Ethereality News & Weblog

NEWS:
A long over due Kitty Cat Diary entry:

And the Lisa session I mentioned before:

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I uploaded a few new clips I composed for the Galactic Melee score. The game is currently on hold as the project ran out of funding. I have no idea if Kevin will ever put more money into it to get it out there. I certainly had fun composing the score for it, and in a way, it was the catalyst that made me start thinking seriously about a career change again (more on that later).

Here are the new clips:

Galactic Melee - In-game Combat 3 - For this combat cue, I used evolving pads and percussions to build up a sense of mystery and tension.

These in-game combat cues loop throughout the various levels in the game. Since the game is more about strategy and teamwork than about pure action, I wanted to go for a more hypnotic and introspective atmosphere for all the combat cues as opposed to the typical in-your-face aggressive approach that most shooter games use

Galactic Melee - In-game Combat 2 - For this combat cue, I established a persistent drum groove that drives the mood and propels the strategic action forward.

Galactic Melee - In-game Combat 1 - For this combat cue, I used a square wave tone for its main melody to convey the feeling of piloting a small spaceship in the vast open space.

Galactic Melee - Credits - Since Galactic Melee has no narrative premise and is really just a fun multiplayer experience, I wanted the credit music to be more uplifting and optimistic and not dark like the rest of the score. My intention was to end the game with a feeling of “Now that the fighting has ended and we’ve all had lots of fun shooting at each other, let’s just put our ships on autopilot and enjoy the beautiful view as we cruise the galaxy together.”

WEBLOG:
Our apartment currently looks like a warehouse, with most of our stuff already in boxes. Just thinking about shipping my music gears (roughly $40,000 worth) across the ocean makes me nervous. I would be very upset if any of it was damaged along the way, since there are some pieces that are no longer in production and will be very hard if not impossible to replace.

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The fact that art isn’t my favorite among the things I’m passionate about is not a mystery among those that know me well. This isn’t to say I don’t love art, just that I’ve been working as a professional artist for so many years that I’m ready for a change. Throughout the years, I noticed that my love for music, film, writing, and even to some degree photography, has often eclipsed my love for art. The simplest way to describe why I feel the way I do, would simply be this:

Music, film, and literature can move me to tears and evoke feelings of such intensity that art cannot (although when art is paired with words like graphic novels, can, but I left the comic book industry behind many years ago). Photography as a medium communicates in a similar way to art, but what I like more about photography is that it’s just so much more fun than sitting there drawing and painting all day. Photography forces you to get up and interact with other human beings, animals, and nature in an active manner that is much more exciting than sitting at an easel, moving a Wacom tablet pen around, or pulling vertices in a 3D software. Although video games, animation, and film special effects can all be very exciting, they usually are only that exciting to me when I’m experiencing them as the audience–working on them don’t really give me the same enjoyment as I get when I’m composing/arranging/performing a piece of music, immersed in the story and characters I’m writing about, directing a scene and seeing magic happening right in front of my eyes and sharing that sense of excitement with the cast and crew, or being in “the zone” when a photo session is going very well and everyone’s just having a great time.

So, now that I’m leaving my current art directing job, I’m looking to my future with the intention of making a career change. I’ve tried to do this before and I couldn’t make it stick because it was just easier to find a job as an artist (many say it’s because my artwork is the most impressive of all the creative things I do. I don’t know if that’s really it). I’ve worked as a writer/director in animation and that was the only full-time job I’ve ever had that I really enjoyed. I’ve done professional work in music and photography as well, but neither could pay the rent full-time when I did them. Now, I’m going to try and see if I can make music stick this time around. While doing that, I’ll still be writing my screenplays and novels, and continue to shoot photography just for fun. Maybe I’ll continue drawing/painting too, depending on if any compelling projects come my way (that reminds me, I’m still a member of the Black Mesa MOD team. Maybe now I can contribute more concept art to that project).

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Mini movie & TV reviews:

There Will Be Blood - I respect this film, but I found it hard to sympathize with a main character that was so absolutely ruthless and lacking empathy for others. The score for the film was very unique, and certainly one of few notable ones I’ve heard in recent memory.

Babel - It took me a long time to finally sit down and watch this film, and it wasn’t as bad as I had feared it would be. It certainly didn’t deserve all the buzz it received though, as I felt the attempt to link the characters and situations together had no meaningful purpose to me, and made no profound statement in the way that I feel it should have to have deserved such critical acclaim.

Entourage - I have been hearing about Entourage for a long time now, but never got around to watching it. Now that I have, I can see what all the fuss is about–it is a very entertaining show, especially if you have an interest in the entertainment business. It has the ability to let you live vicariously through the lives of the characters, and it feels like watching something real unfold as opposed to knowing that you are watching fiction.

WEBLOG:
If you do anything creative at all, you should care about the Orphaned Works bill that will decide whether or not you own the rights to your own work. The past rights you have to your work will be lost–even if you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re the original creator. Read up on it and take action!

Article detailing what’s at stake for you.

Podcast discussing the bill and its ramifications, with links for taking action to preserve your rights.

(EDIT: I just got an email from Mikeal (http://www.tattooeddad.com) telling me that the Orphan Bill is some kind of a misunderstanding and that there is no such thing. He sent me this link to read up on.)

