Also, look what I just dugg up! The article just amazes me, check it out! 🙂
“It’s a bird. It’s a plane. Or it might turn out to be a little like both. Researchers are aiming to find ways to enable aircraft to change shape during flight to improve performance or efficiency. The University of Dayton project is funded by a $580,000 defense contract to further the development of “morphing” aircraft…”
The new James Blunt album, “Back To Bedlam”, truly amazes me. There’s not a single track in this album that I don’t deeply enjoy. I really hope that he keeps up the awesome job. Specially now, with my current mood and..well.. thoughts and mixed feelings and all that, this album has been a life saver. Here are the lyrics for one of my favorite tracks. Fits my feelings so well right now.
“Tears And Rain”
How I wish I could surrender my soul; Shed the clothes that become my skin; See the liar that burns within my needing. How I wish I’d chosen darkness from cold. How I wish I had screamed out loud, Instead I’ve found no meaning.
I guess it’s time I run far, far away; find comfort in pain, All pleasure’s the same: it just keeps me from trouble. Hides my true shape, like Dorian Gray. I’ve heard what they say, but I’m not here for trouble. It’s more than just words: it’s just tears and rain.
How I wish I could walk through the doors of my mind; Hold memory close at hand, Help me understand the years. How I wish I could choose between Heaven and Hell. How I wish I would save my soul. I’m so cold from fear.
I guess it’s time I run far, far away; find comfort in pain, All pleasure’s the same: it just keeps me from trouble. Hides my true shape, like Dorian Gray. I’ve heard what they say, but I’m not here for trouble. Far, far away; find comfort in pain. All pleasure’s the same: it just keeps me from trouble. It’s more than just words: it’s just tears and rain.
First of all, a note to the guys and gals who asked for the Distillery photos. I’ve now posted a few of those in my phlog. Just for you. 🙂 With regards to amv’s comment on the last post, the Demovibes website seems to be up and about now: www.demovibes.org What else….oh yeah. In my on going scene-music diggage, I finally found…well… let me try to explain to you what I found. The Assembly 2006 freestyle music competition happened on around 7:45 of a Saturday morning [Toronto time]. So I was half asleep when the competition started, and I was watching the web-tv on my notebook in bed. I remember hearing this fantastic song that took my breath away, but somewhere in between my struggle to open my eyes and a silly stream blink, I ended up missing the song info. So now after going through almost all the competition entries, finally I found it. “When Time Stands Still” by PK, check it out. Also, I know that some of you have already discovered this, but if you haven’t, make sure you check out “Aufgewacht Und Tee Gemacht” by Genox. [Ummm…”Woke up and made tea”?! I just hope I got the spelling right.] I’ve been listening to this about 10 times a day recently. One of the best that I’ve heared from this artist so far. Absolutely brilliant. These 2 tracks speak directly to my heart. <3 <3 :> And that’s about it for now……
Update: Umm Guys…there’s a new comment on the first part of the display report that you might like to check out. 🙂
Since this seems to be the topic of the week, I might as well create a new post and share some news with you. A whole bunch of you have been asking for the soundtracks for a couple of Vantage demos. And it seems like some of you are not much for waiting. 😀 Anyway, I just captured the soundtracks for “A Simple Way” and “3 Cows Ahead” [click to download]. As for how I did it, well “3 Cows Ahead” is an avi so it’s a simple matter of an audio extraction. However, I tried a whole bunch of extractors and played around with whatever options available, but the result is never perfect for some reason. Specially the beginning of this one sounds far from what you hear on the avi. Keep in mind the fact that I’m no audio expert anyway. :”> So if you know of an extractor which could do a better job, please let me know. “A Simple Way” was of course a different story. I came across this demo capturing software called “kkapture 0.01” a while ago (on pouet.net BBS). It’s an easy to use application which does a pretty darn impressive job capturing both the audio and the video. So I used this to capture an avi of the demo, and then did the same mp3 extraction. The resulting audio quality is rather good. So…enjoy, and I’d certainly appreciate any bits of technical info that you might wanna throw at me. :>
Update: Wheee! Amoivikos [amv] of ASD has just posted a comment containing some very interesting information regarding a number of great scene tracks. Check it out! Always the best info, does this guy rule or what? 🙂
Update: Sorry guys, there is no full version of the “3 Cows Ahead” soundtrack. It was never finished.
