Animal Crossing

For anyone actually checking the RSS feed on this thing:

My animal crossing DS code is 287 824 739 648
I'm Nathan in Cowfield

No 's' on the end there due to the 8 letter restriction.

Let me know if you add me!

Pick n Mix Subjects

I've been neglecting this blog for a while, but then nothing much interesting has been happening, but suddenly I have some various stuff I feel like saying:

Christmas
Things are set to pick up slightly, because of the christmas rush. I can't wait, I'll see more of my friends, and have a chance to relax properly. The christmas 'spring' cleaning that is about to happen may be stressful, because clean to me is only 20% clean to my dear mummy. Still, there's nothing like a freshly clean house on christmas morn', fully stocked drinks cabinet, and all the rest.

Social Life
This weekend I'm actually fairly busy too, I'm seeing my friends Mike and Nicola (who I used to work with when we took photos of demon babies) for the last time, like, ever ever before they emigrate to New Zealand. So that will be a fun night, but possibly also a bit emotional. I know how much Nicola could do with a big change like this, so I'm happy for them. In the days of the internet, I don't think there'll be a huge difference in contact anyway as long as they make sure they check their email every once in a while.

And then on sunday I'm seeing my friend Miriam and some internet buds and we're then seeing Jon Stewart. Who isn't a friend, but is famous or something and does the daily show. No idea what it'll be like, Mim just invited me along, I said yes since she owed me for previous tickets or something that I can't remember. I won't complain about that. But I'm looking forward to that too.

Music
The new Kate Bush album is interesting. I guess it's cool that she's singing about the washing up and rather trivial housewifey things, because that's not really a subject oft covered in music and there's something very nice about hearing someone so contented with their life. Musically it's quite good too, so I think a big thumbs up. Still it's one of those albums where it doesn't matter a hoots what anyone else thinks of it, if Kate thought it was good then it was a success. Unless she was down to her last million or something and needed sales. But I don't think that's likely. She probably makes a mint on Wuthering Heights Karaoke royalties alone, let alone record sales.

Finally listened properly to Late Registration by Kanye West and it's Really Really Good. Production is sublime, originally recommended to me by OJLim who said that the samples were a little obvious and they are, like the Curtis Mayfield Move on Up is a little too obvious, I like it when you have to work out where the samples came from. Or like when Kriss Kross used that I want you back sample, but they used such a specific part that it sounded like a different tune even. Still, I actually really love the way move on up is used, so I don't know what I'm complaining about. I also have a soft spot for Kanye after that New Orleans thingy with Mike Myers where he started saying about how Bush didn't care about black people. Whether he was right or wrong, I appreciated that the guy was really properly moved by this thing, whereas most celebs patting their own backs for whatever benefit thing they did never seem all that genuine.

If you have a chance to see Anthony and the Johnsons live then you must do. Really blew me away, they are very accomplished musicians, Ant has a nice sense of humour and isn't as suicidal as you might think.

World of Warcraft
So that moonkin boogie there previously is now there as a mark of posterity, because I can't do that anymore. I respecced and am now mostly a healer, but with a few points in feral form. That's what's best about being a druid anyway, the healing stuff and the animal form stuff.

Want to get into more raiding things and try the hardcore stuff, but man so much time and so much pressure being a healer too. You do start to miss what's going on screen as well because you're too busy watching health bars. We'll see though, I've barely scratched the surface.

Disco Owl

MOONKIN BOOGIE

WILDHEART

Finally, another piece of the wildheart raiment:


I give you, the wildheart spaulders (the big feather bird things attached to Cowfields' shoulders:


Needless to say, I am VERY chuffed right now. Unfortunately mother smoulderweb still didn't drop the boots, but she's easy so I am optimistic. as well as the boots, I only need 2 other pieces (cowl and vest) and that's the set. That's my goal.

LBRS was taken care of very nicely as well, I'm really enjoying how well we're taking on these instances.

World of Warcraft

Well it's been a while since I posted. But it's also been a while since I talked about Warcraft.

I think my last post involved a rather negative forecast, the C word (cancellation) was mentioned. But now I'm loving it as much as ever.

A few friends have joined our server, so our guild may grow a little, we have a good affiliation with my old and first guild Amazing Squad to get some bigger instance runs going, and the people I regularly play with have actually really gotten our tactics down well. We have the LBRS Mother Smoulderweb / Gizrul run sussed. We can pretty much do it without wipes (we may wipe, but that can usually be attributed to a Leeroy moment or somesuch). Also Scholomance was surprisingly easy (at least, as far as we could get) with only 4 of us. So with a full group we can do well, and with 10, well, they better watch out.