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Life’s been hectic as we’ve begun packing for our move back to China. I can’t believe we’re moving back after just two years in the States, but this time it’s all business so we go where our fortunes could be made. Obviously we much prefer to live in the States, but you’re only young once, and if you don’t grab every opportunity that comes your way, you might just miss out on a better life later. I’ll try to keep my bitching about China to a minimum this time, since the last time I was more or less forced to stay there, and this time it’s of my own choice.

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Have you ever wondered how much ink is really left in your printer’s ink cartridge when it tells you you’ve run out? This is how much is actually left (I used a pair of pliers to squeeze the remaining ink out):

And if you swirl that around around with your finger:

That’s still good for a lot of pages. Not the most efficient design I must say. I understand the current design requires that the ink doesn’t run completely dry, otherwise the printer could be damaged, but there must be some other way of doing it? I suppose you have to think of it as you’re not actually paying for the wasted ink–you’re only paying for the usable portion.

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Jeremy Lipking finally released his DVD and art book. I’ve been waiting for years for them and it’s about time. The book was more sparse than I expected, concentrating on mostly the more recent figure paintings. I wish it was a more comprehensive collection of all his works to date, but I have a feeling he’s saving that for later.

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I’ve been on the hunt for good tracking headphones, since the headphones I have are not quite appropriate for that purpose–they’re either open-sealed (will bleed into the mic), ear-pad styled (uncomfortable for prolonged sessions), or IEM (In-Ear-Monitors) that’s a hassle to insert/remove quickly. So what does Rob do when he’s on the prowl? He spends hours at pro audio shops testing out gears. I did a 3-hour listening test of headphones at a local pro audio shop, and here’s a mini review of the ones I tested:

ATH-M50 - By far the best of the bunch. Sounds very similar to my sennheiser HD555. In fact, if it was open-back, it would probably sound just like the HD555. Nice and warm, lush, no harshness at all. No boosted or scooped frequencies, except the highest highs are just tiny bit rolled off for the warm sound (this is essential for me, as most headphones tend to be too harsh).

Equation RP21 - Very good for the price. Slightly harsh at the high end, but everything else was great. The ear-cups don’t fit as comfortably or securely as other headphone with full-sized ear-cups.

Beyerdynamics DT770 / DT880 - Sounded similar to each other, with the DT880 a bit more accurate. Both have that slight harshness in the highs that I don’t like. These are very comfy though–I wish the M50 and the RP21 had velour ear-cups like these.

Sony MDR-7509 / MDR-V600 - I have always disliked the Sony headphones due to the shrillness of the high end, and it’s still the same this time. Absolutely couldn’t stand it. Talk about listening fatigue!

Sennheiser HD280 Pro - It’s OK. Nothing to write home about. The bass is a bit anemic, and the overall sound is a bit limp and lifeless. At the same price, the RP21 sounds significantly better (although the HD280 doesn’t have that slight harshness in the high end).

Sennheiser HD202 - for such a cheap price, it’s quite good. Bass is hyped, and lower-mids are recessed. Tiny ear-cups the just surround your ears are a bit weird–like someone’s hugging your ears.

M-Audio Q40 - Second best of the bunch by far. Almost like a middle ground between the M50 and the RP21–the harshness in the high end is almost gone–just a tiny hint that’s barely there. The rest sounds remarkably similar to the M50. The ear-cups are a more secure fit than others, but some might prefer the looser feel of the M50 and the RP21.

Some Samson headphone (can’t remember which model) - CRAP. Don’t bother.

So, my final decision was:

RP21 - for the singer to wear during tracking.

M50 - for me to wear during tracking.

I could have swapped out the RP21 for the Q40, but since someone was selling the RP21 and no one was selling the Q40 used, I jumped on the RP21. I like the Q40 better, but I also like the fact that the RP21 will give me a different perspective as an alternate take on my mix, whereas the Q40 is so similar to the M50 and HD555 that I really don’t need 3 very similar sounding headphones. Besides, I love that vermillion color on the RP21–a bit of that retro cool vibe.

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Headphone amps are something I’ve been wondering about but never took the plunge, because in the back of my mind I keep thinking that they won’t add much benefit. My critical listening is done on my near-field monitors, and I only use headphones when tracking or if it’s really late at night. I’ve read people’s buyer’s remorse from getting headphone amps stating that the only thing it did was make things louder, instead of the flowery ravings of better clarity, tighter and more defined bass, better stereo imaging…etc. I don’t want to end up like one of those guys and then turn around to sell mine off on ebay.

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Preamps are a hot topic in the pro audio community, and I’ve been researching on what preamp I’d like to get to round out my studio. The ones I’m seriously considering are:

Great River ME-1NV
DAV BG-1
Summit Audio 2BA-221
FMR RNP
Grace Design Model 101
True Systems P-Solo

I’m leaning towards the DAV at this point, but I’ll have to research a bit more to reach a decision.

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I’ve also been looking into maybe getting a premium AD/DA converter, since I’m monitoring on a pair of monitors that cost close to $7,000, and it doesn’t make sense that the rest of my signal path are not of the same premium quality. Maybe I’ll go for products from Benchmark, or maybe something a bit more modest in price like the products from RME or Apogee. These high quality AD/DA converters are certainly not cheap–no matter what you’ll be spending about a couple thousand of dollars.

