And now for something completely different…

Posted on March 23rd, 2012

Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 8:15 pm

1. I bet I have totally made that reference before. I am a terribly unoriginal dude.

2. Something different. Namely, spring is beginning to break. Truthfully, that’s technically as timed, but it’s so wintery so late this past year and the year prior, it’s really lovely to have some sun. I could really use some sunshine on the regular after months of multi-layer cloud sheets that even left mid day looking muted and gross. I think I want to try be more social next semester. I really hope I can swing Google IO/Anime Expo, though, I know that’s a long shot. More practically, I hope the weather stays nice so I walk to the local mall more often, and so I feel more inclined to pop out in the evenings and hang out with my various SFU social groups.

Well, my two SFU social groups. As is my style apparently, I have two different friend groups again. The Computer Science Student Society (CCCS) and The Altered Reality Club (ARC.) There is some overlap between. Where have I seen this before? Oh yeah, Genki Society at BCC and Anime Kingdom. At least I think I can probably dodge any drama when I see it. Maybe. For now, I’ll take it as it comes I guess.

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Pre-Orders Are Over/Re-Orders Are Starting

Posted on March 22nd, 2012

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 12:49 am

It’s good thing I didn’t try to do a Kickstarter, because I doubt I would’ve made the money I asked for. Also, they take forever to setup and get cash to you apparently, and with any luck, pre-orders are set to ship by April 9th. I’ll keep people in the loop as the goods come in, but so far, I think we’re holding steady. Anyway, it looks like I’ll be in the black (barely) off the preorders. Well, maybe not after shipping, but hopefully, more than a few people want stuff at Norwescon and Sakuracon. We’ll just have to see how that goes. I have to say though, it was definitely only friends/super fans who preordering the album. I somewhat expected that, but at the same time, I hope one day I can see a name I haven’t seen on the order lists for my previous albums.

The re-order part comes in regards to Rai’s album, which we’re pushing back from her severe bronchitis. How severe was said bronchitis, you may ask? If she waited another day or two for treatment, we’d be using the word “pneumonia” instead. Probably also with the words “hospital stay.” However, this is not going to be time wasted – she can’t record vocals right as is recovering for the next few weeks (doctor’s orders,) but there are other aspects of her new album and the related materials she’s working on.

Frankly though, I’m just glad she isn’t in the hospital. Rai’s not just a great musician to work with, but more importantly she’s a good friend. Sure, I want just as badly as she does to get this record done, but her health comes first.

To end on a positive note, Nursehella and I will hit the studio again in the next couple weeks for atleast two sessions. Given the rate at which she’s been knocking down vocals, that means we’ll have the principal vocal recording done in those two sessions. That means in the next couple weeks, the vocal recording part of the long anticipated (even by me,) debut of Nursehella shall occur. Then we start working on some sort of Kickstarter equivalent for her. It should be a blast, and I already know the incentives for said donation campaign should be awesome.

Things may still not happen in the order now anticipated, but so I long as I live, they’re gonna happen.

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New Album Preorders

Posted on March 7th, 2012

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 5:55 pm

Actual Order Page: Here.

Key Information:

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I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This

Posted on March 6th, 2012

Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 7:24 pm

So, after years of fighting it, I finally caved and added a Mac Mini to my veritable harem of computing devices. After all, a lot of musicians use Macs, and more annoyingly, use Logic Pro, which is Mac-specific audio software. However, for all the gabbing about just how easy life is on a Mac, I find myself fairly unimpressed with certain aspects of Mac life. For starters, I miss Windows 7’s snap-to-side function. Grabbing a program Window and quickly giving it half my screen worked wonderfully, especially when writing papers. I was going to finish an assignment up last night on the mac as test drive, but I was quickly off put and back on windows.

However, that’s a petty nitpick compared to the big ticket problem: I can’t update the iLife suite. It came free with the computer, but I even after logging in, clicking to accept the apps does nothing. Clicking update brings up a ‘NULL’ error. This is comically bad. After all, I was able to pull an update for the OS itself directly from Apple, so I don’t get why this is such a chase for the apps. I’ve sent off a support email, but for now, I feel unimpressed. Windows may lack a store entirely, but what’s included with the OS updates almost too easily, and I can easily get what’s not included through great sites like Ninite.

I am corresponding with Apple support right now, and I hope I get to follow this up with a retraction, but I hate that it came to this in the first place. Considering I managed to build a Windows 7 box from parts and get everything running and lovely on it in about a day last weekend, sitting around fighting for an app update is annoying at a minimum.

I mean, this is the kind of goofy trouble Apple made fun of Windows for, and in fact, I haven’t even had this kind of trouble with Linux since I started to used it on the original eeePC in 2007. That’s problematic.

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Kyubey is P. Diddy?

Posted on March 4th, 2012

Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 3:27 am

This time, the title mash-up is really just my random musing. As I sit here, waiting for my parents’ new computer to install Windows updates, I’m quite bored. However, fresh on my mind is Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I have to review the first volume of the series for toonzone, and I was a bit perplexed by it initially. Yes, it’s expertly animated, and the story is very dark for a magical girl anime, but what was it trying to get at? What were the metaphors in play?

It was while waiting for these updates that the answer hit me. In the show, a mascot character named Kyubey offers Madoka a wish for anything she wants in exchange for being a magical girl as she has that talent latent in her. It seems like a sweet deal, except that being a magical girl comes means you have to risk your life to fight evil witches. Besides that, Madoka has a sweet life, so what more could she wish for? She likes the heroism associated with being a magical girl, but doesn’t want to upset her life for no reason. Yet, she knows she has potential to save people and make them happy by gaining this power. That’s attractive to her.

That interplay mirrors the exchange between record labels and artists. Labels, if they think you have something special, will offer you anything you want, but in exchange you the get the responsibility of celebrity Like the responsibility of being a magical girl, celebrity is a double edged sword. It comes with power, but that power can be self-destructive, and for all the people you may make happy because of it, you yourself may die from it’s exercise. It’s also a hard thing to seize if you have other talents. I’ve seen a few artists have a hard time balancing that wish against their existing connections and comforts.

Why did it click with me like that? Because I recalled an interview with Gorilla Zoe, a rapper on P. Diddy’s Bad Boy Records. He was asked about taking a deal with Bad Boy because Diddy had supposedly written some very sleazy contracts in the past. Zoe said it was a choice of that risk, or continuing to hustle in the streets. As was the case of some of the characters in the show, there were no existing comforts to lose. Accepting that contract, what ever risks that had, weren’t as bad as the other risks.

Then I realized why I’ve really had a hard time honing in on a specific field myself. Everything I do has certain existing comforts. Music is something that’s often effortless for me, and it’s always a pleasure. Writing, particularly in regards to analysis and critiques, is similarly fluid, though sometimes less engaging. Still, it yields benefits. Programming and software design take the most effort and planning, but still aren’t beyond my grasp, and there are immensely engaging once the ball is rolling. They’re all intrinsically fun. However, while writing professionally isn’t something I’ve come that close to, the other two passions continuously fight for my attention. The problem is, I don’t have the Gorilla Zoe choice. I have the Madoka choice. Trade a very functional life for a much riskier pursuit almost designed to end in tragedy.

And that’s when I realized Madoka is a very good anime. I’ll have to find a less gonzo way of posing that point in my review though.

Also, I’m getting tired of having the same question always on my mind.

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