Random ramblings.
I received my exam results as well as the certificate for comparative literature studies from the University of Tampere! Yes! The nice people at the University of Vaasa managed to add all those delicious 25 study points worth of courses into the university database so now I don't have to worry about that anymore. It's amazing how much I had to read for just the basic studies for comparative literature: literally thousands of pages per month. I'm very happy with the overall grade 5 (out of 5) I got for my certificate; I did work really hard to get it. The courses themselves were fun (albeit required a lot of reading and analysis plus the exam questions were surprisingly hard).
As for my William S. Burroughs -esque short story, it turned out that my lecturer Sami Simola really liked it. His comments for my Tutuola essay, learning diary and short story were very extensive and had great constructive criticism. This is exactly the kind of stuff I wish to hear from lecturers because if they just give grades and never explain why, how am I supposed to learn anything? Luckily the lecturers from both Tampere and Vaasa have put up with my questions and have given awesome, analytical answers.
What I also liked about Simola is how his comments were extremely funny at times because he didn't want to stay as an academic all the time. I already saw hints of that during the fifth course when we analyzed Proust's In Search of the Past but he really got to shine for his comments for my short story and learning journal. One of the funniest comments was when he revealed that he had once RPed a "wasp nest." Cue in WTF from me, and we had a hilarious e-mail discussion about its specifics later. Needless to say, the background info for such a ridiculous premise was actually very interesting and enjoyable. I can't help but feel sorry; I have no idea how I'd RP an entire frickin' wasp nest if I had to do it at, say, tGA.
But yeah, it was nice to hear encouraging comments about the short story. It's an idea which I thought might be interesting as a novel (a kind of postmodernist take on a novel character figuring out he is in fact fictional and not real, and the resulting catastrophe on the character and world's psyche) and I was happy when Simola himself suggested that I expanded the idea. I don't know when/if I ever get it done because it requires playing with language and trope conventions, but apparently no one else had quite done exactly the same thing so I'd be the first writer to actually pull it off. That'd be swell.
I've also been reading through various books for my university courses. Of particular note is the interesting The Essential Guide to World Comics by Tim Pilcher & Brad Brooks. These guys know a lot about comics, and they mention all my favourites as well as several underground artists I've never even heard of. Obviously there's a lot to explore in international comics but for the time being this book should suffice to anyone who's interested in learning about the world's comics (yes, they basically detail almost every frickin' country and the comics of said country in this book). It's well worth a read for any comics enthusiast.
I decided to try out LibraryThing and it's been quite addictive so far. Too bad it requires a fee after adding the first 200 entries but since the fee is small and includes lifetime membership, I think I might support them and actually pay it. I really like how easy it is to use various sources (Amazon, Library of Congress, LIBRIS, Helsinki Metropolitan Libraries etc.) to find books, and they almost have every book listed out there. And even if you don't find a particular book in the list, it seems relatively easy to add one yourself to the database. It's also interesting to compare other users' booklists to my own, and some of the results can be quite surprising. Apart from the small fee, this looks like the best book catalogue site I've seen so far (and it seems to have the biggest user base too). Good stuff.
I also tried to install Trillian after I'd heard so many people praising it. It's indeed nice to have Live Messenger, AIM and Y!M in the same applet, thus reducing processor stress from my rather old computer. The only downside seems to be that it doesn't sometimes want to support audio/video (mic/webcam) that well, which prompts me to launch the actual application (e.g. AIM) to work around the issue. Still, for casual chatting it's a fine tool with a simple enough interface and great flexibility. But yeah, having all those applications in one is definitely the best thing about it (as well as how light it is in terms of processor stress). It's well worth checking out, and I'm sure future versions will smoothen the few kinks it has.
