but the good news is that the time that i have not spent searching out the far flung seperate stems of my past endeavours has instead been spent creating brand spanking new music for you, or possibly for me (well, some of the time, not all of it, i have also spent time reading and reviewing and other stuffs)
yes, yet another piece of the puzzle that is Giles Babel has been put together, and this time it is probably the most accessible snippet of music that i have ever produced, being far more straightforward and less ambient than other sound experiments, and even my girlfriend actually says that she likes it, which is a rarity, and may have a little something to do with the sampling of Busta Rhymes' Touch It (which in turn had sampled Daft Punk's Technologic) and giving her something recognisable to grasp on to, and talking of recognisable samples, yes, that is also Yoda at the very start of the track.
and i'm entirely happy with the way this came together quickly, it is not quite as dark and brooding as most of my tracks tend to be, introducing a playfulness to the blend, and yet it still sits alongside my latest collection of tracks comfortably.
and i think the truth behind these issues is that as fans, we want our heroes and our icons to be infallible.
and when we start dealing with sequels, or prequels, or a follow up of some sort, you are running a risk.
you are increasing the chances of a work held in high esteem becoming tainted, or lessened somehow.
there is also the chance that an original premise could be improved upon, but when people have such an emotional investment in these works you are also gambling with people's memories.
we often have our personal reasons for such deep investment, some that go deeper than others, whether it is an album that saw your through a particularly rough patch in your life or reminds you of fond memories, or perhaps it is a film or a story that just connected with you, or opened your eyes to something you had not experienced before.
these are the types of feelings and emotions that people connect to art.
we could be talking about Greedo shooting first in the Star Wars special editions, the introduction of Jar Jar Binks and midichlorians in The Phantom Menace, we could be talking about the movie adaption of The Da Vinci Code or the long-threatened American remake of Akira, it could be Jay-Z's Blueprint 2 (and 3), it could any modern take on an old idea, whether it is the Wicker Man or Star Trek, and it could be the increasing expectations for Christopher Nolan's final instalment in his Dark Knight trilogy.
whilst i was quite tempted to post up another superhero offering, i decided against it since i was afraid of offending those less inclined towards comic books
but i can't promise a break at all from general geekiness
and for that, we head to my attic, which has been designated as the geek pad in my house and which i finally got round to starting decorating while my girlfriend was away in india, yep, it was back to colour swatches and once again looking at a whole bundle of similar colours, trying to figure out which particular tone would be best
on monday, it took a step closer to completion as i got rather creative with a couple of shades of red, a paintbrush, and my right hand
(i am sworn to secrecy as to the complete look, but their is a sneak peak right here)
on tuesday, once the (splattered) paint was dry, i took up the plastic sheets, took down the protective wrapping and put the exceptionally priced ikea glass cabinet in its rightful place, stood back and felt proud
my brother had already been round to help put the cabinet together as i was far too excited to leave it boxed, and a fortunate trip to a charity shop resulted in the purchase of quite a few retro action figures, perfect to kickstart my little nostalgic collection, but having the wall painted, the cabinet in place, and the figures standing to attention made all the difference
and sat proudly on the very top shelf of the cabinet is the beautiful animated style Princess Leia statuette that my girlfriend bought me as a present a couple of years ago, it had spent too long in it's box, and since moving into our house i have been super-keen to get it on display so that it can be fully appreciated
there is still plenty of work to be done before the geek pad is complete, but this week it has definitely taken a huge step in the right direction, and i have spent this very night not just blogging, and updating my contributions to byford365, but also scouring ebay for some film posters to grace the walls of my (ahem) penthouse surely my effort redecorating must have upgraded it from being 'just' an attic
there is absolutely no way that i am gonna get reeled into having to sit through Episode 1 again, not least when i'll have to pay for the privilege on seeing the stupid thing in 3D, no thanks George.
quick to jump on this blooming stupid 3D (but not even really 3D, just a bit 3D) bandwagon that will lead us all into the mouth of hell, George Lucas climbed down from the giant money stack he had been sat on at his Skywalker ranch and decreed that his 6 Star Wars films shall be re-tooled with some crummy 3D and then drip-fed into cinemas over the course of 6 years in order to bleed die-hard geeks of more of their earnings.
i grumbled when i first heard the news, but now a release date for Episode 1 has been pencilled in for next february i feel the need to grumble a little bit more, and publicly...
we'd start at the start (or the middle, dependant on your personal viewpoint) with Episode 1, by no means a classic, but despite the derision and the fact that the film is far from great, i've held a kind of naive fondness for it in my mind, but sitting through it again, i was relieved when the end credits rolled
back in 1999 i think i was kinda caught up in the hype, full of excitement that my generation would have it's own Star Wars legacy to witness anew after growing up with A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi as a standard Bank Holiday TV staple, i don't ever remember being shocked by the revelation of Luke's parentage as it was almost a received wisdom.
right now tho, in 2011, The Phantom Menace sticks out as a moment that the dream soured and as a terrible choice of a way to spend a couple of hours (and however much a ticket to a 3D film will be going for in 2012).
thankfully the other two prequels managed to claw back some of the self-respect lost in Episode 1, but the damage had already been done, and we became imbued with more of a curiosity for parts 2 and 3 instead of being blessed with another huge cultural phenomenon for a later generation.
