Edshugeo The GodMoor

I'd started one other song before doing this one. Sorta a reaction to surveillance issues currently in the news, but decided it kinda sucked. I'll see if I can save it for another time, maybe even next week.

This week's song is about being tired and bored and maybe deciding to do something about it. Once I came up with the chorus (after messing about on the keys for a while) it didn't take long for the rest of the song to fall into place (a coupl'a hours).

Click here to listen or download.

Lyrics:

One unvarying straight line
The same colours all the time
no excitement, no delightful
surprises to sharpen
the dull edges of my mind
the dull edges of my mind

I just want to
close my eyes
I just want to
close my eyes

Just A bit more of the same
an unimaginative game
routine after routine playing
in an endless loop until
the song sounds kinda lame
this song sounds kinda lame

I just want to
close my eyes
I just want to
close my eyes

I've got to make
a bold new move
knock this record
off it's groove
I better innovate
or I won't change my fate
what have I
got to lose

I wanna open up
my eyes
I wanna open up
my eyes
I gotta open up
my eyes
I gotta open up
my eyes

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Labels: downloads, lyrics, my music, PsychoVoyager, song of the week

I have a vague concept, still evolving in my head, for a sci-fi story that takes the form of a series of retro-ish (40s-70s), and perhaps contemporary Black comics stories. I was aware of Negro Romance type comics (though I've still not read any) and was wondering what else was out there. I came across this great article (via google) about a man named Orrin C. Evans. Check it out.

"This has been... a Black History Moment."

Labels: comics, Heroes, non music projects, possibilities for creative expression

A song from my 2001 album, Just For Me.

Go here and then click on "Preview this item (MPG)". The mp3 will play in it's entirety.

Lyrics here.

Labels: downloads, holidays, lyrics, my music, PsychoVoyager

No.

Vongo.com is a movie on demand site by the Starz cable channel. You can pick out pay-per-view content for about 4 or 5 bucks a movie, or choose a subscription of about 10 bucks a month and have access to over 1000 titles to watch when you want. The subscription also allows you to watch the Starz channel on your computer. The service allows the movies to be downloaded to a limited number (3?) of computers and external devices. The PSP is not among those devices. I had some hope that might change in the near future, because I kept reading about Sony's involvement in this venture, but an email reply to my question on this matter squashed that. seeing that I had no practical use for the service, I uninstalled it from my computer and will wait to see what develops next.

Watching full length movies on a portable isn't something that's neccesary on a daily basis. It's a nice option to have should you have to take a long trip, or wait on a really long line, say, for your passport or at the DMV. On a daily basis I prefer lighter entertainment and TV shows are perfect. Especially anime or wu-xia dramas. TV dramas can get pretty emotional though. A few weeks ago, on the bus to work, I was watching an episode of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex that had to do with a dying pet and I got a little misty eyed. Luckily I was wearing shades. I don't need to be seen crying in public. Laughing's okay. Around here, nobody notices someone who seems to be laughing for no reason, but crying's a no-no.

I'm currently watching episodes of 24 (I'd downloaded VCD's of the first season years ago) and Kodomo No Omocha on the PSP. While I plan on continuing 24 to it's conclusion, it's a little intense to be watching during my breaks at work. Perhaps I'll get used to it. Kodomo No Omocha is a cute but weird anime about a child actress who copes with both her school and professional lives. I don't mind viewing it at work where people know me, but I do admit I'd rather not be seen in any other public space watching this.

Eventually I'll convert Romance Of the Three Kingdoms and start watching those. I also have some episodes of Xian Jian Qi Xia Zhuan (Legend Of The Heavenly Sword And The Mysterious Xia AKA Chinese Paladin) to download and I'm working on getting the 2003 version of Heaven's Sword, Dragon Sabre. D-Addicts.com in case you were wondering.

Labels: Anime, dorama, downloads, kung fu, movies, online retailers, tv, wu-xia

I signed up a couple of days ago to eMusic, a music subscription/download service. They've got a promotional deal that gives 100 free downloads for the first month (I think it ends February 28th). If one decides to continue the service, there's a number of pricing options, the cheapest of which is 40 downloads for about 10 bucks. Twenty-Five cents a song! The 100 free downloads was a good enough deal for me to try, so I did, using up all but 16 of my 100.

eMusic uses actual mp3s that can be played in any device that supports this format including the PSP. At some point I expect a firmware upgrade for some must have feature that will sneak DRM into the device, at which point the other useless (and overpriced) services will become compatible.

