V soboto sem šel na precej zabavno srednjeveško prireditev v Žički Kartuziji. Nastopajoči so se dobro odrezali in so uspeli zadržati zabavnost kljub temu, da so isti, kot na večini drugih podobnih prireditev, ki sem jih obiskal … poznavanje igralcev v bistvu prinese nek nov zanimi aspekt vsemu skupaj.

Najbolj zanimivo se mi je zdelo, da prireditev ni bila viteški turnir, kot so ponavadi, ampak predstavitev srednjega veka v svoji bolj pravšnji luči. Najboljše so bile perice, ki so bile izjemno življenjske in jih ne bi bilo težko zamenjati za prave. Nastopal je tudi nekakšen vaški norček, ki je imel dve kači in je z njima in svojimi neumnostmi zabaval obiskovalce kljub svojemu popolnoma pedofilskemu izgledu … mogoče igralec ni dobro premislil te vloge.

Naredil sem veliko fotografij, 540 če smo natančni, od katerih jih je 168 preživelo prvi krog izbiranja in le 38 drugi krog, se pravi so dokaj solidne fotografije … najboljše (čeprav so nekater grozno neizostrene ampak je motiv dovolj dobro uspel) si sledijo spodaj.

On Saturday I went to a medieval fair thing and had heaps upon heaps of fun with it. The performers were the same I see on just about every each one of these events, but they're cool, I like that I've gotten to know what to expect, brings a new flare to the whole event.

The reason this was special and differentiated from the rest is that it wasn't a knights' tournament, but rather a displayal of medieval life. The laundry lasses were especially awesome because they seemed very life like and were simply fun to observe. There was also a village fool type of guy with two snakes and he was just silly, he acted like a complete paedophile though, so I'm not sure the actor thought that role through well enough.

There were a lot of photos taken, 540 in fact out of which 168 survived the initial screening process, but only 38 of those are worthy of being in the select group of quite good photos … the very best ones (even though some are hopelessly out of focus, but I liked the motive) are below.

Pred nekaj nočmi sem v temi slišal čudne zvoke in se jih skoraj malo bal, ampak nisem obupaval, tiho sem se skrival pod posteljo in čakal konca strašnega vdora v moje domovanje in se čudil o vzroku strahu.

Nekaj kasneje ob prižganih lučeh pa sem opazil zabaven prizor in se nenadoma zavedel vzroka nenavadnih zvokov … pogumna mačka loveč vrtečo eliso mojega Odstranjevalca Vročine.

Haha, youtube je potemnil video … škoda.

A few nights ago I heard strange noises in the dark and was almost mildly scared by them, but I did not freat, I quietly hid under my bed and waited for them to pass wondering what was the cause of the mystery and scary events.

Then some time later when the lights were on I came upon an interesting sight and suddenly realised what the cause of scary sounds in the night was … a brave kitty hunting down spinning blades on my Heat Deterrant System.

Haha, youtube made it darker … too bad.

Sinoči sem se srečal s še eno odlično pesmijo za katero se je izkazalo, da je v resnici priredba pesmi iz 80-ih, electropop, synthpop, electronica ali katerikoli žanr je že pač bil … preveč preveč podobnih žanrov v 80-ih, zelo nadležno.

Kar se mi zdi čudno je, da vse moderne priredbe electropop pesmi, ki jih najdem, zvenijo neizmerno bolje od original, za razliko od rock priredb, ki so ponavadi slabše kvalitete in jim manjka neko čustvo.

Vzamimo za primer Sweet Dreams banda Eurhythmics, prav fajn pesem, dober zven, ampak neskončno nadležna v svoji izvedbi. Sedaj pa poglejmo Marylin Mansonovo izvedbo in opazimo, da vsebuje veliko večji občutek, zveni bolje in preprosto bolj pristoji besedilu. Fear for Tears – Mad World je podoben primer, v originalu popolnoma neprimerna za besedilo in deluje skoraj kot parodija, medtem ko Gary Jules/Michael Andrews priredba odlično pristoji besedilu, počasno depresivna in preprosto odlična.

