«Fluttershy's Lullaby»

If only they had Fluttershy sing the entire lullaby. The part she sings is so soft and peaceful. Too bad Sweetie Bell had to ruin it.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Hush Now, Quiet Now (Fluttershy's Lullaby)

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«MLP:FiM Fan-Made Music Video»

I'm not much into the pop music of current times, but this combination of 7 artists (and ponies!) wasn't too bad.

My Little Pony AMV Epic (7 Artists)


I particularly like Rainbow Dash's "I kissed a girl" parts. It just seems to fit her so well. While all the ponies in the TV series are basically asexual¹, Rainbow Dash still gives off a lesbian vibe.

The "You spin me round" song will forever remind me of that meatspin² website.

^1: It was suggested that the ponies reproduce through budding, but Lauren Faust confirmed that they reproduce like any other mammal.
^2: Please, don't go and search for "meatspin" now unless you're an adult. It's a NSFW website.

See the rest of “MLP:FiM Fan-Made Music Video”»

«Hocus Pocus by Focus»

This is a crazy song... Especially the "vocals" if you can call it that.

Focus - Hocus Pocus Live '73

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«Justin Bieber War»

Ok this has been going for a while now, and I've more-or-less ignored it. The war between Justin Bieber haters and Justin Bieber fans. I was just going to let it pass without saying anything, but the issue seems to be escalating.

I'm pretty neutral on Justin Bieber. He's just another teen pop-star for all the young girls to get a heartthrob over. His music is meh, but then, I'm not the target audience. He will fade in time.

I don't hate Justin Bieber, but I do hate his fans. Or rather, the vocal minority of his fans that get all butthurt when someone says Justin Bieber sucks. Whiny 14 year-olds that can't handle anyone with a difference in opinion piss me off. It's because of these people that there's even an issue in the first place. If the haters got no reaction, they'd move on to something else.

What's your take on this whole Justin Bieber issue?

EDIT: Here's the video that prompted this post. I wasn't sure if the video would stay up for long, so I didn't link to it the first time around.

Declaration Of War Against Justin Bieber Haters

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«All Good Things...»

Good riddance Ketchikan!

After 919 consecutive days of blogging and 963 posts, having not missed a single day, I must take a leave of absence for an unknown duration of time. I face a major change in my life, and in the transition I won't be able to blog. I may pick up blogging again at a later date after I'm settled in. I'll be at least a month. I need a break anyway. My only regret is that I didn't quite make it to my 1,000th post.

My theme song for today, just replace all instances of "train" with "ferry":
Cruxshadows - Waiting to Leave

With watching eyes
You see dreams dissolving¹
Distant voices slipping away
I have to go - I hear
The call of something deeper
A voice inside of me

And tears return
Beneath the happy ending
Promised words that scattered
In the cold
I have to leave, I hear
The call of something higher
Something young becoming old²

I can't stay here any longer
Trapped here by the rain³
I can't stay here any longer
Waiting for this train

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere⁴
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

My sympathies,
Are wasted on regretting
Why not take a chance with me?
I have to go - I hear
The call of something stronger
And it's pulling me away

I can't stay here any longer
Trapped here by the rain
I can't stay here any longer
Waiting for this train

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

I've been running around in circles
Without any direction
I've been searching hard to find
Who I really am...

I've been running around in circles
Without any direction
I've been lost here for so long
I've forgotten who I am⁵...

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

- Waiting to Leave, by The Cruxshadows

^1: Being trapped in this town has a way of killing your hopes and dreams.
^2: In this case, I'm the thing getting old.
^3: Seriously, it rains a lot in Ketchikan. On the order of 160-200 inches a year.
^4: Because of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" Ketchikan has the nickname "Nowhere", Alaska. It's like this song was made for me.
^5: I've never really been able to figure out who I am.

See the rest of “All Good Things...”»

«The Bagpipes (with Video)»

Friggin' bagpipes man, I'm going insane!

