responsible to themselves and not wasting their time in a realm of activity that has nothing to do with who they are or what they might ultimately be striving for.

RL: (A slightly suspecting, almost distrustful look) So okay... You aren't a slacker. Slackers don't make movies.

RL: Sure they do, just not the kind you would usually want to interview somebody about. It sounds like I'm being judged on the success of the film, not its simple existence. No one ever said slackers weren't productive. It's just that their products often fall outside the market economy. If the film never found an audience, would my slacker credentials be revoked like this? I think I still qualify as a slacker... just one that's currently lucky. I've been officially employed about one year of the last seven. Actually, filmmaking is the perfect slacker profession. You can piddle around for years, watch tons of movies and daydream about what important films you would make if you only had the cash.

RL: Speaking of it, where did you get the money for Slacker?

RL: It wasn't about money, we never talked about it. There wasn't any, so we had to get by some other way. Everyone who worked on the film did it for reasons other than cash. The fact that it was done so inexpensively says more about the spirit of the people involved in the project than the cost. But by the first watchable print, about $23,000 had been spent. That doesn't include large amounts still owed at the time to the lab, sound studio, and all the deferred wages. With the blow-up to 35mm and all the legal costs involved in signing with a bigger distributor, the budget is now well over 150 grand and still growing. The initial cash came from where most truly independent films come from: supportive family and friends, credit cards, any savings, additional loans. You sell off possessions, steal, ask others to steal, all kinds of things you're not particularly proud of.

RL: Are you surprised at the film's success?

RL: On one level, sure. It could easily have never happened. It comes down to a series of the right people at the right time saying "yes" in whatever way they can. But for whatever success the film has had, there is a parallel track of rejection. You have to build up an almost erotic relationship with rejection, or the process could decimate you. Even as late as last week, it continues to get turned down at certain festivals, and we haven't really had a big break internationally yet. But I think everyone who worked on the film felt it was a success last summer when we opened at the Dobie. It was closure and success completely on its own terms. Had it never gone much further, it would have been this positive experience that we all learned from, had fun with, and basically accomplished what we set out to do; any additional success has all been gravy. The national selling of the film is a bit strange to me because it's so "cult-of-the-director" oriented. When I say "we," they usually change it to "I." Fortunately for me, my key Slacker collaborators understand the inevitable simplifications as a part of the marketing process to be used, ultimately, for our ends. I'm trying not to take the personal attention and scrutiny too seriously. and actually find a certain comfort in simply seeing myself as a spokesman of the moment for a lot of people's creative energy and input. As a producer, I've always felt responsible to the 150-plus people who donated their time and energy and will share in any profits from the film.

RL: One of the most interesting aspects of the movie is its large cast of mostly non-professional actors. Where did you find such poorly dressed people?

RL: Many were friends of mine or the crew, but were most were found through a very selective vetting process where we gave out cards that were essentially invitations to a video interview. From there it was matching people to parts they seemed to embody the essence of. A lot of interesting people couldn't get it together to show up for their interview, and a lot of cool people we met with just didn't match a preconceived part. We were then so underground no one cared much. I run into people who say if they had known it was going to be any good, they would have been more interested. Basically, the cast has never been given enough credit. These were not only interesting, creative and courageous people, but also the ones serious enough to approach the rehearsal and shooting process in a professional manner. By saying everyone "simply played themselves," it doesn't acknowledge that leap of faith to get into that arena and tap into a part of themselves necessary for the part. It's not easy to be yourself on purpose take after take.

RL: The press kit here says that the movie was entirely scripted. It has such an improvisational feel.

RL: Don't ever believe press kits... that was all bullshit. Actually, we'd just turn the camera on and whatever happened, happened. I don't know why everybody doesn't do a movie like this. I guess we just got lucky that it all fit together somehow (smiles).

RL: Seriously, I detect a structure, but was just commenting that the actors seemed very real.

RL: They are real. That was the point. It was all about giving the characters complete freedom within the confines of a certain structure. As long as the scene meant what I wanted it to mean, it was open to anything and in fact demanded a certain honesty of the moment that transcends acting in the typical sense. The inspired moments and personal characteristics were planned on and cultivated. It was all about creating an atmosphere where everyone was participating as an artist. Nowhere does it say that I alone wrote every word of the movie. The director in me would never give myself that much credence as a writer, and that wasn't what this movie was all about. I initially wrote what happens in each scene, minus the exact dialogue. This all came from God knows where... conversations, crazy ideas, and actual experiences. Some were inspired by or adapted from bookish ideas or pre-existing texts, like a spoken word performance by Jim Roche or a few short stories by Jack Meredith. I had a meeting with Sid Moody about various conspiracy theories. The thread was that I was moved in some way or another by a situation and deemed it important and thematically meaningful enough to be worthy of screen time. After the cast had been selected I would usually write the dialogue and then work with the actors rewriting it. To blend with the pseudodocumentary style of the film, it was very important that the characters make the material their own in whatever way possible. This was in the rehearsal period, which for me was the most inspired aspect of production — seeing the ideas come to life via this fusion of real person and fictional context. Each scene had its own unique life, and was as varied as the personalities involved. I had trained for years as an actor and felt confident I could extract a certain quality from people that would play on the screen. It's amazing what many of the characters brought to their scenes. This was where a lot of the humor in the movie came from: You get witty and intelligent people together with a common purpose in a playful atmosphere, and almost magical things start to happen.

RL: Does this Slacker phenomenon exist anywhere else, or could this have only been made in Austin?