Hmmm…for some odd reason it appears that a whole lot of my friends have never heard this one, which happens to be one of my favorites. The video clip for this track is also one of those which is always running at some corner of my mind. Reminds me a great deal of “The City Of Angels”. So why not share it with you? I’d be happy to know what you think of it. 🙂
And the lyrics: Green light, Seven Eleven You stop in for a pack of cigarettes You don’t smoke, don’t even want to Hey now, check your change Dressed up like a car crash Your wheels are turning but you’re upside down You say when he hits you, you don’t mind Because when he hurts you, you feel alive Oh no, is that what it is?
Red lights, grey morning You stumble out of a hole in the ground A vampire or a victim It depends on who’s around You used to stay in to watch the adverts You could lip synch to the talk shows
And if you look, you look through me And when you talk, you talk at me And when I touch you, you don’t feel a thing
If I could stay… then the night would give you up Stay, and the day would keep its trust Stay, and the night would be enough
Faraway, so close Up with the static and the radio With satellite television You can go anywhere Miami, New Orleans, London, Belfast, and Berlin
And if you listen I can’t call And if you jump, you just might fall And if you shout I’ll only hear you
If I could stay… then the night would give you up. Stay then the day would keep its trust Stay with the demons you drowned Stay with the spirit I found Stay and the night would be enough
Three o’clock in the morning It’s quiet and there’s no one around Just the bang and the clatter As an angel runs to ground Just the bang and the clatter As an angel hits the ground
Ah…I really do love this song.
Also, on a completely unrelated topic, Amoivikos/ASD had posted a link to this very interesting video clip in the comments for the last part of my report. I’m going to post it here, since I believe not many people will get the chance to see it over there. The video offers some good information about the Demoscene. [Thanks amv :)] And by the way, if [like me] you’re not a German speaker, don’t freak out, there’s English subtitles. 🙂
Update: Ok peeps, looks like another discussion thread just opened up on the comments for the part 6 of the report (Vantage related), you might wanna check it out.
I don’t quite remember when I first received the news regarding the the Sivand dam [Iran – Fars] reconstruction and how it could seriously damage Iran’s archeological sites, but I do know that now I’m completely sick and tired of my mailbox and Orkut scrap book getting filled up with all the emails and messages on the topic, which oh, yeah, happen to be ALL BLOODY LIES! So here’s the story: The Sivand dam has been an important part of an on going 10 year plan to provide irrigation water for the farmers in the area, and now that it’s nearly complete, some very disturbing rumors have been spread around which have managed to cause serious concerns for a whole lot of people, including myself for a short while. [If you didn’t know already, I’m Persian. At least to a large extent.] The rumors have it that the flooding of this dam could cause the total destruction of some of Iran’s most important archeological sites including Pasargadae, the city built by King Cyrus the Great, and the King’s tomb. So these are the rumors that everyone has been receiving and damn well spreading without the smallest bit of research and any actual credible information. Now here’s my question to whoever’s been spreading the rumors thinking that they’ve been doing a fine job opening the eyes of the world to the truth: HOW GULLIBLE CAN YOU POSSIBLY BE? Why won’t you go and learn the truth for yourself instead of getting so fizzed up over a bunch of spam mails? When are you going to wake up and see what’s really happening, and what role you’re actually playing here? Last night I received an email saying that the flooding has started, and the tomb has already gone under, and HEY it included bloody PICTURES believe it or not. That’s it, I’ve had it, my folly taking capacity is officially over. I’ve decided to post a little piece of authenticated truth here, so “you”, rumor spreaders, might consider going and talking to the right people, or even better, taking a little trip and seeing things for yourself if you can. And of course I hope this helps anyone who would like to have some knowledge of what’s been happening. The Pasargadae and King’s tomb are in fact kilometers away from the bloody dam. There’s even a few villages in between, which means what exactly? Are you telling me that all those people have been drowned for cryin’ out loud? Of course not, you didn’t even think of that did you? In addition, you seem to fail to realize that the archeological sites of Iran don’t just belong to Iran, they belong