The drawback to eMusic is they probably don't have the selection of iTunes, however, like a good record shop, I had no trouble finding all sorts of goodies, many of which I had no idea I was looking for.

What did I get?

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm Remixed
I love Bloc Party and I have mp3s of the original version of Silent Alarm. I was gonna buy the remix album, but never got around to it.

The Cleveland Philharmonic - Chinese Music Classics of the 20th Century: Banhu
When I downloaded this, I didn't realize it was the Cleveland Philharmonic. All tracks can be previewed and it sounds authentic to me, so I've got no complaints.

Easy Star All Stars - Dub Side Of The Moon
Yes. A reggae version of the Pink Floyd classic, Dark Side Of The Moon. I know how silly that sounds, but I'm trying it.

Gary Numan -The Pleasure Principle
One out of two albums out of the bunch that I didn't preview before buying. I had both the 45 for the single Cars, and this album on vinyl back in the day. Aside from the single, I hadn't heard the album in about twenty years. I remember seeing his band on Saturday Night Live and thinking his drummer was the weirdest looking Black dude I'd ever seen. This release includes some bonus tracks, one studio instrumental and four live songs.

Konono No. 1 - Congotronics and Various artists - Congotronics 2
Congotronics is the second album I didn't preview before buying. That's because I'd already reviewed Congotronics 2. Both are compilations of African electronic music. The first consists of one artist, Konono No. 1, the father of this genre, I think, while the second mostly contains the work of those who follow in his footsteps. I'm lovin' Congotronics 2 for it's raw, strange but familiar energy. haven't heard the first one, yet.

Maxim and Skin - Carmen Queasy
This is a single that contains three tracks, two of which I downloaded. The third is a useless instrumental of the main track. Skin is one of my favorite singers from back when she headed the British hard rock group Skunk Anansie. I don't know who Maxim is or who Carmen Queasy refers to, but I've always liked this song (it's a couple of years old). I have an mp3 of it somewhere, and it was uncompressed to one of two CDRs I made of Skunk Anansie B-sides and non-album tracks. The drums on the mp3 sounded like it was over compressed and I figured I'd ended up with a badly encoded song. I figured this one would be better. On the whole, it may be, but it seems the drums are supposed to sound that way. The other track is a remix, not great, but not bad.

Saul Williams - Saul Williams
Poet turned Hip Hop artist and one of the few currently good things about the genre. Inventive as both a lyricist and, if he has anything to do with the sounds of this record (The follow-up to the amazing Amethyst Rockstar, produced by Rick Rubin), a recording artist to be reckoned with. This one is from 2004. Hopefully we get a new record this year.

That's a good deal of music for me to absorb. I didn't have to do full albums, by the way. When I've used up my trial I intend to join for real, at the lower price point.


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CDs bought recently...

From the supermarket (Stop & Shop)

The Clash - London Calling for 8 bucks!
Muddy Waters - The Best Of... for 4 bucks!

From Tower Records

Feist - Let It Die for about nine bucks, and I had the mp3s playing in my PSP when I picked this up. I attempted to buy the download from some other site (Sony Direct? I forget) a few weeks ago, but it wouldn't work with Firefox. By trying to force me to use Internet Explorer, they lost my business. I managed to "find" the songs that same night. It's a great record and I'm glad I bought it. At that price how could I not?

iMogen Heap - Speak For Yourself I'd not heard of her before Hello Gina, but the couple of mp3s I got there made me curious for more. At ten bucks how could I resist? Another great album.

Labels: downloads, good deal, music, online retailers

Why PSP comics? Because I'd rather read than play games, watch video, or listen to music when I'm on the bowl.

Do comics translate well to the PSP? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. There are some formatting issues, like the more panels per page the smaller the pictures. And small text can be difficult to read. This may give Manga an advantage, but I probably haven't read enough of any one style of comics to say for sure. I suspect that the skill of an artist as storyteller ultimately decides whether comics work in any format. Still, in general, the ideal is when a work is geared to it's intended format. The PSP is still young, so people are just beginning to take advantage of it's screen resolution, and no doubt, more portable widescreen devices are on their way.

