Chicken Scratches

I survived the weekend. therefore I declare a small victory for doing so. It was not a particularly challenging weekend as far as demands go, but I can’t make any claims to having much energy. Today was a high pain index day with my back sounding like Rice Crispies – which is actually a good thing. When it pops like that, it relieves  the pain.

Last night’s gaming session got very silly indeed with my paladin surviving a crocodile attack while he was sleeping. A crocodile named “Crikey.” That would have been a bad way to go. Especially since I’m the tank of the party.

Church was interesting today. A new High Priest Group Leader and new Elders Quorum President were the surprises for the day. So in the past two months most of the auxiliary heads and the Bishopric changed. More to come we were told.

A debt ceiling deal was reached and now we’ll see if it can be passed. I suspect it will. It is all reshuffling the deck chairs anyway.

Time to submit my finances to the county again for review. It is a good excuse to go to town for a print out of my Social Security benefits. Unfortunately, the weather will be miserable again. I’ll take the camera along just in case an interesting picture presents itself. It would be nice to get going on photography again.

My personal goal of writing 300 words per day on the blog has been easily passed, so stage one of getting in the habit of writing has worked out well. I’ve begun rounding up the various tablets, electronic files, and loose notes with ideas for stories that I’ve strewn about over the years. Time to put them into one physical location and transcribe them to bits and bytes.

The Thirteen Days review is going to take a lot longer than expected. Instead of viewing it twice it is going to take at least three to four viewings. Normally I watch once to take notes and a second time to make screen captures. For some reason, the fact the DVD has commentary and a special pop up feature eluded my notice all the years I’ve owned it. Those need reviewing too on this overlooked film.

More soundtrack reviews will probably be posted in the future. One of the more interesting trends in music is that of high quality scores for video games. So those will get some attention since they are off the beaten path.

TRON: Legacy Soundtrack (2010) Digital Format

An exceptional auditory experience blending synthesized and orchestral music, the soundtrack is even more dazzling than the movie. While I’m not a Daft Punk fan, the duo has created something very special here.

Thanks to the Internet, it is easier to acquire music than ever before in all its myriad variations. In turn, that has allowed me to broaden my musical horizons and sample things I would never have otherwise. There are only a few genres I don’t like and techno verges on being one of them. Daft Punk is so big in techno that even I had heard of them. So it was with some trepidation that I approached the samples from the forthcoming movie last winter.

To my surprise, the snippets I listened to were very intriguing and I really liked what I heard. With bonus tracks being offered with the digital version from iTunes, I purchased the album.  After that, I purchased the Amazon exclusive MP3 to complete what was available in the USA. Europe got a deluxe edition which I can’t find or afford so my review is limited to the USA tracks.

So without further adieu, the review of TRON: Legacy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack!

A note on my starring system: It is what I have them marked as in MediaMonkey, the media player and music database program I use. I tend to be harsher with evaluations, so 1 star = can be tolerated, 2 stars = good, 3 = above average, 4 = excellent, and 5 = a true favorite.

The Tracks

Overture is the first track and its slow rising horns and strings set a mournful tone before blending with synth for the fanfare. It is a somber and serious piece, not your typical heroic fare. 3 Stars.

The Grid follows with pulsating percussion and tense strings accompanying Jeff Bridges narration setting up the movie. It builds into heavy synth with a feeling of anticipation to it. 4 Stars.

The Son of Flynn is a moody track dominated by synthesizers that pays some tribute to Wendy Carlos’ score for TRON. It is an odd mix of playful synth that wouldn’t sound out of place on a harpsichord overlaid upon a pensive orchestral base. 5 Stars.

Recognizer builds to ominous tones very quickly. There is a feeling of something big and menacing coming that gives way to a variation of the main motif. It ends with a much darker version of the preceding track. 3 Stars.

Armory brings a change of pace to the soundtrack. Reminiscent of early 80’s electronica of the Tangerine Dream type, it conveys a sense of mystery through its softer tones.

Arena starts with quiet buzzing which leads to an ever escalating and repeating synth keyboard eventually joined by taiko drums. One can easily imagine the entry of a gladiator into an excited coliseum and the crowd erupting. 4 Stars.

Rinzler is a very sinister track that starts ominously. There is a feeling of being hunted, starting with the sensation that somebody is watching you followed by the realization it really is happening. Then comes the horrifying attack and silence.  3 Stars.

