So, in my recent post, I talked a bit about The Imitation Game. Essentially, it was pretty awesome. And it centred around this guy called Alan Turing, who was very much presented as being Aspie, on the Autism Spectrum. (Though those words were never used.) As such, I suppose there was very much a connection point for me there, with a lot of what he was struggling with - because in some aspects, I've struggled with similar things in my past. And some now, as well. However, there are some things that I think are quite different between us, which I'm quite thankful of. I like people, firstly. People are good.
One of the quotes that I loved from the film was this one: "Sometimes it's the very people who no-one imagines anything of who do the things no-one can imagine." And that made me wonder a bit, I must say. Because I think for me, my growing up has been very different; people have often imagined much of me. I'm often expected to do well, seen as the person to go to (even from people who don't know me well!). And I wonder sometimes if I've lost a bit of that 'unimaginable' element there; if I've become too predictable, too standardised and normal (there's some people probably shaking their heads a lot here) and understandable, and whether through that I've really lost something.
It's a hard thing to figure out. And I think there is some truth to that; because the more you are with particular people, the more you will become like them. That's just how we work as people, in general. But that means a compromise - losing some of yourself. So I suppose you have to make that choice - firstly, how much you want to connect with people; and secondly, which people you connect with. Because that can very much define who you are, I think. But yeah. Just something that got me wondering.
Sunday, 28 June 2015
The Incredible Imitation Game.
Okay. This is number two of three posts. It became three, because it was going to be too long to do a review and reflection in the one post. So.
The Imitation Game.
I watched this - now over a week ago - with some pretty high expectations, I must admit. I am a bit of a Cumberbatch fan, and I also love the story of Alan Turing and the Enigma machine (which, if you didn't know, is what the movie is about). So again, somewhat biased. My expectations were surpassed, regardless.
For those who haven't seen the movie, I will quickly summarise. Alan Turing is a maths whiz, who approaches the army with the idea of trying to solve Enigma - because it's the greatest puzzle, and he loves puzzles. He gets put on as part of a team, but really works by himself on his own idea instead; the others are working to try and decode the bits that they intercept, while he's working on a machine to translate everything. He goes to the head of the unit, saying that he needs 100,000 pounds to build his machine. He says no, so Alan sends a letter to Churchill; who gives him the money, and puts him in charge of the unit. He puts out a test to get new people in, and hires Joan, who is a graduate from Cambridge. They put in a lot of work, and make the machine happen, through a bunch of things working out nicely, essentially. With the help of the machine and MI6, they provide certain pieces of information to the Allies to help them win the war, but not let the Germans know they've cracked Enigma. Following this, all the records are destroyed, they go their separate ways, and told never to speak of this again. Many years later, a police investigation into Alan reveals that he is paying men to have sex with him. He is convicted of indecency, and chooses to undergo chemical castration instead of going to prison. He commits suicide.
There's a lot of subtlety in this movie. The basic idea - that Turing builds a machine to crack Enigma - is very simple. But this movie isn't about the machine; it's about Alan Turing. And as such, it follows his story, and how he develops and changes over time - and jumps into his backstory at points, going back to his time at school. In effect, the whole story is being told during an interrogation of Turing by a policeman much later in his life; so it has particular elements peculiar to that style. But the story is done very well. The historical nuances are done very well; talking about issues of homosexuality, gender bias, politics, social issues and the like - this movie is quite a complex tapestry that is woven through Alan's life. Alan Turing is certainly portrayed as being on the Autism Spectrum, which you will pick up if you're familiar with Asperger's or Autism. This, along with some other aspects of the film, have been criticised by some; (look here for a good example) and, not having read the proper biography myself, I can't comment on this. However, it's not surprising that Hollywood will dramatise the story a bit, and accentuate the Aspie-ness a little; it is a Spectrum, so it's quite possible that he could have been not as pronounced as the movie suggests, yet still on the Spectrum.
I thought that this was an incredible movie, and all of the aspects were done very well. One thing that I particularly loved was the ending. Because it didn't end with his suicide; in fact, his suicide is not shown on-screen. Instead, it ends with the group of them celebrating the end of the war, around a fire, throwing all their documents in. It finishes on joy and celebration of Alan's life, not mourning his death. And I think that was a good choice, and very well done. Definitely recommend this movie to anyone - but be aware that it is very much a feelings movie. So not if you're wanting a fun movie to just laugh and such. But very good.
The Imitation Game.
I watched this - now over a week ago - with some pretty high expectations, I must admit. I am a bit of a Cumberbatch fan, and I also love the story of Alan Turing and the Enigma machine (which, if you didn't know, is what the movie is about). So again, somewhat biased. My expectations were surpassed, regardless.
