Dr. Horrible

Apparently Joss Whedon is a ridiculously multi-talented guy.  Not only did he write Firefly, but he also did Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog on his own budget--and boy,  is it one of the best things I've seen in a long while.

The music, for one thing, is ridiculously catchy.  It's well arranged and has great harmonies, counter melodies, the whole works.  Also, did anyone else know Nathan Fillion could sing?  I didn't.  The other singers are really good--both Neil Harris and Felicia Day have the perfect voices for their characters.

The characters!  Again Whedon does an awesome job with characterization.  I felt like I really, really got to know everyone deeply, from Dr. Horrible himself to Captain Hammer. 

And the plot!  Whedon had me caught from the very first second to the final forty-second minute.  I can't say anything without ruining the show, but really, it's great work by Joss yet again.

But why are you still reading this?  Go watch it, now!  It's only 42 minutes long.  And it's excellent.

http://www.drhorrible.com/

Testimony

Don't have time for much of a post today, but check out the a capella group "Testimony." They're the Christian choir at Stanford, they blend really well, their arrangements are complex and original, and the percussion in the background is actually vocal. Besides, my mom's friend's daughter is in it. And it's cool.

Apology and Terry Pratchett

Sorry, couldn't update, I was in Chicago--
One more thing to add to the previous post.

The other thing I hate Terry Pratchett for is NOT HAVING CHAPTER DIVISIONS. You can never stop reading, since there are only paragraph breaks.

Rawr.

Terry Pratchett and Border's Rewards

I've been meaning to read Terry Pratchett for a while, but I always forget to look for his books whenever I go to the library. I finally remembered last week, and checked out one of his books, Thief of Time.
Today I've finished reading six of his books: The Fifth Elephant, The Thief of Time, The Truth, The Last Hero, Night Watch, and Going Postal.
Seriously, Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are loads of fun, full of satire and the occasional glint of political or cultural insight. They take place in Discworld, a world like ours except that it's a disc balanced on the backs of four elephants balanced on the back of a ginormous sea turtle hurtling through space, and they cover every possible theme imaginable, from time-traveling monks to felons appointed as postmaster-generals. Think of them like Hitchhiker's Guide, but with a much stronger grip on story. I laugh out loud at least every other page.
My one complaint is that at times, to increase the depth of the world he's created, Pratchett will stray from the story to describe elements of the culture that are tangential to the story. Not that this happens very often, and when it does, it's still entertaining.
Which is why it was awesome when Terry Pratchett teamed up with Neil Gaiman, who has one of the best eyes for characters and plots and strangeness out of current fantasy/sci-fi writers. Their collaboration, Good Omens, is one of the best and most entertaining books I've ever read. I don't even know how to describe how good it is, just read it.
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I get most of my books from Borders, even though both the Borders near my house are further than the Barnes and Noble's. This is because Borders has the absolute best program for bookbuying: Border's Rewards.
Border's Rewards is free, unlike a Barnes and Noble's membership. And where Barnes and Noble's give out skimpy ten to twenty percent discounts, Borders sends out a coupon every week via email worth...wait for it...thirty to forty percent.
Forty percent!
I got myself a Lord of the Rings trilogy this weekend from Borders that's normally worth thirty plus dollars for eighteen. I still can't get my mind around it--twelve dollars saved! That's two more paperbacks, more if you wait for next week for the next coupon...
On top of coupons for Borders, the Border's Rewards program also offers "Perks," which are coupons or deals to other, non-book related purchases, from dinner to shoes to massages...
If a penny saved is a penny earned, Border's Rewards is like getting a free ten bucks every week. If you buy books with any frequency like I do, get a Border's Rewards card.
Forty percent!