The Game Has Changed fuses elements from Arena and Rinzler then brings in the horns from Recognizer. Tension steadily rises and fades like the ebb and flow of an extended battle before ending in a crescendo of noise. 4 Stars.

Outlands begins with the now familiar use of repetitive and tension building strings. Along the way it turns into a Wagnarian journey when the horns kick in for an exciting finish before trailing off suggestively. 3 stars.

Adagio for Tron is mainly orchestral at first before its mournful strings meet mellow keyboards. Here Carlos’ influence is very clear. Halfway, the tone shifts dramatically in a bolder reprise accompanied by dark synths and louder horns. A solo cello assumes center stage to end the piece on a sad note. 3 Star.

Nocturne continues the brooding atmosphere with a mix of slow strings and synths. Introspection and sadness are invoked by the track. 3 Star.

End of Line kicks things into gear after the previous melancholy tracks. Featuring a turn toward techno, it has a strong dance beat that would fit in any club scene. But it also manages to sound incredibly sinister, with a feeling that very bad things are lurking under the surface. Distorted electronic noises contribute greatly to that feeling of unease. It is a stand out track. 5 Stars.

Derezzed was the track that got previewed on the Web and from what I’ve seen is classic Daft Punk. An example of pure techno it is frenetic and has a heavy beat, but with an 8 bit feel to it. Distortion that was present in the previous track is increased dramatically. 3 Stars.

Fall sounds like falling, strangely enough. Fuzzed tones rise like a tea kettle, pause, then start over again. The effect is that of something going very, very wrong. 3 Stars.

Solar Sailor brings another break from the tension while remaining somewhat pensive. Keyboard synth work reminds me of a babbling brook and also the original movie. Something serene and lovely is implied in this relatively peaceful track. 3 Stars.

Rectifier ends the mellow mood decisively when sinister strings build into something martial and strident. An impression of an army appearing over the horizon is conveyed by the horn section. The piece slows and fades out gradually like the army has marched past you. 3 Stars.

Disc Wars is percussive and immediate. It is the first heroic sounding track; strangely full of hope. The 8 bit keyboard returns and adds further urgency until it builds into something grand. Possibly my favorite on the soundtrack. 5 Stars.

C.L.U. features urgent strings again with dark undertones provided by synthesizer. They give way to calculated keyboards before resuming with horns accompanying. The overall effect is the feeling of someone slowly losing their temper until they hit the snapping point. Danger fills the soundstage and it stays that way until the end. 3 Stars.

Arrival conveys a sense of weariness after a long journey. This slower synth piece has a pervasive melancholy about it. 3 Stars.

Flynn Lives reprises the theme from Overture with the addition of whirling beauty to accompany the sadness. This is what the entire score has been building to. 4 Stars.

TRON Legacy (End Titles) is a heavy electronica version of what was first presented in The Grid. This restatement of the main theme simply sounds like an end title. Which it is supposed to, right? 4 Stars.

Finale is the final track of the score. Featuring mournful and elegiac horns that give way to strings, it moves to a more optimistic sound when woodwinds introduce the final crescendo. Seeing light at the end of a dark tunnels is how I would describe this track. 3 Stars.

iTunes Bonus Tracks:

Father and Son is a slow piano reprise of the main theme, with the addition of subdued strings and horns. It is another melancholy piece. 3 Stars.

Outlands, Pt. II is a variation on Outlands, but more urgent and layered in sound. Mysterious and dark by comparison, it begets a sense of dread before an organ makes it funereal. 3 Stars.

Amazon Exclusive Track

Sea of Simulation continues the burbling brook electronica of Solar Sailor. It is slightly more contemplative than that track. 3 Stars.

Thoughts

Daft Punk did an outstanding job in composing Tron: Legacy.  It is a wonderful and masterful blend of synth and orchestral elements that always flows with nary a misstep. I ended up loving it long before I finally saw the movie. The impressions are hopefully the ones from before viewing the film.

Like the movie, this is not a cheerful work. You’ll notice I used the word melancholy to describe multiple tracks and that is the over all mood of the album. But there is a purposeful sound to it that makes it very easy to keep in your music rotation. Make no mistake about it, it is beautiful music.