I have some comicbook ideas on the backburner, one of which I've resolved to begin this year. It's likely that I'll utilise the PSP format which largely consists of single panels (though, not exclusively). Should a print version ever be necessary, it would be easier to arrange those into a multi-panel page arrangement than it would to create a traditional comicbook page and convert it to (an acceptable) PSP version.

So, what's out there? A crapload of stuff. Manga scanslations (unauthorized). Scans of traditional comics on usenet (unauthorized). Web comics of all sorts. And comics specifically for or adapted to the PSP.

What have you read, and how are they?

Barbarossa and the Lost Corsairs 1A and 1B - (dead links) Moslem pirate action on the high seas in the 1500's with a feminist on board. Obviously drawn for the printed page, the artwork is a little uneven. It's never bad. It just seems like the characters aren't always drawn by the same person. Barbarossa's features are nearly photo-realistic one moment and cartoonish the next. Not in the same way it happens in manga, occasionally.
The story isn't bad either, but I hate the dialog: "Let us make this a battle for the bards to sing of, Hakim! Even if your silent lips ne'er join the song!" There's a better way tell us that Hakim doesn't speak; Don't have him speak.
Also the tough female who goes out of her way to demonstrate that she's as tough as the rest of the guys is an annoying Hollywood cliche that I thought we'd gotten rid of when Americans got hip to Asian film and anime. Oh, well.
So, not too bad, but I won't be getting any more of these. The title hasn't been updated in more than half a year, so perhaps this and the following two titles from PSPCMX.com, were just meant to entice readers to buy the hard copy.

Legacy 1A and 1B - (dead links) Nicely drawn (except for the cover) pseudo-anime fantasy. I get the good versus evil bit, but otherwise, I don't really know what it's about, and I'm not interested in finding out. Drawn for the printed page.

Lions, Tigers and Bears 1A and 1B - (dead links) the title and the modern-Disney-esque artwork tells me that it's a kids story. I might normally pass on something like this, mostly because of the art, which is actually great, but screams out Disney-wanna-be. The Image logo on the cover doesn't help either, but I read it anyway. This is actually quite good and I wouldn't mind reading more of it. Also drawn for the printed page, but a good read. Even on the PSP.

NYC 2123: Dayender 1-4 - The cream of the crop of PSP comics. This is the way to do it! The story flows just like Rakim. Smooth. The art, excellent. Not to say everybody should draw like this artist. Just that this team has shown what can be done on this format (specifically for the PSP), while at the same time, are telling a compelling story that I'm eager to follow.

Querty and Nothing Left To Lose 1-3 (4&5 also available) - (dead links) Not crazy about either of these "indie" comics. Qwerty seems incomplete. I only read the first three chapters of Nothing Left To Lose, so I can't say if the download version of this story is self contained or not. Both were drawn for print.

MPD Psycho - I'm nearing the end of volume 7 of this great manga series about a grand conspiracy involving serial killer types and a fictional 1960s counter culture figure. There are ten available. Whether that completes the series or not, I don't know, yet. Drawn for print, but with a few exceptions, hardly suffers for it.

Not yet read...

Super Spy - formatted for the PSP and supposedly published on a weekly basis. There are four self-contained stories up, as of this writing (more now).

Zipper - not yet published, some rough sketches can be found on their blog. These will be PSP formatted.(?)

Freesia - manga scanslation. A possibly Libertarian fantasy, that takes place in a Japan where retaliatory killings are legal.

Marvel Comics - Marvel offers a handful of digital comics (more now), but it doesn't appear that they're meant to be portable. Fuck 'em. Don't need 'em. People do scan mainstream comics, however, and they can be found in a number of ways. Dunno if they're worth it, though. I buy the trades of whatever I find interesting.

Tons of online comics... - Lots of stuff out there to check out. If I find anything that's good and translates well to the PSP, I'll post it here.

Labels: broken promises, comics, downloads, good deal, japanese, possibilities for creative expression, PSP