RL: It definitely taps into one aspect of the local atmosphere, but it's hard to say how unlike other college towns that is. I wanted it to be both an "Austin Movie" with references and one that could have come from anywhere. Its spirit might have come from elsewhere, but it probably could have only been made in Austin. Where else would such a concentration of talented film people be willing to be involved in something outside the typical professional borders of the film industry? Where else would we have been able to get the professional favors and donations of everything from equipment to locations to food? I'm proud to say that it's a 100 percent Austin product.

RL: Much is being said about the twentysomething generation that is represented in the film.

RL: First off, I refuse to participate in a conversation couched in such derivative, blatantly unoriginal terms. That ridiculous catch-phrase started last summer on the cover of Time magazine, the same magazine that could only talk of Slacker in relation to the 1960s. and even called Austin a Haight-Ashbury of the 1990s. There's no doubt where their heads are at, and it's that kind of thinking that ruins anything new. I never bought that standard baby-boomer line that we were all so nothing... it just takes a different form. We're aware of the past, informed, cynical in a healthy way, and have a great sense of irony. Who could spend such formative years in the 1970s and 1980s and not have that ironic edge? I can see why people are asking me about a generation I happen to be a part of, but to me Slacker owes more allegiance to cinema than to a generation.

RL: I thought the movie was funny, but the person I was with found it a little depressing... that it adds up to futility.

“What gives me eternal hope and, in a way, what the film really depicts, is that our society still has a strong individual vitality at heart, intellectual and otherwise.”– Richard Linklater

RL: I guess I can see how some people look at it that way... it certainly has its dark areas. But what gives me eternal hope and, in a way, what the film really depicts, is that our society still has a strong individual vitality at heart, intellectual and otherwise. Habitual energy can equal optimism. We as individuals and as a society have the ability to revitalize ourselves. There can be no denying there is a large amount of alternative social and cultural experimentation going on. It could add up to something new, or if in fact there isn't anything new, at least a new emphasis, a new combination.

RL: What's been the most exciting or satisfying experience related to the making of Slacker?

RL: I think it was working with my friends and who were with the film all the way — the "Slacker 7." When people ask advice on how to make films, I always say "have talented friends." It was one of those rare experiences where we were so in sync and dedicated to the film that the notion of professional credits was a little odd when it was all over. We all had our specialties but basically everyone did everything — whatever was required. It was just such a life-expanding process. When I fell in love with the cinema eight or nine years ago, it filled a vacuum in my life in an all-encompassing way. With Slacker, I think I had a need to reach out and try to communicate, not only to a potential audience, but more importantly, to the cast and crew I was working with. It was a challenge to go from a rather isolated world to working intimately with over 100 people. And a finished film can add an entirely new dimension to the lives of those who worked on it. The people I've met because of this film have been the coolest. I could almost now say I have a life in addition to film. There were many years before where I really couldn't or wouldn't have wanted to.

RL: What's next? Are you going to go Hollywood or stay in Austin?

RL: I'm getting really anxious to be in production again — it's been so long since we were first shooting Slacker. I have several very different kinds of films I'd like to do soon. It's all about hooking up with the right people who, regardless of what level they're on, want to make the same movie you want to make. It's certainly not so cut and dried, like the independent scene is cool and artistic and the studios are evil. A guy who gives you 50 grand to make a film can totally ruin it, and a studio that gives you seven million can leave you alone completely. I've already been to Hollywood, actually, and it's a lot of driving around and people who care much more about their bodies than their minds and spirit. I've spent a lot of time in New York in the last year, but always come back thinking Austin has the highest per capita ratio of wonderful people and the lowest percentage of assholes of any city. I believe I'll be based here for quite some time.

Cet article est disponible en ligne sur le site de l’Austin Chronicle.

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[lmfmp2021]

Initial Hand Drawn Packaging Layout Ideas - Front Label And Lid

I will now be moving onto creating some packaging, to which I thought to start by drawing some out by hand on paper. The reason for this is because I never did this when it came to doing my logo designs and I felt that this was one of the problems why I struggled so much. I went straight onto Illustrator to start instead of sketching out some possible designs. I’m hoping this will give me some layout and composition ideas that I can then recreate digitally. So this is now what I will be doing where I'm going to start with the front design of the label as I now have my logo design. 

To start, I first drew out some borders for where I was going to sketch the designs as I know that the label will be a horizontal rectangle shape. For some reason, I didn't start by drawing my first idea at the top and drew it in the centre, but this doesn't matter as I will explain my process in the order that I didn't it as my concepts will then make more sense. Before I even started thinking of layouts, I already knew that I was going to use my repeat pattern design as I thought this was one of my most effective pieces of work from the workshops I have done in the past. I also knew I wanted it to be quite bright and fun and so something a little like my research that I have also done, where there is sections with patterns and repeat patterns that standout. As well as this, in my research I remember how I noticed that in some of the repeat patterns, they have linked the drawings to the flavor. I was really drawn to this idea so I have planned on doing a similar idea too. 

In the centre design, which was my first concept, I chose to have the logo quite small where it has been positioned in the middle on the container. The reason for this is because I feel it will make most sense to have it at the front so that the viewers will see this straight away, otherwise, they might not know what it is. Although, looking back, I should have increased the size of this element as this now doesn't make much sense that I want it to be seem at first glance. After this, I then decided to draw a larger circle. In this sketch below, the top part of the circle is touching the top of the label with the bottom having a gap, this was down to the fact that I didn't draw the logo in the centre of the page. I wanted this circle to have a gap, like the bottom section. After this, I chose to position a rectangle over the top of the larger circle, but kept the logo on the top. Next, I had the idea to have the flavour name going around the curved section at the bottom of the circle. At this moment in time, I haven't come up with the flavours that I’m will have yet, obviously meaning I don't have names for them either so I just replaced this with the words ‘flavour name’. This way I know what I mean and where I would place this small bit of type. Lastly, I have gone back to the rectangle, to which I have thought to have the front as a colour that is similar to the logo colour but I will decrease the opacity so it is showing the background colour. Then, from around the sides and gong around the back, I will have my repeat pattern. 

