O
tezliana posted a meme thing, where someone gives you a letter and you post 10 things that you like that start with that letter. She then asked for someone to start her off, so I gave her U.
I, in return, have O.
So here are 10 things that I like that begin with O.
(I had some beers earlier, so after thinking of several and going "no, that's ... cheating" I went ahead and did 20 while referring to some lists since I was gonna include things like "Overkill - I hate" which would be cheating so I didn't.)
1. Opeth.
Found an interesting site by accident yesterday looking for the source code to slurm - musicplasma.com (screenshots dir had a shot of the website.) Well, on musicplasma, you can search for things related to so and so - and so I was intrigued. And so after grappling with the fact that on my system, you can't see what you type into the search box - though it still works (but no backspace) - well, I started looking at the dead milkmen (of course)
And then I went "hmm, let's see what happens when we start with Voivod..." and then I was exploring a short distance from Voivod and there was Opeth.
Now, Opeth is a GOOD metal band. But they're not just metal, as musicplasma states. They're the bridge they list from Metal (Arch Enemy) to Porcupine Tree and Steve Hackett and Dream Theatre. And from there, it's not THAT far to get to Johnny Cash.
Opeth rules. You should listen to them sometime (with an open mind, if you don't care for metal.)
2. Olives.
Green or black. And not just because they're the food part of the martini. I like them either with or without a martini.
When we would visit my grandfather and grandmother (on my mom's side) they always had black olives. That ruled. They were tasty and we never had them at home.
3. Origami.
Back when I was 3 or 4, I was already exhibiting behaviors of "Not gonna do what you tell me to." And from that my parents realized that if they gave me a book, I wasn't gonna read it. So they (either accidentally or intentionally) left an Origami book on the table one day.
Well, for the next 3-5 years, I was repeatedly sent origami paper by relatives for Christmas and my birthday. I was pretty much always doing origami.
To this day, I still really enjoy looking at origami, and I do remember how to do the BASIC shapes. Frogs, however, and swans, um, I have to review.
The complex origami mathematical shapes that you sometimes see on the web - those are freaking incredible as well.
I think some of my love for geometry, in particular, spatial stuff - like, well, demos - some of that comes from Origami.
4. Office Space.
I remember the day at AT&T wireless when a meeting was going particularly poorly because our manager was NOT paying attention to what we were telling her, and so at an opportune moment (ooh! there's #21.) saying how we needed to be sure we got the TPS reports in.
Completely over her head.
Also, Getto Boyz Damn it Feels Good to Be a Gangster.
5. Originality.
Because it rules.
6. Ozyantius.
Not sure if I spelled this right. It's one of the episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus, and I saw it ONCE, on latenight PBS in the states, when they used to show it at 23:30 on Fridays. I'd stay up to try to watch, and sometimes the channel wouldn't come in.
This was after I'd bought my own tv to use as a monitor for my Timex Sinclair 1000. It was black & white, an Emerson, and I still have the TV in storage in C attle.
Anyway, it's just off the wall stuff (that would be cheating to list that one) and has a lot to do with Ozymandius, sort of, not really. I just remember really liking that episode, even though it's not utterly wallbanging brilliant, I just really like it and would like to see it again. Which I will, sometime when I have a half moment to collect the episodes on DVD and watch them.
7. Ocean, The.
I learned to walk on the beach outside Yachats, Oregon. The beach there is the best beach in the world. The Oregon coast is the best beach in the world.
The Ocean is just one of the greatest things we have to look at.
The Pixies have a song, Wave of Mutiliation. It says a lot about the sea, how it's both deadly and beautiful. It's one of my favorite songs. Another great tune, an xm by Darkhalo, is Pacific Shore...
When I last visited my parents and we went to the Ocean in Oregon (of which I have pictures, which help to make things easier to deal with since the US is under Siege) we were discussing the coast, and living there, and how my parents didn't want to live near the coast as the trip TO the coast was something special. Which I agree with, but I also pointed out that I'd definately buy a place on the ocean and live the end of my life there, and probably will. And my mother said that one thing that concerned them was the distance to hospitals and if one would be injured, and I pointed out that if I broke my leg on the beach, and no one was able to come help, then I'd just die there, happy.
And she did state that if she'd wanted to raise a son who was ordinary, she'd have had to give that up a long time ago.
Ordinary is not on this list.
8. Oldsk0Ol.
I also like newschool. These are 'phases' of the demoscene.
I've been around long enough - I guess when it comes down to it, I might have been the oldest person at Breakpoint 2003 at times, and 2004.. basically when Ghandy doesn't show up, it's me... so I kinda am oldskool by definition. But oldsk0Ol is the spelling I use, to describe my particular take on it. Which is basically that I like what was done when it was done, and if it's done today in a way that's fun. If it's done because it's "better" then that's just as crap as any of the other "I'm better than you" attitudes that can't be backed up by just plain being GOOD, and not flaunting it.
