Day Seven - The Arts
Day Seven - The Arts
Of all the subjects so far, this is one of the ones I've looked forward to least. I'm not really a big person for art - I can't draw, I despise dancing in all but a few cases and I'm not in the slightest bit musical, so my interest in the arts is more from a consumer point of view. Seeing as I know next to nothing about painting, the obvious choice is music.
I've grown up listening to quite a wide range of music - from early to late 90's pop music (thanks to local radio and television) to Blues and Rock music (thanks to my father's influence) to Classical music (thanks to my maternal grandfather).
Ever since I was small, the majority of the music that my father would play in the house was Blues and so it was obvious that my tastes would start there, my enjoyment of this genre was cemented by my dad's performances in multiple local bands, appearing in various venues through the south of England and being roadied for (more than a few times) by yours truly.
My interest in pop music tailed off to near nothingness in the late nineties when I began to notice just how similar each song was becoming, I started to see just how corporate pop music had become and how it almost seemed production line based.
I've had a love hate relationship with Classical music since I was young - at first it just felt like lift music - tinny noises in the background that were more to be ignored than admired, but in the following years I've grown to see it as a pure art-form in itself, capable of being just as soothing as modern music and just as rousing and energising as any rock music.
Thanks to a few of my friends, my real passion in music over the last few years has been rock, it seems I found bands like Evanescence, Fightstar, Within Temptation, Paramore, Nightwish and The Foo Fighters (to name but a few) at exactly the right time in my life in order to provide relief and some guidance.
...well that's sort of a potted history of my musical tastes - can't really say I feel like I've done a good job on this one, feels like I've rambled again, but what the hell, right?
Tomorrow you get to watch the fun as I attempt to write a poem... yay
Nik
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Day Thirteen - Beliefs
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. ~ George Bernard Shaw
I consider myself to be an agnostic atheist - I would like to believe in a divine creator but I don't really see there being any proof to that end. Unlike how most atheists are portrayed, I do not hate god, nor do I hate religion particularly much, I merely find it distasteful the number of atrocities that have been committed in either's name.
I do however find the bible a very distasteful document and it is my opinion that anyone who feels otherwise has yet to actually read it thoroughly. The sheer volume of horrific actions that the book condones and encourages do nothing positive to enhance the image of Christianity as anything but another reason to kill people.
I do however hold firm beliefs that everyone is entitled to believe what they wish, so long as they don't mind me doing the same nor attempt to influence me - a few of my closer friends and even my girlfriend are Christians, and while I admit to a faint selfish hope that they one day turn from this path, if it makes them happy I will do nothing to change their beliefs just as they do nothing to change mine.
If however the existence of an all powerful creator can be proven to me beyond all doubt and scepticism, I will happily alter my path but between now and then; enlightenment is bliss.
Nik
(via jhig8bd0cczd1.png (PNG Image, 744 × 810 pixels))
via m1n3cr4ft
when did you start playing minecraft?
October 2010 - back when Minecraft was only 10 euroes
how did you find out about minecraft?
Mostly through Owlet (a friend of mine) and after I watched a video he put up on youtube I knew I had to give it a go...
what was the first thing you built on singleplayer/multiplayer?
I built a castle on singleplayer - I've only recently starting playing smp and I don't tend to do so very often
what is your in game name/username in minecraft?
they call me darkora... *dramatic chords*
what was the biggest thing you ever built?
I'm currently in the process of building a huge trading post which will easily be the biggest thing I've ever built
what is your next project/creation?
I have no real idea... whatever strikes me next I guess...
what do you mainly build in minecraft? (for example: treehouses, minecart systems, etc.)
I couldn't say I build one thing more than any other, I guess if pressed I'd say bases, a variety of them...
which do you do that most: explore, kill mobs, or mine?
I build mostly really, though I do enjoy sperlunking trips... except when I run out of torches
last thing you built involving redstone?
I use redstone a lot, though I do tend to cheat because I use Ali4z's Wireless Redstone along with Feanorith's Redstone Advanced - last big thing I built with redstone was a gate system (several times) for my trading post
favourite ore and why?
I like diamonds the most - mainly because there's the whole adventure of trying to find them
least favourite ore and why?
hmm I suppose Gold is my least favourite ore, it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as useful as the others
do you often go to the nether (or aether if you have the aether mod)?
recently I've started going into the nether more and more - since Better Than Wolves gave Netherrack a host of uses, I've more reason to go there
what mods do you enjoy using?
Better Than Wolves is my favourite, though I tend to use an absolute ton - I think my current homebrew modpack involved something like 25 mods - I won't list them all here but if anyone wants to know they can drop me an ask
favourite texture pack?
I tend to switch through several - I like the stylings of the painterly pack but I also love Carlotta4th's Modified Portal textures - I plan to make my own at some point, but that may have to wait.
favourite mob and why?
Wolves, definitely would have to be Wolves
least favourite mob and why?
gorram creepers, they need to stop destroying my stuff
name some of your favourite minecraft blogs/websites
I only really use the minecraft wiki and the yogiverse along with the minecraft forums
who is your favourite minecraft commentator on youtube? why?
I'm not sure if they count as commentators but I follow the yogscast quite closely - I'm definitely a yognought though I also follow Etho
what are you looking forward to the most in the 1.8 update?
I suppose it would have to be the added depth to the game that notch puts into most updates, I'm glad to see the game expanding
what are your thoughts on minecraft being available on the xbox?
I think it should be good, not sure exactly how it'll work (and I daresay I won't buy it myself) but I'm glad that minecraft is getting the attention and expansion it deserves
sum up minecraft in a five-worded sentence.
"get excited and make shit"
a minecraft survey!
GNU Sir Terry Pratchett
28 April 1948 - 12 March 2015
G: Send the message on to the next Clacks Tower.
N: Do not log the message.
U: At the end of the line, return the message.
“A man’s not dead while his name is still spoken.” ~ Going Postal
Day Five - List of things I fancy doing
To some extent, this is my 'bucket list'
See the earth from space (Bill Bailey: Conveniently missing out 'become an astronaut')
Visit Australia
Learn to Drive
Fly faster than the speed of sound
Get Married & Have kids
Have more money than I know what to do with
Go Zorbing!
Learn to play an instrument
Finally finish working on my RPG system that I started six months ago
Play an MMO to completion (Max Level and do all the end content)
Learn Japanese
Stand at the summit of a mountain
See a tiger in the wild
be chokeslammed by The Undertaker
I dare say there are more things that should go on this list but that's all I can think of.
Nik
Day Six - Recommended Books
I used to spend quite a lot of time reading books, so here's my highlights;
Good Omens (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman)
The Truth (Terry Pratchett)
Carpe Juguluum (Terry Pratchett)
The Fifth Elephant (Terry Pratchett)
The Janus Man (Colin Forbes)
Snow White and the Seven Samurai (Tom Holt)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - SOLD! (Terry Brooks)
The Bible According to Spike Milligan
Puckoon (Spike Milligan)
The Northern Lights (Phillip Pullman)
The Founding - A Gaunt's Ghosts Omnibus (Dan Abnett)
Of Mice & Men (John Steinbeck)
Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga) (Hiromu Arakawa)
I've had the pleasure of reading pretty much all of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett and I would happily recommend them to anyone that likes fantasy comedy. If you haven't read one of his books, do it! (And then read the rest... and tell them Nik sent ya)
Nik
I don’t even want to write a review of “Top Gun: Maverick” honestly, I’ve seen 1,500+ movies and I’ve never finished one that left me more depressed about the future of this country. I just want to stop thinking about it