I live fairly close to where all the Independence Day festivities are happening this year. For the past 3 days now, I've been hearing the faint sound of bagpipe music. It seems to ebb and flow, and when I can't actually hear it, I'm imagining it. It's like it continues to play in my head even after it's stopped. When I'm actually down there amongst the festivities there's usually some other music playing, completely unrelated to bagpipes.

I know there was a guy in town that would drive his truck back and forth through town with his windows down, blaring bagpipe music. He use to do it all summer. For the sake of my sanity, I was hoping it was him I was hearing.

I do like bagpipe music, it's an amazing instrument. But randomly hearing it all the time without any logical source leads to insanity. Yesterday I finally found a source. It doesn't explain why I've been hearing bagpipes all day for 3 days, but I still feel better. They are the Misty Thistle Pipes & Drums, local here in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Click image to view full.

Yes, they're playing out in the rain. Like true Ketchikanites, they don't let a little rain stop them.

This is my first upload to YouTube. I recorded a song they performed in the Plaza yesterday (July 3rd, 2010) outside the AT&T store.

Misty Thistle Pipes & Drums Ketchikan, Alaska

They will be marching in the parade today as well.

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«Magic And Miracles»

Fuck scientists. It's all magic and miracles.

And here I thought my opinion of juggalos¹ couldn't possibly be any lower... Behold, ignorance:
Insane Clown Posse - Miracles

Seriously, ICP (Insane Clown Posse²) is my least favorite band of all time. I have a personal distaste of rap anyway. He fed a fish to a pelican and it tried to eat his cellphone. What does that have to do with the song at all?

This seems to be the part the internet has grabbed onto the most.

He asks how magnets work, then won't accept the answer. The general thought is he's too dense to understand the explanation of how magnets work, so he figures it must be a lie. Perhaps that's how religion still persists in present times...

^1: No, not male prostitutes. Juggalos are followers of the ICP band and tend to paint their faces like them.
^2: Since when is 2 people a posse?

See the rest of “Magic And Miracles”»

«Santa Claus is Coming To Town»

The Christmas jingle "Santa Claus is Coming To Town" is a horrifying song if you pay attention to the lyrics:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why

The song starts off with a warning, and with good cause...

Santa Claus is coming to town

You mean that big fay guy who breaks into your house, and then justifies his actions by leaving a couple worthless trinkets under your tree?

He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

He's coming to your town, making a list of victims. He's especially looking for the naughty girls...

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!

Holy crap. That doesn't even need commentary to explain how creepy that is... Can we say "stalker"?

O! You better watch out!
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town

Damn straight you better watch out!

So let me get this straight... This song is about a big fat guy who breaks into your house and bribes your children with toys... Then he stalks your children all year, looking for the "naughty" ones. He then keeps a list of who's "naughty". Worst of all, he knows where you live! Doesn't anyone see a problem with that!?

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«What's a "Topic"?»

This blog is like my life in a lot of ways. It has no real direction or purpose. It just IS; and that's its major flaw. It is always better to have a goal and specific direction, a niche to fall into and excel at. You'll pick up more followers and they will be more interested in your topic.

This blog has random topics. The only thing you can count on are Caturday, Motivational Monday, and that something random will be posted on the other days of the week. As such, it is highly unlikely that anyone will be interested in everything I say.

Lately I've been going on about the Sims 3. This is because that's what I've been doing lately. I know some of you are probably getting pretty sick of reading about characters in some computer game. You're about ready to unsubscribe and quit following the blog. That's fine. Others of you may only come here to read about the Sims 3 because that's your interest right now. You're a newcomer to the blog and see the other posts as "off-topic". Again, that's fine. I'm happy to have readers of any topic for as long as they care to read. When I get burned out on the Sims 3 I'll talk about other topics more often again.