Oldsk0Ol is, like the demoscene, a blood type. It's sort of the A, AB, B, or O. I'm pretty sure it's AB, but it might also be Type O Negative.
(Which I can't list as it's cheating.)
9. OpenGL.
OpenGL is a programming layer that lets you draw 3d objects (and 2d.) With many graphics cards today, it allows very fast drawing - which back in the day, we had to do by hand, and it wasn't that fast.
There are other libraries, but I like OpenGL, mainly because it's more portable. Also, I can use it on my machines, whereas DirectX, the main competitor (in the demoscene there are 3 'competitors' in this area: OpenGL, DirectX, and software rendering. Software Rendering is the best one, if done well, because it can remove any restrictions that the hardware manufacturer tried to impose - and it's hardcore - but it's also not something that can be done QUICKLY. So for quick, well done stuff - there's OpenGL and DirectX. And I don't use Windows anymore, so I'm pretty much left with OpenGL.)
Overall, there's no real difference between them all, but OpenGL itself is a really cool thing, and it's been in development for 20+ years... I remember seeing early OpenGL renderings in '79 in "Science 80" magazine. I would have been 11.
10. Options.
Not having options sucks.
Also, this is related to potential, and I love potential.
But mostly options rule.
11. Orb, The.
Perhaps cheating a bit, but I'm sorry, the Orbs Adventures in the Ultraworld is far too good a 2 disk set to not mention. If this was the letter "G" I'd list it, because it's that GOOD. I'd list if it were Z as well, because it's that GOOD.
Toxygene.
Little Fluffy Clouds is a fantastic tune.
12. One.
Metallica's 2nd to last great tune. (The last great tune Metallica has done, in my opinion, is Hero of the Day.)
Rachel Barton did a fantastic rendition of this Metallica track on her "Storming the Citadel" album, which was by a 3 string quartet. It holds up.
Land mine
has taken my sight
taken my hearing
taken my arms
taken my legs
left me with life in hell
While there were earlier discussions surrounding the brilliance of some Metallica Lyrics (the "look to the sky just before you die, it's the last time you will" seemed to be thought of as particularly brilliant among Kenmore students (Akron, Ohio. Ripper Owens also is a graduate. If you don't know who he is don't worry about it, just go listen to Iced Earth.) this song does it's job well. It invokes emotion and questions in a lot of us who listened to it, and, well, it's possibly the best song Metallica did.
(Ride the Lightning is a better ALBUM, however.)
13. Orgasmatron.
I really can't mention One without mentioning Orgasmatron, Motorhead's tale of Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush. In reverse order.
14. Orinocco Flow.
And while we're on tunes, this one rules. I also have a mix of it and Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up. It holds true during it.
Enya rules. She'd do killer fronting Sepultura.
15. Ottifanten.
Saw this on the front of the Albedo crack, at an APUG meeting. I still have the disk that it was brought to that meeting on. This is just a FUN demo. And the Ottifanten version, not the bit on front of Albedo, at one time held the longest scrolltext record.
(Which is something oldsk0Olers would appreciate, and possibly not that many others. Though they still have a place. You can't watch the news these days without scrollers.)
16. Overload.
Sticking to the Demo/Music theme - This is the music to the 2nd part of Razor 1911's 'Voyage' demo - placed 3rd at The Party 1992.
Absolutely fantastic track. Definately in my top 25 Amiga mod tunes, if not in the top 50 (I have a lot, and only one is #1 and the rest are all very probably #2.)
17. Oxygene.
Jarre. All of Jarre's stuff, the Oxygene stuff, the Rendesvous stuff, the Zoolook stuff, the Chronologie stuff - it's just ... it's just ethereal, or maybe it's magical, or maybe it just is some of the best stuff to be pulled magically out of synthesizers... who knows what it is, I don't really - it's just some of the best synth music of all time.
18. Opporotunity.
Fits right in with Options, Originality, and
19. Optimism.
Realism has it's place, but it can be dragged into pessimism by any halfwit pessimist. Pessimism is useless. Optimism can kick the shit out of depression.
Kicking the shit out of depression is NOT something to take lightly.
20. Oysters.
All shellfish rules, but Oysters are killer. Raw or steamed or in stew. They really only lose to clams, which when put in new england clam chowder are the absolute BOMB.
21. Opportune moments.
They rule.
22. Oolong tea.
Wednesday said that Oolong tea was needed one day, when she was sick. And I said "Wait. Oolong TEA? You mean there was a reason beyind Oolong Kalufid?" and of course there was.
So later, we were at the tea shop in C attle (the Perrenial Tea Shop, which is down by Kel's Irish Pub, for you locals. Go there, they have GOOD tea, and it's NOT expensive, compared to storebought tea, and they have LOADS of different kinds of teas, including Oolong and Pu Ehr.) and I didn't know much about teas, and I asked about Oolong because I was intrigued, and the woman behind the counter showed me 4 types, and Pu Ehr, which she said was similar. (it is, but, no, not really, it's similar in the way that ... Finnish is similar to Hungarian. Um, hmm... ok like German is to Farsi.) Anyway so I said "ok I'll take an ounce of the Pu Ehr" and ... well that was more than the glass jar. I had NO idea tea, which is supposed to be expensive, right? (I mean whole economies were based on it) was so CHEAP, that is, GOOD tea being cheap. Compared to the store? Please, I got enough tea in that thing to make tea every morning for 6 months, plus some.