I'll see how my Shaman Alt does. Since I want to join the 'newbies' and play with them a bit, I'll have to use my Shaman because Cowfields the Druid pwns all. At least in Mulgore he does. The totem system seems interesting and holds enough appeal as something that is totally different from a Druid.

Plus there is now talk of the expansion pack. Though it's still a long ways away, it only helps stoke the fire of interest in the game.

If you don't play World of Warcraft, then that all makes no sense. Just know that Druids are great.

Weekly Music Review

Except it's not weekly. It's just, in the last couple of weeks 3 albums came out which are overall quite good. one of them really really really good. And they're all by people who are fairly important to me, so here's my little review:

Arab Strap - The Last Romance


6th Studio Album. By now many of my mixees will know how much I love Arab Strap and this album really blew me away. I was expecting to love it, but not expecting to love it for the reasons that I do.

Basically it's Arab Strap's most sunny and upbeat album. That's saying something since they're generally very downtempo and super-depressing. But this one has, like, pop anthems! It's still pretty sombre but by Strap Standards, it's poppy. Lyrically it's evolved quite nicely from just talking about bad breakups to talking about, well what seems like rocky relationships finally resolving with a happy ending, at least, as happy as could be given the circumstances. Something like that anyway. It's recommended and possibly one of the most accessible arab strap albums, especially for people that bought something like Elephant Shoe and just thought it was far too depressing but prefers their more upbeaty songs like "The Shy Retirer" (i.e. Frosty, iirc).

Production is a bit different because it's a bit more real-instruments and less drum-machines. And horns even. Horns on an Arab Strap album? crazy.

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The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity



I go through phases of being really into the Cardigans but Life will always be one of my all time top albums. Gran Turismo did a lot less for me, even though that's the one that most people would know because of the singles on it.

I don't know how much of a splash "Long Gone Before Daylight" made but I thought it was a beautiful album. It felt a lot more personal and even though there was nothing particularly unique about the way it sounded, the melodies and production was tightly crafted, it just worked.

Super Extra Gravity feels like a nice progression, especially as one track is a "sequel" to a track on LGBD. Still it's not got that certain something that LGBD had, and hasn't got much to make it stand out. So in a way it's a little disappointing, but all that said it's better than most music out there and it's still a very enjoyable album. I just don't think it'll stand the test of time like Life or LGBD do. Nina has a lovely voice though.

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Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase



There isn't a whole lot to say about this.

If you don't know Boards of Canada, then they make lovely etheral electronic music, quite downtempo and fairly ambient. Sometimes a little creepy, but usually beautiful. Like being washed with sound. Or something.

Anyway, if you liked Geogaddi or Music Has The Right to Children then this is, at the end fo the day, more of the same. It does what it says on the tin, so depending on your postion on BOC, that's a good or a bad thing. For me it's a good thing. It's different enough to feel like a new album so it's not like they're 'stale' or anything.

One thing to comment is instrumentally, some of it seems a bit more 'acoustic guitary'. There's actually some lovely use of real guitars in the album (what sounds like real guitars anyway) which does make a bit of a difference to the other albums, it sounds a bit less sampley and a bit more performed. That's a good thing I think, because it's enough to make the album feel like something seperate, and not just like an alternate take of another album.

In short: Everyone go and buy The Last Romance by Arab Strap.

Models Wanted

For my next painting, I want to paint other people. Just because I'm not Frida Kahlo, and I don't wish to explore my own face much further. At least, not until I've finally had a haircut.

It's hard knowing where to go next. I mean, not wanting to blow one's own trumpet but I feel the self portrait was enough to get my skills back, and enough to know that I can still do the observational thing, so now it's time to actually start thinking in terms of composition, and actually looking nice.

I guess the logical step would be to take my camera out. I can use photoshop to play about with things, make a maquette of a painting if you will. It's a useful method that I never tried back in college.

I'm not really concerned with conveying a message or any sort of social commentary, but I like the idea of making an image that implies there's a story behind what you see. A bit like Edward Hopper did.

It's funny, there's a very filmic quality about Hopper's paintings which I love, but perhaps part of that is based on the fashion. The clothes and settings are very 'early hollywood'. So it somehow feels less interesting in my own work to see people wearing clothes of today.

But the thing is, they were "clothes today" when he was painting them. So if I was to paint someone in adidas tracksuits and a baseball cap, 80 years down the line, would someone feel that the paintings created a sense of place and a certain nostalgia for the turn of the 21st century?




Probably not.

Anyway, I shouldn't worry about it at first. The problem is I feel too eager to make something meaningful now, when really I have done 1 painting since my art-restart, and I have a long way to go.

I'll leave you with probably one of my favourite Edward Hopper paintings:


(I knew more of his work I'd probably choose a less obvious one)