Coppertop

What I would like to know is, in what context were you listening to Baba O'Rly (which it does have to be from now on) to cause such a flare-up of rage. Personally, I can think of only one song to have ever elicited such a reaction. These had to be an awesome set of circumstances. Were there mullets? It doesn't have to be the truth, just tell me there were mullets.

Most of the ska mentioned here is Third-wave (Third-wave ska being the "punk and reggae" sort). I'd recommend a little first wave and 2-tone. I'd say start with The Skatalites and the Specials. A fun Reggae artist to check out is Augustus Pablo (he's a bit dub as well, but great if you're into melodica and keyboards.) Furthering the Keyboard thing, a great jazz artist to listen to is Sun Ra. He's an especially good choice if you're trying to open up your musical palette. So, to sum up (plus a few others I can think of). -The Skatalites -Toots and the Maytals -Desmond Dekker -The Specials -Augustus Pablo -Sun Ra -Ornette Coleman -Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers -Clifford Brown That's some fun stuff outside of what's already been said (though I do love me some Third-wave and big band).

Out of nowhere, but I've been lurking, and this is my argument for the film. Ever since the beginning of what I always thought of as the Big Rush of comic book movies (Batman Begins, all of the Marvel films, etc.) One thing I've tried to do is think about the films in the context of the medium. What works in one medium does not necessarily work in another. For Example, blue Hair looks cool in anime, yet never seems to work as well in real life. So too do certain conventions of a comic book fall flat when you try to take them off the page. Most of the comic book movies from the past ten years have been pushing and pulling on the notion of what actually "can" be, in a sense. Granted, a lot of comics are trying to do that now. There's a pull for making the non-sensical a little more grounded. This isn't the 50s when saying "The Far East" evoked an unreachable land of mysticism and magic, allowing writers to tell American children anything and it's believable (One reason why Alan Scott found his lantern in the Far East, and Hal Jordan received his from space). I look at the Christopher Nolan Batman films as an interpretation of "What if this actually happened?" Some of the villains don't quite call themselves by their comic book persona. There's not colorful costumes, except the Joker, and that's just a custom suit. I custom suit I ant very badly, but I digress. The main problem is organized crime, the "Batman Villains" are just major elements of that same problem. That may not be exactly what you read in the comic books, but the comic books aren't always what you read in comic books. There have been so many writers, and so many restrictions (like the comics code authority) that any character that's been around for a few decades is going to have a sort of margin of interpretation, from which you pull what you believe to be the "definitive". Hell, the Joker's been around long enough that we can debate interpretation in live action, and animated portrayals as well. In the situation of a 68 year old character, definitive is in the eye of the beholder. My take? I loved the Dark Knight. I felt it went beyond the feeling of a Comic book movie, and stands on its own, without needing to apologize for itself because of the medium it sprang from. I interpreted Batman Begins as being about Fear (obvious yes, but still). Obstacles were to be pushed through, similar to how you face your fears. The Dark Knight was about illusions. I say illusions of the magical variety. The obstacles of the film had to be seen through, rather than pushed through, to be overcome. The Joker was a street magician in a sense. He pulled little tricks, he conned his audience, he fit his patter to his victim. Harvey gave the illusion of luck and fairness in one way while playing the hero, and another after his accident (which I felt was a believable explanation, in a fashion). Also, it struck me that the imagery of the two rogues of The Dark Knight were cards and coins, two staples of close-up magic. In conclusion, "In all the old familiar places" (my favorite line from the film, think about it.)

The most important thing you can do if you're trying to learn an instrument is to find someone to help. Hiring a teaching is best. However, there is great value in having a friend to work with. If they play the same instrument, you can pick up pointers and little nudges in direction. If not, you can still play music together. Keeping in time and tune with someone helps train your ear solidly. I mean, you can learn an instrument on your own with books and online guides, but, as with learning anything, human interaction is key. After all, you may be one person playing one instrument, but music is not a solitary endeavor.

I haven't posted in a while, but this seems rather intriguing. It also seemed to have racked up quite a bit of attention quickly. Cool. I don't know how much in the way of other instrumentation you need, but I'm a trumpet player, and I can also volunteer several other... I suppose odd instruments into the mix. I figure you have enough guitar, piano, etc. but I can contribute ukulele and melodica if you really need it (I imagine you'd need the melodica before the ukulele, but you never know until you try it.) I'd offer to help arrange, or something of the sort, but I can't give enough time for that, but I can easily record whatever parts you need (I attend a college with three recording studios, in addition to my own setup).

I know one of the most FRUSTRATING bosses I've ever fought against. The boss in Underground Zone Act 3 in Sonic 2 for Game Gear. If you've never played it, do it to understand, but I"ll describe any way. You're on a slope. It's half on a slightly more than 45 degree angle and half 70 degrees. And on that small of a screen that's not a lot, especially since at the bottom, taking up space , is your boss. An ant-lion looking thing that you can't touch, ever. The 70 slope is the lower one, so if you go on that and aren't running away, you'll slip into the boss. How he dies is random balls (I'm not joking) bounce down the hill at various heights and speeds. Most go too high for the screen to show. So it's difficult to tell when they'll come down. Also, since you're on a slope, it's difficult to start moving in the up direction, and down leads to doom. So you stand in one spot and hope you can jump out of the way in time, and it usually will bounce right up into you. Then IF you survive all the balls (6 or 7, I think 6) Robotnik comes down REAL fast. And you gotta avoid him too. Now this game comes with a stage select code, but if you skip stages you start with no emeralds, and each emerald is in act 2 of each zone. No special stages. SO you gotta go through the whole game to get the good ending... This was long, but I've hated that boss since I got my Game Gear when I turned 8.

I love it. The combination of the simple instrumentation, the style, and the singing all come together to remind me of some of Yoko Kanno's more somber works from "Cowboy Bebop". I absolutely love the music from that show, so know that my comparison is extremely favorable. A rare thing, lyrics with the remix, It's one thing to remix a song (Which can be a difficult task in itself) but to sing to it too.... wow. My hat's off to you. I can't write lyrics, so I can only be in awe... Great stuff.