Month: February 2016

Finally Watched Star Wars 7! My Review!

Finally watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens! It was incredible! I saw it in IMAX 3D, so I also witnessed the incredible escape from Jakku scene in all of its full-frame glory! Although the start was unusual for me, as it started in the middle of a battle with a brand new character, I slowly got into the new movie, as it progressed. I love how detailed everything was, and how great of a job they did creating a new world. I was initially weary going into it, if they could create a whole new world, similar to how George Lucas envisioned. And they’ve absolutely pulled it off! The familiar characters making a return was heartwarming, and the new material was awe-inspiring. The fights and all the action was great and done very well, and the last few scenes were very emotional and meaningful, in true Star Wars fashion. The story was amazing, too. I love how Rey and Finn worked so well together, and how a female Jedi can absolutely work so well, without feeling forced. Her performance was just so natural and perfect. Not many could pull it off better than Daisy and John (the actors).
And let’s not forget John Williams beautiful score he brought to the entire movie, perfectly chiming in old and new pieces when the time was right, fitting right in with the action and the peace.
Overall, a great experience and a great movie, and I can’t wait to see what the next one will bring!

My Take on Ever-Critical “Fans”

I don’t think one is a true fan of something, if they can only appreciate the initial works of an artist or person, and then criticize everything that comes after it for not being the same, or even very similar. In most cases, this change you don’t like, is just a just natural evolution of the art and the artist.

I see this problem in both music and film, but it can also occur in countless mediums, even with people.
Ex: The people who criticize every new album Linkin Park releases just because it doesn’t sound like their first (the fans’ “favorite”.) People who criticize the new Star Wars films for not being the same as the originals, in ways evolutionary or not. People who criticize the new Halo videogames for not being the same as the originals. People who criticize a leader for changing his ideas as he got older. It’s mere evolution.

The fact of the matter is, if you’re a true fan, you are a fan of the artist, the series, or the person, not just their initial works; and will follow them on their journey, as they naturally evolve throughout it. You liked the original concept, so watch it grow. If it grows into something bad, it’s fine to not like it, but give it a chance, and realize things and people change and evolve.

Linkin Park are different people than they were 15 years ago, and their original music style isn’t exciting to them anymore. Let them be creative and explore new things. Be excited, and follow them on their new journey. Journey with them, don’t hold them back.
George Lucas wasn’t thinking of making the Star Wars prequels with the same formula as the originals. He wanted to try something new, something exciting to him.

You have to remember, true artists do not exist only to please their fans and make money, but to further their art as well, because it is their passion. Likely, they did not enter the market to “please fans”. They entered it because they are passionate about creating, and it is only natural for them to want to move on with their art, and innovate, if not make something new entirely!

Not continuing to further your art as you feel you should is just people-pleasing, and not what God put you on this earth to do. Will some people disagree with these changes? Yes, of course. But it will be the right thing to do. Regardless of what you do, you will have people who are critical, so it is better to do what you, the creator, thinks is best. Should artists take feedback? They should welcome it, but only incorporate what they feel is right, not bending to every person’s expectations. Doing that would not render them an original artist anymore; at that point they would merely be a private contractor.

My point is, let the artists breathe. All art is living, and will eventually grow old. Will it still be fascinating? Yes. But will the artist want to make the same art every time? Of course not. By doing so, it would become monotonous, and the artist would lose his passion. Only by creating new things, will the artists continue to thrive, flourish, and be passionate about their work; hence allowing them to continue to create new work.
If you don’t allow the artists this freedom, there will be no new work!

If you cannot stand the new work, the artist will likely not change. As artists, they want to push the medium forward, and continue to be excited by trying new things.

With that aside, fans, true fans must allow the artists to evolve, and grow with them.
Not allowing the artists the right to evolution is unnatural and unrealistic, as evolution is natural. It’s a natural part of life and a part of art, and we must accept it; not only for ourselves, but for the creators, as well.

If, as a fan, you cannot accept this universal truth, not only are you not a true fan of the artist, but are blinded by the reality of change.

What I Don’t Understand About Vegetarianism And Veganism

What I don’t understand about vegetarianism and veganism:
I understand the view that killing animals for food seems wrong. The main arguments are that they have emotions and feelings too, and since they’re living, and are similar to us in many ways, they do not deserve this treatment. While this seems agreeable to me, look at the next point:

Plants are not excluded from this logic. Plants may seem “okay”, because they don’t have brains or visible feelings, and they don’t move. But in reality, plants are living things too. Have you seen plants like Venus fly traps? That’s an intelligent plant, regardless if it can move on its own or has eyes, it hunts for food just like other animals. And all plants need water, nutrition, and sunlight to grow, the same as all other animals. And they bleed, and they, too, bleed and die when you cut them, and kill them. So in this sense, they are no less important than any animal you may eat.