Najzanimivejša razlika, ki jo opažam je, da moderne priredbe praviloma zmanjšajo tempo originala, uporabijo globlji bolj čustven glas in veliko preprostejšo glasbeno ozadje. Se tako močno spreminjajo le časi ali se globalno spreminja glasbeni okus poslušalcev, ali pa je electropop preprosto slaba glasba?

Last night I came across yet another song that I thought was awesome, but turned out to be a cover of an 80's electropop or synthpop or electronica or whatever the genre song. Really, too many way too similar genres in the 80's, bloody annoying. Anyhoo …

What strikes me as odd is that all covers I find are better than their electropop originals, which is vastly different to modern covers of 80's rock music that are usually much worse and simply not as good in any way. Usually modern rock covers lack a certain emotion behind them, while the old electropop music seems to lack the emotion behind the modern interpretations.

Take Eurhythmics' Sweet Dreams, sure cool song, nice to listen, but utterly annoying in the way it's done. Now take Marylin Manson's cover of the same song and you will notice it has much more feeling behind it, sounds better and just feels much more suited to the lyrics. Fear for Tears' Mad World is a similar example, the original doesn't seem to fit the depressing lyrics at all and is very silly in its appearance, while the Michael Andrews/Gary Jules version is perfectly suited for the lyrics, slow depressing and awesome sounding.

The most interesting difference I see is that the modern version as a rule have a slower tempo, deeper, more sensual voice and simpler music, much simpler. Is it just the times that change so much, the overall preferences in people's taste or is it just that 80's synthpop simply wasn't good music?

Pred nekaj dnevi sem v službi prejel svetlečo škatlico in seveda hotel o njej blogati takoj, a mi zaradi poplave dela nekako ni uspelo. Blogam torej sedaj s kopico grafičnega materiala.

Takole izgleda popolnoma devična neodprta škatla.

Potem razkaže svojo puhasto notranjost in obelodani dejstvo, da je promocijski material vedno v velikih paketih.

Zvočniki so z mojim telefonom igrali odlično in vsi skupaj so se na splošno odlično razumeli. Vsakomur s takim telefonom toplo priporočam prenosne miniaturne zvočnike.

A few days ago I got a shiny box at work and I did want to blog about it sooner, but alas there was too much drowning in work to be done. However, here are some photos of the shiny box in question.

This is what the box looked like when untampered with and completely virgin.

Then it revealed its foamy insides and the fact that promotional material is always packaged super big.

The speakers played with my cell phone very well and they all got along superbly fine. Frankly. everyone with this kind of phone should get a set of miniature mobile speakers.

ÄŒez viken sem pospravljal sobo. Med tem kar nadležnim opravilom sem odkril vse stare šolske knjige, ki jih ne bom nikoli več potreboval, in jih postavil na kup. Rezultat je sapo jemajoč, saj se kup bohoti z več kot pol metra in … veliko pisanostjo. Zgornja fotografija je nastala nekaj pred odkritjem še več učbenikov.

Res je kar presenetljivo koliko se pravzaprav nabere učbenikov v trajanju ene srednje šole in koliko denarja stočimo vanje. Ni čudno, da nekateri prisegajo na kupovanje rabljenih. Res je, tudi sam sem kupil prenekateri rabljen učbenik, a mi je bil vedno ljubši vonj novih. Nekaj prav čudovitega je na sveži knjigi.

Over the weekend I cleaned my room. During this quite annoying task I happened to come upon all the school books I won't ever be needing again and put them on a pile. The result was quite baffling since the pile stands more than half a meter tall … and colourful. The above photo is of this pile before I found even some more books.

It's really quite surprising to realise just how many books will accumulate through high school and just how much money is pumped into them, no wonder so many people swear to used books instead of new. Sure I bought some used books, but I've always prefered the swanky smell of fresh ones. There's just something about a fresh book that feels awesome.