The next design I thought of is the top one which I came up from creating this previous piece. I have used the exact same shapes but have just changed around way that they are laying over one another. So, I have thought to make the logo quite a lot bigger where the outer circle in closer to this element. This way, I would have the flavour name going around either side of the logo between these two shapes. From the image below, you can see how the outer circle is now overlaying the rectangle that is coming across the design. I had this really effective idea of having the inside section as a colour similar to the logo colour chosen but when the circle goes outside the rectangle, this part can become see through. This means that you will be able to see the chocolate spread inside the jar. Next, I could have the repeat pattern on the top and bottom parts of the label. I got this idea of having a whole in the label from scrolling on Pinterest at different types of repeat pattern packaging. I had already drawn this idea before seeing this, so when I looked back at my ideas so far, I thought this would be a really interesting place to have it. 

The last design I thought of on this page, I also got from looking at Pinterest, where instead of the stripe going around the direction of the label, I could go the opposite direction instead. I got this from looking at some packaging for tea bags where theirs had a rectangle shape going vertically. For that specific shape of packaging it worked really well, but I thought to try this direction on my own work. Although, I did this, I dint really have any other ideas of what to add for it work. I was struggling as the logo shape is circular and I have just drawn a rectangle. To make it seem a little less boring, I thought to have a very thin section at the top and base of the label, where I thought of this to be a solid fill. I could then have the majority of this packaging using the repeat pattern. At the time, I felt that the best place for the flavour name was in the centre with the logo, although now looking back I could have positioned this in the top or bottom part. 

Here, is the second page of design ideas I had to which I have developed on from the top design on the previous image. I found that this was my most effective and wanted to see if I could improve this or come up with other ideas around this. I felt that the concept of having the chocolate spread showing could look really appealing and slightly different as well. 

I first came up with only having the outer circle and logo with no rectangle, which this is showing at the bottom of the page. The reason for getting rid of the rectangle was because I didn't need to have it running all the way around the design, as this didn't really do or show anything. I then changed the position to which the transparent part would be so instead of it being at the top and base of the circle, it would be at either side of the circle. Next, I chose for the flavour name to be at the top, in between the two circles. After that, I will have the majority of the packaging as being the repeat pattern. I was then thinking that I could just have a rectangle or circle on the back for where the text will go because doing this will separate the pattern and the text as it will need to be clear and readable. The thing about this design to me is that it seems very boring and not very exiting in the slightest. I feel this is the lack of interesting shapes created from overlapping them. Although, I have been saying how I want my packaging to be simplistic, I feel this is too little that it wont attract the viewers at all. I think that by using simple shapes like circles which then relate to my logo shape, will keep the piece looking minimal but also eye catching at the same time. 

After that one, I looked back at the design from the first page to try and get ideas on what other things I could create. From doing so, I thought of bring back the rectangle shape, although this time, I would make it so that it didn't go the whole way around the jar. Instead, I could have it the length of the circle. When looking at the middle idea I have drawn, you can see that I have massively decreased the size of the rectangle so that it was slightly smaller than the outer circle. This overall design is very similar to the previous page, where there is still the transparent section, the pattern and the coloured parts too. My thoughts about this design is that I feel the rectangle seems to be letting the overall design down. I think that the shapes and whole design doesn't flow a well now as this shape looks quite random. Whereas the circles are inline with the logo where it all just looks a lot tidier. 

Then the last one I thought of was to use a square and only three sides of a circle that would be coming out from behind this square shape. This way, I could have the two sides opposite one another being transparent and the top section for the flavour name. The rest of the space would be the repeat pattern. I feel this looks quite interesting and slightly unusual, although to me it still feels like my other ideas were a little more effective. Nevertheless, it was still useful to think of and draw out any other concepts that could have worked. 

I then moved onto designing some lid ideas for the jar I thought that this would be easier to create than the back of the jars at this point in time. I also felt that I could take so the ideas from the from of the jars and recreate it onto a circular shape, where this should be quite easy as all of my concepts are mainly this shape. 

When looking at all these designs, you can see that basically all of them have been taken from the front designs of the jars and just created to fit the circular shape. The reason for doing this was because I don't want a design on the lid that doesn't match with the packaging label as this would look odd. So by having the same design just resized and very slightly altered, it would link together this way. 

Overall, I feel that these ideas feel like they could end up working really nicely when recreating them digitally. Also, I’m glad that I have done some sketches this time on paper because it has helped me to think more about the possible ideas that could work, but it also allowed me to see the ones that weren't so good as well. I do still need to do some for the back of the jar, although, i feel that for this to work, i will need to think of what I’m wanting to include on the back. As well as this, I think I should come up the text that will be featured about the product too. My plan is for my next task to be recreating the front of the jars on Illustrator but I will come back to the lid and thinking of the back label later on. 

[waynekelton]

AutoChess is the mobile game we deserve, but not the game we need

One of the great things about going away on holiday is that it gives me time to catch up on some mobile gaming. The curse of writing about videogames means that, despite getting to try out a wide variety of titles, you rarely get the chance to enjoy anything for any great length of time. Time away from the daily grind lets me actually play what I want, as opposed to what I have to.

My recent go-to game has been Star Traders: Frontiers, which is an excellent sandbox RPG set in space that’s really easy to drop-in/drop-out of. I figured that I’d spend most of my time playing that… until I heard that AutoChess was in beta on android.

