Super Awesome Project: Production Log 1

Alright, so I know this was supposed to be solely devoted to music and whatnot, but it's my blog, so I'm changing the rules. Anything goes. Mop up your tears and we'll continue. 

So, the big question is...what's in the box?

If you guessed "puppy," you'd be wrong. If you guessed "nothing," you'd also be wrong. In fact, if you guessed just about anything but "1000 plastic army men," you'd be wrong. 

Yes. I said 1000. One thousand. Une mille.

More than its physical contents, however, these toys represent the start of a grand project that has already consumed no less than 30 hours of the life of myself and a friend and others who have contributed in their own way. My friends, I'm constructing a giant game of Risk. 

As a disclaimer, I take no credit for having the idea originally. It started after my friends (Ben and Dan) and I decided we wanted to play Risk, only to find out that if we wanted a version with real soldiers, cavalry, and cannons, we'd have to pay upwards of 90 dollars. The current official version replaces soldiers with arrows. ARROWS. I considered this unacceptable and was about to give up when I came across a webpage dedicated to a group that had built their own massive game of risk. (I'd provide the link, but frankly I'm too lazy so if you're interested to see their version, just search for "Giant Risk Game" or something to that effect.) I discussed it with Ben and Dan, and decided we had to give it a go ourselves, with a few modifications (though Dan has been absent for much of this, as he's been away at a convention.)

Don't let anyone fool you. There's nothing more brutal and exciting than direction-indicative warfare.

We hit setbacks right out of the gate. Each of two Amazon sellers had packages of 1000 army men for $20. We went with the seller with the better track record, and ended up having our order canceled days later because it was out of stock. Fortunately, the other seller came through in a timely manner, even if it was slightly more expensive in shipping. The results, obviously, were in the second picture.

Once we had them in our possession, the next issue was dividing them into separate armies. Standard Risk games come with six armies, divided by color, and composed of infantry, cavalry, and cannons. Due to the inability to buy fitting alternatives to the cavalry and cannons (in bulk and/or reasonably priced), we decided that we'd only use the soldiers and paint some of their helmets to indicate those that represent 5 units and 10 units. Of course, before designs could go on, we had to paint a base-coat for each of the six armies. $15 and a trip to Home Depot later, we had six cans of spray paint ready to be applied.

Whitewashing the first army.

The task turned out to be much more difficult than expected. We started the first coat of white at 7:00 PM last night, and set the last of the yellow soldiers to dry at almost 11:00 PM. We did a side of white, red, and black, and then went back in order and did the other side. We then did the same with (a lighter shade of) green, blue, and yellow. The kicker? The yellow army still needs another coat on both sides, which isn't surprising since it's one of the lighter colors, but the white didn't need a second coat save for a few that needed touch-ups on their bases. 

No I'm not Jewish, that's a mask on my head.

600 drying soldiers

Clearly, there's plenty more to this than the playing pieces. Over the next few days, I'll be updating with details about the board (teaser: it's fantastic), job-related injuries, and other miscellaneous elements that have gone/will go into this game that I haven't already mentioned. Thanks to Ben, there will be plenty of photos for you guys to enjoy as well. 

Let me know what you think!

Not giving up...

Sorry guys, this is pretty insignificant, but I just wanted to apologize for the absence of posts. I've been away and haven't had the chance to update. I'll do my best to get a new one up in the near future.

Soundtrack of the Week: 6-28-2010

I apologize for this being a day or so late, but you know how it goes.

1) Coheed and Cambria - Time Consumer

I could probably go on for hours about how Coheed and Cambria is my favorite band, but I'll save that for an album review...or five... Anywho. This one goes back to their debut album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, and this is actually the first track (excluding the instrumental intro) on the album. Every instrument part is technically sound, but not one manages to overpower another. There is a tremendous balance that creates a situation akin to when one reads a book or watches a movie over and over and notices new things each time. You can decide to listen to a particular instrument at a certain point and realize that there's a movement operating almost covertly inside the whole of the song. The vocalist, Claudio Sanchez, has an impressive vocal range, and uses it to its fullest extent. That being said, his voice is often the catching point when I try to introduce Coheed to friends. I didn't care for it at first, either, but now I have difficulty comprehending that mindset, so please don't write them off. Listen to some other songs and really give them a chance.

Time Consumer starts at roughly 0:55. The first 55 seconds is the title track, and is instrumental. Feel free to listen to it, but I figured I'd point you to the song itself for those who would just like to listen to that.

2) Silversun Pickups - The Royal We

When I picked up Swoon, their most recent LP, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew I liked what I'd heard from them, namely "Lazy Eye" and "Panic Switch," but that was the extent of my knowledge of this band. I had a gift card that had just enough left to buy the album, and I didn't have anything else I really wanted to buy at the time so I picked it up. Turns out it was an excellent move. It's rare to find an album where all but one or two of the tracks is good, and this album goes beyond that to the point where I enjoyed every single song. That, of course, made this choice a bit tougher, but this song stuck out to me from the first playing.

It's incredibly powerful, both lyrically and instrumentally. The main riff is more or less an eighth note rhythm, but its simplicity serves the song just fine. The build-up from the verse and chorus to the bridge, and the explosion in the bridge are perfectly timed and really add to the anger and energy of the song. While the video's a little odd, it shouldn't take away from the song. If it does, just change the window and listen without watching.