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Mini movie reviews:

Stranger Than Fiction - I didn’t feel that the novel being written in the film by the author was anywhere near what anyone would call a masterpiece, and for the characters in the film to continually refer to it as a masterpiece that would prompt someone to give up his life, just felt a bit like telling instead of showing.

Cloverfield - Although the style is the main thing anyone would notice about this film, and I’m the type who typically does not like it when style becomes more important than substance, I enjoyed this film due to the realistic depiction of what would really happen in a crisis. During some scenes it became hard to believe anyone would try that hard to hold on to a video camera let alone keep on shooting while trying to stay alive.

Atonement - Enjoyed it, but it wasn’t quite as moving as I had hoped. Knightly is a breathtaking beauty in certain angles, that’s for sure.

Superbad - Good fun, for people who like raunchy humor involving unpopular high school kids.

Harold and Kumar Goes to White Castle - My brother Dennis kept telling me I had to see this, and he was right. Also good raunchy fun, with an Indian and a Korean guy as the two main leads, which is something of a novelty for an American comedy film. Can’t wait for the sequel–Harold and Kumar 2 Escape from Guantanamo Bay, which will be out April 25th.

Alien VS. Predator: Extinction - I wanted to like this because the two brothers that directed it are members at cgsociety.org, where I’m a Forum Leader, but it just wasn’t a good film in both screenplay or direction. I just watched it a couple of weeks ago and I already can’t remember much about it–that’s how forgettable and disposable it was.

The Golden Compass - I was disappointed. I found the film neither emotionally moving nor viscerally thrilling–not even interesting enough to appeal to my inner child, which is not that hard to please when it comes to fantastic premises. A colleague (Linda Bergkvist) worked on the film as a concept artist, and I’m guessing the witches were her handiwork, but I couldn’t tell if anything else were obviously her designs.

30 Days of Night - One of the better vampire films I’ve seen in a long time. Atmospheric premise and some excellent camera work. Also really liked the way the vampires were depicted–just human enough but not nearly enough to be bad poetry reading tortured types.

Stardust - I had read the book years ago and the film’s visuals were similar to what I saw in my head when I read the book. I tend to think of Clare Danes as an actress who’s very limited, and she’s sometimes cast in roles that require her to be more physically beautiful than she actually is. There are actresses who can pull that off (Cate Blanchett comes to mind), but Clare Danes is not elegant or graceful enough to play roles that are more attractive than she really is. I am a big fan of her first role as Angela Chase in My So-Called Life though.

Shrek the Third - I turned it off before I finished. A complete waste of time. These sequels are nothing more than attempts at money-milking a franchise. Pixar they are not.

The Mist - One of the best horror films I’ve seen in a long time. Focusing on the characters was a great choice, but the religious fanaticism aspect of the story was way overboard. I would think a lot more people would’ve resisted the crazy woman, and that as soon as she started demanding blood, some of those who followed her would’ve snapped out of it and realized things have gone too far. If the writer has simply included a scene like that then it would’ve made the film a lot more believable. The ending was also out of character, and felt too forced.

Enchanted - It’s annoying cute on purpose in the first half, which might turn some people off, but if you stick it out, the second half of the film becomes a lot more interesting–when reality starts to sink in and everything becomes more grounded.

Appleseed: Ex Machina - I liked the smoother cell-shading rendering this time more than the last film, but I think they squandered an excellent sub-plot that could’ve been a lot more intense dramatically. The main plot itself is quite derivative and not worth mentioning–even the action choreography was lackluster compared to the previous film. Overall, I enjoyed what little they did explore with the character sub-plot, but wished they could’ve done more.

WEBLOG:
I’ve been feeling kind of blah lately. Of course, Elena being away for so many weeks is one reason (she’s on a business trip again in China, and also scoping out construction companies for the interior modeling of our apartment and my recording studio), but it’s also the lack of free time to do the things I really want and need to do. I’m one of those people that’s got a huge “To Do” list at any given moment, and it never seems to get any shorter year after year. To give you an idea of how extensive that list is–here’s an excerpt:

Short-term
-Get all medical appoints out of the way
-Finish processing latest photo session
-Finish all freelance work
-Finish current concept art tasks for Black Mesa
-Finish business plan (can’t talk about this yet, I will once things pan out)
-Write a new song and record Carol as the vocalist
-Get Tenacious Games to pay me the money they owe me for the coloring job on The Spoils.
-Test out the Shure SM7A
-Chase down the guy that sold me the Variax Acoustic 700 for the missing cable and manual.

Medium-term
-Finish ripping the rest of the CD collection into mp3’s,
-Finish archiving old out-of-print cassette tapes
-Finish digitizing old out-of-print/personal VHS tapes
-Find ways to finance a Musicman Bongo Stealth 5-string, a Zendrum ZAP, and a Parker Fly Deluxe
-Sell off as much stuff as possible before the big move
-Build a new DAW and an isolation box for all computers in the studio
-Build shipping cases for all instruments before the big move.

Long-term
-Finish writing screenplays and novels that’s been on hold due to lack of free time
-Get up to session player level on all instruments I play (drums, guitar, bass, keyboards)
-Finish up all unfinished paintings
-Finish up all unfinished music

That list is just a fraction of the actual one I have in a Word file. I predict some of those tasks and goals on that list will still be there by the time I retire. That’s a pretty depressing thought, because I’m only thirty-five.