Drammatica, Darkness and Starlight, Voices of the Lifestream

I'm going to change my format:
1. This blog will now review anything I feel like reviewing. It'll be like Orson Scott Card's blog (hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything).
2. I'll try to update weekly, but we'll see how that goes.
That having been said, let's go!
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My brother recently sent me news: Yoko Shimomura, the composer for Kingdom Hearts and the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII, recently released a "best of" album containing sixteen tracks performed by a full orchestra, titled "Drammatica". I'm a sucker for video game music and orchestras, so of course I went to check it out.
You can immediately tell that it's Shimomura, with her unique blend of piano and strings on the first track, a piece from Legend of Mana. It quickly builds into a dramatic sweeping theme, which is what she does best. The rest of the album is a good showcase of her skills, pulling songs from Mana, Front Mission, and Kingdom Hearts. She succeeds in pulling drama, as usual, but it feels overdone--Nobuo still has the advantage when it comes to subtlety, beauty, and the right blend of complexity. The album also contains too many battle themes, in my opinion--it makes it hard to listen the whole album through. Nonetheless, she does a good job rearranging old themes, like with the piece "The 13th Anthology". The album closes with a sweeping piece from Final Fantasy XIII, "Somnus".
It's worth checking out for video game fans--I previewed it on Youtube, but it's available for purchase from the Square Enix online store (and I heard iTunes? I haven't been able to confirm) for $50. A little pricey, but worth it for fans.
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As I said, however, Yoko Shimomura can't match Nobuo. And Nobuo's instrumental rock band, The Black Mages, just released their third album, "Darkness and Starlight".
If you don't know, The Black Mages were put together by Nobuo Uematsu (the composer for Final Fantasy and now the head of Smile Please, inc.) when he felt that Final Fantasy music was rather unrepresented in the metal/rock genre. Their first album (titled simply, "The Black Mages") was satisfactory but underwhelming, with repetitive percussion (they had to synth in drums, since they had yet to find a drummer) and little innovation. Their next album, "The Skies Above", was much better--but still not anything I would truly enjoy listening to for an extended period of time (I always cringe and quickly press skip whenever "The Skies Above" comes up--the singer chosen for the song is obnoxious, to say the least).
But this third album--"Darkness and Starlight"--is definitely worth it. Loads of great guitar and keyboard solos, with new and exciting interpretations of Final Fantasy music, show the mastery of music Nobuo has. The title song, "Darkness and Starlight", is 16 minutes long, and integrates opera and rock in a way that's actually enjoyable, something I never thought possible.
So if you're into video game music, instrumental rock, or both, check this album out. Again, it's kind of pricey ($40-$50, depending on where you get it), but it's definitely worth it.
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While I was wiki-ing information on The Black Mages and Final Fantasy music, I came across Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream. Apparently, a bunch of volunteers from Overclocked Remix put together a tribute album of Final Fantasy VII music for the game's tenth anniversary. All told, they made a FOUR DISC ALBUM containing FORTY-FIVE tracks!
And most of these forty-five tracks are high quality, doing what a remix is supposed to do--remind the listener of the old song while providing new creativity and insight.
To my disappointment, almost all the tracks are techno--not my favorite genre, but I still enjoyed it, which says something. My absolute favorite was the only piano track on the album, "Stone Eyes", which is one of the most complex and beautiful piano pieces I've ever heard.
The rest of the album is still worth listening to, however, and you can preview it at their site, http://www.ff7.ocremix.org.
How much does it cost, you ask?
IT'S ABSOLUTELY FREE. All forty-five tracks are available for free download. Check it out!

Dune

Title: Dune
Author: Herbert, Frank
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 489 pages
Rating: 9.5

Review
When I pulled this book off the shelf and read the reviews on the back ("One of the monuments of modern science fiction" and "I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings"), I was skeptical. After all, what books can compare to LoTR? I cracked open the book, expecting to be sorely disappointed.
Boy, was I wrong.
Dune follows the story of Paul Atreides and his life on the desert planet Arrakis--the assassination of his father, Duke Leto; Paul's acceptance into the tribes of the desert dwellers, the Fremen; Paul's conversion into Muad-Dib, a powerful leader and warrior.
Through my hours of reading, I never put it down unless forced to. The story woven by Herbert is unbelievably compelling, the world he creates incredibly real.
My worst experience with this book was finishing it. Thank goodness Herbert wrote an entire series.
Final verdict? READ THIS BOOK.