I’ve been aware of the DOTA 2 mod craze since everyone started talking about it at the start of the year. We’ve covered it a fair bit on Strategy Gamer, with Ian writing up an excellent tips guide that we’ve been maintaining. Before last week, I’d never really given it a go myself- I found the concept interesting, but I don’t play DOTA 2 and I was being a bit lazy in not jumping through the hoops to explore it myself.

Just as I was settling into my holiday, Ian tells me the rumoured mobile version was actually available via beta on Android.

If you’re still not really sure what AutoChess is, let me try to break it down:

The game has nothing to do with chess, other than the fact that you play on a chess board and different classes of pieces have movement algorithms that imitate the different movement patterns of real chess piece.

Calling them ‘pieces’ probably doesn’t help, but there you are.

The meat of the game is purchasing units, and then deploying them on the board during the ‘Preparation’ phase. There’s then a battle phase where you’re pitted against a random opponent, and the pieces you’ve both put on the board then automatically fight each other according to the pre-set tactics that piece is designed to use. This will include things like movement pattern & speed, target priority, ability triggering and so on.

Units will fight until only one side remains. Loser loses HP (I forget the formula) and will be eliminated when their HP reaches 0 (you start at 100).

Units/pieces have a race and a class and come in different rarities. Three pieces of the same unit can be combined into a 2-Star, more powerful version of that piece. Three 2-stars combined to become a 3-Star.

You are offered five randomly generated units per round to choose form, which cost money. Money is earned through winning and playing rounds. Losing too, I think? You can also spend money to refresh your options.

Fielding multiple units of the same class and/or race will confer bonuses, some for the whole team, some just on other members of that class/race. These need to be different units though – duplicate pieces on the board don’t count.

The number of units you can field is controlled by your level. You get 1 XP per round fought, and you can spend money to increase your XP by 4. You can stored up to 9 pieces In your off-board area.

There is also loot.

Simple, right? Once you get your head around it things are actually quite simple – the fact that you don’t need to also fight with your pieces is what makes this game oddly alluring and in theory an excellent mobile experience. I imagine this is what people who enjoy Football Manager et al experience when they’re playing those types of games.

I've had a lot of fun slowly learning the various strategies in play, both in terms of team composition but also in terms of economy. Money’s only really scarce in the early rounds, but even when you possess a reserve you will need to be making short-and-long terms decisions with what to do to it. Do you buy that more expensive piece, or hope you can collect more cheaper ones to level up your pieces? Do you pour money into levelling up, or into refreshing the list to cycle through more options?

While some of the nuances can be a little tricky (took me a while to realise there even was a 3-Star tier), the basics of the game are explained quite well in a tutorial where you play against some bots. The English translations are a little mangled in places, but the basic information comes across fine. I’ve started playing ranked and while I initially did quite well, I’m starting to make it into the top 4 less and less at the moment, so perhaps I need to spend more time in casual.

At the moment, I’m really trying to pay attention as to what bonuses are worth going for, and how each unit behaves. Assassins by and large will jump towards the back of the enemy’s formation, but you can have both melee and ranged assassins (as you can have melee and ranged of several different unit type) so taking this into account is key. I’m also trying to learn when to scale up my units in terms of power; learning when to let go and move on to better pieces seems important.

Despite my current infatuation with AutoChess, as a mobile game it’s currently lacking in several key, potentially deal-breaking areas, all connected via a similar theme:

Matches are played out in real-time, and they are long – upwards of 25-30 mins. Even if you’re the first one eliminated, you’re looking at a good 15 minutes.

There’s no pausing and, and even if you minimise the app to do something else, the action continues without you (plus if you miss an action phase you won't be able to see what happened for the purpose of tweaking your strategy).

While mid and even late-game comebacks are possible, a lot of the time I released quite early that my strategy was poor. I also quite often wasn’t really sure what to do about, which meant even with a strong start I had to watch myself slowly but surely lose ground for 15 minutes until knocked out. It’s like watching a train-wreck in slow motion.

Experimenting is hard because you’ve got to play out a whole match and the RNG means that being ‘scientific’ about it is quite challenging.

While there’s no denying the strength of the core theme, I would very much like to see the developers experiment with different versions of the game that are more mobile friendly. Enabling people to drop-in, drop-out out matches I think is paramount, although failing that It’d be interesting to see how robust the game would be with everyone on, say, 50HP instead of 100.

Really though, considering you only need to spend 30 or so seconds (the Preparation phase has a time-limit) making the real decisions, I’m pretty sure an asynchronous mode would work. One could log-in, watched a replay for the last round, and then play out their next Preparation phase the moment they’re ready. Like other asynchronous multiplayer games, there would need to be a limit on how long to wait between submitting the next round.

If you’ve yet to try out AutoChess I’d highly recommend jumping on board and checking it out, even if you only play a couple of matches. It’s easier to do on Android, just search for ‘AutoChess’ by Dragonest Game. iOS players have a few more hoops to jump through. I’ll be keeping a closer eye on this going forward, and we’ve heard rumours of other similar games already on the market, so we’ll probably check those out as well.

AutoChess is the mobile game we deserve, but not the game we need published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[williamsjoan]

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Review — Complex Systems Made Handheld Accessible

With the Nintendo Switch acting as both a portable and home console, the possibilities it proves are quite unique. Games for the platform can embody the usual traits of current day HD console games, or they can be designed for quick pick up and play sessions meant to be experienced in handheld mode. By finally putting Civilization VI on the Switch, here is a game that can fit either need.

It’s likely that a large number of people who bought a Switch do not play games on other platforms, so this iteration of Civilization VI could be their first experience with the series—it certainly was mine. With that in mind, it was important to delve into the perspective of a newcomer. As accessibility and ease of play are primary goals for many games on Nintendo platforms, it was important to me that this game that I initially found intimidating would exemplify those principles.