For those who haven't seen the movie, I will quickly summarise. Alan Turing is a maths whiz, who approaches the army with the idea of trying to solve Enigma - because it's the greatest puzzle, and he loves puzzles. He gets put on as part of a team, but really works by himself on his own idea instead; the others are working to try and decode the bits that they intercept, while he's working on a machine to translate everything. He goes to the head of the unit, saying that he needs 100,000 pounds to build his machine. He says no, so Alan sends a letter to Churchill; who gives him the money, and puts him in charge of the unit. He puts out a test to get new people in, and hires Joan, who is a graduate from Cambridge. They put in a lot of work, and make the machine happen, through a bunch of things working out nicely, essentially. With the help of the machine and MI6, they provide certain pieces of information to the Allies to help them win the war, but not let the Germans know they've cracked Enigma. Following this, all the records are destroyed, they go their separate ways, and told never to speak of this again. Many years later, a police investigation into Alan reveals that he is paying men to have sex with him. He is convicted of indecency, and chooses to undergo chemical castration instead of going to prison. He commits suicide.
There's a lot of subtlety in this movie. The basic idea - that Turing builds a machine to crack Enigma - is very simple. But this movie isn't about the machine; it's about Alan Turing. And as such, it follows his story, and how he develops and changes over time - and jumps into his backstory at points, going back to his time at school. In effect, the whole story is being told during an interrogation of Turing by a policeman much later in his life; so it has particular elements peculiar to that style. But the story is done very well. The historical nuances are done very well; talking about issues of homosexuality, gender bias, politics, social issues and the like - this movie is quite a complex tapestry that is woven through Alan's life. Alan Turing is certainly portrayed as being on the Autism Spectrum, which you will pick up if you're familiar with Asperger's or Autism. This, along with some other aspects of the film, have been criticised by some; (look here for a good example) and, not having read the proper biography myself, I can't comment on this. However, it's not surprising that Hollywood will dramatise the story a bit, and accentuate the Aspie-ness a little; it is a Spectrum, so it's quite possible that he could have been not as pronounced as the movie suggests, yet still on the Spectrum.
I thought that this was an incredible movie, and all of the aspects were done very well. One thing that I particularly loved was the ending. Because it didn't end with his suicide; in fact, his suicide is not shown on-screen. Instead, it ends with the group of them celebrating the end of the war, around a fire, throwing all their documents in. It finishes on joy and celebration of Alan's life, not mourning his death. And I think that was a good choice, and very well done. Definitely recommend this movie to anyone - but be aware that it is very much a feelings movie. So not if you're wanting a fun movie to just laugh and such. But very good.
Monday, 22 June 2015
Don't Do It Yourself.
Sorry about the lack of posts of late. I'm currently writing two (now three), that I'm hoping I'll have finished at some point this week (and, that was last week). Time doesn't like me.
I've been struggling - particularly over the last few weeks. And it's not so much the busyness, actually, I'm pretty used to that. What's been hard has been trying to do it by myself.
Last year - I had so much support, from so many people. Individuals, groups - everyone, it was really awesome. But a lot of that finished up near the end of last year or the beginning of this year. I finished up with Impart; I finished up with Youth Group; I finished up with my life group (bible study); and because I seemed to be doing fairly well, I wasn't keeping up as often with people who had been checking in with me before.
And I think it's really just slowly piled up to the point where I'm really feeling it, and it's really taking a toll. I think that in many ways, I got so hyped up after last year, and I was ready to just charge out and go. But I think I did a lot of that in my own power, and in my own strength. Which isn't all that much. So no surprise that now, it's running rather short.
I'm not trying to do an "oh, woe is me" post here. What I am trying to get at is this - don't try and go it alone. Never underestimate the value and power of support, encouragement, love, time and fun from the people around you. And from God, very, very importantly. People are there to help - but they can only help most of the time if they know that there's something wrong, and that you want help. :) And hang in there! Seasons change, and you can get through a lot with the right support. Speaking from experience. ;)
Thursday, 11 June 2015
Too many ideas.... + Patreon
I've mentioned many times that I tend to have a lot of ideas. In this post, I'm going to give you a bit of an idea of at least some of the different project ideas that I've started on at some level.
Aiyæthron
This one I've actually posted on here about; you can see my two posts on it here and here. Since then, I've come pretty darn far. I've got some of the rules of how the language works; things like verbs, plurals, proper nouns, possessives, genders, tense, and a couple of numbers. I've got a couple of sentences happening, and some words are really long. That's because each word is describing what it is, not just being a bunch of sounds that I'm clumping together. (Unless it's one of those words that I'm using to describe it. You can only build down so far.) One simple example is Father. The word for this in the language is Dt'ungoyoaidwur, which translates to "life that is the guardian of the family". A more complex example is Amen. The words I have this translating to is, "Please, may the words I have said be true." As such, it translates to: Prinai, yat thron mai dt’ahthræ nor shuhng. Yep. Eventually, I'm going to make a whole script for this as well. But I need to make the language first. I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Living album
So, last year I released a proper CD album called About You, and had an album launch and everything. That was actually almost exactly a year ago that I did the album launch, as an aside. And the songs were great - but the album was very rough. And that was part of the idea, but it has meant that I am a bit loath these days to give out any of the CDs that I still have sitting around in my room. But. Last year I also intentionally didn't write heaps of songs - instead, just writing them as I felt a particularly strong idea come along. And out of that, I got an album - that I've called Living, which is the name of the second last track. It's nine songs, and three spoken word tracks. It's all written, but none of it is recorded yet - that's what I have to try and find the time for! At the moment, I have scratch tracks for six of the audio tracks. Still a long way to go.
