Angus's Blog

In Japan, Finally

So after 2 years of studying Japanese I've finally gotten to go on my year abroad for college, and I'm studying in Tokyo.

I've finally started attending classes in University, so a blog should fill the necessary desire for procrastination. I'm only here a little over 3 weeks, but what a place this is.

The majority of Japanese people I've met are extremely polite and kind, if a little indirect. Once you become friends with them though, they tend to be loose and not at all different from my friends back home, well maybe their alcohol tolerance is a little lower.

Speaking of alcohol, in Japan you can avail of "all you can drink" deals. This begin at about 10 euro for two hours straight of drinking. If this was offered in Ireland, it would send our already ruined economy into further turmoil. But it works here, as Japanese people typically tend to order 3 or so drinks in that time. It doesn't however stop us gaijin ordering 20 or more glasses of Japanese plum wine! It seems all the better to go to an all you can drink in a seedy place like Shinjuku and witness this:



And not much further away, the real life counterpart of Yakuza's fiction town, Kabukichou:




I didn't bring a guitar with me to Japan, and I had been lost without it. But fortunately a Japanese friend brought me to Ochanomizu (which is essentially and musician's heaven, considering it's packed to the brim with all kinds of music store) and I managed to pick up a cheap 80's Japanese Strat. I've arranged some jamming already too, so hopefully I'll get to play a few gigs and see the Tokyo music scene.

Unfortunately I have yet to properly visit Akihabara. I'm not the biggest Anime or Manga fan so it's not much of a priority for me. But I have been trying to get into more manga over here but starting FMA and Bleach. My Japanese reading speed is frustratingly slow, so I get tired after a few pages and throw them down. But I'll stick at it!

Anyway, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll get to write more next time. I saw a traditional Kabuki play yesterday so I might give that it's own blog if anyone is interested.

Oh and there's an insanely high number of beautiful women here.

Ja ne~!

A Mellow Tune to End the Summer

Just over a week ago I recorded this little ditty to try capture that end of summer nostalgia, that feeling of impending closure to (what should have been) a memorable season. Nah, I didn't think that much into it. I just wrote it and made all of that tripe up afterwards.




I know the first arpeggio sounds a little too like Californication, but the rest is different. Around 2:54 I killed the drums a little too suddenly and I would've liked to record proper melodies but when it came to the lead stuff, I was so sick of the song that I just improvised it. I'm happy with the chord progressions though. If anyone has any feedback, it would be greatly appreciated.

My Music

Right, so since I got a recording system for Christmas I am able to start recording my ideas. And since there's quite a few musicians and people who appreciate music around here I thought I'd ask for some advice, comments, ect.

Here's one I made recently:


I know the lead guitar is out of rhythm at times and the drum machines goes a bit weird at the end, but any other advice?

Thanks!

My New Blog!

Right, so I started a blog on Blogspot. My first blog is kind of a review of Final Fantasy VII, so if any of your are interested you can check it out or even follow!

Angus' Blog

Hail to the king, baby!

So last Wednesday I was sitting in a linguistics exam. I had finished early but I could see others panic stricken, desperately trying to finished the wretched beast of a test. The tension was almost unbearable, but then, out of nowhere, I think "Your face, your ass, what's the difference?". I was suddenly inundated with Duke Nukem quotes. I smiled with nostalgic delight (which may have been confused by some as smugness, given the situation).

I had the urge to replay some old Duke goodness. With my recent purchase of a laptop I thought I'd load my emulators on to it, accompanied by a plethora of ROMs (fear not Superlink, it's legal as I own them on cartridge). Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, now there's a game that stuck out. I hadn't played it since the early 2000's. I used to adore that game, but it may not have aged well. I can barely play most N64 games now, especially shooters, but nostalgia called and I had to load the ROM.



So now it was time to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I was all out of gum. I was instantly enticed by the game. The music from the title screen on is amazing. There's remixes of old tunes and some new ones too. The one liners were still fresh in my ears, "It ain't no bike but it sure beats the hell out of walking". The graphics are nice and crisp for a N64 game making use of the expansion pak. I've it connect to my 720p TV through HDMI and it looks good. The controls work nicely, although I altered them to work like a modern 2 analogue shooter.

But Duke Nukem is about the wit. And is this game funny. On the first level I was treated to a pun on Turok, "Bolok: Alien Hunter". The game, despite being gratuitously violent, is rather mild when it comes to language. On the old-west stage the developers blame Nintendo on this with a sign, "Dry Town: by order of Ted Nindo". Ahh Duke, you still make me laugh.

This game has certainly stood the test of time and is one of the most compelling games I've played in a long time. I urge you to play it, or "Eat shit and die!". 1 2 Next