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My friend Lisa (from when I lived briefly in Kentucky) came up from L.A. to visit. We hung out and did a fairly casual photo session of her with just makeshift household lights and window light. She’s also a photographer and currently still shoots film,. I’ve been trying to convince her to give digital a try for years now, but she’s pretty attached to film. I showed her my entire digital workflow–from shooting with the Canon 1D MarkII, processing the RAW’s, editing in Photoshop, to organizing with ACDSee Pro. If that couldn’t change her mind about digital, then nothing ever would. Once I’ve had time to finish processing the photos from that session I’ll upload them. For now, here’s one image I did process:

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I have been adding a lot of gear to the studio in the last few months. All the gears were carefully researched, very practical, and none were impulse buys or luxury items. Here’s a list of the gear I’ve added to the studio in the last few months, with brief comments about each:

yamaha BC-3 Breath-Controller (for my Kurzweil PC2X) - I was quite disappointed by the lack of sensitivity and control with it. Fading in volume is fine, but the fade outs are almost impossible to control smoothly–it tends to just drop out once you start to ease up on the breath pressure.

Yamaha FC-7 Expression Pedal (for my Kurzweil PC2X) - Not much to say. It does the job.

Kurzweil Ribbon Controller (for my Kurzweil PC2X) - Pretty good. I taped no-slip discs under it so it won’t slide around when placed on top of the PC2X.

Line 6 Variax 700 Acoustic Guitar - I think this is probably the best product in the Variax range. It feels great, plays great, and has some killer guitar models. The ethnic instruments are a joke, but I got it mainly for the various acoustic guitar models and the mandola.

Line 6 Variax 700 Electric Guitar - Nice build, sounds pretty good, and not much to complain about. The acoustic models on it are not nearly as good as the ones on the acoustic Variax (that’s why I got both).

Line 6 Variax 700B Electric Bass - I got this mostly for a few of the models like the Thunderchief, the 8 & 12 string models, and the Precision Bass model. The rest are ok, but nothing to write home about.

Line 6 Lowdown Studio 110 Bass Amp - This little guy delivers some serious power for its size–enough so that I can’t really use it in the apartment or the grumpy guy upstairs will freak out and call the manager on me.

Audio-Technica 4033 large diaphragm condensor microphone - Pristine sound. No complaints.

Shure SM7A dynamic microphone - Still waiting for the package to arrive.

Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor pedal - Works like a charm. Took the hum right out of my Fender Strat.

Warwick Rockstand (7 slots) - Spacing is too tight–you’d knock your axes on each other if you’re not careful. But I can’t complain since it freed up so much space in the studio. It takes up about the amount of space as two to three regular guitar stands, but holds 7. What’s to complain about?

Line 6 Toneport UX2 audio interface - I’ve been fairly happy with this, but I think it’s lame for Line 6 to charge for a separate VST version of Gearbox. The headroom on the preamps, the output, the headphone..etc are on the low side–you’d have to crank everything up to get decent volume. There’s also no auto-wah in the Gearbox that comes with the Toneport. You’d have to pay for extra tone packs to get auto-wah. How lame is that? Stability wise, it’s been pretty good thus far.

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I have a number of books and DVD’s on drumming, but for some reason, most dwell on hand techniques and don’t go into depth about foot techniques. I’ve been trying to get my foot to be able to play fast bass pedal rolls of up to as many notes as my foot can handle, and I wish there were really good instructions on that subject out there. I scoured youtube and found some, but none were in depth. Jojo Mayer obviously can do amazing things on a single pedal, but he has not gotten around to teaching it. I took a look at the Dualist bass pedal and it’s pretty clever, but I want to learn it the “right” way before I start using special gear to cheat.

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Factor One was an industrial band I was in back in the early 90’s. Dean, the founder, recently tracked me down online. He’s still making music–you can check out his stuff here.

I played a couple of shows while in Factor One–one was opening up for Sheep On Drugs, and the other one was opening up for Voice Farm (they had an amazing show on Halloween). Factor One had also opened up for heavy weights like Frontline Assembly, Red Flag, but that was before I joined the band. We almost got to open up for Nine Inch Nails and Consolidated at some point, but those gigs fell through. I played mostly keyboards in that band, and a little bit of guitar and drums. I was never into playing live, since I’ve never been much of an instrumentalist–more of a composer/songwriter. Now that my playing has gotten much better on all the instruments I play, I wonder if I’ll enjoy playing live more.

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I finally sold off most of my action figures/dolls on ebay. They’ve been just sitting in boxes all these years, and even after getting them out of the storage, there’s still no room for them anywhere in the apartment. I was tempted to keep all the special forces ones because they are just amazing in detail and quality, but I think my days of being a military nut is over. I’ve been back in the States for well over a year now, and I still haven’t had a chance to play a single game of airsoft. I mean, if you can’t even find time to play in California, the best weather in the whole world for playing airsoft, then your airsoft days are probably over. I’m keeping all my airsoft gear though–even if just for home defense. At 400 FPS, my upgraded rifles will draw blood and break a few teeth if some idiot decides to break into our apartment.

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I’m currently using the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 to digitize my old VHS tapes, and it’s working fairly well. The bundled softwares are a joke–usable, but extremely limited in features and clunky to use. The Hauppauge is actually the second product I tried–the first was the ADS Tech DVExpress DX2, and it was DOA. I exchanged it and got another DOA unit. I made sure to try both units on four different computers, all the USB ports available, and finally gave up and returned for a refund (newegg.com rocks, BTW. I do all my computer-related shopping there).

