VNV nation - Matter + Form

VNV Nation

Matter + Form
Electronica/Dance

Anachron Sounds (Europe)
Metropolis Records (US)
SSC (Scandinavia)

7/8

VNV Nation is a not well heard of band, but they are definitely good. They are into the fun and fast paced songs, but they also can produce a wonderful and thoughtful laid back song.

One very energetic song is "Perpetual". A song that uses different techniques to change the song, but still posses a smooth feel. The voice in it is also amazing. It has a above-human feel to it, as if it is telling an important, life changing message. They mixed the voice and the interments to produce a wonderful song.

A much slower, but not at all worse, song is "Endless Skies". It starts off slow, and a bit repetitive with the same pattern of noise, but changes into a vocal piece. It is as if you are sitting in a boat, slowly drifting down a river, looking up at the sky, just looking. Thinking. Pondering. Just completely lost in the moment. Along with this it also has a underlining up beat tone to it. It pulls of slow and fast together into one song. This song fills you up with peace, even if only for a moment. It also has a beautiful ending finishing off with;
"You live within the sense
Of the stillness of time".

Like "Endless Skies", "Colours Of Rain" is a slow and thoughtful song, but it is much sadder. It has the tone of death, or betrayal. It mixes slow keys from the piano with a quivering violin. Beautiful as it is, it doesn't quite fit with the other songs. In an album with fun and upbeat songs, it slows the tempo down. Despite that fact, a truly wonderful piece.

Final song. "Arena" is a song that uses new techniques like many of the other songs. But it puts the beat of the song out beautifully. This song sounds like new life being born. A new chance. It is smooth and artsy and absolutely astounding. It has sounds from out of this world. A very beautiful piece.
These four songs should be listened to at least once.

The biggest downside to Matter + Form is that a lot of the songs I didn't mention are all very similar and repetitive. "Chrome", "Strata", "Interceptor" and "Entropy" all have the same intro, mildly slow, getting into the beat. Then they go to a very loud and intense section, then settling for something in between the two. After that they go back to the loud and the end up by slowly fading out the sound. Even if the sounds of them are different, its the same pattern. Just gets a bit repetitive if listened over and over to.

El songs. (Spanish is infecting my mind)

Jerry Lee Lewis, “Great Balls of Fire” (1957): It's somewhat similar to the other songs in the 1950's, but I like it a bit more. Probably from what happens to his voice when saying "great". It's an interesting technique and adds something that sets it apart from the other songs. It has a lot of piano, mildly quick song, the singer has a distanced feel. I guess, this is the song that would describe the start of Rock and Roll for me. In my mind, most of the stuff in the 1950's sounds like this, making this the heart of the 1950's. This song also stood out to me. Not sure why, it just does.

The Beatles, “I Saw Her Standing There” (1963): I have always enjoyed listening to the Beatles, and this song reminds me of the times when I was small and would listen to them with my dad. I guess it triggered a memory from my childhood, strangely enough. Not much else. I like the song as far as songs go. It has a sort of "Home-like" feel to it. Something you'd sit around with family talking about nothing while drinking a warm drink.




Black Sabbath, “Paranoid” (1970): Its a, hard to understand song? Well, it does fit its title. "The Misunderstood Decade". It doesn't sound close or anything. It sounds like someone from the sidelines, looking at whatever is going on. It gives a distanced feeling. It also isn't easy to understand some of the lyrics, you have to listen hard to get them. It seems as if the meaning is hidden in a mist. I really like the song. The one line that really stands out is "Make a joke and I will sigh and you will laugh and I will cry". This line has been popping up a lot lately. People trying to make something seem smaller by covering it up with a joke. Just thoughts.

Sections of one

Section A: I find Fermina very interesting. She has a strange personality and swings from one opinion to the next in the flash of an eye. She also is removed from the world. She watches it from the sidelines instead of participating in it. Eventually she is pushed into the fray. Then she has to play the game of life without having played it before. She is also really smart and understands a lot of things. I do not like Florentino. He is obnoxious and thinks that its fine to sleep with a bunch of other people. He also believes that Fermina will finally like him again even though he has only changed for the worse. He also does some obnoxious things. I am in the middle of liking and not liking this book. It is really dense and obnoxious, but I like the personalities of some of the characters.

• Love (Both physical and mental)-The love between Dr. Urbino and Fermina. Also Florentino loving Fermina. Finally Florentino sleeping with 622 people+.
  
• Illusions-The illusion of Florentino and of him loving Fermina.
  
• Social class-Florentino is much lower than Fermina while Dr. Urbino is much closer.

