Ethereality News & Weblog

WEBLOG:This is absolutely the most amazing modular synth I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure how practical it is in terms of efficient workflow (for example, saving presets, or recalling parameter settings, or errr….say your cat walks across it and knock a few pieces off when you’re in the bathroom), but it’s fun as hell to watch:

I can see it being a fun thing to use for live performances, educational purposes, or just collaborative fun, but I don’t see how it could be a practical music-making tool for serious musicians.

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I finally watched A History of Violence, and although it felt quite different from what I’d expect from a David Cronenberg film, I did enjoy it–just not to the extent I thought I would. In many ways, it is the most accesible film Cronenberg’s ever done (at least to me), and maybe that’s what left me wanting–that extra spice you go see a Cronenberg film for (it’s the same with David Lynch for me). I really dug William Hurt in the film–I thought his portrayal of the mob boss brother was the most exciting thing to watch in the film. Hurt had that accent down perfectly, and was the most dark and menacing I’ve ever seen him in any film–I totally bought it and wanted more. I wasn’t nearly as taken with Viggo Mortensen or Ed Harris, which is probably one of the reasons the film didn’t quite hit the spot, as you’d have to be totally sold on those two characters for the film to be as tense as it should be.

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Those of you who are fans of the Dead Or Alive series of games will probably enjoy this little comic from CTRL+ALT+DEL on the upcoming DOA Extreme 2 for the Xbox360 (looks like they dropped the “Beach Volleyball” from the title since it’s not really mainly about volleyball anymore):

Yeah, the physics for the the bouncing mammary action are just ridiculous in the upcoming sequel. There’s such a thing as overdoing it to the point where it’s no longer attractive and simply just comedic. Itagaki probably meant it as a tongue-in-cheek thing, but I think it was a bad call because it actually detracts from the appeal of the characters. Well, this is supposed to be a total cheesecake game afterall, so complaining about it would be like complaining about the lack of subtlety in a Michael Bay film.

I personally loved the first Extreme Beach Volleyball game, and I feel no guilt about it at all. DOAXBV is simply one of those games you either love or hate, and I really enjoyed it because it made you feel like you were actually on a vacation having fun, instead of stressing out over keeping score, finishing a level, killing enemies, or strategizing a victorious battle. Of course, the girls are cute and all that, but I’m married to very cute and sexy woman (as the Kitty Cat Diary of my site would attest to), so a game would have to be more than just T&A to get me to play. The combination of the mini-games, the presentation, the designs, and the music (I used all custom music for it)..etc all worked together well for me. I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel, even with the funny physics.

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My brother Dennis turned me onto The Venture Bros. (he lent me his season one DVD’s), and it definitely didn not disappoint. It’s probably the funniest and most intelligent animated show I’ve seen in years, and I can understand why Dennis and his friends all love it. The humor is just off the wall, and the dialogues are witty as hell. Even the Doctor Venture character–as horrible of human being as he is, is just so ridiculously funny to watch (kind of like George Costanza in Seinfeld). Watching it makes me want to take the stuff I’ve written for Akihabara@Deep, rip out the parts that are totally new (the parts I rewrote), and work them into a standalone series for pitching to the Adult Swim segment of Cartoon Networks. The most exciting thing about my take on Akihabara@Deep are the new characters and premise I created anyway, so might as well not let it all go to waste.

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One of the great things about being back in the States is that I’m slowly catching up on all the cool obscure pop culture phenomenons I’ve missed out on in the last five years. I recently watched all of Freaks and Geeks too, and although I wish it had more drama than comedy, I can’t really complain because the comedy was just pure gold. I laughed so hard in some of the episodes that I had to make sure I wouldn’t drink or eat anything while watching the show–for the danger of choking to death.

NEWS:
Started working on a couple of new tracks. Here’s a preview, still in rough sketch form–essentially undeveloped ideas that needs to be fleshed out and taken somewhere:

They’re Coming - Cue for an action/thriller story, during a scene when the antagonist are approaching and they came prepared to end it all. (That synth wailing sound isn’t a mistake–it’s there to create a dissonant feel for agitated tention.)

Just One Reason - This track I limited myself to using only Reason 3 for everything–my way of learning a new piece of software by doing a complete project in it.

WEBLOG:
I rarely have freetime to work on music, and it’s been my number one frustration for many years now. The problem is more complex than simply not having the time, it’s also that whatever little time I have to work on music, I use it to record new ideas that’s been swimming around in my head since that last time I’ve had time to do music. In the end, I accumulate a bunch of unfinished sketches that I never have time to finish (as you can tell if you browse the music section of my site). Maybe one day when my life becomes less hectic I’ll find the time to actually finish and polish some of the works in progress.

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I went to Borders to flip through Spectrum 13 the other day (my copy was sent to my brother’s house, and I haven’t had time to pick it up yet), and I was ecstatic over the print quality of my piece. It is one of the best printings of my work I’ve seen in the last fifteen years of my career as a professional artist, and part of the reason was because Spectrum asked all the artists to do their own RGB to CYMK conversions. I slaved over mine and made it look as absolutely pristine as possible, and it really paid off. I should strive to do my own conversions from now on, as I’ve had my work butchered in the past by publishers that had no idea what the hell they were doing (I’m not going to mention any names–they know who they are).

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Elena’s back in Fuzhou, China to take care of some business stuff, and this is the longest we’ll be apart in the last five years since we’ve met. Previously the longest was a week, but this time she’ll be gone for 10+ days. I used to have a hard time sleeping when she’s not home (same goes for her when I’m not home–she becomes an insomniac, staying up late watching DVD’s), but this time I managed just fine (partly because I’ve been dead tired from all the crazy all-nighter deadlines for Spiderman 3). Now that she’s been living in the States for five months, she’s gotten used to how clean, organized, spacious, modern, and quiet things are here, not to mention how curteous, professional, and compassionate Americans in general are in public places. These qualities are a sharp contrast compared to China–where all the values we treasure here simply doesn’t exist, or are extremely rare. I had lunch with the VP of the studio I’m freelancing for recently, and they have partners in China and need to travel there periodically. His impression of China was exactly the same as mine, and it was a shock for him to see the level of dishonesty, rudeness, apathy, and utter lack of scruple displayed by nearly everyone he came into contact with. Now that I’ve been back in the States for a while, I’m not nearly as frustrated and angry as I was about everything as when I was in China. That whole experience is now in the past, and it’s simply a different world I would never want to return to.

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If you haven’t seen On the Edge of Bladerunner yet, definitely watch it if you’re a fan of Bladerunner. It’s a 50 minute documentary about the film’s history in retrospect, and contains some really interesting interviews with the crew.

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I finally broke down and purchased Half-Life 2: Episode One over the Steam network. HL 1 & 2 are some of my ultimate favorite games ever, so there’s no way in hell I’ll skip anything in the franchise; however, I had my doubts about using Steam (although I support the idea) since I heard so many horror stories. Now that I’ve used it to purchase the Holiday Package (which includes a bunch of other HL-related games) I’m relieved that it was a delight to use. The videos you can download on Steam are also much better quality than you could find elsewhere–Valve’s video player for Steam is one of the best I’ve seen in terms of image quality. I can’t wait to get my ass back to City 17–I just know it’ll be an exciting ride.