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Elena and I have tried quite a few Thai restaurants in the Bay Area, and so far Thai Pepper in Sunnyvale is still one of our favorites. If you live in the Bay Area and love Thai food, then you owe it to yourself to give it a try. The Curry Duck is our favorite dish there, and their various salads are also quite good–not to mention their menu is priced quite low. The only other Thai restaurant that we think is very good in the Bay Area is Marnee Thai in San Francisco–they even have a charming clairvoyant owner who often walks around giving out free advice. Too bad both restaurants are 30 minutes from us now that we live in San Mateo.

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Resident Evil 4 is the game I’ve been playing for a long time now (since I have so little free time, I try to sneak in a short session here and there while I’m eating in front of the computer) and to be honest, I don’t see what all the fuss is about (it’s gotten rave reviews across the board). Sure, it improves upon the crappy camera and control of the previous RE games, but it’s got it’s own list of problems that all the reviewers seemed to have overlooked (or didn’t care about). Now, I’m not saying I’m not having fun with the game–just that I expected it to be better from all the hype.

Here’s a list of issues I have with the game:

-Ridiculous vendor character that waits by the save checkpoint. What the hell is that all about? It feels like lazy game design, and it’s such a dated concept that I wonder why they bothered to use it for this “innovative” twist on the RE franchise.

-”Notes” taken by various characters left all over the place for you to read. When System Shock 2, F.E.A.R., and Bioshock did it, they made sense, but the notes in RE4 were just stupid, in both why anyone would write down some of these things, and how they’re just casually laying around in various places. Many of these notes are like journal entries giving away important secrets about the mission the characters are on. Who the fuck goes around jotting down journal entries about their secrets and then leave the pages everywhere while on clandestine missions?

-Lack of bonding and interaction with important NPC’s that you spend so much time with. The only time Ashley talks to you is during the pre-rendered cinematics, or when she’s calling for help. They should have given her lots of in-game dialog so she can make comments according to each situation, or even just chit chat, instead of being this mute AI you lead around each level.

-Arbitrarily made up puzzles that are just silly, and campy characters like the midget villain. I guess it’s just a Japanese thing–they love throwing campy stuff into gritty stories (Metal Gear Solid for example).

-Horrible camera/controls that are more often frustrating than fun.

-Antiquated game design elements like blocking paths with obviously breakable items, or things you should easily be able to climb/jump over. I know this is a hard one to address, but it felt like they didn’t even try to make it feel more logical–they just put random stuff up as barrier.

I guess the only real saving grace for this game are the “not zombies.” They way they gang up on you in open space is intense, and that’s where most of fun is–shooting the “not zombies.”

BTW, the Logitech Rumble Pad 2 works very well (I imagine identical to the console experience)–that’s what I’m using to play RE4 on the PC. Beats the hell out of trying to play it on the keyboard/mouse.

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I try to get reading time in whenever I could–on the train and on the can, otherwise I’d never have time to read anything. Here are some of the stuff I’ve read recently:

The Road (novel) - My brother Dennis got me this for my birthday. It’s a very good book (won the Pulitzer Prize), with an unconventional prose style that took a while to settle into. It’s by Cormac McCarthy, the author that also wrote “No Country For Old Men,” which is now a critically acclaimed film adapted by the Coen Brothers. The book is essentially about a father and a son’s journey on foot in a post apocalyptic world where almost every living thing was wiped out. It depicts the father’s selfless love for his son, and how he tried to protect him through all the hardship and despair. Definitely recommended.

Sanctuary (graphic novel) - I read the first few volumes many years ago, and never got around to finishing it. I finally did and it’s quite engrossing. Maybe too idealistic, but I enjoyed the passion and the conviction of the characters. It’s not everyday you see a hard-boiled political/crime thriller comic book about idealistic young men trying to change the future of Japan by reforming the government and the organized crime.

Love and Rockets (graphic novel) - I left off the series at the Wig Wam Bam collection, and I just picked it back up (I bought all the collected volumes after Wig Wam Bam, but only the Jaime stories–I’m not really a Gilbert fan). The tone is exactly the same, and if you like the earlier stuff, it’s just more slices of the various characters’ lives. If you’ve never read L&R, it’s essentially a slice of life drama about lesbian punk rockers, Mexican Americans, love and hate, heartache, and lovable losers.

Already Dead - A vampire novel by Charlie Huston that was entertaining, but didn’t have any emotional substance so I didn’t like it too much. If you like mysteries and warring vampire clans, then you might like this, but if you want to care about the characters and their relationships, then this is not that kind of book.

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Quickie Movie reviews:

No Country For Old Men - Excellent filmmaking, and certainly has Coen Brothers’ trademark approach for building tension and depiction of characters that are just “a bit off.”

Juno - One of the best indie dramedy I’ve seen in a long time, with witty dialog and great acting. Ellen Page was just adorable in this film, and Jennifer Garner was surprisingly funny as well. I didn’t realize Ellen Page played Kitty Pryde in X-Men 3–I should have, since I remember watching X3 and thinking Kitty Pryde was super cute. For some reason I keep mixing up Jason Bateman and Nathan Fillion, because to me they look very similar. I should be embarrassed since I’m a big Firefly fan.