Not all soundtracks can stand on their own from their associated film, but this one easily does. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes music.

Technical

iTunes included what they call a Digital Booklet (it’s a Acrobat file) with the downloaded album. Scans of the entire CD insert make up the booklet and contain some small interviews.

Daft Punk was inspired by the original TRON as can be seen by their helmets they wear in concert (and movie cameo). Influences on them include Wendy Carlos, Bernard Hermann, and Hans Zimmer. Aspect of all three composers can be heard in the structures of the tracks.

Sound is clean, near CD level and will sound great on any system. iTunes files have come a long way over the years.

I’d like to eventually get the CD because my sound setup does show a difference between lossless and lossy sound files. Most people won’t notice the difference, but the soundstage is much wider on my Boston Acoustics speakers and Sennheiser headphones when playing complex music.

Health 7-29-2011

Not quite into true bronchitis, but the right bronchial is making life difficult. The high humidity is aggravating things and I’m living on cough drops.

Went out to get said cough drops and dropped in on a household I home teach Wednesday. By the time I headed home, I was short of breath. Last night my father and I met with friends at the Caledonia DQ and by the end of that the same thing was happening, but not as bad.

Oh well. At least the crossword puzzles have been going well. Audiosurf is another matter entirely. Mind is working but the body not so much. Too bad the warranty is expired on it.

Bleach Season 1: The Substitute, Ep. 3-4

The famous anime continues to introduce the main characters and shows a sentimental side during the attack on Orihime. Later, Rukia finds a foe she cannot vanquish while adapting to the world of mortals.

Episode 3: The Older Brother’s Wish, the Younger Sister’s Wish

Things pick up with Rukia explaining to Ichigo that there appears to be a mastermind hollow manipulating events from behind the scenes. As she plays detective, a sudden realization sends them on a frantic mission to protect Orihime. Being ghosts, hollows are drawn to those they loved in life and the redhead’s brother proves this correct as he arrives at the girl’s apartment.

The Debt Ceiling Mess

This it going to be a purely my point of view entry under the personal category. This way I have something written to look back on in the future. I’m getting the feeling events are history in the making with a capital H. So time to organize my thoughts for posterity.

The debt ceiling expansion is a political no win scenario for the Republican Party and possibly extremely damaging to President Obama. No matter what is passed it will not address the massive debt the government has accrued.

The Left can jack up taxes all they want and it won’t work. There is a phrase called “capital flight” and we’ll see the wealthy move what is left of their money overseas if this happens. That will not generate revenue or jobs here. No employers equal no jobs and the socialist model of all working for the government is unsustainable. The Twentieth Century proved that repeatedly.

Only harsh spending cuts will do any good at stimulating the economy, but that is impossible given two thirds of the government is under Democratic Party control. The House GOP freshmen have badly miscalculated what their real power is. So even if the Boehner plan is passed it will die in the Senate or be vetoed.

I’ve felt for some time we passed the point of no return vis a vis the national debt and that it is impossible to pay it off. Eventually it won’t be possible to borrow any more money, since Europe and Asia are in trouble too. The only thing allowing this charade of solvency to continue is that there is nowhere else for investors to move to than the dollar and US bonds.

Meanwhile, there is zero leadership being exhibited by Obama. His main concern is with kicking the ceiling issue down the road past November of 2012. Even raising taxes is secondary to getting reelected. Harry Reid is not much better. The Senate Democrats haven’t passed a budget in over 800 days. That’s years!

Many of my fellow Tea Party types want a default. Like the House GOP Caucus, they’ve badly overestimated their power in a split government. I don’t always agree with Charles Krauthammer, but his advice to focus on 2012 and taking the Senate is sage. But most in the Tea Party movement are political neophytes and believe taking a principled stand will win the day. Sorry, our government is far too corrupt for that to work.

The fiscal irresponsibility of decades by the Democrats and Republicans has gotten us here. So has the same irresponsibility of the citizens who have run up the same kind of debt. Right now many citizens are paying the price for their screwing up and it won’t be long until everyone will pay for the federal level screw ups.

I’ve often thought Wall Street and stock markets in general live in a fantasy world with little attachment to reality. The fact traders are just now tumbling to the idea there will be a default is a fascinating case of denial. It is much like both sides of the political aisle thinking the other is bluffing.

