A song... (cont'ed)

Algo por el estilo; no puedo poner el punto tan alto.....

A song...

In my book of accomplishments, tonight, the night of September 29th of 2010, will not leave unnoticed.

Tonight is when I decided to confront my fears of being a neglected, once very talented, musician and challenge something I thought would never happen. What I thought impossible will become reality this evening. That is, I am composing my first song.

There have been many years that have past since the first and last time I wrote a song. I must have been about 6. I had never heard bachata in my life, but now that I think about that song ("Siempre" it was called), it would have been a corny-ass one.

Why did I ever stop? Quite frankly, I focused way too much on classical music and what I was being taught at the time that it never occurred to me to pursue my own collection of melodies done for me, by me.

A few years ago, as I was still living in London, I had a conversation with a punk ass from NYC and we got into a huge argument about how I believed that it was not easy to write music and instantly think of the melody to accompany it. Of course, he disagreed and the story goes as far as we never talked again... I was so offended by how insulting his words were that I stayed away from the composition realm for as long as

I could.

Today (may be due to sleep deprivation) I realized that there is someone out there who deserves to be my muse, as he has been my only inspiration from the time he left. Tonight is about you Alejandro... I will write my first and only song for you, and I will compose my one and only melody so that one day you look back and remember that I wrote you a song, even though I thought I couldn't.

I will immortalize the words through the sound of notes that I forgot how to play, and I still have no idea how is going to turn out.

I will sing for you, even though this voice was not meant to harmonize a set of lyrics. I will do it from within, so that I can feel that I have given you my best effort. This one is for you.

Even if you never read this, or you never get to hear it, I will hold the satisfaction of dedicating you every 29th of September. I will never forget the bizarre red sky that covered the city du

ring this evening, and how that reassured me that tonight is the night to write you the best song you will ever hear.

DRE - dnklschwrz, 2010

I know I should be studying...

So this is how it feels to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After over 20 finals, 4o midterms, innumerable essays, projects, and countless hours devoted to reading and eventually learning, there is this feeling of emptiness that refuses to shape itself. In past years I would have anticipated this moment differently, and yet here I am looking for various ways to procrastinate before the last final exam of my undergraduate career. I should be reading, and I should be finishing my studies, but I am exhausted... absolutely exhausted.

Anxiety has become a common companion lately. Now I don't have to deal with eating anxiety, or spontaneous physical arousal, I now have to deal with feelings or brain overload, where regardless of what I read my mind refuses to exceed its mental capacity. Perhaps it would be easier if there was a delete button on the back of my skull, or perhaps one of those little reset buttons accessible only to the end of a sharp object.

Coping with all these expectations about what is really going to happen now. I thought I would be devastated if by the time I graduate I did not have anything to look forward. Don't get me wrong, life is great but sometime a bit of chronological planning helps. My fears of being fully unemployed and becoming another useless professional are not part of my current anxiety. I guess I am lucky. I have everything to look forward: A full-time summer job with an Airline, A postgraduate degree waiting for me in September, leisure travel and more. And yet, I am still feeling overwhelmed about finishing something that I have been meaning to end for a while now.

I guess I will get back to my studies now before I decide to scream until my head explodes.

Marduk Concert Review

I really enjoy going to Black Metal shows, particularly because you never know what may happen. The crowd, the bands, the venue, the technical difficulties, the type of air one breaths in, etc, everything is simply VERY different at a BM Show. Usually, during metal concerts you get to see things like:

The girlfriend of the tour manager,
the girl that thinks HIM and System of A Down are as heavy as it gets and has a bf that brings her along to shows,
the guys with hair much longer and prettier than yours,
the groupie that is looking for the band members to take a photo,
the groupie that is looking to sleep with the band members,
the crazy Indian guy that likes to mosh at any metal show and enjoys talking to the speakers, the wall, and seems to enjoy throwing himself onto anything that moves [and that does not move] (applicable in Toronto Only... I think)
The skanky girl that see this event as an opportunity to wear close to nothing
The radio diva who thinks metal would be unknown without her
etc
etc
ETC!

Black Metal concerts may portrait some of the above, but the ambiance is VERY different PERIOD. You will see more than one guy wearing a black collar shirt with a suit jacket, the guy wearing corpse paint, a group of Black Metal Skinheads, and old guy wearing khakis, all sorts of pentagrams, all sorts of upside-down crosses, all sorts of tattoos, and all sorts of things that you may not see everyday. One last thing that needs to be clarified: Black Metal followers DO NO SUPPORT moshing during BM shows. Nevertheless, you always have the Indian guy that could be watching Britney Spears (hypothetical example for the sake of the argument) and would still mosh. Black Metal fans simply DO NOT MOSH and that needs to be understood; they like to enjoy the music, bang their head and move their GORGEOUS hair around. Moshing (or slamming), as some people know and acknowledge, has its origins in the 1970s Hardcore movement in the United States. It has been slowly adopted by all metal sub-genres, but still, POINT BEING is that the true BM fan will not mosh. I think that is just rational and wonderful.