I've been positively surprised by the recent emergence of quality soundtracks. Judging by the past 6 months, this year seems to shape up as one of the greatest soundtrack years in a while. So, what are my favourites from this extensive output? Here's a list of this year's scores that I can think of right now:
-Alice in Wonderland by Danny Elfman. A delightfully beautiful yet gothic entry. Standout cue: "Alice's Theme"
-Avatar by James Horner. Beautiful mix of orchestra, etnic instruments/wails and choir, particularly in the leaked complete score bootleg which offers so much more than the regular OST. Standout cue: "Becoming One of 'The People'/Becoming One with Neytiri"
-How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell. A kickass score which is Powell's crown jewel. On par with the likes onf HGW's Sinbad as far as Dreamworks scores go. My favourite score of the bunch so far. Standout cue: "Test Drive" (although the choice is actually really hard because many cues are great, including "Forbidden Friendship", "Romantic Flight" and "Battling the Green Death")
-The Last Airbender by James Newton Howard. A surprising powerhouse of a score with lots of themes, great orchestration and loyalty to the series's source material. The only sad thing is the quieted/missing choir but apparently the film version will have gorgeous choir backing up the cues. Standout cue: "Flow Like Water" (if this beautiful piece plays in that certain tragic scene which I recall from the series's first season, I'll most likely end up crying my eyes out)
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time by Harry Gregson-Williams. Not quite the masterpiece as Sinbad was, but it's definitely on par with Kingdom of Heaven. Nice ethnic instruments, interesting themes, and kickass action. Standout cue: "Raid on Alamut"
-Shrek Forever After by Harry Gregson-Williams. Perhaps the best score in the entire Shrek franchise (still debating whether this or Shrek 2 is superior). Not only does it have the Fairytale Theme and various other themes hinted at but it also offers a truly sinister and memorable villain theme. Standout cue: "Rumpel's Kingdom"
Hopefully the rest of the year will be as awesome although I suppose it will be, what with David Arnold's score for Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader coming sometime around Christmas (unless they change the date). *fingers crossed*
The E3 has produced some very interesting trailers this year. I'm still in the progress of finishing the first Deus Ex (that game is so long, but I'm not complaining because it's fun!) and now they show something awesome like this Deus Ex prequel. Another fine video is the one for the Old Republic, seen here. If only the actual game's graphics were that advanced...
I was also very happy that I managed to PM my picks for the finalists of the recent Ciddies at EoFF. It was funny that my vote ended up mattering in a few picks which had a very close call between certain finalists (some only differed by having one vote more than the competitor). So, all's well that ends well, right? ;)
Yours,
Mikko
As for my William S. Burroughs -esque short story, it turned out that my lecturer Sami Simola really liked it. His comments for my Tutuola essay, learning diary and short story were very extensive and had great constructive criticism. This is exactly the kind of stuff I wish to hear from lecturers because if they just give grades and never explain why, how am I supposed to learn anything? Luckily the lecturers from both Tampere and Vaasa have put up with my questions and have given awesome, analytical answers.
What I also liked about Simola is how his comments were extremely funny at times because he didn't want to stay as an academic all the time. I already saw hints of that during the fifth course when we analyzed Proust's In Search of the Past but he really got to shine for his comments for my short story and learning journal. One of the funniest comments was when he revealed that he had once RPed a "wasp nest." Cue in WTF from me, and we had a hilarious e-mail discussion about its specifics later. Needless to say, the background info for such a ridiculous premise was actually very interesting and enjoyable. I can't help but feel sorry; I have no idea how I'd RP an entire frickin' wasp nest if I had to do it at, say, tGA.
But yeah, it was nice to hear encouraging comments about the short story. It's an idea which I thought might be interesting as a novel (a kind of postmodernist take on a novel character figuring out he is in fact fictional and not real, and the resulting catastrophe on the character and world's psyche) and I was happy when Simola himself suggested that I expanded the idea. I don't know when/if I ever get it done because it requires playing with language and trope conventions, but apparently no one else had quite done exactly the same thing so I'd be the first writer to actually pull it off. That'd be swell.
I've also been reading through various books for my university courses. Of particular note is the interesting The Essential Guide to World Comics by Tim Pilcher & Brad Brooks. These guys know a lot about comics, and they mention all my favourites as well as several underground artists I've never even heard of. Obviously there's a lot to explore in international comics but for the time being this book should suffice to anyone who's interested in learning about the world's comics (yes, they basically detail almost every frickin' country and the comics of said country in this book). It's well worth a read for any comics enthusiast.
