Jernlov

Japanese Spy Transcript by Maybeshewill. Post-metal/hardcore and math rock blended together exceptionally well.

Don't get worked up - I was chatting to someone who's giving me help with future planning today, and he reckons that AS/A2 exams are actually harder than degrees in the subjects. Nice job on ICT though (not that I'm one to talk, I pretty much bunked off school and now I'm sorta paying the price). Oh yeah, future planning. I'm going to take this year off education to sort everything out. I plan to work as an English Foreign Language tutor in east Asia, although I'm specifically looking at Japan. Why? Weeaboo crap aside, Japan has always had something that drew me to it. I used to really get into reading books about the history of Japan, and books about Japan in WWII. It's a hugely interesting country historically. I've had this thing about working as a teacher for some time now, on-and-off; but I'm finally starting to put plans into action to train as one. It's a little exciting, to be honest. After 2 years of aimless wandering, I've finally found something to focus on. This year, I'll be looking into costs, grade requirements, where best to take the required GCSE classes, researching teaching EFL in Japan (and researching teaching in Japan generally), studying basic Japanese, and looking into a trip out to Japan for the coming years. Then it all starts next year. It sounds like a lot, but it isn't if you break it down and take it a bit at a time.

That looks like a really nice mouse. I have a Razer Diamondback and I think it's great.

Undertow by Tool. Porcupine Tree clearly ripped this album off with their later albums.

Tier structure of slice of life: God tier: ARIA, Haibane Renmei High tier: Hidamari Sketch, Minami-ke Mid tier: Binchou-tan, Hyakko Low tier: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Ichigo Mashimaro ... Troll tier: Lucky Star

I live in a small village just 15 minutes drive away from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It's a very nice place. Quiet most of the year, blazing hot in summer, mild in winter, nice people, hardly any crime, and lots of upmarket (£350k and upwards) houses. However, there isn't a great deal to do here unless you really love sailing or fishing. Also, the village is somewhat of a tourist attraction for reasons that I haven't quite figured out in all 7 years of living here. The summer holiday period is incredibly busy, but it doesn't last for very long. There's a footpath leading up to the next village: there's a nice little scenic backroad that epitomises country life I enjoy walking down there. Great Yarmouth itself is your typical English seaside town. That's all I'm going to say on that one, folks!

The Fall of Math by 65daysofstatic. A long-time favourite, but it's the first time I've played this album in months now.

I don't really know how I stand on the issue; I guess I'm neither for nor against. What does irk me, though, is the "hey, my money doesn't go 100% to the band!" argument. Well let me tell you: record labels also need money too. How else are they supposed to make up for the cost of promotion, recording, and distribution? No labels = significant decrease in the amount of music available; and self-releasing is such a damn arduous process that I'm not surprised people aren't taking up on it - especially if you intend to release physical copies of your material; releasing onto the Internet makes it significantly easier, but then you have the issue of paying for digital downloads (which I think is absurd). Even with the popularity of such services as iTunes, I still think that if you're going to release music digitally, it should be free because I believe that there is no feeling of ownership toward digital music. Or we could just abolish this abomination altogether and focus on physical copies. Sure, I download a lot. Do I feel bad? Yeah, a bit. However, if it weren't for such I would have never been interested in music at all. My perception on the issue drastically changed when I got more interested in recording and releasing music: I used to be all butthurt about pretty much everything I covered above, but I can finally see it from an artist's point of view now. Also, if you think bands make a huge amount off touring then you're in cloud [bleep]ing cuckoo land. The cost of touring is far, far, far more than you want to believe it to be. Figures will vary from band-to-band, but they don't make as much as you like to think. However, seeing your favourite band live makes you feel like a real fan. Take English math rock band Maybeshewill as an example. They're frequently asked to tour outside of the UK. However, even though they make music at a minimal cost to themselves, they've stated that they can't tour because piracy is costing a lot of money that isn't theirs; i.e. costing the people who promote them and release their records. It's kind of rare for a band to be so forward like that, and you should all at least give this a thought when you next download an album. On the flipside, I doubt some lesser-known bands would have enjoyed what little success and accolade they actually have attained if it wasn't for people sharing their music illegally. The trend with myself and friends is we buy music that we enjoyed. The only time when I don't consider buying CDs is when I have to pay an extortionate import charge because they simply aren't sold in my country. I also lack a job, so I can't own as much music physically as I would like to. Downloading has also exposed me to stuff that's out of print and thus almost impossible to get hold of regardless. It has its ups and downs. Just remember that it's copyright infringement and not theft; the two are drastically different cases.

I didn't even cry when I struggled with depression, but I've been told that's fairly normal. I was instead filled with intense feelings of contempt and apathy. I would have rather been sitting and sobbing all day. I don't cry much though. Happiness will make me tear up much sooner than anything sad will - I tend to get apathetic when I get sad rather than being weepy.

Crossfire Barrage (album) by CROW'SCLAW. Great stuff.

I like to consider myself a pretty avid anime fan, but I don't dedicate my life to it. Not in the slightest. It just fills an otherwise unfillable void in my life.

[yt]A4abFjGcVGQ[/yt] Can't unsee. Or unhear.

Demetori's Offering to the Sukhavati. Whoever thought Touhou remixes would be this good? [yt]vZEY4d0JTwA[/yt] [yt]8wPJM45N1E8[/yt] This one is definitely my favourite. I could listen to it all day. Definitely something for the prog/power fanatics to check out even if they don't even know what Touhou is.

What ? Who are you talking to ? :? Just read back a page or two.

Alright you guys can stop with the "let's make lame sexual innuendo to try and get in each other's sigs".

Agalloch's Ashes Against the Grain. This band used to be pretty popular in MM&T a year or so ago. I don't see anyone talk about them much on here any more.

Truly a brilliant song from a brilliant album. Oh, speaking of maudlin: maudlin of the Well's Bath. Still getting better and better every listen.

Anata's The Infernal Depths of Hatred.

Ayreon's The Human Equation.

Ah, wonderful to wake up to.

Nick Drake's Pink Moon. Slowly becoming a favourite album of mine.

Hence why I said "...the music industry". Goddamn do you people not read or what.

Although I am no fan of the Les Paul, it's a sad loss to the music world no less. Rest in Peace.

I made it sound like they're really hard to find. :lol: Shouldn't be too hard. If you're not careful, he's going to end up like I am. No, that is not a good thing.

Silver Forest's Touhou Suisougaku. The very album that gave us this wonderful song: [yt]hfUe2eckPFQ[/yt] I can't say much apart from the singer having a really cute voice. I wonder what my friends and family think of me knowing I enjoy this.