Munchkin versions
This is a bit of a fun thing. I quite enjoy the game Munchkin. If you haven't heard of it - think of nerds making a card game for nerds, and that's pretty much it. It's pretty awesome. And there's all these different versions - like ninjas, pirates, apocalypse, zombies, and a good few more. But there was a few that I thought could be pretty cool - like Doctor Who, or Harry Potter, or Mass Effect. At the moment, I've got ideas for the last one, but I've been focussing mainly on the first - so I've got a whole list of cards to make, and a good bunch I've already done. It takes Pages ages to load up when I open it, because there's so many pictures :P At the moment, I have 47 done, including Class and Race cards. I also have ideas for an expansion, because there are too many cards....
Musical
So, I've frequently been told when I'm performing that my songs very much have the feeling of musical theatre. As such, I've always wanted to write a musical - and I've had ideas before, but never really gotten very far with them. This time, though, I've actually sat down and gotten a (very very loose) idea, and have a list of some of my songs that work in well for it. At the moment, that is pretty much it, unfortunately! I'm still debating as to whether the main characters are kids, teenagers, or adults, and what I'm going to have as a bit of a driving force in there. Perhaps a hint of tragedy....
Son, Brother, Bride
This is one I've been working on since early-ish last year, and is very much borne out of everything that I learned in Impart (just as the Living album is, really). Essentially, it's a book for guys, talking about how we're the sons of the Father, the brothers of Jesus, and the bride of Christ. It's giving a better idea of who we are as guys, as well as a better idea of who God is. It's a pretty massive idea, and I'm really only just started - I have about five and a half thousand words written; which is not much, in terms of a book. And I haven't done much on it in quite a while.
Actually, I haven't done much on any of these in quite a while. Because I've had no time. My time has been swallowed up by a combination of work and other people's projects that I'm involved in - and those projects are great, but it's meant that I really haven't been able to do any of this at all. And these are just some of the main ones - it's not counting the different ideas I'm working on musically, or the ridiculous number of stories and things I've started and never gone back to.
And, of course, as I've mentioned in a previous post, money is a bit of an essential thing these days. I'm not a fan of it, but it's becoming darn hard to manage without. Hence, work. Which isn't ideal, because these are the things that I'd really love to be spending my time on, and really like to be able to show you guys more of.
As such, I'm trying a thing. I've started up a Patreon account, which is essentially a platform where people can support me as a creator. It's done according to the amount of stuff I do, rather than being one-off donations; and it has cool rewards and thingos as well. I'm expecting it to go nowhere, because you really need a decent crowd behind you to make these sorts of things work - but I'm hoping that it might be able to help a bit, at least. You can find it here: https://www.patreon.com/bjraymond
I'm still building the page (and probably will be over the next little while), so you might not be able to follow that link quite yet. But hopefully, soon, I'll have it up and running. And I'm hoping that this might be able to help me put a little bit more into these projects that I really want to be able to do more of :)
Aiyæthron
This one I've actually posted on here about; you can see my two posts on it here and here. Since then, I've come pretty darn far. I've got some of the rules of how the language works; things like verbs, plurals, proper nouns, possessives, genders, tense, and a couple of numbers. I've got a couple of sentences happening, and some words are really long. That's because each word is describing what it is, not just being a bunch of sounds that I'm clumping together. (Unless it's one of those words that I'm using to describe it. You can only build down so far.) One simple example is Father. The word for this in the language is Dt'ungoyoaidwur, which translates to "life that is the guardian of the family". A more complex example is Amen. The words I have this translating to is, "Please, may the words I have said be true." As such, it translates to: Prinai, yat thron mai dt’ahthræ nor shuhng. Yep. Eventually, I'm going to make a whole script for this as well. But I need to make the language first. I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Living album
So, last year I released a proper CD album called About You, and had an album launch and everything. That was actually almost exactly a year ago that I did the album launch, as an aside. And the songs were great - but the album was very rough. And that was part of the idea, but it has meant that I am a bit loath these days to give out any of the CDs that I still have sitting around in my room. But. Last year I also intentionally didn't write heaps of songs - instead, just writing them as I felt a particularly strong idea come along. And out of that, I got an album - that I've called Living, which is the name of the second last track. It's nine songs, and three spoken word tracks. It's all written, but none of it is recorded yet - that's what I have to try and find the time for! At the moment, I have scratch tracks for six of the audio tracks. Still a long way to go.