American Gangster - Good film. Didn’t feel too much like a Ridley Scott film, but then again, I’ve discovered that often as a director matures, he’s able to go beyond his normal voice and do something very different.

Invasion - Quite enjoyable, but fell just a little short of expectation–maybe not as epic as I had hoped it would be. Nicole Kidman is always a pleasure to watch. I used to think she was some stone cold fridget pretty face, but having recently seen her on a few talk shows being quite warm and genuine, I’ve warmed up to her a lot. Now I can enjoy her beauty without feeling a chill down my back.

Cabin Fever - Silly fun, and not as scary or gory as I had expected based on its reputation.

The Kingdom - Overall enjoyable, and the final gun fight was great. I think that realistic and gritty action style is pretty much the norm for movies these days, whereas in the 80’s and 90’s it used be the stylistic approach that was less about reality and more like a caricature of real life.

Ratatoulle - This film had the least amount of character development and character relationship dynamics than any other Pixar film. I would’ve been disappointed, but that final scene with the food critic was just so utterly brilliant that it made up for the rest of the film.

The Reaping - I find Hilary Swank a bit hard to watch at times because she’s like the classic example of a “butterface.” The story was pretty silly, and the reveal at the end felt more like manipulation than a revelation. The little girl in the film (played by AnnaSophia Robb) has these amazingly piercing eyes–creepy but beautiful.

Premonition - Convoluted and frustrating. I don’t think I’ve ever liked a Sandra Bullock film.

I Am Legend - Quite different from the book, and I think they should have kept the dog and the woman part of the book, as they really made up the emotional core of the story.

And of course, I’m going to sneak in a bit of TV stuff too:

Breaking Bad - One of the best shows on TV right now. Absolutely brilliant writing, acting, and perfectly cast as well.

Two and A Half Men - This one has overtaken How I Met Your Mother as my current favorite sitcom. Biting humor, hot chicks, funny kid, and Charlie Sheen playing a parody of himself–what’s not to love? Melanie Lynskey, who plays Rose on the show (a very cute but psycho chick) is just adorable. Those big brown eyes can melt steel.

NEWS:
A few of my paintings are featured in a new fantasy art collection titled Fantasy Art Now, written by Martin McKenna, with a foreward by Boris Vallejo.

WEBLOG:
Enchanted was a comic book series I created/wrote/illustrated for a few years in the mid-late 90’s. After all these years, I still get the odd email here and there asking me whether I’ll ever continue the series, and what happens to the characters. I just got an email about Enchanted the other day, and every time I do, I always wonder if I should revisit the Enchanted universe at some point.

Truth is, I stopped enjoying doing comics towards the end of my comic book career. I didn’t enjoy having to draw and paint the same things over and over, or all the stuff that I didn’t have an interest in but must anyway because the script called for it. For example, I enjoy depicting characters the most, but if I write a scene that involved the characters walking around in a busy city, then I’d have to illustrate all those damn buildings, hundreds of windows, various types of cars, traffic lights/signs, storefronts…etc over and over and over throughout the scene. You get the picture? Also at some point I figured out that art for me was a means to an end–the real passion for me lies in storytelling. As soon as I figured that out I no longer enjoyed doing comics, because I could just write and tell the stories I wanted to tell, instead spending all that time illustrating the imagery. Not that I don’t enjoy drawing and painting, just that I’d prefer to pick and choose what I wanted to draw and paint, not simply because the script demanded it.

Will I ever continue the Enchanted saga? I really have no idea.

…

Portal is one of the best games I’ve played in a very long time. Initially, I thought of Portal as a nifty little extra in the Orange Box lineup, but after playing it, Episode 2, and Team Fortress 2, I have to say that Portal was the one that stole my heart, and it alone was worth the price of admission. I thought it was going to be a challenging brain twister and that’s it, but Portal ended up being one of the funniest, creepiest, and cutest games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing, not to mention one of the best ending credit songs ever. This game is a testament to the sheer brilliance of Valve’s storytelling. Portal could’ve been just an exercise in clever game mechanics (Valve hired the students who designed the original game, which was a student project), but Valve gave it a soul when they weaved their special brand of storytelling magic into the game. In my book, Portal is an instant classic and a masterpiece.

…

I was very disappointed by Auralex MoPADs. Based on all the recommendations that recording/musician-related magazines constantly give to their readers regarding the MoPADs, you’d think the damn things were the cat’s meow. Not so. Not by a long shot. If you’re interested in the details, read this thread that I started at recording.org.

So be warned–MoPADs will not necessarily do what Auralex claims. Do some math first before you waste your money like I did.

…

Some recent films I’ve watched:

Grindhouse - If you’re the type that can enjoy mindless fun every once a while, you’ll probably have a good time watching Grindhouse. I have to say, Rodriguez’s Planet of Terror was a lot more entertaining than Tarantino’s Death Proof, but in general I’ve always felt that Tarantino was by far the more talented one.

Knocked Up - Fun, but overrated IMO. Felt like they sometimes chose to put more jokes on the screen at the expense of more in-depth character development.