By this logic, you should not be eating any plant products, either. It’s no more “okay” to eat plants than animals.
But we need to consume them for our survival. Just like other animals need to eat animals, and plants. And just like some plants need to eat flies, and drink water, and take nourishment from worms, and the rest of the earth.

Now that we see both are more equal than we thought, if we didn’t eat animals OR plants, we wouldn’t survive, just as plants wouldn’t survive without the worms, or the animals wouldn’t survive without BOTH.

In conclusion, everything is living, even the earth. And everything is symbiotic. We all must feed off of each other, for our own survival. And we shouldn’t be ashamed of it, or offended by it. In the end, we’re all the same.

As early Native Americans saw it, the buffalo was holy to them. They worshipped it, with the utmost respect. But they also understood they needed the buffalo for survival, and therefore consumed it, but wasted no part of it, and treated it with the utmost respect during the process.

Even though we must consume, as is the law of nature, it does not mean we get to treat the things we consume negatively during the process. Taking a tip from our early Natives, while we understand we need our plants and animals, the least we can do is treat the things we consume with respect.
That is our duty.

Just don’t eat your own kind. That, my friends, is cause for anarchy.

Close Friends

I don’t think the reason we don’t have many close friends is because we don’t want them. I think it’s because we can’t handle too many close friendships. We like telling everything to just a handful of people in our lives and focusing on them, because it would actually be exhausting to try to forge those same kind of relationships with everyone you like and want to be friends with.
So we choose who fate gives us. And maybe that’s how it should be.

A Tale of Farewell

A Tale of Farewell:

So I installed Windows 10, and I love it! Everything is great, and perfect, and exciting. It’s much better than Windows 8, and while it feels a bit weird not having some interface features like the tile desktop screen, I know these changes are for the better. Like it booting straight to the desktop. And t is much more organized, and very useful, especially with Cortana. So install it and everything is great!

So as I take out my keyboard to start jamming a song, connected through my Roland audio interface, something is a bit off. It doesn’t work. And so I then realize that my audio interface is the problem. It appears to not be recognized by the PC, but that thought is quickly put to rest by the sound Windows makes when I plug it in and unplug it. So I think, “oh”, and think, “Hm, well maybe something happened when I installed Windows 10…” So I decided the driver might have somehow gotten messed up by it (everything else transitioned fine after the upgrade). So I then proceed to uninstall the driver and reinstall it, hoping it will work after that. So everything goes fine, then in the middle of installing (after it gets to the part where it says, “plug your device in to continue installation”), I plug in my device and it appears to begin installing the rest of it. Except it doesn’t. It stalls there. For several minutes. I think, “it never took this long on Windows 8… I wonder why it’s not working.” So I give it a few minutes. And it doesn’t work. I’m like, “okay, I’ll just try it again”. So I do. Twice. I install, uninstall, restart, install, try it, and it doesn’t work! So I think, just to be in the safe side, I’ll install it again. So I repeat the process again, and it doesn’t work! Windows still recognizes my device, but it does not work. I know it works of the blue light on the device comes on. However, this time it does not. So this is alarming to me. I go check online for answers.

Then, I see some news: disappointing, yet hopeful. Roland announces on its website that support for Windows 10 is coming soon, however how soon is not specified. So I say, “okay, I guess the Windows 8 drivers don’t work with Windows 10, but at least there’s an update coming, right? Right.” Except for what I would find out the next day (today).
I search again for answers. I come across a Reddit thread. I find a link someone posted in the topic, the same link I saw before. I think, “okay, so good, nothing new.” But then, there is a second link. I have no idea what it is, other than potentially, new information that may reveal some new details like when drivers are coming out or what not.
So I click on the link. What I see before me: an actual list of which devices Roland will update for Windows 10. And which ones they WILL NOT. So frantically, I search for my device on the list. At first, it’s not there. So I carefully check again, until I see it!

There are three categories they put it in. “Yes” – meaning the new drivers will automatically work or are already available for the device; ” Currently under testing” – meaning they’re investigating it; and finally, “NO” – meaning they will not support this device anymore with Windows 10, they are not going to manufacture new drivers for the device.
What I find next is heartbreaking.

Upon finding my device, the UA-25EX, I find its category, and find it is listed under “NO”.

I am awestruck. I think, “oh crap”.

So this means that my device will not work with Windows 10, and Roland, the manufacturer, has no plans to support it.
This sucks, because my device, the device I’ve used to record all of my vocals, since I got my microphone, as well as play my keyboard on my PC via MIDI, and am very used to using, will no longer work anymore.

So this means one of two things: I will have to downgrade to Windows 8.1, or I will have to get a new audio interface.
I love Windows 10, and this is the only drawback so far, so I’m not just going to downgrade my whole desktop experience just to use my audio interface.
So therefore, I am left with no other option, but to sell my trusty audio interface, and finally kiss it goodbye.

So long. Roland UA-25EX. I guess this is goodbye. But you will continue to live on in my heart. And in the projects I do in the future. Your body will no longer be there. But your soul will.
Farewell.