Munchkin versions
This is a bit of a fun thing. I quite enjoy the game Munchkin. If you haven't heard of it - think of nerds making a card game for nerds, and that's pretty much it. It's pretty awesome. And there's all these different versions - like ninjas, pirates, apocalypse, zombies, and a good few more. But there was a few that I thought could be pretty cool - like Doctor Who, or Harry Potter, or Mass Effect. At the moment, I've got ideas for the last one, but I've been focussing mainly on the first - so I've got a whole list of cards to make, and a good bunch I've already done. It takes Pages ages to load up when I open it, because there's so many pictures :P At the moment, I have 47 done, including Class and Race cards. I also have ideas for an expansion, because there are too many cards....
Musical
So, I've frequently been told when I'm performing that my songs very much have the feeling of musical theatre. As such, I've always wanted to write a musical - and I've had ideas before, but never really gotten very far with them. This time, though, I've actually sat down and gotten a (very very loose) idea, and have a list of some of my songs that work in well for it. At the moment, that is pretty much it, unfortunately! I'm still debating as to whether the main characters are kids, teenagers, or adults, and what I'm going to have as a bit of a driving force in there. Perhaps a hint of tragedy....
Son, Brother, Bride
This is one I've been working on since early-ish last year, and is very much borne out of everything that I learned in Impart (just as the Living album is, really). Essentially, it's a book for guys, talking about how we're the sons of the Father, the brothers of Jesus, and the bride of Christ. It's giving a better idea of who we are as guys, as well as a better idea of who God is. It's a pretty massive idea, and I'm really only just started - I have about five and a half thousand words written; which is not much, in terms of a book. And I haven't done much on it in quite a while.
Actually, I haven't done much on any of these in quite a while. Because I've had no time. My time has been swallowed up by a combination of work and other people's projects that I'm involved in - and those projects are great, but it's meant that I really haven't been able to do any of this at all. And these are just some of the main ones - it's not counting the different ideas I'm working on musically, or the ridiculous number of stories and things I've started and never gone back to.
And, of course, as I've mentioned in a previous post, money is a bit of an essential thing these days. I'm not a fan of it, but it's becoming darn hard to manage without. Hence, work. Which isn't ideal, because these are the things that I'd really love to be spending my time on, and really like to be able to show you guys more of.
As such, I'm trying a thing. I've started up a Patreon account, which is essentially a platform where people can support me as a creator. It's done according to the amount of stuff I do, rather than being one-off donations; and it has cool rewards and thingos as well. I'm expecting it to go nowhere, because you really need a decent crowd behind you to make these sorts of things work - but I'm hoping that it might be able to help a bit, at least. You can find it here: https://www.patreon.com/bjraymond
I'm still building the page (and probably will be over the next little while), so you might not be able to follow that link quite yet. But hopefully, soon, I'll have it up and running. And I'm hoping that this might be able to help me put a little bit more into these projects that I really want to be able to do more of :)
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
I'm Not A Pecker.
This one's a bit of an update on a post a couple of times back. If you missed it, this one.
So I took a bit of time to think about what I actually want to be doing with my life and such. And actually came up with some thoughts. Nothing particularly definite and concrete, I'll admit, but a bit more than I had before.
My two big passions are my 'creative' stuff (which encompasses quite a bit), and people. And essentially, what I figured out was just that I don't want those to be only 'spare time' things. I don't want them to be given just whatever I have leftover - I want these to be my focus, what I'm really putting my time and energy into. And with the way the world works, that means getting paid for that in some fashion, or for part/s of that. Which is tricky! But that's the idea.
And in some senses, I think I always knew that. Because I'm not a 9 to 5 worker. I currently work three days a week - when I tell some people that, they ask me why I don't work full-time. I said that that was all that I asked for - and often they look at me like I'm crazy. But I couldn't do full-time work. I really couldn't. I need variety, I need to be doing different things, not just the one thing. And particularly because the jobs I've done have been quite physically demanding - when I'm not exactly built for that - it means that I don't have nearly as much energy or headspace for other things when I'm done. I have no interest in doing a trade, or working in an office, or working as a dishie, or in a warehouse, or basically any standard job, for the rest of my life. That's not me. I'm not a pecker. (My own term. Just go with it.)
So yeah. That's where my thoughtspace is right now. I don't know exactly what that looks like going forward - kinda just praying that God will lead me the right way, open up opportunities for me. Because I can have a million dreams, and thoughts, and ideas (and I often do, being a 4), but I can't do them all; and particularly not if I'm having to do a job at the same time to support myself, let alone a family (hopefully!) at some point.
Think that's about it :)
So I took a bit of time to think about what I actually want to be doing with my life and such. And actually came up with some thoughts. Nothing particularly definite and concrete, I'll admit, but a bit more than I had before.