For the most part, it did.

“As accessibility and ease of play are primary goals for many games on Nintendo platforms, it was important to me that this game that I initially found intimidating would exemplify those principles.”

As I discovered rather quickly, Civilization VI is all about building civilizations. Jokes aside, I was quite pleased that this port was designed with novice players such as myself—upon starting up my first game, I was asked if I was new to either Civilization VI, the Switch port, or the Civilization series as a whole. Selecting the third option resulted in a guided experience that caught me up with the basics of the turn-based game, while also being a little less hand-holding than the tutorial.

And boy, were there a lot of systems to wrap my head around—it turns out that building a civilization from the ground up is a bit complicated. A lot of the bread and butter of the gameplay involves establishing cities, producing and utilizing resources, and moving units such as warriors, scouts, and settlers around the large, hexagonal map to make gains for your civilization (my personal thoughts on how the game depicts this later). The systems get deeper when it gets into the culture nitty gritty, with religion, civics, and science developments being a large part of managing a civilization.

The player will act as or encounter and deal with several historical figures, not limited to Theodore Roosevelt, Cleopatra, and Mahatma Gandhi. These anachronistically-placed leaders will all deal with situations differently, having their own agendas and advantages that players will have to keep in mind. These leaders are represented by animated character models with scripted dialogue, and they could very well become your enemies or allies, depending on how you play the board with your units. Encroach on someone’s territory, and either side may end up declaring war. Democracy’s tough, man.

“And boy, were there a lot of systems to wrap my head around—it turns out that building a civilization from the ground up is a bit complicated.”

Assuming players pick the option of “New to Switch,” the main selling point is just how it controls on the console. For the most part, it operates as a hybrid of how I would expect the game to control on both home consoles and on mobile. It’s entirely possible to navigate through the game’s board and menus through buttons and an analog stick, but handheld mode makes full use of the touchscreen.

During most of my playtime with the game, I elected to use the handheld controls instead. It took me a comical amount of time to figure out how to select different units when they occupied the same hex space, but using the touch screen for selection was a breeze. It’s a minute difference, but I found myself playing Civilization VI lying down in bed more often than sitting upright in front of the television.

The touch screens go further than simple button presses, with gestures one would expect coming from an iOS game coming into play. Tap the screen with three fingers to pause, swipe around the map, pinch to zoom in and out, and so on. “Intuitive” is a cliched term for this kind of stuff, but seeing how difficult I found the systems of this game to be, having the touchscreen available to me made it just that. I still found myself baffled by some of the HUD elements, with many buttons not being labeled, but I chalked that up to my own damn attention span missing some prompts earlier in the game.

“…I found myself playing Civilization VI lying down in bed more often than sitting upright in front of the television.”

It wasn’t too long into playing Civilization, however, that I found my own personal views on warfare and colonization to hamper my experience. I can stomach hyperrealistic World War II games quite well, but the way this game depicts a wider scope of colonialism from the top down is what made me a bit uncomfortable. In fact, it’s probably the vibrant, bright colors that made the experience all the more unsettling.

I’ve been familiar with the theme songs of the recent Civilization games, as I have friends who won’t stop sending them to me—yes, the choral composition and instrumental arrangements sound nice and all, but it’s indicative of just how optimistic and cheery the game is. From the opening video to Sean Bean’s soothing narrations, the game is trying to invoke this sense of wonder and enthusiasm, when what you are recreating in the game are acts of colonization, assimilation, and straight-up war.

Most players are able to separate the politics from the gameplay, but Civilization VI not only felt so inherently political, but violent. History was probably the subject that I followed the closest in high school, so with much of that context in mind, especially with everything about the world that I’ve learned since then, winning a match through a “religious victory” or total domination didn’t bring me too much satisfaction. Yes, these are all simulations and virtual people, but I found the win conditions a bit too hard to fist pump to.

“Most players are able to separate the politics from the gameplay, but Civilization VI not only felt so inherently political, but violent.”

I doubt that most people eyeing this game will really be troubled by the content and presentation, and I’m not expecting moral objections or anything of the such. Having never dived into the series, I can only assume that it has lasted for so long due to its impact on the genre, and for that, I’m happy that anyone interested in either the series or the genre as a whole can finally experience this on the Switch.

Even hours into my time with the game, I still felt as though I was far from mastering the nuances of Civilization VI. I’m still on the fence on whether or not I want to pursue a greater understanding of the game, not entirely because of my aforementioned concerns, but because I’m not so sure I’ll be able to understand it by the end. To me, there’s a difference of having intrigue and having fun in a game, and I can report that the only real fun I had playing Civilization VI was renaming “Washington” into “ButtTown.”

Still, I really do admire the care put into making this game playable for the Switch—it seems like such a perfect fit on paper, and it works in execution. I can’t imagine that the audience who bought the Switch just for the Nintendo first-party games will be interested in Civilization VI. If any of them do end up purchasing it, the learning curve will likely be steep. But if they’re able to move past that better than I could, the controls on Switch should make it feel like a breeze.

The post Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Review — Complex Systems Made Handheld Accessible by Chris Compendio appeared first on DualShockers.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Review — Complex Systems Made Handheld Accessible published first on https://timloewe.tumblr.com/

[furederiko]

The Devil's Scientist made his influences known, eventhough he's not around in flesh and soul... or is he? Hmmmm....

You know the drill, last time it was my internet that behaved badly. This time, my health was the the culprit. Forcing me to stay in bed since last week, postponing all the plans I've made and posts I've wanted to publish. To be completely honest though, this was initially meant to include episode 10 that's about to air in just 2 hours from now (following last week's break). In a last minute hours decision, I've decided to delay episode 10, and batch that one alongside the other November episodes. Separating these episodes on a monthly basis sounds better for the long run, right? Okay then, here's episode 08 and 09...