Section B: Why is there so much time skipping? The story would be a lot more smooth if it went in chronological order. Usually when the author skips around, it adds something. I am unable to identify what is being added. Also, does Florentino realize what he is doing? He is sleeping with a bunch of people and he still wants to be with Fermina. Fermina definitely won't like that, so why is he doing it?

Section C: "Only god knows how much I love you." This is the last thing Dr. Urbino said before dieing was this. It also didn't allow Fermina to say anything. I believe that if she had gotten to say something she wouldn't have been so together after his death. I find this interesting just because of what he said. The thing about god and such. Just was memorable.

Speculation.

I predict that Fermina will fall in love with Dr. Urbino for something he does. Something like saving her or saving a friend or something heroic. I think this because Fermina seems like one of those people who likes a "strong man". I got this from (Will need to find this out) when Dr. Urbino is peeing on the toilet. Also Fermina likes how he has arguments with her, meaning he is strong and won't bend to her will. Without reading the first chapter, this would be known.

I see Florentino going depressed and having affairs with a bunch of other people. Why? Because the book has already told us half of this. The only reason I'm saying this is because I think it is because he is depressed from being dumped by Fermina that he is going to have affairs. Florentino might even become a stalker-like person.

It doesn't actually seem as if Fermina loves Dr. Urbino. She loves his arguments, their morning routine, but not him. I think when she realized she didn't love Florentino, his letters made a person so great, she only wanted this fictional person nobody could compare. So maybe its Fermina's father that forces her into a marriage, because she might not be able to marry any other way.

I also think Fermina tests Dr. Urbino. To see how strong he is (Ex: Soap). She does this because she wants him to live up to her standards even though she knows he doesn't, so she hopes he will prove her wrong. Also, Fermina is very strong willed, which ties into this point.

It is foreshadowed that a lot of what Florentino does doesn't go right. When he falls in love with Fermina for the first time, his mother and Fermina's aunt both put huge walls in between them. Then Fermina's father and her school get in the way. Finally her father takes her to a far land. In truth, Fermina and Florentino never actually get to sit down and have a conversation. Their relationship is based on words, not personality.

I can relate to when someone argues something and it's obviously a lie but they argue it anyway. This has happened to me many times. I've actually been on both sides of the argument. It is very easy to go blind to the truth and actually believe what you are saying is the truth. Only solid evidence can point you back in the right direction.

This is all speculation, by the way.

Mexico lies

So, when finishing up our script we needed to find a pesticide or company that was lieing about pesticide's effect to help our argument. So here is what we found:
http://www.rense.com/general3/lieswnv.htm
This talks about this one pesticide lie about its effects which are much worse than they really are. (Add more later)

MLA CAN DIE

Ack, its being weird. D:
One more try...

Temperature and Water Quality. Kywater, Oct 7, 2007, http://kywater.org/ww/ramp/rmtemp.htm

Physics: Differences in hot and cold water. 2/22/2005, AllExperts, Oct 6, 2007, http://en.allexperts.com/q/Physics-1358/Differences-hot-cold-water.htm

Lesson 12: Oxygen. Water/Wastewater Distance Learning, Oct 04, 2007. http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/ENV110/Lesson12_print.htm

Warm blood for cold water - evolution of warm-blooded fishes - 1993 - The Year in Science. Jan, 1994, FindArticles, Oct 07, 2007. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n1_v15/ai_14889831

Why does warm water contain less oxygen compared to cold water?
2007, Yahoo, Oct 04, 2007. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070419215946AAsBAzm

Well what do you know, another water post

Its so strange, hmm...

Anyway, found this site: http://kywater.org/ww/ramp/rmtemp.htm. This site talks about how sometimes streams that don't move quickly can get much more warmer than they should in summer because of factories that use cold water and spit out hot water. And because these streams get super hot, the fish can die and the eggs in the stream might not hatch. This site also shows different types of fish and the hottest waters they can survive in. A nice site with lots of helpful information.

More watertakular stuff

Started a bit on the power point. Not exactly sure what is supposed to be on the power point, so its kinda weird, but thats OK.

Another difference between hot and cold water is that hot water evaporates faster. So the entire surface of hot water has steam pressure. Just an interesting note. Got it from here: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Physics-1358/Differences-hot-cold-water.htm.

More water info.

http://water.me.vccs.edu/courses/ENV110/Lesson12_print.htm

This site is also really good. This site talks about many different things, such as DO, DO's attraction to water, different factors that allow DO to enter water, the microbiology of DO, the effects of DO on humans and the effects of DO on fish. Its a bit lengthy, but it has a ton of information and is a really good site.