My two big passions are my 'creative' stuff (which encompasses quite a bit), and people. And essentially, what I figured out was just that I don't want those to be only 'spare time' things. I don't want them to be given just whatever I have leftover - I want these to be my focus, what I'm really putting my time and energy into. And with the way the world works, that means getting paid for that in some fashion, or for part/s of that. Which is tricky! But that's the idea.
And in some senses, I think I always knew that. Because I'm not a 9 to 5 worker. I currently work three days a week - when I tell some people that, they ask me why I don't work full-time. I said that that was all that I asked for - and often they look at me like I'm crazy. But I couldn't do full-time work. I really couldn't. I need variety, I need to be doing different things, not just the one thing. And particularly because the jobs I've done have been quite physically demanding - when I'm not exactly built for that - it means that I don't have nearly as much energy or headspace for other things when I'm done. I have no interest in doing a trade, or working in an office, or working as a dishie, or in a warehouse, or basically any standard job, for the rest of my life. That's not me. I'm not a pecker. (My own term. Just go with it.)
So yeah. That's where my thoughtspace is right now. I don't know exactly what that looks like going forward - kinda just praying that God will lead me the right way, open up opportunities for me. Because I can have a million dreams, and thoughts, and ideas (and I often do, being a 4), but I can't do them all; and particularly not if I'm having to do a job at the same time to support myself, let alone a family (hopefully!) at some point.
Think that's about it :)
Saturday, 16 May 2015
On Trusting Yourself.
So, tonight I was part of this event called Beauties At The Movies. It's essentially a woman's movie night our church does for the women in the community (not just us churchies), and we use it as a bit of a fundraiser for The Hub (which is our community pantry). It's a bit of a night to make the ladies feel special. So I'm there in my top hat, bow tie, suit jacket, vest and suspenders (though you can't see them because of the jacket and vest), and escort the ladies up the stairs as they come in. I also make all the sound and tech stuff work, but that's the important part :)
The movie that we watched tonight was called Mom's Night Out. It was a Christian movie, and one of the things that it really dwelled on was being enough, just in yourself. That as a mum, so often you can try to live up to some perfect standard that you think you have to reach, to try and be "good enough" - but the point of it was, God loves you, just as you are. And God made you, just as you are. So be you. Stop trying to be something more than you. Because you are enough.
I think that's an awesome message. But it actually got me thinking about quite a different idea, as my brain tends to do, in its own weird way. And maybe this is the guy equivalent, I don't know. Though being enough can certainly be a message for guys as well.
One thing I've always struggled with is trusting myself. I do not trust myself with much at all - and even that which I do trust myself with, I almost expect that I'm going to muck it up before long. And, to be honest, that's something that I still struggle with, even now. Even after Impart, after I've revolutionised my ideas of who I am, and who God is. I still find it hard to trust myself.
But here's the crazy thing, right. God does. He seems to trust me. A lot more than I do, pretty much all of the time. He trusts me with situations, people, things - that I probably never would. I might wish for them, hope for them - but I wouldn't trust myself with them. Particularly people. That's kind of a big one. Him trusting me with one of his sons or daughters. Especially the latter, being a guy and all. But he does trust me. And other people seem to as well, more and more. Which is kinda scary sometimes.
Because these are big, important, precious things. And when you see that, part of you says that you want it - but the other part says that you don't want to mess it up. You don't want to break it. And you don't want to risk it. You don't trust yourself. That's been me. But he is trusting me, with the big, important, precious things. And I get the feeling that's not going to change too soon.
And perhaps, if other people are saying they can trust me, and God is saying he can trust me - then maybe I can trust myself, too. And then - God only knows.
The movie that we watched tonight was called Mom's Night Out. It was a Christian movie, and one of the things that it really dwelled on was being enough, just in yourself. That as a mum, so often you can try to live up to some perfect standard that you think you have to reach, to try and be "good enough" - but the point of it was, God loves you, just as you are. And God made you, just as you are. So be you. Stop trying to be something more than you. Because you are enough.
I think that's an awesome message. But it actually got me thinking about quite a different idea, as my brain tends to do, in its own weird way. And maybe this is the guy equivalent, I don't know. Though being enough can certainly be a message for guys as well.
One thing I've always struggled with is trusting myself. I do not trust myself with much at all - and even that which I do trust myself with, I almost expect that I'm going to muck it up before long. And, to be honest, that's something that I still struggle with, even now. Even after Impart, after I've revolutionised my ideas of who I am, and who God is. I still find it hard to trust myself.
But here's the crazy thing, right. God does. He seems to trust me. A lot more than I do, pretty much all of the time. He trusts me with situations, people, things - that I probably never would. I might wish for them, hope for them - but I wouldn't trust myself with them. Particularly people. That's kind of a big one. Him trusting me with one of his sons or daughters. Especially the latter, being a guy and all. But he does trust me. And other people seem to as well, more and more. Which is kinda scary sometimes.