Transformers - It’s not really worth writing about, except to bash Michael Bay as a director, and that just gets old. If he had grown more as a storyteller/director, then maybe there’s something to write about, but it’s the same old jackhammering of all your senses during every moment, bombarding you with overly dramatic music even in irrelevant scenes, so that the audience can be lead through every scene by Bay’s iron claws at the nape of the neck. The best way to sum up Michael Bay’s directing is that he’s directing for people who are severely lacking in emotional intelligence, so he cranks everything up to 11–be it unnecessary use of slow-motion, unnecessary emphasis on shots that play no importance whatsoever to the story development or even the scene at hand with close-ups, inappropriately dramatic music, and pointless dramatic lighting.

In the end, it’s all mindless fun anyway I guess–hot chick, robots kicking each other’s ass–maybe we should all stop expecting Michael Bay to one day become a filmmaker with depth and maturity. The man likes to make disposable entertainment, so maybe that’s all we should ever expect from him.

Surf’s Up - When I did work for Surf’s Up, I thought Chicken Joe was the ugliest thing ever. But now that I’ve finally watched it, I think he’s actually my favorite character in the story. My buddy Chris is a lot like Chicken Joe, so it was hard not to like Joe. Overall I enjoyed the film a lot, as it was not the typical pop-culture joke laden fare with talking animals that we’ve all become impatient with by now. The humor felt a lot more genuine, and the pseudo documentary approach was very refreshing. The surfing scenes were just stunningly gorgeous–Sony’s animation department kicked ass on the CG work.

Spiderman 3 - I was never a fan of this franchise, but I watch films like this simply to keep up-to-date with the current CG quality bar. Not much to say except films like this are more or less disposable entertainment (although at a level that’s less insulting to the audience’s emotional intelligence than Michael Bay films).

Ocean’s Thirteen - I didn’t like this one as much as the previous two. It just wasn’t as clever, thrilling, or humorous as the previous films.

A couple of TV shows worthy mentioning:
How I Met Your Mother - My brother Dennis recommended this show to me, and it’s one of my favorite shows now. Really good sitcom writing is hard to find–most sitcoms may get one chuckle out of me in an entire episode–if even that. How I Met Your Mother is far funnier than most sitcoms in rotation currently, and are obviously written by writers that are young, hip, and with the kind of wicked sense of humor I identify with.

Kid Nation - I have a basic dislike for reality shows in general, but I admit that they can be compelling during moments when the people involved forget the camera crew is there, and display something genuinely profound in the way they interact with another human being. I knew this show would have that “Lord of the Flies” appeal in some aspects, so I gave it a shot. Now it’s one of my favorite shows because I find that children are just less pretentious than adults due to lesser control over their emotions, and they are less likely to do what is “expected of them” on camera (even if it’s simply because they don’t really understand what people will expect of them). When children get worked up, they’re a lot less likely to care about the presence of a camera crew, and you really see their true colors come through. The show may be a bit too controlled to be truly interesting, but it’s understandable that the producers couldn’t possibly have allowed a “Lord of the Flies” scenario–that would’ve been too disturbing and too uncontrolled.

And of course, I never miss an episode of The Office. Jim and Pam forever!

…

I read W. Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge recently. It started out a bit disappointing, but became more compelling as you start to care about Larry’s spiritual journey. The excessive description of high-class society and its parties got a bit tiresome, as the novel could’ve maintained its full impact without all those descriptions of inconsequential characters that are mentioned only as scene dressing, and then never mentioned again. It’s as if Maugham was afraid that the readers will forget what a society snob Elliot was, and has to keep reminding us at every opportunity. In the end, the book’s insight into religion and spirituality was fairly basic, and as a human drama, lacked poignancy to have left a strong impression. I’ve always wanted to read something by Maugham, and now I have. Can’t say it has compelled me to want to read any more of his works though.

…

Many years ago, I had written about Mary Kay Letourneau’s case in the editorial section of one of the issues of Enchanted, and it caused Enchanted to be banned in one of the states (can’t remember which one, but I think it’s one of the southern states). Essentially, I had expressed sympathy for the couple, as I felt it was not a typical case of child rape, as the circumstances were very different from what we usually think of as child rape criminal cases. I’m not going to discuss the details of the case since you can easily find all the details online. Anyway, I have not kept up with the case for a couple of years, and I’m very happy to find out that after Mary Kay finished her sentence (seven years later), the two were still very much in love and are now married.

I was going to write a lengthy vent on how one-size-fits-all law systems will always cause injustices as there will always be exceptions that defy categorization and generalization, but I think this is something either you agree or don’t agree with, depending on your personal dispositions.

When I try to rationalize all the reasons why I was/am on May Kay and Vili’s side, I can see obvious mirroring in my own life that makes me sympathetic to their case. My first serious girlfriend was nine years older than me, and I was a minor at the time (I was seventeen). At no time during our relationship did the factor of age ever come up, except when early on I asked her if she cared that I was so much younger. Her reply was, “No, I think of you as someone my age–in fact you seem older than me in many ways.” It was a relationship as normal as any other, and the idea that she could’ve gone to jail based on a technicality just doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve also had friends who were certainly precocious and displayed far more maturity and wisdom than some of the adults I knew, and they were treated badly by adults that were inferior human beings in every way. I was a precocious kid myself, and I certainly knew what the hell I wanted and had far more conviction in my life’s goals than most adults around me, so I can understand very well why Mary Kay did not see Vili as a typical thirteen-year old (the fact he was artistically talented resonated with me as well). There was also a point in my life where I was in love with a teacher, and we were very close and shared a deep bond (I was sixteen, and she was thirty-five). I was asked to go live with her and her family in Japan, and I really wanted to, except it didn’t feel right to intrude as she had two daughters and was in an unhappy marriage. Instinctively I knew if I had accepted her offer, it would’ve lead to a lot of drama, and I just couldn’t disrupt her life like that. But other than my own life experiences making me predisposed to taking Mary Kay and Vili’s side, is probably the fact that deep down inside, I’ve always been an idealist and romantic, and I’ve always felt that the legal system for the most part is flawed (thought I understand the need for the law to treat everyone the same, even when we are so different from one another). Whether Mary Kay and Vili’s marriage is a successful one that lasts a lifetime remains to be seen, but at this point, it’s no longer important because how many people’s “normal” marriages are successful anyway? The fact that after all the tears and hardship they still remained together and got married is enough, and for me, the curtain is drawn here, and it’s a happy ending in my book.