What do you know, a blogy thingy.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070419215946AAsBAzm

Yay Yahoo. :3
So, this kinda tells a big difference between warm and cool water, there is less oxygen in warm water. THEN it also tells why, which is because 'when water is heated up and when getting warm the oxygen is expelled away from water.' So thats probably going to show up quite a bit in our testing of different waters.

ALSO! Even though everyone did it, I kinda think it helps with the project. Today, I learned how to test water for DO and temp. So when we go on our trip around San Diego and Mexico, I will be able to figure out information.

Step 1: Put on gloves.

Very very late

I haven't blogged for, 6 days, and I just realized that. So I've decided to, you know, blog.

So I decided to once again look at someone else's blog. This time I looked at Danielle's post for Sep 18, 2007. She said that she had found a website for pesticides and their effects on the human body, so I checked it out (
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/environment/RATE/pestfact.html). After looking and reading the website I guess I learned a little. It wasn't exactly shocking, but its interesting. What kind of harms come from pesticides, what pesticides do, which type of people pesticides attack and other information. I mean, pesticides can actually give you cancer. Thats real bad. But I guess its only normal. Pesticides are deadly to insects after all, so aren't they going to have to be at least mildly toxic to everything?

On a different topic, well, different part of this topic.
I've completed the 1.5 draft of our script. Why 1.5? I'm going to run it past 2 people then myself once again before I can say 2, so its 1.5 right now. And finally I've edited the flash some so it looks more gloomy and less happy. Also I took the scene transaction that looked like an explosion out.

Other people's blogs

For no reason linked to an assignment or deadline, I decided to look at other people's blogs to see where their research has taken them.

The first person's blog I looked at was Adrian's blog at http://othersidepage.blogspot.com. Then I looked at the post for Sep 20, 2007. When I read the article Adrian was talking about (http://www.hfa.org/factory/index.html) it made me feel sorry for the family businesses that were being tossed aside by the bigger companies. Of course nothing can be done about this and nobody can stop this, but at least some people know about it.

Then I headed over to Coco's Blog at http://coletteconover.blogspot.com.And looked at the post for Sep 23, 2007. When I read her post I had to agree that if a pesticide is dragged into the water supply of humans, then it will be hard to get out, but also shouldn't our water filters be able to get the chemicals out of the water? Also what happens to fish that live in the water? Coco's post made me think about these things.

AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand.. I got an interview set up at my house at 4:00pm on this coming Wednesday. Oh boy. :O

Whadaya know, another site

I've gotta stop saying that...

And for the site.

http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1988/10/mm1088_06.html

This site talks about how its all nice and happy up here in the U.S., but in Mexico, it a lot rougher in the pesticide business. Its anything goes, no harmful chemicals are illegal down there in Mexico. This means that companies can, 1) Make pesticides that are harmful towards the environment and 2) Make pesticides that will wind up on the plates of the Mexicans and possible poison them. Both of these are bad things. Along with that, the government is so corrupt that they don't mind as long as the companies who make pesticides keep paying them. Another bad point is that there are tons of pesticides, and the farmers don't care that much, so they could end up picking the worst of the lot. Bad news indeed, but a good source.

On a similar but slightly to the left and down note, I finished the script on time. :D

(Post for Wednesday) Whadaya know, script

Yes, in fact, did work on the script. Also I found another website that was small, but was helpful.

http://www.livingwithbugs.com/organic.html

What I found interesting about this website was that it said that synthetic pesticides will keep growing and becoming more effective than natural pesticides. And after thinking about this, I concluded that the author was probably right, which is why I list his website.

What do you know, script

Almost done with the rough draft now. And yes, I did work on the script.

(Post for Monday) Website

http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252C%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528su%252CNone%252C18%2529Natural%2Bpesticides%2524&contentSet=GSRC&sort=Relevance&tabID=T001&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=DISPLAY_SUBJECTS&prodId=SRC-1&searchId=R1&currentPosition=1&userGroupName=sand07018&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28SU%2CNone%2C18%29Natural+pesticides%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=EJ2121000066&docType=GSRC

Talks about what a pesticide is, what they do and how they are used and also what effects we can get from them. It talks about Synthetic vs. Natural and other useful topics that can and will be helpful to our group.

It also has an experiment that can be done, but it takes quite a while, so we probably will not do it.

Once again, the script

I've kept working on the script. Jotting down ideas and such.

(Post for Saturday) Script

I've been thinking/working on our rough draft of our script. Nothing else really.

(Post for Friday) Change of plans

Turns out that the 18th is a bit to soon and we are going to have to residual our interview. I talk to him and it turns out it won't be for another 3 weeks or so. At least he didn't completely leave us.

Interview

I got an interview set up for Tuesday after school. Hooray.