Because these are big, important, precious things. And when you see that, part of you says that you want it - but the other part says that you don't want to mess it up. You don't want to break it. And you don't want to risk it. You don't trust yourself. That's been me. But he is trusting me, with the big, important, precious things. And I get the feeling that's not going to change too soon.
And perhaps, if other people are saying they can trust me, and God is saying he can trust me - then maybe I can trust myself, too. And then - God only knows.
Monday, 11 May 2015
On the Power of Stories and Memory.
I've touched on this a fair few times before, yes. Hopefully this isn't just a re-hash of what I've said before. I don't really know, I don't go back and read my old posts much. But anyway.
One of the ways you know that you've made a good story is if people remember it; and not just that they remember it, but also how they remember it - if they remember it with fondness, joy, excitement, expectation. That's certainly one of the reasons I've always loved writing, and reading - but also what I've often tried to do in songwriting. And it's also, incidentally, what I enjoy the most about gaming. My favourite games are ones that have a great story, that I can really get into. That take time, and develop their characters, and explore and challenge. That's the sort of story I love.
But there's a little advantage, I've discovered, that books, and movies, and TV shows, and games, have over songs in this aspect. You can come back to the same story - the same people, the same situations, and develop that even more. See familiar faces again, familiar places, hear the old voices. And that can be so powerful. (Unfortunately, media companies often know that and milk it for all it's worth, which isn't so great.) And that's not really possible with song - and yet, in a way, it is.
When you write a story in song, you are writing your story. And each time you write another song, you write a different part of that story. They won't always fit together as nicely - but they are still all part of your story that you're telling. And that's pretty cool, I think. :)
As an aside, I decided to do this post because I found out that one of my favourite stories/games is continuing - Mass Effect. That's probably old news now, but I'm pretty excited :) I may just play through it again....
One of the ways you know that you've made a good story is if people remember it; and not just that they remember it, but also how they remember it - if they remember it with fondness, joy, excitement, expectation. That's certainly one of the reasons I've always loved writing, and reading - but also what I've often tried to do in songwriting. And it's also, incidentally, what I enjoy the most about gaming. My favourite games are ones that have a great story, that I can really get into. That take time, and develop their characters, and explore and challenge. That's the sort of story I love.
But there's a little advantage, I've discovered, that books, and movies, and TV shows, and games, have over songs in this aspect. You can come back to the same story - the same people, the same situations, and develop that even more. See familiar faces again, familiar places, hear the old voices. And that can be so powerful. (Unfortunately, media companies often know that and milk it for all it's worth, which isn't so great.) And that's not really possible with song - and yet, in a way, it is.
When you write a story in song, you are writing your story. And each time you write another song, you write a different part of that story. They won't always fit together as nicely - but they are still all part of your story that you're telling. And that's pretty cool, I think. :)
As an aside, I decided to do this post because I found out that one of my favourite stories/games is continuing - Mass Effect. That's probably old news now, but I'm pretty excited :) I may just play through it again....
Thursday, 7 May 2015
On Busyness and Planning.
Hey folks, sorry I haven't been posting much for a while! I've had a few ideas for posts (so hopefully you'll see a couple more in the not-too-distant future, otherwise I'll just have more piling up), but I've had no time - because I've gotten a job! :D
So I now work three days a week as a Casual Warehouse Assistant for Koorong at their warehouse in Erskine Park. For those who don't know, Koorong is a Christian bookstore (in Australia, for overseas readers [which seems to be a lot of you, interestingly!]), and they have about fifteen stores over the country, but just the one main warehouse. I believe they have a smaller one at Ryde/Sydney, but ours is the big one that essentially sends out to all of the stores. So I'm working there 8 - 4, three days a week, and that's kept me pretty busy.
"But Brendan," you say. "That still gives you two other days that you're doing nothing with! Why aren't you working four or five days a week?" Au contraire, my friend. So. Two nights a week, I'm rehearsing for Spamalot with the Campbelltown Theatre Group. (Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam....) I'm Sir Bedevere :) Which is a lot of fun. One night a week, I'm practicing with the Campbelltown Catholic Club Choir (C4). Then I'm also helping out a charity put on another musical in July, and leading the Songwriting Ministry at my church. And part of a band/ministry called Shalom that practices one afternoon a week. So yeah, pretty busy. And then I'm trying to record an album this year as well :P
It's all awesome and great stuff, but it's also a lot of stuff to be happening all at once! It means that I really don't have a lot of time to be working on my own bits and pieces like the album and my music, or do gigs. But I am really enjoying everything that I'm doing :) Which is good.
The thing is, though, I've never really been much of a planner. The most I can think ahead is a few months, maybe. Anything ahead of that is just me dreaming - and I've got too many dreams for that to be any help. Which means it's really hard for me to understand things that are on a bigger scale - things that I might be doing for a year, or two years, or more. My mindset has really just been, "this is what I'm doing for now," but I almost expect it to change. So it's a surprise when it does last for a long time.