08 - "Maternal Instinct"

- Hey there, we got to see the three Prime Ministers again. Along with their names, in case people have forgotten. I know I have, because last we saw them was 5 episodes ago. LOL. Yoshiko Tajimi of Hokuto questioned how the fugitive Kamen Rider was able to appear in her region. Masakuni Midou of Seito pointed out that Touto could be working on a military angle with this. Taizan Himuro of Touto obviously didn't have a clue, because it's his son who's playing with fire. - Aaah, yes, I guess there's good coming from the identity reveal of Night Rogue. Gentoku got to show up much more often now, and even in the battle! No more beating around the bushes or playing coy. We also learned a hint of his motive with the Kamen Rider system. It's clear that he wanted to build a military response to protect Touto from the threat of Seito and Hokuto, even if that's against the wishes of his own father who prefered to focus on economy. Classic case of Republican vs Democrat, eh? Then again, Gentoku could simply be exhibiting paranoia, constantly living in fear that the other regions are scheming to attack his region when that 'might' not be the case. For now, let's just wait and see... - Having learned from Blood Stalk that her son was the founder of Faust, Kyoka decided to give Sento and clown Ryuuga (no kidding, he had TWO cosplay jokes in one episode) a chance. In a sweet conversation she told them about Takumi, his love of science, and how he idolized his late father, the man previously responsible for Pandora's Box. - It's an intimate conversation, that was amped up by Sento's polite and emotional reaction when he ate Takumi's favorite dish: sweet rolled omelette (Tamagoyaki). Hmmm... this reaction felt odd. Could it be possible that, Sento is in fact... Takumi? As in, trapped in an outer body situation? Seriously though, the more I saw it, the more I felt how Takumi indeed resembled so much like him. This is a sci-fi show, so perhaps Takumi's consciousness was transferred into Sentou when he died? That's certainly one possibility. - Apparently, Kyoka left Takumi's research data in Touto, and wanted to retrieve that herself to ensure that it's given to the right hands. Sadly, that also caused her to be the prime target of Faust. Dang it, our boy Gentoku is ruthless! Not only he snatched Kyoka himself, he openly tricked her into giving the data, and then turned her into Smash just to erase his tracks. He wanted to protect Touto, but would do anything, even use dirty measures to get it done. Can't say I dislike this ambiguous side though... *grins* - The Fire Engine Full Bottle that Misora handed out was a Best Match with Hedgehog (the one from episode 1), turning Sento into "A Pin-Point Rescue", Fire Hedgehog form. FYI, this was the form that encouraged me to see this show... before I actually saw its appearance. I dig the design, but why the Red and White color scheme? To make it look like a Fire Truck? Hmmm... - Kyoka was rescued, but the memory of her meeting with Gentoku and Utsumi was already lost. Thankfully, Takumi had already planned out his own safety measure in advance, by planting the Bank's safety box as decoy. The real USB flash drive was hidden elsewhere by Kyoka, at a special place for both Takumi and her husband: Nanba Heavy Industries Composite Materials Laboratory. Sento and Ryuuga obtained the data, but Stalk has been... ugh, stalking them. - Ryuuga fought Stalk, prompting the Cobra to utter that intriguing phrase... of how his enemy's Hazard Level is already 2.4. He continued the battle to increase this number up to 2.7. I wonder why? Build on the other hand, dealt with Night Rogue who entered the battle. - The battle ended abruptly, when Stalk decided to... give the data to Ryuuga. HUH? Night Rogue furiously demanded an explanation as Build ran off with Ryuuga, to which Stalk revealed a sneaky reasoning. He did that on purpose... to let Sento do the hard work for their project (with Ryuuga as the subject). OUCH!!! Of course, this made me certain that Stalk could be Takumi after all. Let's just say, I wouldn't be surprised if he is. Remember Night Rogue? Takumi understood that only his mother knew where the data was hidden, so unlike Gentoku, he waited for her to make the move. And the way he analyzed Ryuuga in battle? That sounded like a mad scientist to me. - This episode ended in another strong note. Kyoka made her decision to entrust the research data to Sento. He returned the favor, by giving her Takumi's private message... "Thank you for giving me life.". Aaaaaw... THE FEELS. As I've said before, Kyoka has been a highlight for this show, and her story with Takumi was soooo compelling and heartfelt. I just hope this wasn't a massive redherring, when the show ends up revealing that Takumi is indeed... Stalk.

Overall: Great goodness!!! WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THIS SHOW?! After being disappointed three episodes in a row, it delivered probably its best episode so far. Both in storyline and acting, particularly Kyoka's, Sento's, and Ryuuga's actors. It not only succeeded in making me VERY intrigued to see what's next, it even made me shed a tear. Of course, it's worth noted that this show still feels like a big game of charade. Moving back and forth and confusing audience with the character's motives and actions while the outcome is pretty much straightforward and simple. So here's a wild guess for the sake of speculation! Basically, these early episodes merely serve as a 'prelude', that will see all Riders (Build, Cross-Z, Rogue, Stalk, and probably more) working together to protect Touto against the other regions. I'm not betting my money on this theory, but if it that's indeed accurate... then I certainly won't be surprised.