to the world nation and therefore they’re all under protection of UNESCO. The Persian government doesn’t do any kind of construction work around any of Iran’s archeological sites without the permission of UNESCO. On the other hand, a Persian-Italian archeological research team has just recently unearthed another huge site in the area, which is being explored right at this moment. Makes me wonder, did they drown too? Or are they doing under-water explorations now? The only actual concern that has been brought up so far, is the effects of the possible increase of steam in the air. As it turns out, in comparison with the amount of rain that the sites receives each year, the steam problem is totally negligible. I also have to mention that some interesting solutions are being discussed currently for the rain problem. I also have another little hint for the rumor spreaders: You might want to start thinking in lines of “what effect these rumors have on the international view of Iran”, and how many more examples of similar problems we’re dealing with currently, which have to do with certain political matters that I’m just too sick of them to get into them here anyway. And now for some laughs, I’d like to share with you the very amusing [or not] photoshop works that I’ve just received, displaying the supposedly flooded tomb of Cyrus. If you have some additional news, photos, or anything to contribute to the article, or for some discussions or questions, please either ICQ, MSN, or Yahoo me. Thank you.
“I’m completely operational, and all my circuits are functioning perfectly”. Yup! I remember my own circuits getting completely fried after seeing this one. Perfect Love by LKCC & Bauknecht was the second “Robotic” demo of the show. The only complaint that I heard about this demo was toward the sound track. I was told that with a better sound track this demo could be a master-piece. Of course robot-happy people like me never minded the music anyway, and just enjoyed the super eye-candy! 😛 Next we had a bit of a sweet surprise for all the ASD fans. 🙂 Iconoclast which was actually a part of the last show, was screened again! This was one of nicest part of the show in my opinion, since you could actually see a lot of excitement going around. The crowd [specially the old crowd] seemed to be very happy to see Iconoclast once more, and the fans were actually standing up the whole time during the re-screening. Yup, ASD ruled the house again. 🙂 The last demo of the show was one that apparently has a lot of fans. Heaven Seven by Exceed is a very well known demo which I was actually told to watch by quite a few people when I first came across the Demoscene. [& Yeah I actually do go ahead and watch your recommendations people! :P] I guess I don’t even need to try do describe here how the crowd reacted to this one, do I? 🙂 This demo was actually screened twice back to back, since people wanted to grasp a bit more of the lyrics and the general concept. Besides the awesome visuals and great music, there’s definitely a lot going on in this demo, concept wise. A lot for us all to think about! 🙂 And of course, screenies as per request:So that was it! To wrap things up we listened to the 2 fantastic tracks, Chloral Hydrate by aMUSiC which made me and my Dune fanatic friends super-happy, and Music On The Moon by aMUSiC and Amigo, which got everyone dancing. 😀 And I guess now it’s time for me to finally finish up with this terribly long report [but what could I do, a promise is a promise! 😉 I just hope you guys are happy! :D] As for the next show, I have no clue when it’s going to be but of course if I decide to start arranging something again, I’ll let you all know. As for your questions regarding the demo-groups, as I mentioned before you can find their websites through www.pouet.net, [and refer to the update on part 3]. Still if it’s something that you can’t find and you think I might know, the shoutbox is open. Have fun people! 😉
A Simple Way by Vantage was another demo to bring up some controversy. Some very much liked it, some very much didn’t. Now if you’re one of those who liked it, then we’re on the same page. But if you’re one of those who didn’t, well then I’d like you to enlighten me a bit: What was it about this demo that you didn’t like? I do remember some guys saying that they were bored. But that’s as much as I could gather. The positive side seemed to have a lot to say though. This demos is….well….simple as the name depicts. An easy going /relaxing design with calming colors, put together with a fantastic sound track and some interesting lyrics, “demonstrating” the concept of beauty within simplicity. So explain to me, why did some of you look like you wanted to shoot me for being a bit Vantified? 😛 You are going our way now, Our way is simple, We like going our way, Because our way is simple, It is, A simple way.