(and i dare say i may be tempted to sneak into the 3D screenings of Episodes 2, 3 ,4, 5 and 6 as they roll out)
now we are at the halfway point with our screenings (well sort of, she slept through most of Revenge and should realy catch up) and we'll probably fire up the projector tomorrow night and step back in time, but further into the future, although they're all a long time ago anyway, but i'm sure you catch my drift, yep, we'll be watching the 'special' edition of 77's A New Hope.
ok, the lightsabre duels are a hell of a lot slower, and no-one jumps around so much, but nobody mentions midichloreans either, so the other factors that date it don't really matter at all when put into the context of Episode 1.
and for those that are bored of the same song that the Mos Eisley Cantina Band have been playing for what seems like an eternity, then perhaps tune into this Star Wars honouring video for mopey rockers Scattered Trees (no, i hadn't heard of them either) that, through the kitchen sink drama of some Imperial downtime, shows the downside of capturing pretty female jedis if you're a bit of an emotionally charged stormtrooper.
oh, and Boba Fett knows how to play drums, reinforcing his reputation as one of the coolest characters of the franchise.
and before i go, i must also comment on how impressed i am with their use of some chalkboard paint nonchalantly daubed on the walls, looking very cool.
now if only there was an entertaining and inspiring 'light' news piece that could combine the two of them while i look for ideas to geek out the attic room
'windows' were painted on the walls to give a view looking out from the imposing Imperial fleet vehicle, the room is constructed to be accoustically perfect, and two scarlet-clad Imperial guards even watch over the entrance to this geeking-freaking slice of nirvana that is equipped with 12 leather recliners and a wii, incase chasing down rebels just isn't fun any more.
but the dream becomes almost as crushing as a stormtroopers defeat at the hands of ewoks, when you pay closer attention to the article, since not every misguided geek has a 20 by 30 foot room knocking around to convert and upset their significant others, and to add salt to the recently opened wound they also have an adjoining living room and pool table and have even hosted intimate gigs in the Vader room
and since my own through lounge doesn't come in those particular sizes, i guess we'll keep hooking up the laptop to the projector and stereo for our own cinematic experiences, and i suppose i should consider a more humble approach to redecorating the attic
things haven't quite gone to plan around here, i thought i would have something to bring you that i don't actually have yet, and i decided to hold off knocking out a post yesterday, and i was considering reminiscing on my tokyo adventure (since it is a year ago today that i was on a flight back, still rather intoxicated and in trouble with my girlfriend after bursting into song while waiting to check in), i also want to keep on upping my game as a music blogger, as well as bringing you more poetry, photography, stray sofas and all the other stuff that makes this blog the unique blog that it is.
all this shall happen, stick with me....
but for now, a blacksploitation style trailer taking a look at star wars' smooth brother, Lando Calrisian and the geek fantasy of femtroopers, for those that are soooo over slave leia and don't mind getting down with the Empire
i'm not actually thrilled by this song, i think One Life Stand was head and shoulders above this, but despite that, it does have an amazing, and rather bizarre video to accompany it.
and as if the boyband start to the vid isn't weird enough.... just stick with it
and what attracts me to this video even more is the fact that it is directed by Peter Serafinowiczaka the 'Baddie' from Spaced aka the 'Baddie' from Shaun Of The Dead aka The Shipping Report guy from Black Books aka the voice of Darth Maul aka probabaly countless other british comedy cameos and other such stuff, heck, he even cropped up in last years Rom-Com Couple's Retreat
and after just checking his wiki entry for research purposes i've just found out that he's worked on stuff for Adult Swim and married Sarah Alexander - damn, is there anything he hasn't done??!!
and another music video for you guys, yep, but with a twist.
you've all heard Ke$ha's uffie-biting single Tik Tok, course you have, some of you may have even watched Midnight Beast's parody video, but have you seen the Star Wars parody??
it's truly bizzarre, it truly is beyond words.
featuring the world's least fanciable Princess Leia, the world's unhairiest Chewbacca impersonator and a load of other odd stuff, just watch, ok?
Bentō (弁当 or べんとう?) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables as a side dish. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento is readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋, bentō-ya?), train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend considerable time and energy producing an appealing boxed lunch.
and what could be more appealing than crafting a bento into some tasty edible star wars artwork
for some bizzarre reason that is unknown to me (probably because i'm male) my girlfriend takes great delight in looking at diamond rings and pictures of wedding dresses, and, erm, wedding hair, so i know this post will thrill her...
because nothing says 'i love you' quite like a star wars themed wedding!
but what is most impressive about this geeky display of affection is just how spectacular the whole thing looks, it had the potential to be a real shambolic sham full of geeks and weirdos, but even when the bride is wearing a dress based on a stormtrooper uniform the whole thing is executed with class and comes across as unique, rather than freak.
quite how classy a star wars themed wedding reception that includes Las Vegas style entertainment for the guests and dancing stormtroopers can only be answered with a little bit of imagination, tho there are afew photos of that too.
but on the whole, the wedding photographs strike a beautiful balance between the weird and the wonderful and are a wonderful reminder of a union between two people that is likely to stay with you, whether you attended the wedding or not
credit where it's due, i first read about this over at great white snark
and all the photos can be viewed on the website of patdy photography