09 - "Hazard-Level Twist"

- "PROJECT BUILD". Yep, that's the secret research data that Takumi left behind. Well, I'll be damned! Who would've guessed that Takumi was the true creator of the Build Driver, and not Sento, right? - That Takumi video. I wonder if this was meant to be Build's transformation video, instead of Sento's version? Some people might found this oddly filmed presentation to be... annoying. It honestly didn't shout nerdy scientist, more of a cocky flashy Tony STARK-esque. Remember how "Iron Man" used science for military? But that's good for the plot development, because it actually gave Takumi a proper characterization. Hmmm... his gesture and attitude felt familiar. Wait a sec... BLOOD STALK? *winks* - According to the exposition-heavy video, the Rider System was developed for 'ultimate defense'. Hence, weapons for military. Only people who has achieved a certain criteria could use the Build Driver. And that criteria? *drumrolls* Hazard Level. The phrase Stalk kept mumbling about since episode 6! It's a term used to describe resistance to Nebula Gas, ranging from 1 as the weakest, to 3 as those who could utilize the Driver. This explained why Ryuuga was zapped when he tried to trigger it. He couldn't use it... YET. Sento deduced that those human experiments were likely performed to find perfect candidates for the Driver. - Full Bottles were generated from Nebula Gas, combining a pair would produce new sets of power. Takumi demonstrated this using Wolf and Smartphone to create Smaphowolf form. No sign of when this cool-designed form would make an appearance in the show, because we somehow got the Lock bottle instead. - Another surprise arrived on the opposite side. If you think Gentoku was the Leader of Faust, then you might be mistaken. Another player called Juusaburou Nanba (played by Akira Hamada) entered the fray as Faust's bigwig investor whom Gentoku needed to report to. He even debuted in a fan-service scene that... easily humiliated our Night Rogue. If his last name rings a bell, that's because he's the Chairman of Nanba Heavy Industries... the place where Katsuragi and son used to work! This old man pretty much threatened Gentoku to persuade his father right away, or he would offer his aide to Seito or Hokuto instead. - Sento had a disagreement with Ryuuga (acting like a... married couple? LOL) about Takumi's work, so he ran off to find distraction by... going to work. Seriously? THIS is your reason to actually be in the office?! Two of his colleagues, Shingo Kuwata (played by Ryo Yoshida) and Eita Kawai (played by Tsukasa Honjou, who reminds me of VA Tomokazu Seki) turned out to be Takumi's fanboys. Hold on, why did the episode reveal their names? Important people? - On the other side of the equation, angry Ryuuga vented out by... having casual chit-chat with Misora. Goodness, what is wrong with these guys! Why not talk it out with each other? At least, Ryuuga did a better job, by dragging Misora out of the house to have some fun outing. Another costume cosplay joke aside, this sweet risky 'date' provided us with much needed depth for her. We got to learn more about her, and how she has been a poor victim all these time. 7 years of comatose since the Sky Wall Disaster?! You've got to be kidding me. No wonder she kept saying "Sleepy" and always looked tired. Misora never had a normal life, and she's stuck with that golden bracelet as well, the key item that purified Smash Essence! - As always, things were too perfect after all. Night Rogue attacked them, and tried to take back Misora. Once again, Stalk meddled and allowed Ryuuga to bring her to safety. WOW, WHO's really the higher up among these two then? Why did Gentoku keep on agreeing with Stalk, and not the other way around? - As suspected though, Gentoku was doing all this merely to save Touto. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep it away from the other countries", he vowed. To the point that he wants to do bad to his own father, by stealing the Pandora's Box to spark a war. And guess who would serve as his lackeys? That's right... Kuwata and Kawai. THAT's why these two extras got the privilege of having actual names. LOL. - Kuwata turned into a Smash. Sento utilized the Lion and Vacuum Full Bottles and become "The Maned Cyclone!", Lioncleaner form to deal with him. Nice color scheme, but so-so busy design. It was a quick fight, that ended with Kuwata revealing that he was merely a distraction to ensure Kawai's part. Before the poor nerdy guy obliterated himself, he also revealed that Takumi is still alive. Yep.... CALLED IT! - At the same time, a familiar female voice handed photographic intels on Build to old-man Nanba. Oh Sawa, you sneaky woman you! So the person she has been reporting to in the first episode, was none other than this creepy Chairman. Then again, this could end up becoming another massive red herring. Because if I didn't know any better, Sawa acting as a double agent or some kind is the most probable situation... - One last thing. Why the name 'Kiryuu Sento'? 'SEN' is the first kanji of 'SENSHA' that means 'Tank', while 'TO' is the kanji for the kana 'Usagi' that means 'Rabbit'. So he's... literally Rabbit Tank. LOL. Thanks to this convenient confirmation, I've updated the protagonist's name from 'Sentou' into the more accurate 'Sento'. Is it a coincidence that Sento sounds like 'Saint'? Probably not, knowing Sento's... almost Saint-like personality. What about 'Kiryuu'? That's just the name of the barber whom Souichi visited when he found amnesiac Sento. Oy oy...

Overall: Okay, I'm convinced. I've said that I would give this show a chance only up to episode 9, and it surprised me by giving not one, but TWO consecutive great episodes. This one managed to up the game even further, beating an earlier episode that was already impressive. A show is good if it can hide shocking secrets from the audience, and not just withholding them between characters (because that can get tired very fast). This episode proved just that by pushing us into a fun loop. I admit, this was an exposition-heavy episode, but the many reveals were all important. Takumi got actual personality now. Misora's high school date was truly a highlight that added so much depth to her character. All the ambiguity with Gentoku, who ironicallly has been pushed around by other people, also added depth to his questionable actions. And then there's Sawa... As I've said over and over again, this show is really good when it's serious and not trying to exaggerate itself too much with comedy. I'm also amazed how a science-themed Kamen Rider eventually evolves into a military themed one, complete with political intrigues and agendas. Definitely best episode so far! If there's one part I truly dislike, it's none other than the preview. From the looks of things, Blood Stalk IS exactly who I've been suspecting. Just like episode 6, TOEI LOVES to ruin a good surprise in advance, by revealing the obvious. This time, TWO WHOLE weeks earlier due to the break! Sad to say, that reduces the episode's overall score... a few points *sigh*. Next Episode: Shall we start a war...? PS: For the time being, I WILL be watching more episodes of Build. It still doesn't mean that I'm going to follow it to the end though, because if things get bad again, then I won't ever mind to abandon ship right away. Let's just say, I'm giving the show another chance to prove itself for the next 9 episodes. Will its Hazard Level increase enough to force me to stay, or will it goes the other way and goes 'kaboom'? We'll see... *grins*

