Analyzing Art: A Wallpaper For Your Troubles

Ah, another verrry slow Tuesday. I don't have much to write about today, so instead I leave you with some awesome backgrounds that I have collected over the years. Enjoy.

Analyzing Cuisine: Hungry Yet?

So, today is going to be a very slow Monday. There's not all that much to talk about, so instead I leave you with some images of FOOD. Enjoy.

Analyzing Music: Going Genre-crazy

Have you noticed that a lot of bands these days struggle to tell you what genre their music is? There is almost an endless amount of lables these days. Take for example, Asking Alexandria. I discovered this band after having read about them touring with Alesana.



Asking Alexandria describe themselves as Metalcore, Post-hardcore, euro-trance, and deathcore. That sure is a lot of lables. The mixing of two different genres such as metal and trance might sound a bit odd at first. The song above definitely starts out on the metal vibe, but as it progresses you slowly start to hear the euro-trance side of the band. In my opinion, it blends together pretty flawlessly, and in the end it turns out to be a great song.


Lady Gaga approves of your taste in music.

Another group I've been listening to lately is Infected Mushroom. This band describes themselves as Electronic, Indistrial, and Psytrance. I think Psytrance is definitely the correct word to describe this genre. Listen for yourself:




So, what do you think about the many different genres of music? Which is your favorite? Which do you dislike?

Analyzing You: On Friendship and Betrayal

Have you ever had a friend that has completely fucked you over?

Have you ever had an enemy that became a friend?

I've had both of these happen to me. And I've been on both sides of it. Today, I started chatting with someone who I once considered to be a close friend, until he completely destroyed my trust in him. He had shared some very personal information about a friend of ours with a bunch of strangers, and it enraged me to the point where I basically cut all contact with him. What's even worse is that he wasn't the least bit remorseful for what he had done.



They say that time heals all wounds. I wouldn't say that, but it can certainly help patch them up some. I decided today to try and move past what he did, and attempt to continue a friendship with him. I'm hoping that I won't regret this decision.

In the past, I've found that just forgiving someone can make a world of difference. One of my closest friends right now is someone who I never thought I could be friends with. I considered him an enemy for a long time, for a conflict we had in the past. But, one day, he came to me and just apologized for it. And I forgave him for it. And today we're good friends.

I have also been on the opposite end of this as well. I had a friend that for many years was the only person I could talk to about.. well really anything personal. I still don't know why I did it, but I fucked him over, bad, by stealing some things from him. This broke our friendship apart for a very long time. I regret it to this day.

Later on, I realized that I really had no one else to talk to about things, and I fucked over the only person that would listen to me. I begged him to forgive me, and he decided to give me a second chance. I really think that I can say we are good friends again today.

I guess that's just life for you. Mistakes are made, you learn from them.

And you move on.

Analyzing Gaming: Yes, Another WoW Article

You asked for a Gaming article, and now you've got it. I'm sure there are many blogs out there talking about WoW right now, and even some that specialize in it. However, I did feel the need to talk about it here a little bit. So, stop QQing and start reading.



As any WoW player knows, 4.0 is just around the corner. In fact, It'll probably be here on the 5th. That's next week. I've played around with it on the PTR and I must say, a lot of it is totally unfinished still...



I play a paladin. A ret paladin, to be exact. And I'm way past the point of caring about what the hell happens to my class. Every single major content patch, without fail, has dramatically changed how Ret plays. In 4.0, they aren't just changing ret, but every Paladin spec by adding in this Holy Power system. Now, I do give Blizzard a bit of credit here, because I actually do really like how the system was implemented. It feels like the rogue combo point system, and that's okay.

But Holy Power is probably one of the only good additions to ret. Well, that and the new interrupt. Ret's rotation right now is ridiculous. You basically have less spells to click now than before. Your rotation is (pretty much) CS > TV, with some fillers here and there. They wanted to make the rotation more complex, and they failed horribly.

Another thing they did was completely strip Ret of nearly every single defensive ability that it had. Ret no longer has an instant-cast Flash of Light. Instead, we have Word of Glory, which consumes all of our Holy Power to heal you for a very minor amount. This would be fine, if 50% of our damage didn't come from proper utilizing of Holy Power. Not to mention the fact that we can no longer cleanse magic, and that bubble only lasts 8 seconds. Tell me, why is an 8 second immunity that we only deal 50% damage through still on a five minute cooldown? We can't even heal in it anymore without completely draining all of our mana.



Finally, I wanted to talk about the absolutely ridiculous queue system coming in Cataclysm. For those that don't know, this system will pretty much screw your DPS if you're anything but a mage. If you button mash, like most good players do, you will be locked in to whatever ability you click while the GCD is on cooldown. That means, no changing your spell choice after you click on it. Ever.

There is a huge thread on it here:
First Capped Thread
Second Thread

So, that's my WoW rant for the day. What about you? Are you excited for 4.0 and Cata? What sever do you play on? Do you have no idea what WoW is? Do tell!