There's nothing that's really "off topic" here. I created this blog to speak my mind about what I wanted to. I originally planned to talk more about my personal feelings. However, how many people would be interested in my non-directional life? I'm a private person anyway, and there are people I know in real life that read this blog. I'd inevitably end up saying something here that they'd question me about, opening a can of worms I'd rather leave closed. So the personal emo blog idea was out. I still wanted a presence on the web, so I decided to just talk about random topics and see where it lead me.

I figured by now I would have either just given up or would have found my own direction and purpose. Yet, it's funny how long one can linger in this state with no direction or purpose. For now I shall just try to continue as is. Better than giving up, right?

I'll leave you with this song. There's no actual video, just the album cover and the song.

The Crüxshadows- Nothing

No life, No love, No dreams, No reason to remain,
No eyes, No vision, No pain, No, No Nothing, No
mind, No thought, No sex, No awe to feel, No
heart, No Nothing, No, No, No Nothing

- Nothing by The Crüxshadows¹

¹ And no, the irony of this being a bit after the post I denounced poetry is not lost on me.

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«RIP Burton»

Burton (from my Sims 3 legacy) has died. He was a Hit Movie Composer and a loved celebrity. He drew crowds where ever he went. He died of old age at 94 days old.

Click image to view full.

Burton had an odd mix of traits. He was a Workaholic, yet Family-Oriented. Somehow he managed to excel at both. So far, other than my founder, he has been my favorite member of the Zenge family.

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«iPhone: Midomi»

I have an iPhone. Not one of those newfangled¹ 3GS phones, but 3G isn't even available in this town anyway. I also have no cell plan for the iPhone, so it's basically a glorified iPod Touch. But hey, I can still use WiFi.

One app I have that I'm pretty happy with is Midomi². It listens using the microphone built into the phone and identifies what song is currently playing. They say on the website it takes 5 seconds. In my experience, it takes anywhere between 8 and 20 seconds. With songs that start out slow, it may fail to identify it until the main part of the song is playing. I've also had a couple of false matches, but a re-try usually returns the correct song.

I'm actually surprised at how well it works. Unlike some of the music identifying apps out there, Midomi doesn't use the lyrics for identification. That means it can identify instrumental music as well. I've tested it with the music at the end of a movie during the credits, and most of the time it will identify the song, and even list the soundtrack album for that movie. You don't even have to hold it up to the speakers for it to work, either. Background noise or people speaking in the background can throw it off, though.

Understandably, it doesn't have a clue about some of the obscure songs I have. Like "We Like the Moon" or the "Soluble Song". But those are by Joel Veitch, just a random British person (emphasis on random). It does however, recognize "Still Alive", the credit music for the game Portal. But with a catch: it brings up the version sung by Jonathan Coulton (the writer of the song). For remixes, it usually just brings up the original song.

My favorite feature is when you don't have any connectivity. It will record and save it until you do have a connection. That's a big plus for me.

As a testament to how well it works, it correctly identifies this song (if you can even call it a song) no matter what part of it is playing:
Chacarron Macarron - With Lyrics In Video


^1: I've been seeing the word "newfangled" all over the place lately, so I figured I'd use it, too.
^2: The extremely observant of you will notice in the link to Midomi, the "from" url parameter says www.mastermarf.com. This is NOT a paid endorsement or review of Midomi. I just happened to notice that parameter in their url and figured I'd screw with their tracking metrics.

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«Scanner Symphony»

Let's turn that old scanner into something useful.

Queen Bohemian Rhapsody Old School Computer Remix

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«Musical Taste: Enya»

To see the others in the series, click here. (There, isn't that better than listing every part number?)

For this Musical Taste post, I'll have 3 videos that provide an example of Enya's music. I've been listening to Enya for a long time. She's the one that composed and sang the music for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Enya- Cursum Perficio


Enya - Orinoco Flow


Enya - It's In The Rain

See the rest of “Musical Taste: Enya”»

«Musical Taste: Evanescence»

Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

A series I started a while ago, I haven't forgotten or completed it. It's an on-going series. In it, I basically give example of music I like, one band at a time. (With he exception of number 8, I did that one a little different)

So this one is dedicated to Evanescence. The videos are official music videos.

