Origins and The Ripple Effect

I was talking to somebody the other day about my early works on the net. They mentioned The World is Beyond Square but I quickly pointed out that the internet has turned over many times since then, and that piece is ancient history. A few days later I searched it to see what If there was anything left. I found much more than I expected One of the most outrageous being from some weird interview of a forum I've never heard of.

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Interviewer: What's your favorite song?
Subject: Hm... kinda tough decision. For now, let's leave it at... "The World is Beyond Square". The Artist is... Elliot... something... I lost the piece, but it retains a place in my memory as one of the best musical pieces I've heard. And longest. A single piece rating at 26:52. I've seen classical music pieces come close, but none has surpassed it yet.

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Obviously this person doesn't know anything about music, but whatever my artistic goals were back then, they seemed to have been successful. To be honest, I don't think I really had any artist goals, I was simply doing something personal and challenging. The whole thing is like a big inside joke made of thousands of funny musical relationships.

Now I listen to it and laugh at how I now know the names for all the things I was doing. Invertible counterpoint, modal mixture, an outrageous combination of baroque and jazz figurations. Along with fond memories, I cringe at all the structural problems.... The funny thing is that I knew about them then, I just didn't know how to solve them. My harmonic tool box had serious limitations. Sometimes I wrote myself into some funny corners.

I get strange looks when I say I learned to orchestrate though videogames. Teachers/profs/students look at me like I'm crazy. It's true though, I didn't touch a real orchestral score until I got to university.... Before that it was hundreds of midi sequences and hand notated video game transcriptions.

I could never write this piece now, even if I wanted to. My brain doesn't work like that anymore. The best I can do is look back and enjoy the fond memories it continues to trigger in me and other people.

Doom, UAC, Dave and Me

I was on Mars working for the United Aerospace Corporation again last night. Dave and I had some unfinished business that brought us back to the Delta Labs... The kind of business transaction that can only be done with shotguns and plasma cannons.
Yes, I was playing Doom again last night. I consider this to be an important way of maintaing our friendship at a distance. Why?

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For those of you who may think it's strange to meet in the virtual world, consider the fact that we live 2751 km apart and don't get to hang out much. Instead of talking on the phone or something we watch a co-operative interactive movie. The story is quite interesting, the people who put this game together at the top of their.... um.. game.

Unlike the massive multiplaayer games like Warcraft, Doom has a linear story with a carefully constructed plot filled with all the typical literary devices. The claustrophobic feeling of being on a remote research facility really comes across well. The artists over at id software did a very good job with lighting and sound design for this one. It was truly a labor of love, even if it's creepy as hell and crawling with zombies and monsters.

I love the way the real and virtual, cinematic and real time all blend together into one experience. Here [see above image] we had cleared a bathroom of threats and had some time to chat before moving on with the story. Friends, family and synchronizing our uniform colours... In a way it's almost like a 21st century equivalent of hunting. Guys often relate to each other indirectly though cooperative projects and common goals. Fishing, home improvement, music, camping, hunting, videogames... There is a very specific type of bond that occurs when people overcome obstacles together. I don't know if this behavior was built into humans though evolution or what, but in a way I think it comes down to trust and loyalty. "I trust he will shot that demon that just appeared behind me" "You trust I'll keep the flashlight on the zombie you're trying to kill". When we're in an airlock and the decompression cycle is taking a few minutes, THEN we can talk about how we're doing.

I'm not saying this stuff is a replacement for a REAL friendship in the REAL world, but when you're 2751km away, it beats the phone.

Ch 8 La Playa West Coast

Ryan and I got to the beach after one of the most intense car ride of my life. It's like our driver thought he was in a formula 1 competition! He was going 120 in 40 zones. I've never experience anything like that before. At first I was scared but eventually I realized that this guy was just an amazing driver, better than anybody I've ever seen. By the end I was starting to enjoy his daring maneuvers.

Playa Mariposa: This was the beach right outside the hotel. It might look beautiful but the currents are very dangerous. Even only a few feet in the water you can feel the water trying to pull you out. It's hard to explain why this is. It has a lot to do with the water depth, slope and length of the beach. Instead of going swimming I chased hermit crabs and collected coconuts. I never really found any interesting shells, all the best ones were occupied.


WAVES:

Learning about big waves and the ocean was a highlight for me. Surfing was fun... well, boogie board... which is like surfing, except the board is smaller and you don't stand up. This was more than enough for me, as learning how to surf takes a lot of time. I can't begin to tell you how powerful and interesting waves are. The ones I was going for were about 1-3 meters tall (Which is considered to be very small). It's pretty funny, when catching waves you need to be close to the curl point. The only problem is that the curl point for small waves is the breaking point for bigger ones. So, it's actually safer to try and get bigger waves because you don't get swamped as many times. Being swamped is an interesting experience because you see a big wall of water coming at you and there is nothing you can do but huddle into a ball, hold your breath and be careful not to get tangled in your surf chord. The rolling motion can cause the wire to get wound around your neck and arms, which is bad.

The first time I caught wave it was after being pummeled for over an hour. When it did happen I felt myself suddenly flying towards the shore like I was being pulled by an invisible motor boat. Once you're actually riding a wave, all you need to do is stay balanced and steer! The force of the water will push you almost all the way to the shore.