Default is coming in the future due to the way politics works. It is a matter of when, not if. It is also a matter of who will take the political blame. It doesn’t matter who is in the right or who was really responsible when the blame game begins for real. With a detached political class out of touch with the common man, frictions are going to grow until combustion happens. Why do I keep thinking about the aftermath of the French Revolution?  It isn’t a comforting reflection.

We are in a genuinely hopeless situation barring something utterly improbable and unpredictable happening. Instead of doing necessary things, we have political theater which is pretty much the norm when collapses happen. Neither the political class or the masses are willing to do what needs to be done.

I think it was Mark Twain who said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” In this case, I think the Great Depression may not be the proper model. It may be more like the fall of an empire with a massive earthquake followed by many severe aftershocks rippling across the globe.

We haven’t hit the really bad parts yet. But it is so very galling seeing what is coming and knowing nobody will stop it. Procrastination goes hand in hand with corruption and this may be the most telegraphed disaster in recorded history. Why do we have to be so Epimethean rather than Promethean? Bet that’s been thought many times since the age of the ancient Greeks.

The sole comforting thought is that humanity has gone through all this many times and survived. The wheel of history keeps turning and people find a way to make it through the darkness. Eventually, light returns.

Newer Is Not Always Better

Over the past two nights, I watched both versions of True Grit starting with the 1969 movie and finishing with the 2010 interpretation. It may be hard to believe, but I’d never seen the original. How that happened, I do not know. There are vague memories of watching Rooster Cogburn as a child, but that’s as close as it gets.

Being a Coen brothers fan and not a John Wayne fan, I fully expected to prefer the newer film. Surprise! The original completely outclasses the new one in almost every area and is only inferior in the cinematography.

Now I understand why John Wayne got an Oscar for playing Rooster Cogburn. Cast completely against type, he’s an utterly believable reprobate. In The Quiet Man, I’d seen that the famous star could actually act but I was unprepared for this performance. While Jeff Bridges was good in the part, Wayne’s version feels like a real person. If somebody had told me that I’d find Bridges’ performance inferior before this, I would have laughed in their face.

Glen Campbell gets the better of Matt Damon as the Texas Ranger, La Boeuf. Not quite as surprising as I always thought he was an underrated actor. This is no knock on Damon’s performance, by the way.

Kim Darby narrowly edges Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. Both actresses were very good, but Darby more successfully channeled the very Protestant girl. Pretty impressive given she was so much older than the character. Both carried their respective movies, but Steinfeld was too pretty for the part. The young actress looks like she will be someone to watch in the future. Time will tell.

Robert Duvall as Lucky Ned Pepper is light years better than Barry Pepper (a Pepper playing a Pepper?  I want to be a Pepper too!). There is something so authentic about his portrayal that I have trouble describing it.

Jeff Corey is simply more memorable than Josh Brolin as Tom Cheney. He just was the better whiner, which is an odd thing to view as a plus. Brolin was enjoyable in the part.

Two major differences in the movies stood out to me other than changes in events.

The first is the pacing.  The older movie moves at a more leisurely pace, especially early on. That gave the feeling of a true journey while the pacing of the modern version rushed things.

Second, the script for the 1969 True Grit was better. The extended verbal clashes between Mattie and well, everyone else, were an absolute delight. Coen brothers weirdness didn’t work as well as it usually does, though I’ll give them credit for being much more restrained than normal.

While the 2010 film is good, the 1969 movie is truly great. I may have to add it to my DVD library.

Cat’s in the Cradle

Cats have often been associated with being muses for writers or at least their regular companions. There is a drawback to this and that is trying to type around a cat who insists on being held. It simply does not work.

Cat extortion usually follows their being put down. Oh, it would be bad if the computer power cables were messed with, wouldn’t it?  You know, those speakers could have an accident, you don’t want that do ya?

Then there is the thing I dread the most: cat surprise.  Cat surprise involves running full tilt into the room and jumping on me without warning or looking to see if there is even a remote chance of a safe landing. Often it results in keyboard abuse as well.

At least I don’t use a mouse. In my early days of home computing, I found out that a moving cord invites temptation, not to mention carpal tunnel syndrome. Trackballs are a wonderful solution as long as you clean the cat hair out of them.

For some inexplicable reason, I fail to find my cats inspirational or anything close to being like muses. Obviously I’m doing something wrong.