I decided to try out LibraryThing and it's been quite addictive so far. Too bad it requires a fee after adding the first 200 entries but since the fee is small and includes lifetime membership, I think I might support them and actually pay it. I really like how easy it is to use various sources (Amazon, Library of Congress, LIBRIS, Helsinki Metropolitan Libraries etc.) to find books, and they almost have every book listed out there. And even if you don't find a particular book in the list, it seems relatively easy to add one yourself to the database. It's also interesting to compare other users' booklists to my own, and some of the results can be quite surprising. Apart from the small fee, this looks like the best book catalogue site I've seen so far (and it seems to have the biggest user base too). Good stuff.
I also tried to install Trillian after I'd heard so many people praising it. It's indeed nice to have Live Messenger, AIM and Y!M in the same applet, thus reducing processor stress from my rather old computer. The only downside seems to be that it doesn't sometimes want to support audio/video (mic/webcam) that well, which prompts me to launch the actual application (e.g. AIM) to work around the issue. Still, for casual chatting it's a fine tool with a simple enough interface and great flexibility. But yeah, having all those applications in one is definitely the best thing about it (as well as how light it is in terms of processor stress). It's well worth checking out, and I'm sure future versions will smoothen the few kinks it has.
I've been positively surprised by the recent emergence of quality soundtracks. Judging by the past 6 months, this year seems to shape up as one of the greatest soundtrack years in a while. So, what are my favourites from this extensive output? Here's a list of this year's scores that I can think of right now:
-Alice in Wonderland by Danny Elfman. A delightfully beautiful yet gothic entry. Standout cue: "Alice's Theme"
-Avatar by James Horner. Beautiful mix of orchestra, etnic instruments/wails and choir, particularly in the leaked complete score bootleg which offers so much more than the regular OST. Standout cue: "Becoming One of 'The People'/Becoming One with Neytiri"
-How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell. A kickass score which is Powell's crown jewel. On par with the likes onf HGW's Sinbad as far as Dreamworks scores go. My favourite score of the bunch so far. Standout cue: "Test Drive" (although the choice is actually really hard because many cues are great, including "Forbidden Friendship", "Romantic Flight" and "Battling the Green Death")
-The Last Airbender by James Newton Howard. A surprising powerhouse of a score with lots of themes, great orchestration and loyalty to the series's source material. The only sad thing is the quieted/missing choir but apparently the film version will have gorgeous choir backing up the cues. Standout cue: "Flow Like Water" (if this beautiful piece plays in that certain tragic scene which I recall from the series's first season, I'll most likely end up crying my eyes out)
-Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time by Harry Gregson-Williams. Not quite the masterpiece as Sinbad was, but it's definitely on par with Kingdom of Heaven. Nice ethnic instruments, interesting themes, and kickass action. Standout cue: "Raid on Alamut"
-Shrek Forever After by Harry Gregson-Williams. Perhaps the best score in the entire Shrek franchise (still debating whether this or Shrek 2 is superior). Not only does it have the Fairytale Theme and various other themes hinted at but it also offers a truly sinister and memorable villain theme. Standout cue: "Rumpel's Kingdom"
Hopefully the rest of the year will be as awesome although I suppose it will be, what with David Arnold's score for Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader coming sometime around Christmas (unless they change the date). *fingers crossed*
The E3 has produced some very interesting trailers this year. I'm still in the progress of finishing the first Deus Ex (that game is so long, but I'm not complaining because it's fun!) and now they show something awesome like this Deus Ex prequel. Another fine video is the one for the Old Republic, seen here. If only the actual game's graphics were that advanced...
I was also very happy that I managed to PM my picks for the finalists of the recent Ciddies at EoFF. It was funny that my vote ended up mattering in a few picks which had a very close call between certain finalists (some only differed by having one vote more than the competitor). So, all's well that ends well, right? ;)
Yours,
Mikko