Messages

1

Other Musicians / Regina Spektor

« on: June 24, 2008, 04:20:59 am »

One of my all time favorites is Loveology. Love Love LOOVE that song.

I have been listening to her live performances lately andI heard that song for the first time yesterday. It's an odd song lyrically, but really good nonetheless. It's very honest and simple in a way and it really made a big impression on me.
I also like the "sit down class" lyrics for some weird reason, it takes the song from beautiful to extraordinary even though I can't really say why.
Human of the year is btw my current favourite, it's really haunting and powerful, but just about any new song that I hear by her is immediately at the top of my favourite songs list. She really is incredible.

2

Other Musicians / Regina Spektor

« on: May 27, 2008, 12:41:33 am »

I just started listening to Regina last week and I absolutely love her. It's the only music I have been listening to since and I listen almost non-stop. I think I can say that I am already addicted. I love almost everything from Begin to Hope (except for That time, which is okay, but a little too repetitive for me). Apres moi is a gorgeous song and I am beginning to really like 20 years of snow, despite its obvious quirkiness. I haven't been able to listen to Soviet Kitsch that much (I got it 2 days ago), but I already love a few of the songs. Then to consider that she created over 700 songs (according to wikipedia)!!
That's amazing.

And not only does she make great music she seems to be a really great person as well. On youtube there is a whole series of live performances at something called Lollapalooza or something and in the middle of The Flowers (gorgeous song btw) she sees somebody in the audience get sick. She basically stops the entire song and lets the audience make a road toward the sick person so security can get to him/her. You can see that she is genuinely worried and I think that really shows how kind and considerate she is.
Now I want to see her live....... As if she is coming to the netherlands any time soon

3

Vanessa Songs / Lyrics / Sheet Music / Why are people hatin' on This Time?

« on: March 17, 2008, 12:32:36 am »

I personally don't like it, because her voice sounds incredibly harsh in it. There are points when she is almost shouting instead of singing. And I also don't find it nearly as interesting as some of the other songs.

4

Completely Off-Topic / what look do you have ??

« on: March 06, 2008, 12:25:33 am »

Haha, ik weet bijna ALLES!

Ja, ik ben Nederlands, ja. Leuk dat er nog een Nederlander ( / Rus) op het forum is bijgekomen.
Gedraag je een beetje, ok?

doe ik dan iets verkeerd :|

Nederlander nummer 3 als ik me niet vergis.... Welkom

Back to English.
My own style is my own. I just dress in what I think looks good on me and what I like. I also take some effort to dress nicely, which makes me stand out from most of my friends because we're all nerds (we studied physics and nerd is positive, vive la nerd!) and nerds usually don't spend much time on how they look or dress. I'm one of the exceptions.

My look also doesn't really follow what's in fashion at the moment. Mostly because I usually think the things that are meant to be in fashion are fugly.
Skinny jeans or tight jeans I absolutely hate, it just looks so ridiculous, expecially when guys wear them. Also not a big fan of the Ugg boots (or however they're called). They were hot a while ago, but now that it's winter over here they're back and they are still so hideous. I once saw a guy wearing those boots and I actually got nauseous, for real.

BTW, amusing site for people interested in how ridiculous "famous" people dress: www.gofugyourself.com. It's hilarious.

5

Vanessa Songs / Lyrics / Sheet Music / Ordinary day

« on: March 01, 2008, 01:09:54 pm »

thanks! That makes a lot of sense.
Also explains why she does use the divide and conquer lyrics again, considering the amount of time that has passed since then.

6

Vanessa Songs / Lyrics / Sheet Music / Ordinary day

« on: February 29, 2008, 02:12:42 pm »

I always wondered why she changed the lyrics from divide and conquer to "don't you see your dreams....." Does anybody actually know this. She always seems to do the divide and conquer version in live recordings and I also like this version better than the album version.

7

Entertainment - Movies / TV / Books / Cloverfield

« on: February 29, 2008, 05:14:11 am »

A lot of people don't like the movie, because:
a) the monster isn't shown enough
b) there is not enough action, more guns!!!!
c) no explanations
In my opinion these are bogus reasons, because the premise of the movie doesn't allow any of these things. It's like going to a romantic costume drama (say Pride & Prejudice) and then complaining about the fact that the main characters aren't constantly having hot, sweaty sex (not the best comparison, I know).

Cloverfield is about some catastrophic event happening and depicting in a "realistic" way how a group of people is effected by this event. How realistic would it be if the main characters were constantly within stomping distance of the monster and surviving for the duration of the movie? Same goes for the action. As for the "no explanations" part, what do people want, an unknown monster is attacking New York, within a few hours the city is leveled. Nobody knows what is going on, so it should be the same with the audience. It's part of the experience that the movie is trying to create.
People should judge a movie on what it offers, not what they want it to offer (or something like that).

Rant over

Own opinion (spoilery): I liked it, it's incredibly intense and looks extraordinary. However, I didn't really care for the characters (except for Marlena, I sort of liked her). Not that I disliked them, they were just blah, disposable. It had no emotional impact when they died.

8

Vanessa Songs / Lyrics / Sheet Music / Double the speed, double the fun?

« on: February 27, 2008, 07:41:19 am »

Hey all. I know this will sound like I don't have anything better to. That isn't the case and that makes this even worse, but I just spent some quality time listening to vanessa's songs on double speed. Yes, I know, why would you that? I honestly don't know, I guess I was bored or something.
Anyway, I found that some songs sound actually pretty cool on double speed, especially C'est La Vie sounded really wicked . Other songs just become a garbled mess, but it's interesting to see which ones hold up nicely and there are actually some which get a whole new vibe when listened on double speed (Paradise, for example).
So if you're feeling bored and wonder what you could be doing, try this :p

9

Polls / What should be the next single?