WEBLOG:
Elena and I finally got to see Before Sunrise (we watched the sequel, Before Sunset, previously), and we both agree that the second film is better. The first one is more idealistic and romantic, but at the same time, the emotional impact isn’t on the same level. In the sequel, they never even really touch each other in the entire film, but the emotional impact is far more real and mature, as they’ve had time to understand just how much that day they spent together has affected their lives. I guess it’s also because we are roughly the same age as the characters are in the sequel, so we relate to how much they’ve grown since the first film. I suppose if Elena and I had watched the first film when we were in our early twenties, we would’ve related to that film more. The beauty of the second film is also in that even after nine years, they are still so perfect for each other, despite having had more life experience since their day together nine years ago.

…

I’m sure this has happened to some of you before–you were in the market to get a (insert anything), and after some research, you felt like you’ve got it narrowed down to a few sensible candidates. Then came that fateful day when someone who knew quite a bit about the products you’ve been looking at innocently made the following remark:

“Well, if you don’t mind spending just a bit more, you can look at the higher-end manufacturers/models such as…”

And your response was, “Huh? I never heard of those companies before, and I’ve been researching for a while now.”

“Of course not. They are the higher end stuff–totally different league compared to what you’ve been looking at.”

If you controlled your curiosity at that point, your life would still be pretty normal, but as soon as you took a peek into the higher-end, the seemingly comfortable surrounding you live in suddenly unravels, and you realized you were living in a box, and outside of that box are the serious stuff. Respectable stuff. Stuff you now drool after because they are out of your reach.

And you can never go back once you decide you want to leave the box.

This happened to me recently, and I am, of course, talking about studio monitors (I already kind of went through that with Photography).

Until the fateful day, I would’ve been fine with a pair of Mackie HR824’s, or even JBL LSR4328P’s–and this isn’t to say they’re bad monitors, as they are actually quite good for their price range–but since having heard higher-end monitors like the Klein & Hummel O 300’s, Focal Solo 6’s, Digidesign RM2’s (which are essentially PMC’s technology), Dynaudio BM12A’s…etc, I would have a hard time going back. At the same time, we’re talking about up to four times the price though, not to mention the fact I still need to spend quite a bit on acoustic treatment–at least a grand or more (check out this demonstration of what acoustic treatment can do for you).

A quick summary of my recent listening tests (conducted at Cutting Edge Audio in San Francisco and Leo’s Pro Audio in Oakland):

Klein & Hummel O 300 - $4,000, or O 110 - $2,000
Buttery smooth and accurate. Probably too rich for my blood though (the 300). The 110 might be doable, but I’m afraid I’d want to add a sub to it and that’ll get expensive again.

Focal Solo 6 + Sub 6 - $3,500
Sounds very lush (especially on orchestral/vocals). I heard it without a sub, and it definitely needs one–at least when compared to the Dynaudio BM12A’s.

Digidesign RM2 - $3,500
The ATL technology works as advertised! At low levels the bass was still full bodied. Everything else about it really didn’t stand out all that much from the JBL LSR4328P’s I A/B’d against though, but the RM2’s also weren’t burned-in properly though (suggested time is 14 hours).

PMC DB1S-A
Have not heard, but am definitely interested. Should be similar to the RM2’s since both are PMC technology.

Dynaudio BM12A - $2,000
Very nice, but when compared to the Focal’s, they seemed a bit clinical in the orchestral/vocal area.

JBL LSR4328P - $1,450
Pretty amazing performer when pitted against more expensive monitors. Often it was hard to tell that the JBL’s were “inferior” in any way–whether in soundstage, frequency response, reaction time…etc. In fact it sounded very close to the BM12A’s and the RM2’s when I A/B’s with them. In some instances, the JBL’s actually had slightly better soundstage and clarity than the RM2’s (once again, the RM2’s were not burned in properly though). The onboard DSP calibration system is also a big bonus. I can totally use it in conjunction with acoustic treatment to get the desired accurate sound.

Mackie HR824 MKII - $1,200
I could always save some money and get these. They aren’t bad monitors–just not quite as good as the ones listed above (you get what you pay for). The rest of the money can all go to acoustic treatment.

It appears the the middle-of-the-road is always the most complicated. With el cheapo options, you don’t need to be picky. With super high-end options, you only have to consider the best of the best. It’s the middle range of the market that requires you to do a lot of research and choose which battles fight, and which ones to compromise on.