Yoko Shimomura

Since all of my writing time has been dedicated to a paper for my finals this week I thought I'd upload an older research paper I wrote about one of my favorite composers. It was written about a year or so ago but I think it's still pretty solid. Make sure to listen to the links afterward for the full experience. Enjoy.

Yoko Shimomura

 

What is commonly referred to as “classical” music has come a very long way. Starting from the humblest beginnings of simpler instruments and uncomplicated compositions in the medieval ages, through the more elaborate compositions of the Baroque period, to the unforgettable symphonies and movements of the Classical and Romantic periods; music clearly has a legacy as varied and evolving as history itself. It seems like this legacy has arrived today most commonly (to the mass public at least) alongside the mediums of theatre and film. Asking someone off of the street for the name of a late twentieth century composer, the most common reply would probably be film-scoring mastermind John Williams.

Mortal Kombat - Gut Reactions

Mortal Kombat - Gut Reactions

Though it's been less than three years since the release of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, it feels like much longer since a Mortal Kombat game has been released. Luckily, the stars above Earthrealm have aligned and just when you thought the franchise was finally dead; Scorpion, Sub-Zero and all of their weird friends return for another round of gore-tastic fatalities.

Let me preface this gut reaction by saying that I'm not a huge fan of the fighting game genre (despite Super Smash Bros being in my top five favorite franchises - but does that really count?). There's something about learning complicated series of joystick quarter-turns and button presses and applying them within the blink of an eye that has never appealed to me. This could be, in part, because I was never very good at it. The other main reason I've avoided the genre is because it's usually really only fun with two or more people and this boils down to me either getting slaughtered by someone who loves fighting games or getting slaughtered by someone wildly button-mashing.

Portal 2 - Gut Reactions

Portal 2 - Gut Reactions

It feels like it's a been a very long time since we've been lost in the sterile, mind-bending halls of the Aperture Science Laboratories - but for those who have played through the first Portal, I guarantee that this is a time that will not be forgotten. Nevertheless, like many avid fans out there, I couldn't wait to jump back into GLaDOS' twisted world of first person mind games... in the name of science, of course.

The Comeback Kid

Hello everyone!

I'm still here. I know you were worried about me, but I've been doing fine - just a lot of school work, homework, and work work. Luckily my classes are done by May 6th and then I'll have the WHOLE summer to post random little blogs, thoughts, ideas, videos, lists, and everything else that is awesome. In the mean time though I wanted to blog about two very random different things.

Nintendo 3DS - First Impressions

Hello readers. I was going to start this post with another apology for not posting in over a week and then I realized that I usually start my posts with exactly that - so I think at this point it's a given. Hopefully when summer rolls around I'll have a bit more time to blog but until then keep your eyes open every week or so.

Now that that's out of the way let's move right on to what I wanted to blog about today: the Nintendo 3DS. If you haven't been keeping up on the video game front and have no idea what a "3DS" is then check out the official specs and features here. All right, now that I don't have to go in to descriptive detail about the unit itself let me start by saying: yes, it works.

Homefront - Gut Reactions

Even though I should probably be writing a paper for school right now I just played the first 30-45 minutes of Homefront and decided I would take this chance to start (what will hopefully be) a new series here on the blog that I'm tentatively calling "Gut Reactions." Basically I'm going to spew out my thoughts on the first thirty minutes to an hour of games I play and hopefully form some sort of opinion that will help you judge if you want to give the game a shot or not. I'm thinking that this format (without previously used ratings scales or lengthy and formal prose) will allow me to actually update more often and quicker than a full review. Make sure you let me know what you think. Without further ado: enjoy!

Homefront - Gut Reactions

The game begins with actual video of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a press conference discussing a North Korean attack on South Koreans that occurred not too long ago. Homefront uses this incident and other similar ones as a jumping off point and spirals through years 2012-2027 (the latter being when the game takes place) all the while showing various clips, news reports, and stock war footage in order to weave a story of North Korea eventually occupying the United States. While the concept is tied together well enough there are certainly some gaping holes and the intro really felt more like a xenophobic conspiracy theorist's dreamworld than an overly realistic outcome of the next quarter of a decade.

The Boggling Gardener

Since I haven't posted anything in ten days - I was actually busier than I thought this Spring break and really didn't feel too inspired unfortunately - I thought I would take a few minutes now to copy/paste an essay I wrote last month for my Nonfiction Workshop class. I believe I got an A- on it (which I'm quite pleased about) but definitely let me know what you think with a comment below. I really will try to post something else before the week is done but since I do have another paper or two to write I can't make any promises. Stay tuned though and enjoy the essay below.

The Boggling Gardener

            Though both of my parents come from fairly large families, I can’t recall a time when we lived within the same city (let alone the same state or province) as any of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins. At first, this might seem like a negative circumstance, but growing up it felt grander to me to see my relatives after a long family drive to a distant land. More than any other location, though, I yearned for the times when we would travel to Sault St. Marie, Ontario, to visit my grandparents. It didn’t matter that the drive from Montreal, Quebec to Sault St. Marie was roughly twelve hours long. When we eventually pulled up the dirt road to that quaint yellow house my grandfather built with his own two hands over half-a-century ago, the rush of nostalgia and the fresh country air made it all worthwhile.