Analyzing Art: Digital Goodness

I've received quite a few compliments on my banner (Thanks, by the way) and it got me thinking about art, and just what we can do with it in this digital age. I've been using Photo Shop for a few years now, but I still learn something new about it almost every time I use it.



There are many different photo editing programs that you can use to aid you in creating that perfect image. Paint shop is one of the more lesser-known programs. It's great for just starting out. But the main source for most images is Photo Shop. There is lots of photo shop software out there, for many different specific uses.



There are endless possibilities for what you can create. Abstract images, skylines, artistic, cultural. Or even maybe just some cat wallpapers. Personally, I prefer the minimalist approach. Simple, yet effective enough to get your point across.



Creating images is also a great way to gain some income, for those that are skilled enough. Go with some classic images, and you might find yourself with some fine art printing, or perhaps some vinyl banners. Banner advertising is always a great way to attract attention to people.



Perhaps I will share some of my work in the future!

So, what about you? Are you a newbie when it comes to Photo shopping? Have you mastered every detail of it? Or are you somewhere in the middle?

Analyzing Gaming: Convenience of Buying Online

We've come a long way from going to stores such as Blockbuster for game rentals. These days, you don't even need to leave your house to rent games. We've got services like Gamefly that let you rent video games online.



We've also got a ton of sites that let you buy games online. The full version of almost any game you want downloaded right to your PC. Now that's awesome. I've personally used Direct2Drive a lot. I believe it was one of the first websites to start selling digital downloads for games, and was one of the only places that let you buy PC games online for quite some time.



And of course, let's not forget about STEAM. That is one powerhouse of gaming that won't be slowing down any time soon. You can buy PC games online, directly from the STEAM browser. They've got an insane collection of some of the most popular games released. I've even heard of a certain game designer looking to expand into STEAM.



So, what do you think about buying games online? Do you think it takes away from the social aspect of buying a physical copy? What do you prefer?

Analyzing Music: That New Album Smell

Don't you just love it when you hear your favorite band is releasing a new album? I've been noticing a lot of new albums coming out lately, and I've been adding even more to my collection. My friend recently got me into Alesana, and it's quickly become one of my favorite bands.



I've also been listening to a lot of Tiesto since he released his most recent album, Kaleidoscope, and the remixed version. His club music is great.



Sadly, there are also some albums that tend to disappoint. I was pretty let down by the recent 10 Years album. A few of their songs sounded a little bit too .. Linkin Park-ish. Not that there is anything terribly wrong with that.

So, what are your thoughts on downloading albums? Are you against it? Are you for it? Are you somewhere in the middle? Personally, I would gladly buy any album if I were inspired enough by the artist and their songs.

Analyzing Cuisine: Gator!

I love living in Florida. Being near the beaches and the water. We have all different types of stores and restaurants. In Tampa, there is a wonderful restaurant that I used to go to all the time. It's called The Colonnade.



The Colonnade has been around for decades, and sits right next to the water on Bayshore.



They have some very interesting items on the menu, including my personal favorite: Fried Gator.



Gator may seem a bit out there, but it is certainly a very tasty meal. It does indeed taste like chicken a bit, but it has a unique twist to it. If you're ever around Tampa, I highly recommend stopping by this wonderful restaurant. If you're not, I highly recommend finding a place where you can try gator closer to your home. You won't be disappointed.

So, what is the most exotic meal you've ever had?

Analyzing My Blog

As I sit here now, I begin to ponder the future of this blog. What exactly am I to include in it? Surely my readers don't simply want more rants about the human mind. Perhaps it shall be a bit more subtle. Or perhaps the blog will simply be an analysis of myself. Or maybe I should just start creating more banners, eh?

Hm.

In the meantime, I leave you with this song.

Analyzing You

Each day I'm amazed more and more by the human mind. Every individual that I meet is unique, but at the same time there are many that are exactly the same. For some reason, I feel the need to analyze every aspect of a person's mind. How they think. How they react to situations. It is a very interesting journey.

Let's take myself, for example. I'm curious. I have a very open mind. And I can't help but wonder why people do the things that they do. So many things that happen every day are completely meaningless. They could be avoided so easily. But, the human mind craves conflict. It craves drama. Perhaps it is built in to most of us. Perhaps the mind sees conflict as a challenge that it needs to overcome.

Not all events that transpire are meaningless, however. There are many people in this world that feel they serve a purpose. They fight for a cause that they hold very close to their hearts. They believe that by standing up for what they believe in, that things will change. That they will make a difference in this world. Sadly, in a lot of cases, this tends to be nothing more than filler in what would otherwise be a meaningless, void life.

However, there are those that actually do accomplish what they set out to do. They take action instead of talking. They literally fight for what they believe in. Some even die for it. Some care so much about a cause that they are willing to sacrifice their only chance at life. Their only chance to experience what it is like to live. Life in itself is a gift. It is always better to feel pain and misery than to feel absolutely nothing at all.