Evanescence - Everybody´s Fool


Evanescence - Sweet Sacrifice


Evanescence - Lithium

See the rest of “Musical Taste: Evanescence”»

«Signs»

I forgot about Caturday again... Oh, well. Take a look at these instead.

Did you know they even have World Champions contests for playing air guitar?

For those people that see the word "Sale" and jump on it. Save -$10!

You can tell what type the armed forces wants to recruit.

See the rest of “Signs”»

«Looking For Group»

Richard - It is so easy when you're evil


The characters in that YouTube video are from the webcomic Looking For Group. I also like that song.

See the rest of “Looking For Group”»

«Caturday: Godspeed Fail Mooncat»

And it made me thing of this song:
Cats In The Kettle - The Sims 2

See the rest of “Caturday: Godspeed Fail Mooncat”»

«Musical Taste: Miscellaneous Odds»

Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

By request, this part is a little different. This part will not be 3 songs by an individual band that's my "style". These 3 are songs I like that are outside my normal style.

Peter, Paul and Mary - Puff the Magic Dragon - 45RPM

What can I say? I have a soft spot for dragons.

Portal - Credits Song 'Still Alive'

From the game Portal.

We like the moon

The RatherGood.com Spongmonkeys! I seriously like this song, it's no joke. You may recognize them from a Quizno's commercial.

See the rest of “Musical Taste: Miscellaneous Odds”»

«IPOD Meme»

Even though, you know, I don't have an IPOD. I'm using WinAmp on my computer to randomize my entire music list for this. 1,589 songs; not much compared to some people.

As seen on Escape Hatch:
"Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING."

I have bolded the questions, and inserted the random songs from my collection that came up...

How does the world see you?
Willie Nelson - On The Road Again
(Not true, I hardly ever go on road trips. I'm trapped on an island.)

Will I have a happy life?
Wolfsheim - No Happy View
(Wow... That just may be true... And it really did come up randomly.)

What do my friends really think of me?
Randy Newman - Birmingham
(I didn't even know I had this song)

What do people secretly think of me?
Afro Celt Sound System - Sure as Not
(Ok... I suppose I can be a little indecisive sometimes.)

How can I be happy?
Final Selection - Lost
(Wow... My happiness really is lost...)

What should I do with my life?
Sopor Aeternus - Not Dead But Dying
(I suppose that is life. We're not dead yet, but we're all dying.)

What is some good advice for me?
Rammstein - Stripped
(Is it telling me to strip? lol)

How will I be remembered?
Loreena McKennitt - The Highwayman
(I'm not a robber!)

What is my signature dancing song?
Beseech - In Her Arms
(I don't dance. Be it in "her" arms or not. There isn't even a "her" in my life anyway.)

What do I think my current theme song is?
Coil - The Anal Staircase
(That's a weird friggin' song. I'd say about the weirdest I have...)

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Sisters of Mercy - Emma
(Sorry, I don't have a witty comment to make about this one.)

What song will play at my funeral?
Weird Al Yankovic - This is The Life
(Gee... Thanks a lot.)

What type of men/women do you like?
Celtic Spirits - Martha's Harbour
(That's not even a description.)

What is my day going to be like?
Painbastard - Nyctophobia
(Painbastard and fear of the dark, that's not a good sign.)

Well, it would appear the 'randomness that be' does not look kindly at me...

See the rest of “IPOD Meme”»

«Musical Taste: Sisters of Mercy»

Parts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The Sisters of Mercy, an English gothic rock band. They were popular in the 80's and early 90's, but I still like their music style. Nothing wrong with the 80's.

Sisters of Mercy - vision thing


The Sisters of Mercy -- More


Flood 1 The Sisters Of Mercy

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