I guess you could say that my fellow Elec Engeez got quite a treat this time around, given that there were at least 3 demos related to their field in this show. The very directly related one was Electric Kool-Aid by Synesthetics. The whole demo is displayed through an oscilloscope tube, what else could we possibly ask for? huh? But this electrifying demo didn’t just make the EE posse happy, it actually managed to make everyone happy! The super cool design and general atmosphere of this demo was exciting for the whole crowd. It seems like there are not many Synesthetics demos out there, well I hope that we’ll see more from these guys in the future.
Update: Guys I don’t have the soundtrack for “A Simple Way” in s seperate file. If it’s out there, I’m yet to find it. If you find it, I want it too!
Next Stop: ALL HAIL SATORI! Yes, thank you Satori, this is where the fight started. The crowd got divided to 2 clear groups, the ones who completely loved the Satori demos and the ones who completely hated them. No in-betweens what-so-ever. Given that 2 Satori demos were shown you can probably guess that I’m a big fan. And I have to confess that watching people arguing deep over DE:TOX and Circulation was fun to no end. >:) Total chaos took over. Some of the negative comments [specially around DE:TOX]: No content, no concept, horrible music, artless, meaningless, nerve racking, and….you get the picture. And of course some of the positive comments: Awesome visuals [for Circulation], Satori rules, DE:TOX kicks it hard, great music and great visuals for both, and hey, I even heard “great concepts for both”! 😀 How about that? I also heard a lot of people saying that they “didn’t get it”, or “you didn’t like it because you didn’t get it”. What I’m thinking right now is “define getting it”. What does it mean to get it anyway? Does it mean that you have to know exactly what the artist was thinking, in order to enjoy the art? Or can you just enjoy [or disenjoy for that matter] whatever it is that the piece of art makes you feel? In any case, this was definitely one of the most heated up parts of the show. 🙂 195/95 by Plastic [which apparently has a final version made by rgba…..or correct me if you can!] was exactly what we needed to calm the chaotic mood down after the Satori war. The uber eye/ear candy did a nice job settling the differences. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the show once more. Some wanted to know the name of the dancing creature. Some sort of a fairy I think?! Arise by Stravaganza again divided the crowd to 2 parts: people who liked the demo, and people who went absolutely crazy about it! Arise proved to have all that it takes to make everyone happy. Graphics, music, everything’s great. But then, there’s a specific group of people who might enjoy this demo even more than the rest. A group that includes myself. Anyone who’s ever had something to do with building a robot probably knows what I’m talking about. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THAT ANDROID IS AWESOME! Yup, my fellow electrical engeez and robot builders were in total frenzy during this one. Thank you Stravaganza for the pretty android. Resistance is absolutely futile. Next came the Dooms Day fun pack Legomania. This super cute demo managed to bring a wide smile to everyone’s faces! 🙂 Apparently we had a lot of Lego fanatics in the crowd [again including myself] who were more than thrilled to see this one. The scenario for each of the Lego brothers was marvelous; specially the Matrix section seemed to have a lot of fans. The happy upbeat music was certainly a bonus. I have to mention this again, this is definitely one of the cuuuuuuuutest demos I’ve seen so far. 🙂 Fly fly brother red, close to home you will get, Boost boost more speed, just another sci-fi geek! Swim swim brother green, where have you been? Smile smile don’t frown, or you might suddenly drawn! [Hahaha :D] We are not like the others, we are the famous Lego brothers, Brother red green and blue, sticking together like glue, Drive drive brother blue, keep your hat on, don’t catch the flue, Faster faster, keep the motor running, brick walls are very stunning! [ROFLz :D]
And of course some screen-shots as per request: Stay tuned, cause we have another controversial crowd splitting demo to discuss next.
Update: Check out amv’s comment regarding the 195/95 demo. 🙂
Update: Check aMUSiC’s comment regarding Dragonil, on the previous post. 🙂
Hey, I'm Aasemoon, and this is my blog which has been around since 1998. Childhood toy project that ended up growing up with me.
You can reach me here:
aasemoon.blue
Zorbas is my kitten. You can see some pictures of him below. =)