Episode 08 Score: 8 out of 10 Episode 09 Score: 8,3 out of 10

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Kamen Rider Build" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[docacappella]

The Case for Curriculum

There has been a lot of debate and discussion lately about whether contemporary a cappella should be included in the music curriculum, whether that be a cappella examples in the general music classroom, a cappella ensembles at the college level for college credit, or most importantly, the creation of a four-year degree in contemporary a cappella.

Today, I make my case.

Including a cappella music into a formal curriculum has far more advantages than detriments.

Before I begin my incoherent rant, I must clarify the argument I’m making. I’m making the case for adding a cappella music into a formalized school curriculum. I’m not addressing education initiatives such as Next Level, A cappella Academy, Camp A cappella, or the A cappella School. I love and support all of those creations, but none have specific ties to a formal college or degree. I’m suggesting we take the model that the aforementioned organizations have already devised and add it to a degree-granting institution.

The benefits are:

1) Popular Music Base

This is nothing new. Most students respond better to popular music than they do classical music because it is familiar and more representative of the current music trend and their culture. But choral teachers are still hesitant to include popular repertoire into their curriculum, because popular music is made for the masses, and the simplistic, repetitive composition of pop music yields little material to study and analyze.

But (of course) I disagree with the above assessment. If utilized correctly and fully, a general music classroom can go a full year teaching new musical concepts with just a popular music base, and nowhere is that more prevalent than a cappella.

Last year, I joined the Association for Popular Music Education (APME), an organization that promotes the inclusion of pop music into the classroom, not as a one-off lesson anomaly, but as the fundamental basis for all musical learning. It’s entirely possible (and utterly plausible) that your kids aren’t ready to appreciate the complexity of Mozart, the uniqueness of Stravinsky, or the thematic development of Wagner. So I say, screw it. Don’t teach it until they’re ready, even if that means they won’t be ready until they go to college.

2) The End of Mediocrity

Behind closed doors, buried deep within the confines of Facebook comments, there is a word understood by many a cappella professionals who dare not speak its name. It’s called mediocrity.

True, the a cappella community has never shone brighter, thanks to all of the educational initiatives and the sudden expansion of a cappella companies. But for every new bright star, five more groups are struggling to keep up, unaware that educational resources are easier to find than ever.

An a cappella major, or a cappella college classes would help in the fight against mediocrity. Imagine if you will, a recent college graduate who has had 3 dedicated semesters of a cappella arranging, covering everything from medleys to barbershop, 2 semesters of recording techniques covering everything from tracking to mixing (not mastering because there just wasn’t enough time to squeeze it in), a full semester of vocal percussion techniques and live sound, a comprehensive knowledge of contemporary a cappella history, and seven semesters of training in pop vocal styles. 

I imagine if a college began churning out students like that, the fight against mediocrity would be more evenly matched.

3) Ensembles for College Credit

When a college includes a dedicated a cappella ensemble as part of the course offerings (as they do in many colleges such as Wright State, Tiffin, or UCD), it sends a clear message that a cappella is considered to be a legitimate style of singing.

Let’s take the age-old Pentatonix discussion: Pentatonix, and Ben Bram, wanted to be known in the music industry as a band. Not an a cappella group…a band that just happened to use no instruments. Their desire to send a message was clear: "A cappella is as legitimate a musical style as pop, hip-hop, or heavy metal." The unique characteristic that this particular group sang without instruments was less important than the fact that they SAAYNG. (pronounced “sang” with extreme emphasis on daaaammmmmnnnnn!!!)

They have made many strides in this endeavor. Now, it’s education’s turn. To truly legitimize a cappella music as an art form equal to classical choral music, educational institutions must transform it into a credit-worthy ensemble, under the umbrella of the music program.

4) Better for Beginners

I teach a for-credit a cappella ensemble where I work. The ensemble is unique for three reasons: one, we exclusively sing contemporary a cappella arrangements from a variety of arrangers, two, it is a non-auditioned ensemble so anyone can join, and three it is made up of mostly beginning singers who can’t even identify a treble clef, let alone sight read.

By the end of the semester (or more likely two consecutive semesters), several changes have occurred: The students can sight read, but only in a stepwise direction, the students have learned the basics of pop vocal production, the students have sung complicated, syncopated rhythms, and the students have freely improvised over a simple chord structure. True, none of these advancements are at an expert level, but the change from day one to the end is significant, and I believe the unique characteristics of chosen a cappella arrangements contribute to it:

A. I choose arrangements where the background voices serve as chordal accompaniment so that the voice leading is simple and stepwise.

B. I choose arrangements where the pitches are almost identical, but the rhythms are very challenging and fun to sing, requiring a high level of concentration and internal counting.

C. I choose arrangements with repetitive chord progressions so that the students can have the freedom to improvise a section.

D. I choose arrangements with a limited range so that I can demonstrate healthy chest singing and the transition from chest voice to head voice. What do you think? Does a cappella belong in the school curriculum? Marc Silverberg Follow the Quest:

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