Hails to the black metal attitude fur immer und immer. \m/

Anyway, point being is that I got to see the almighty Marduk on Sunday at the Annex Wreck Room in Toronto. Mantic Ritual, Merrimack, Black Anvil and Nachtmystium opened for them. Unfortunately, due to my canon training I missed the first few bands and walked in during Nachtmystium's performance:

Comments:
I have never been a Nachtmystium fan. As a matter of fact, I don't even like them. BUT they put on a really good show. Last time I listened to their music it was full-blast BM, but on Sunday they were really groovy! They have changed their style a lot, and I am really glad that that seems to be working for them. I enjoyed their performance very much and I actually look forward to seeing them again.





Marduk:

Well, well, well... Where to begin... Oh, yes, views about their latest album, Wormwood. I think it is badass! What a great comeback to complement their 2007 Rom 5:!2. Wormwood brings out all the rawness that Marduk has represented throughout the time they have been around.

Back to the concert: Given that this is the first time they could make it to Canadian grounds, I had to go see them! I was really looking forward to it, but by the time they got to their final set of songs, I was bored as fuck! Besides the songs from Panzer Division, it all sounded the same to me. What happened to the old Marduk, the one that was brutal, traditional, RAW OVER ALL? Everything was so monotone and boring! Are we anticipating an early retirement? I can honestly not say anything at the moment. Since this was the first time I saw them live, I have no point of comparison, so maybe they have never been all that Wish-fulfilling while they perform. Oh well, I guess I will stick to playing Baptism by fire, Throne of Rats and Steel Inferno on my ipod.

Still, here is a video of their LIVE performance. I will still bow at Marduk for their trajectory and for their unbelievable music, but I am sort of disappointed about their show. I betcha more than one disagrees with me, but well, let it be...






Conclusions about the show:

I Had a great time at the show. I went with my man, I saw some friends, had a beer, got to play around with the Canon G11, and most importantly, I banged my head to good music. Unfortunately, my expectations were not fully met by the almighty Marduk. Perhaps next time things will be better. So on that note, 'til next time.


MM

DAY 6! TRACK AND FIELD AND BOLT WINNING MY HEART!

Today was the 6th day of the Track and Field Championship and as anticipated, Jamaican Superman Usain Bolt beat the world record in the Men's 200m race (19''20). He JOGGED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! and beat Panamenian Alonso Edward by 62 Milliseconds!
This guy, WTF! When is he really going to get serious and run as fast as he can? He slowed down at the end of the race, and still did not have a problem breaking the previous world record, which was 19''30! Besides this, he had the fastest reaction time of the race (0.133), which allowed him to gain at least an advantage of 15 milliseconds!

I love Bolt <3

As usual, here is the video (In HD and everything) for your viewing pleasure ^.^ Go Bolt Go!






Tomorrow start the Heats for the 4X100 Race, where Bolt will be running again! Now that I have finished my exam (Go Me GO!), I will have more time to comment on the race, and I will probably do it as I watch, so
STAY TUNED FOR MORE COMMENTARIES ABOUT T&F AND SUPERMAN BOLT!

Track, Track, and more TRACK AND FIELD! - Day 5

Here are the highlights of today's performance and the videos of the controversial Women's 800m race.
The IAAF is questioning the Femininity of the RSA's Athlete, Semenya Caster, winner of the race, who finished 2"45 after Kenyan Athlete, Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei.

Here is the video of the race.




Day 5 was another great day for Jamaican Superman, Usain Bolt, who cam first in the semi-finals of the Men's 200m race. This guy does not stop amazing me. I mean, the guy JOGGED at the end of the race, while the others were busting their asses to get a place on the final.
I love to watch him run!!!!
The big final is tomorrow, and Usain is expected to beat the world record and run each one of the 100m sections below 10"!

Here is the video of this race. Go Bolt Go!!!!!

Here is the video of Usain talking after the culmination of the race:

Enjoy and stay tuned for more comments :D

Track, Track, and more TRACK AND FIELD!!!!

Alright, so besides being in love with music, I happen to ALSO be in love with Track and Field, given that it has been fed to me since I was in the womb :)

I have been following the Berlin World Track and Field Championship, and I have enjoyed every second of it. To the point that I want to share the happiness with the visitors of this blog ^.^

Here are some of the best moments of the 12th IAAF World Championship in Athletics

Here is Usain Bolt beating the World Record of the Men's 100m Final ^.^

Here Is Usain again, running on the quarter-finals of the Men's 200 meters race ^.^

Below is the Men's 400m Hurdles Final, where Super Felix came last and the race did not end up being between Superman and Batman as it was previously expected. Great performance by the Puerto Rican Javier Culson came in second.

That's it for me at the moment. I will update this as the championship goes. Also, I have found a few signals to watch the competitions online. They are in Spanish, so if you are still incapable of watching it, here are a few options

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

For the people in the USA, you can watch it on Universal Sports

Have fun