« on: February 26, 2008, 02:02:26 pm »

Come Undone is a nice choice, but cut off the intro and the outro and you're left with barely 2 minutes.
I'd go for either Heroes & Thieves, because it has a very positive feel to it and has that simple, yet irresistible Ordinary Day charm or Fools Like Me because it's so catchy.

10

Creative Endeavors / Recipe for Love

« on: February 26, 2008, 03:34:24 am »

That's a funny bunch of lyrics. It reminds me of Tori Amos' quirky songs like Programmable Soda, Frog on my Toe, Wednesday and Happy Phantom.
And if you're wondering, that's a good thing, because I tend to like those.
Wondering what the music for it sounds like.

11

Vanessa Songs / Lyrics / Sheet Music / C'est La Vie

« on: February 26, 2008, 03:30:13 am »

I personally love C'est la Vie, one of the best songs on Harmonium if you ask me.
Way before Harmonium got released and when she was playing C'est la Vie, Papa and She Floats live I actually got bored with it. I was really surprised to hear the album version and I really liked it.
I love the monochromaticness (is that a word?) of the song and the prominent drums. It's awkward and different in a lot of ways but I found that I like that in a song.

12

General Vanessa Carlton Discussion / Hands On Me Video (discussion)

« on: February 15, 2008, 02:57:56 pm »

Hmmm not that bad. I like the atmosphere of the video for the most part and the way it was shot. It almost has a sort of vintage feel which I really like. Also, I think Vanessa showcased how you can be sexy and classy at the same time.
However, there are some things that really bother me. It is slightly boring, I mean hardly anything happens. Also, when Vanessa is on the bed it either focusses on her upper body or her lower body (read: skirt and garter belts) which seems to me a very cheap way to convey "sexy".
Also the "homevideo" bit at the end felt incredibly pointless and out of place with respect to the rest of the video. That's my major gripe really.
Small things that bugged me: Vanessa has no neck, because of her hair when the touching begins and I don't like the guy's hands, but that's just me.

Oh and big yay for the lesbian and gay couples!

13

Creative Endeavors / Signs of life

« on: January 19, 2008, 05:17:26 am »

Wow, thanks for the great comments!! I really appreciate it. And there I was thinking that this thread was completely lost and would never be replied to.

@MeganJane: you're pretty close with your interpretation and thanks about your comment about my style of writing, it's just about the greatest compliment I could wish for.

Now the song: it is about letting life (and love) just run its course and basically waiting for something to happen and whether that's the right thing to do. It's also about friends telling you that things will work out, but that you yourself don't feel like that and that can be pretty frustrating. It's something I have been struggling with for a long time because I'm not the kind of person who is (or wants to be) a "hunter" so to speak and I begin to doubt myself at times whether I should be more "aggresive".

Anyway, I hope I'll have new stuff to show you sometime soon because you always give great comments. I'm a very slow writer though  and things have to be pretty much perfect when I write (they are lyrics btw) and that's why even though I came up with this in August it's still not finished.... I also barely have the time to sit down and really think about my writing, but comments like these really make me enthusiastic about it again.

14

Polls / Do you think creationism should be banned in schools?

« on: January 08, 2008, 05:45:50 am »

Personally, I don't think that the sun and moon and earth all aligned by accident and that the complex precipitation system that sustains our planet was either.

I wonder what you mean when you say "by accident". It certainly was no accident that the sun and the moon and the earth aligned. Just by using simple physical processes you can explain why the Solar system looks the way it does. Also considering how many stars there are in the Universe or in the Milky Way alone (I'm an astrophysicist so bear with me) it is not very strange that a planet exists with the right characteristics for life.

To respond on the initial topic. In my opinion I think that creationism is not scientifically sound enough to be taught in school. This should be done in church. Not that it should be ignored all together but I believe a classroom isn;t the place for it.

15

Polls / I support Gay rights. Do you?

« on: December 24, 2007, 04:48:12 am »

I really have no idea why someone of a gender would be attracted to the same gender, if it's just that way when they were born, or if they were insecure or scared about something their gender had to go through with the opposite one, or even if something bad happened to them.

well, I am gay and I am exactly like YOU, except I do not like the same sex as you, it is not a choice we made to be gay; it is what became of us.  Did you choose to have the looks that you have? NO, it was given to you.

Anyone that thinks someone would choose to be gay in this world is ignorant.

I agree! I have been TOLD that it is a choice that I made to be gay,  NO WAY! why would I choose to go through so much shit? Why would I choose to be in fear every time I go somewhere or even walk out of my front door?

I think I made this argument in some other topic already, but I am going to repeat it anyway, because I think it is a strong argument as to why homosexuality cannot be a choice.

If being gay or not would indeed be a choice, then it would be logical that everybody (gay, straight or bi) makes this choice at some point in their lives. This is because making such a decision (or any decision at all for that matter) would be done actively, i.e. it would require some amount of thought before deciding. Now, for me personally I have never had this moment where I considered: "guys or girls........which do I like better??? Difficult choice, but I'm going for guys."

Anyway, the fact that some people assume that gay people do make this choice immediately implies that they themselves at some point in their lives would have to have considered whether they would be continuing as gay or straight. Now I bet that these people never considered such a choice. Hence if they did not make a choice about their sexuallity, then why would gay people have made such a choice? The only choice somebody makes in this, is whether they accept themselves as who they are or not (which is a different choice than what I am alluding to above)

I don't know if this line of reasoning is clear enough, but for me it is logical. Feel free to comment on this, because I'd like to hear what other people think about this.