3) Dream Theater - Learning to Live

You can argue with me all you want about the superiority of Octavarium, but Images and Words is the definitive Dream Theater album as far as I'm concerned. This 11-minute saga of a track is not for everyone, but it is a showcase of true musicianship. This is a group of guys who know more about their instruments and making music than you'll likely forget in your lifetime. They make time signatures cry and aspiring musicians cut themselves with their own shattered dreams (and if you believe this overdubbed spoof video, John Petrucci can also control the temperature of the sun.) Sure this song has some keyboard, but who ever said that keyboard had to be a bad thing? 

As a heads up, this video actually cuts off a couple seconds early, but with Youtube limitations, and the fact that this is an 11-and-a-half minute song, I can't really complain, especially since the quality is fantastic.




 

Soundtrack of the Week: 6-21-2010

So this is my first "sorta" feature that I'm test driving. Basically the concept is that I put forth a handful of songs that I feel people should listen to over the course of the week, and you guys give me feedback via the comments section (speaking of which, are you following my blog yet? You should be!). Love the songs? Like one but hate the others? Well let me know!

I'd also like to put forth the notion that you should give me some suggestions for what I might put forward in future weeks' soundtracks. Will I cater to your opinions and give everything an automatic bump to the soundtrack? Not necessarily, but I'll give everything a listen and a fair shot. Expand my musical taste while I expand yours!

And without further ado...

1) James Taylor - Carolina in my Mind

It seemed only fitting that I would give the first song of this week to Mr. Taylor seeing as he was inadvertently the inspiration for this entire blog. It was difficult to pick a single song from his catalog of work, but ultimately my mood (content, but a little worn out from a busy weekend) dictated this decision.

As with his any of his other pieces that come to mind, his guitar work is skillful but never outshines his one-of-a-kind voice: a voice that goes beyond simply speaking the lyrics. You can hear the pain, the happiness, the nostalgia, and the simple desire to be home in his singing. It always feels like there's some story behind the song that he's keeping to himself and remembering as he sings.

In my searching, I came across this video. It's a bit lengthy for a song (at almost 10 minutes) but he introduces the song and the story behind it before playing. It's well worth a viewing, and while I certainly don't know the man himself, I'm given the impression that he's a very genuine person, which only adds to the song for me.



2) Blind Melon - No Rain

I can almost guarantee you've heard this song, though you may not know it by name or by artist. These guys were more or less a one-hit band, and I want to say that the singer died after he overdosed or something to that effect, though I would have to check that and I'm much too lazy, so consider this a disclaimer. Regardless, this happens to be one of the most infectious songs my ears have ever had the pleasure of receiving. The electric guitar hook is bright and catchy, and is backed by subtle but effective acoustic work and a smooth bass line. The percussive snaps and shakers fill out the aural landscape perfectly beneath the vocal harmonies. The lyrics are a bit melancholy, but when placed in the upbeat key, they manage to carry a sort of optimism and dare I say contentedness? Oh, and the music video has a girl in a bee costume. Remember now?



3) Tool - Schism

I'll admit up front to not knowing Tool's work nearly as well as I probably should, but holy buttered waffles this song is great! The song begins with some bass chords (I promise they exist) and is quickly followed by one of my favorite bass lines, which is then mimicked and fiddled with by the guitar. The powerful vocals fit the song perfectly. The breakdown is also perfect, maintaining the feel of the song while slowing down the pace and introducing some interesting vocal and instrumental effects. As a whole, the piece is fairly technical, playing with time signatures and interesting rhythms. It's no Dream Theater, but it doesn't need to be. Check it out.


They're artists. They're allowed to be a little weird..

Alright. Your turn. Thoughts? Comments? Grilled cheese sandwiches?

Take 50-something

Ok, let's be honest. My projects generally fall apart. I can't pick out a definitive reason for this. Perhaps it's because I often rely on others who have their own lives and plenty of things to fill said lives. Perhaps I'm too narrow in my goals. Perhaps I'm too ambitious. Or lazy. I don't know. But I'm giving it another try.

As many of you know, and as many of you can probably relate, I'm not thrilled with the state of the world. American politics are a joke, as are world politics. Most of those in power don't deserve to be there, and those that do know better than to get anywhere near the hell hole that is Washington. We're either gearing up for or are amidst The Crusades: Part 2, depending on how you view it. And of course, you have BP's little oopsie destroying the Gulf ecosystem and causing all kinds of damage we may not know about for years. But I'm not here to get political.

My goal with this blog is to discuss music. In recent conversation, I found someone slightly younger than myself who hadn't even heard of James Taylor. Now, I'm not saying I know all of his music by heart, but the man's a legend. His music's everywhere. Beyond the fact that she hadn't heard about him, though, is the thought that there is an entire generation coming up that's going to be weened on GaGa and the autotuned stylings of T Payne. It's legitimately frightening to me that people can claim with a straight face that these so-called artists have "saved their life" and flood my facebook feed with their mindless lyrics.

I'm not going to be arrogant and claim that my musical tastes should serve as some archetype, but I've grown up in a very musical family, and it's always been a big part of my life. Best case scenario: I'll show you something that you'll really enjoy and you'll expand your musical tastes. Worst case scenario: you haven't even read this far because you got offended when I snubbed your psychotic pop queen in the last paragraph and went to fantasize about Justin Bieber.

Stay tuned. First substantial post coming soon.