Animatic is Out
Posted on April 13th, 2012
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:01 pm
Coming soon, get the regular version on a plastic disk, get the fancy version as audio files free!
It’s done. It’s apparently somewhere between 1000 and over 9000 tracks depending on whose twitter you follow. I really hope people enjoy it. I mean, I’d like people to buy it too, but frankly, I’ll be happy with as many people as possible embracing the album. I hope it connects with people. It’s all the stuff I love and think about, and it’s all wrapped into what I think is pretty catchy and fun package, even when I’m being more serious.
But, like I say right at the start of the album’s first first, “Sixth’s time the charm, but even I am skeptical.”
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Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop
Posted on April 3rd, 2012
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 1:36 pm
So, the lovely dose of early-00s cartoon nostalgia this past weekend was followed today by the lovely luck of getting a whole bunch of clothes for $3 dollars an item. After taxes I was only in it for about 20 bucks for 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of cargo pants and 2 new sweaters. Honestly, I’ve hit so much in the way of clothing deals in the past few years I really didn’t anything I picked up, but when you’re talking 3 bucks for any new item of clothing, it’s worth it if it fits. Of course, my neurotic side is just waiting for things to de-laminate and implode as often seems to be the case for me.
If this convention-loaded weekend goes swimmingly, I can only assume I’m going to be completely gutted by my finals, or my fans decide my new album is a national tragedy and generally awful.
Though, I am having a lot of trouble writing my final paper.
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What Is Thy Desire
Posted on April 2nd, 2012
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 12:35 pm
I think this post with out question gives me posts to fulfill that blogging requirement I mentioned long ago in January.
After my massive and fully unplanned for Toonami binge, all of the little catchphrases and quotes that probably shaped all too much of my late teenage years and my early twenties echoed around my head. Outlaw Star was particularly loaded with those quotes, such as the one I used in the title. It’s valid question. It’s still one that 12 years later I don’t have a perfect answer to, as evidence by all the rambling in this blog.
All I know is that this week, “it’s showtime!” as they would say on The Big O. I have a lot to knock off the plate this week, so that last moment of maximum, top-notch relaxation by watching some classics from my youth was more than welcome. It was inspiring too. I don’t know what I want, but I know what I must do.
“No one’s gonna give you a map, you’ve got to walk your own path.” – Hilda, Outlaw Star
And walk it I shall.
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April Fools Love Letter
Posted on April 1st, 2012
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 1:52 am
In the July of 2000, my life’s course was irrevocably altered. After having seen a simply epic TV promo for an anime (Japanese cartoon,) named Tenchi Muyo, I absolutely had to watch it. So, on that July day, I flipped the channel to Cartoon Network, and watched the show. At first, I was just as unimpressed as I was with the other anime shows, but ultimately I did really fall for the show. By the next summer, I had started to collect anime series on DVD, and two summers after that, I attended my first anime convention. All of this was thanks to a little anime block on Cartoon Network by the name of Toonami and the fact they aired Tenchi. So much of my life as it is now is directly tied to that interest. I probably wouldn’t even be going to university in Canada if not for anime, as it was friends in that community that got me to go to SFU for Anime Evolution back in the day.
So, when Cartoon Network decided to use the Toonami packaging as an April Fool’s gag. I have to say, I was overwhelmed. It’s been over a decade since that fateful day, but I have to admit that I wouldn’t at all be the man I am today without that. It’s weird to think about that.
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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:
- This is for the US only, unless you know me in real life.
- If enough people internationally want this, I’ll stumble through and workout just how much more international shipping will cost. Just remember, shipping a CD internationally is around 8 dollars when you’re an independent like me.
- I’m cutting off the preorders on March 21st. This is so I can place orders for the items in time for the ship date of April 9th or earlier.
- I’m doing only one run of the shirts for the pre-orders. I might do a few more Norwescon, but I doubt it.
- If you’re attending SakuraCon or Norwescon, I may be able to deliver your order directly to you at the con. Email me after your pre-order if you’d like me to do that.
- All preordered CDs will be autographed.
- The standard edition download will be pay what you want the first week of release, so no preorders will be offered for it.
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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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The Ice King Visits Old Home
Posted on February 29th, 2012
Filed under: General — Karl Olson @ 11:10 am
The above title is an entirely unnecessary train wreck of references, one to Adventure Time and it’s character, the Ice King, and the other to Haibane Renmei, specifically a set of buildings in that show. The reasoning behind that verbal soup is that when I first moved to Burnaby, and was living on the SFU campus, the constantly foggy weather reminded me of Old Home. The world simply stopped after a certain distance as it did in the show. Also, today, I yet again drove up to campus to find it embraced in snow, which reminds of the Ice King. All in all though, that’s not what I needed today of all days.
Josh Montgomery (aka MC Gigahertz,) a good friend and wonderful musician, recently passed away at age 26. I’ve never known a man who brought more energy to the stage, and his style was absolutely authentic and entirely his own. Calling him unique seems shallow, but truthfully, his madcap style, which he named “Absurdcore,” was one of kind. He deftly balanced a commitment to producing quality music with sharp, witty lyrics against a commitment to be as strange as possible. He was committed to his craft as an artist. He was a pleasure to hang out with and see live, and I was looking forward to working with him in the future. Now, that will never come to pass, and it saddens me deeply to contemplate that.
Maybe that explains my non-sequitor title too. As I look out across the bleak, snow-frosted campus, I really don’t want to believe that Josh is gone. Twenty somethings are not meant to be writing mournful remembrances of their peers. While I believe in an after-life, it doesn’t temper the fact that he’s no longer here. I thought he’d be here for a long time.