But that means that I've never really thought about where I want my life to be going. I've had dreams, like I said. But never any solid or definite ideas, nothing concrete. Some abstract concepts and ideas I want to stick by, but no real direction or focus. And I think that's something that needs to change, particularly because there are so many different things I could do or enjoy. But that doesn't mean that just because I can do it, or do it well, or enjoy it, that I should be doing it. So that's something that I'm going to be trying to figure out, probably for the next while. But we'll see. Hopefully God can help me out a fair bit on this one, because I don't really have any bright ideas.
So I now work three days a week as a Casual Warehouse Assistant for Koorong at their warehouse in Erskine Park. For those who don't know, Koorong is a Christian bookstore (in Australia, for overseas readers [which seems to be a lot of you, interestingly!]), and they have about fifteen stores over the country, but just the one main warehouse. I believe they have a smaller one at Ryde/Sydney, but ours is the big one that essentially sends out to all of the stores. So I'm working there 8 - 4, three days a week, and that's kept me pretty busy.
"But Brendan," you say. "That still gives you two other days that you're doing nothing with! Why aren't you working four or five days a week?" Au contraire, my friend. So. Two nights a week, I'm rehearsing for Spamalot with the Campbelltown Theatre Group. (Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam....) I'm Sir Bedevere :) Which is a lot of fun. One night a week, I'm practicing with the Campbelltown Catholic Club Choir (C4). Then I'm also helping out a charity put on another musical in July, and leading the Songwriting Ministry at my church. And part of a band/ministry called Shalom that practices one afternoon a week. So yeah, pretty busy. And then I'm trying to record an album this year as well :P
It's all awesome and great stuff, but it's also a lot of stuff to be happening all at once! It means that I really don't have a lot of time to be working on my own bits and pieces like the album and my music, or do gigs. But I am really enjoying everything that I'm doing :) Which is good.
The thing is, though, I've never really been much of a planner. The most I can think ahead is a few months, maybe. Anything ahead of that is just me dreaming - and I've got too many dreams for that to be any help. Which means it's really hard for me to understand things that are on a bigger scale - things that I might be doing for a year, or two years, or more. My mindset has really just been, "this is what I'm doing for now," but I almost expect it to change. So it's a surprise when it does last for a long time.
But that means that I've never really thought about where I want my life to be going. I've had dreams, like I said. But never any solid or definite ideas, nothing concrete. Some abstract concepts and ideas I want to stick by, but no real direction or focus. And I think that's something that needs to change, particularly because there are so many different things I could do or enjoy. But that doesn't mean that just because I can do it, or do it well, or enjoy it, that I should be doing it. So that's something that I'm going to be trying to figure out, probably for the next while. But we'll see. Hopefully God can help me out a fair bit on this one, because I don't really have any bright ideas.
Saturday, 25 April 2015
Avengers 2: Re-Avenging!
Firstly, yes, there will be spoilers. I'll try not to have big ones, but there will be.
Sorry about the lack of posting. Been busy lately with a new job. Now working at Koorong's warehouse three days a week! Is cool. But, for now, Avengers!
So, I went to watch the second Avengers movie last night. And yes.
It. Was. Awesome.
As I think I have mentioned before, I am very much a Marvel fan, so I am quite biased. So keep this in mind.
The film launches straight into what we saw at the end of Captain America: Winter Soldier - with the twins and the sceptre. The Avengers launch an assault on the Hydra base holding the sceptre, and manage to recover it, though are a bit shaken up after encountering the twins. (For those who don't know, the twins were basically raised by Hydra, hate Stark, one can go really really fast, the other can do telekinesis and mind games.) They celebrate finally recovering the sceptre; but Banner and Stark happen to find something in the gem of the sceptre - what seems to be the key to unlocking AI. They debate, but decide to go ahead, the idea being that it will protect the world for them. But the simulations keep failing - until they don't, right in the middle of the party. The new AI, Ultron, hears that he has come to bring 'peace' - and sees the Avengers as bringing war, so they must be destroyed. So he crashes the party, with some drone friends - though first killing JARVIS. Avengers are caught by surprise, but they manage to get the upper hand. Only thing is, Ultron is an AI, not a body - and now he's on the Net. They track him down to another spot, where they find he's recruited the twins - to quite disastrous effect. Scarlet Witch basically makes a mess of almost all of the team, and leaves them pretty bad, so they take some rest time, where Thor gets a dream telling them what to do. (Okay, that is pretty bad.) Nick Fury also comes in and gives them a pep talk. Meanwhile, Ultron is trying to get a real body, and when Cap, Barton and Romanoff steal it back, the latter gets taken by Ultron. But in getting a body, Scarlet Witch is able to read his thoughts and see what he's actually up to (destroying the world). So they're now on the Avengers side. They come back with Barton, but that doesn't make people so happy, so everyone starts shouting at each other, particularly when it comes up that Stark is trying to finish what Ultron started with the body, except putting in JARVIS, who has miraculously reappeared! Thor comes back and with his dream, jump-starting JARVIS into the body, creating Vision. Yay, more superheroes! The Avengers then find out where Ultron is keeping Romanoff, and head over there to find out he's lifting up the whole city. Fury arrives in time to get everyone out, and they manage to save the day, of course. The movie ends by showing Cap and Romanoff looking at a bunch of new Avengers - Vision, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, and Falcon.
