Just some designs...

It's been a while, figured I'd post some stuff in the artsy department. One KINMARK serious, one not-so srs.

Continuing on with my art design schoolwork for the year, a sandwich board for the fictional restaurant Konaya. I'm trying mix in elements of the traditional, through the parchment-esque colour and a traditional print; with a modern approach through the highly-contrasting white; all whilst trying to adhere to the minimalist and simple nature the Japanese are known to favor.

Yenno, just in case you ever wondered.

The Acacia Strain not boring? Madness!

The Acacia Strain are one of those bands I've always been a bit "meh" about. My listening of TAS goes back to when I was a new kid to the whole hardcore scene; it was 2008, and I'd been to my first ever small-scale hardcore show with an international band, Blacklisted. Another show had been announced at the same venue for the end of the year with A Day To Remember and none other than TAS, and though I'd never heard either of the bands I was still excited and gave both a listen.

Being the melodic pop-punk fan I was, ADTR certainly held my interest more. TAS were the first "deathcore" band I'd ever heard; until then my listening habits had never dived to such dark depths. I wasn't used to the comparatively negative and angsty nature of their music, but their epic song "Smoke Ya Later" with it's melodic overtones and fun nature (breakdowns with clapping always win) really impressed me, it provided a good means of entry to the darker world of death metal-lenient hardcore. However since then, TAS haven't done much for me. I bought 3750 based off hearing Smoke Ya Later, but the remainder of the album left a lot to be desired in comparison. I bought their album Continent on the night of the show and it didn't knock me off my feet me either; it had a powerful intro track, but the intensity and thus my interest waned from then on. I had just found their music to be too samey and repetitive, and the heavily-downtuned and ethereal nature of the music just let it slide in one ear and right out the other. There were a couple of tracks with distinguishable features here-and-there, but other than than, listening to the TAS was just a chuggy, throbbing drag.

By no means did I totally disregard the band, however, and I have since given the occasional listen. So when I saw Wormwood had been released, I figured I might as well give it a try. If I didn't like it so much, it would collect dust in my library similarly to the previous albums. Perhaps TAS had done something new and I'd really enjoy it - it wasn't like there was anything to lose. I checked out some reviews and was a little deterred; they often commented on the repetitive nature of the album, and how it feels like one long song; particularly since this is their longest album to date, at over 45 minutes. It basically sounded like typical, run-of-the-mill Acacia Strain to me. I didn't get my hopes up. In fact, I might have lowered by expectations to the "this is going to be 45 bad minutes of crap" zone. However, upon giving the album a listen, I was pleasantly surprised. The first song came and went, and it was okay. The second song came along, and it got better. Third, fourth, fifth, sixth... they all held distinguishing features, and they all held my interest. The album got me in the zone and managed to keep me there for it's entire duration. I came away from the first listen pumped and alert, not something I can say for many albums. Even the sludgy, ever-slowing 5-minute-breakdown outro track titled "Tactical Nuke" had a certain level of appeal.

Having since given it more listening, I can say it's not a superb album. It does what deathcore does: it chugs and thrashes along, and is laden with plenty of hate-driven lyrics. It sweeps you up in an adrenalin-fueled sensory assault, spiked with the occasional melodic passage or memorable vocal motif. It does have it's stand-out tracks, more so than any other TAS album, and the fact that it spreads these out through the whole album leads to an up & down, rise & fall journey that keeps you engaged. Pair this with the almost sludge-like nature of the music, and the overall experience is what I imagine falling in and out of consciousness in the apocalypse would sound like. The songs aren't amazing and the album not 100% solid, but not many bands can do better and it's a vast improvement over the Strain's previous albums, and a great feat for the band. It's an enjoyable effort and worth a checking out if the music's up your alley.

I have a deep, dark secret...

A guilty pleasure like none other I've ever had before. Those of you who know me know I'm not the kind of person to torture my ears with whatever drivel is generally played on the radio. Ever. I hold a certain disdain for pop music in general, and it mostly comes down to the greed & money aspect paired with usually a lack of any artistic merit. But today, that all changed. I listened to Ellie Goulding's album Lights.

As with many people who spend a lot of time in a workplace, I'm exposed to a lot of radio. Most of the time I just shut it out by ignoring it's existence or plugging in the earphones. Now & then they play something good like the Naked and Famous, and occasionally they play something I'm indifferent about like Ellie's single Starry Eyed. With enough exposure, this indifference developed into mild interest, and then eventually into appreciation. Sweet monkeycrapping Jesus Christ, a pop artist with a nice voice with unique and well-written songs! Pop music seems to usually just jump out of the radio and begin an incessant and intrusive assault on my ears, but Ellie's music whispered softly and sweetly and floated it's way straight through my high-security anti-pop music mental barrier.

The fact is, her music is different, and perhaps that's why there was never really a big fuss about her down here. Starry Eyes had it's moment of fame, and as of lately the airwaves seem reasonably devoid of any trace of Ellie. Her music is a lot more down to earth; lyrically it doesn't sound materialistic or promiscuous, and musically it's not over-produced, it's quite subtle. It sort of gently flows through the ear, enforcing a surrealistic dreaminess about the whole album. It's glittery, in a pretty and beautiful way, and the creativity of the artist behind this pop album proves that sometimes that which glitters is, in fact, gold.

Over on the MAG forums

I had a good little rant about players with high kill-to-death ratios. The topic was titled "why hate on KDR?", and was intended to reinforce the fact that a KDR in MAG is directly reflective of your skill, and thus as important as teamwork and tactics. And while I don't argue against that, I was sparked into response by a tangent the discussion took - about those players who wave their high KDR around like a banner that shouts "I'm a better player than you (and a d-bag too)". Those who seem to think that anybody with a lower KDR than them isn't entitled to an opinion.

I was a bit tired so it sounded a bit puked out, but it was obviously meaningful enough to gain kudos from some of the forum's respected regulars, and what I said may have some relevance across other FPS games. It basically served to bring these players off their imaginary thrones and back down to earth. And it goes as follows:

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Super-Pangolin wrote:

People with a high KDR and keep it to themselves are good people, I can respect them.

 

Those who have a high KDR and rub it in other people's faces like they're superior, all-knowing MAG gods are **bleep**bags and shed bad light on the whole thing. Some people might be new to FPS games, or they might naturally be slower learners and take longer to adapt. Skill in MAG is basically reflective of the brain you're born with, it's capabilities and the way it functions.

 

Some people just adapt better to games and thus develop the skills much quicker. To parade your high K/D would be like me parading around the fact I was born a creative, artistically-minded person rather than an intellectual, academic person. It doesn't make me superior, my body and mind just function differently to everybody else. In the case of MAG and other FPS games, my body and mind don't function as effectively as some.

 

Then there are also people (such as myself), who challenge themselves. When I'm using a T2 AR I can maintain a 1.5-2.5 KDR and a grim-to-purple ribbon ration of 28. I'm no skilled player by any means but I'm definitely best when using an AR, though in the end I'll still choose a sniper rifle any day because it's more fun and more challenging to put up a lot of kills with.

 

Sure, be proud of your high KDR. Feel lucky that you are one of the skilled players. Just don't go pretending you're superior to those with lower KDR's and everybody will get along fine.

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Jargon breakdown
KDR - Kill-to-Death Ratio. KDR of 2 means 2 kills to every death.
K/D - Kill/Death. See KDR.
T2 AR - Second tier Assault Rifle.
Grim-to-Purple ribbon ratio - a less common statistic used to judge skill. Grim Reaper and Purple Heart ribbons are awarded for 35 kills or 30 deaths in a match, respectively.