Phew. Okay.
What I loved about this movie was the character development, and the little stories. I loved Natasha's lullaby for Bruce, and the little play that they had happening. You also really see Barton develop a lot more - we meet his family! - and the interaction between Stark and Bruce was good. You also had a lot more tension happening within the team coming out. One thing that was also great was having characters from the individual franchises come in - first seeing them at the party, but then War Machine hanging around for a bit, and Fury/SHIELD dropping by was cool. Also liked the creation of Vision from JARVIS :D That was quite nicely done.
Admittedly, Thor's dream was a bit of a cheat there. So not entirely happy with that. Also, the Avengers seem to suddenly be traffic controllers, directing dozens and dozens of people out of the way and such. They had a bit of that before, particularly with Cap - but there seems to be more of an emphasis on that, especially at the end of the movie. Cap also now has a thing on his arm specifically to bring the shield back, just like it already magically did before! Doesn't stop him from losing it once, though.
Ultron is also portrayed very well - and quite interestingly, actually. If you've watched a lot of the trailers, he's a lot less serious in the movies, and there's a bit of Stark's humour in there (funnily enough, since he was made by Stark). Which was a bit surprising, but it's a welcome change to have something a bit different.
The next movies coming up are Ant-Man and Civil War - there wasn't any set-up for the former, but there was a bit of tension between Cap and Stark happening to foreshadow the latter. The mid-credits scene also points again towards Avengers 3, like Thor's dream and a whole bunch from Guardians Of The Galaxy.
All up, I really enjoyed this movie - but that's coming from an avid Marvel fan. If you have a different opinion (as I know many do), comment below!
Admittedly, Thor's dream was a bit of a cheat there. So not entirely happy with that. Also, the Avengers seem to suddenly be traffic controllers, directing dozens and dozens of people out of the way and such. They had a bit of that before, particularly with Cap - but there seems to be more of an emphasis on that, especially at the end of the movie. Cap also now has a thing on his arm specifically to bring the shield back, just like it already magically did before! Doesn't stop him from losing it once, though.
Ultron is also portrayed very well - and quite interestingly, actually. If you've watched a lot of the trailers, he's a lot less serious in the movies, and there's a bit of Stark's humour in there (funnily enough, since he was made by Stark). Which was a bit surprising, but it's a welcome change to have something a bit different.
The next movies coming up are Ant-Man and Civil War - there wasn't any set-up for the former, but there was a bit of tension between Cap and Stark happening to foreshadow the latter. The mid-credits scene also points again towards Avengers 3, like Thor's dream and a whole bunch from Guardians Of The Galaxy.
All up, I really enjoyed this movie - but that's coming from an avid Marvel fan. If you have a different opinion (as I know many do), comment below!
Saturday, 4 April 2015
An Easter Prayer.
Did you know that the Bible actually records a prayer Jesus made for us? It's true. You can find it in John 17:20-21, and occurs right before Jesus goes with his disciples to the olive grove, where Judas and the soldiers found them. The words are below.
"I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me."
I love that Jesus' prayer for us was one of unity. Particularly when today, Christians are all over the world, and represent so many different ideas, beliefs, denominations - and we can focus so easily and so often on our differences. But unity is what Jesus wanted for us - and the sort of unity that he and the Father had, being so close as to be one. Each being in the other, together as one.
And I think that it's at times like these - like Easter - that we perhaps come closest to this. Because right now, all over the world, there are Christians celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No matter whether they're Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Indian, African, Indonesian, English, young, old, male, female - together, they commemorate and rejoice in this time. And I love that :)
Have a joy-filled Easter, everyone :)
"I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me."
I love that Jesus' prayer for us was one of unity. Particularly when today, Christians are all over the world, and represent so many different ideas, beliefs, denominations - and we can focus so easily and so often on our differences. But unity is what Jesus wanted for us - and the sort of unity that he and the Father had, being so close as to be one. Each being in the other, together as one.
And I think that it's at times like these - like Easter - that we perhaps come closest to this. Because right now, all over the world, there are Christians celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No matter whether they're Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Indian, African, Indonesian, English, young, old, male, female - together, they commemorate and rejoice in this time. And I love that :)
Have a joy-filled Easter, everyone :)
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