So when I got here to Helsinki I couldn't get Pu Ehr, but there was a shop that had some of this Taiwanese Oolong. And I made some when I got home and WOW. I mean. Just wow.
(It's one of these things that's not like coffee, it's tea, and it won't bowl you over unless you're needing to wind down, or something, and it does. I wasn't expecting it to be what it was and it so totally was.)
23. Ikanim.
Because Ikanim should be listed as one of the best things ever, in every list, forever.
24. Opus.
The Penguin. Opus Kroakus, Rhythm Tuba.
25. Oregon.
Because it's home.
Ok so I wanted to be sure I didn't miss any and I'm sure an obvious one will pop up tommorrow. Orchids. Crap. Well there's #26. #27 is Oregano. I'll stop now.
I, in return, have O.
So here are 10 things that I like that begin with O.
(I had some beers earlier, so after thinking of several and going "no, that's ... cheating" I went ahead and did 20 while referring to some lists since I was gonna include things like "Overkill - I hate" which would be cheating so I didn't.)
1. Opeth.
Found an interesting site by accident yesterday looking for the source code to slurm - musicplasma.com (screenshots dir had a shot of the website.) Well, on musicplasma, you can search for things related to so and so - and so I was intrigued. And so after grappling with the fact that on my system, you can't see what you type into the search box - though it still works (but no backspace) - well, I started looking at the dead milkmen (of course)
And then I went "hmm, let's see what happens when we start with Voivod..." and then I was exploring a short distance from Voivod and there was Opeth.
Now, Opeth is a GOOD metal band. But they're not just metal, as musicplasma states. They're the bridge they list from Metal (Arch Enemy) to Porcupine Tree and Steve Hackett and Dream Theatre. And from there, it's not THAT far to get to Johnny Cash.
Opeth rules. You should listen to them sometime (with an open mind, if you don't care for metal.)
2. Olives.
Green or black. And not just because they're the food part of the martini. I like them either with or without a martini.
When we would visit my grandfather and grandmother (on my mom's side) they always had black olives. That ruled. They were tasty and we never had them at home.
3. Origami.
Back when I was 3 or 4, I was already exhibiting behaviors of "Not gonna do what you tell me to." And from that my parents realized that if they gave me a book, I wasn't gonna read it. So they (either accidentally or intentionally) left an Origami book on the table one day.
Well, for the next 3-5 years, I was repeatedly sent origami paper by relatives for Christmas and my birthday. I was pretty much always doing origami.
To this day, I still really enjoy looking at origami, and I do remember how to do the BASIC shapes. Frogs, however, and swans, um, I have to review.
The complex origami mathematical shapes that you sometimes see on the web - those are freaking incredible as well.
I think some of my love for geometry, in particular, spatial stuff - like, well, demos - some of that comes from Origami.
4. Office Space.
I remember the day at AT&T wireless when a meeting was going particularly poorly because our manager was NOT paying attention to what we were telling her, and so at an opportune moment (ooh! there's #21.) saying how we needed to be sure we got the TPS reports in.
Completely over her head.
Also, Getto Boyz Damn it Feels Good to Be a Gangster.
5. Originality.
Because it rules.
6. Ozyantius.
Not sure if I spelled this right. It's one of the episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus, and I saw it ONCE, on latenight PBS in the states, when they used to show it at 23:30 on Fridays. I'd stay up to try to watch, and sometimes the channel wouldn't come in.
This was after I'd bought my own tv to use as a monitor for my Timex Sinclair 1000. It was black & white, an Emerson, and I still have the TV in storage in C attle.
Anyway, it's just off the wall stuff (that would be cheating to list that one) and has a lot to do with Ozymandius, sort of, not really. I just remember really liking that episode, even though it's not utterly wallbanging brilliant, I just really like it and would like to see it again. Which I will, sometime when I have a half moment to collect the episodes on DVD and watch them.
7. Ocean, The.
I learned to walk on the beach outside Yachats, Oregon. The beach there is the best beach in the world. The Oregon coast is the best beach in the world.
The Ocean is just one of the greatest things we have to look at.
The Pixies have a song, Wave of Mutiliation. It says a lot about the sea, how it's both deadly and beautiful. It's one of my favorite songs. Another great tune, an xm by Darkhalo, is Pacific Shore...
When I last visited my parents and we went to the Ocean in Oregon (of which I have pictures, which help to make things easier to deal with since the US is under Siege) we were discussing the coast, and living there, and how my parents didn't want to live near the coast as the trip TO the coast was something special. Which I agree with, but I also pointed out that I'd definately buy a place on the ocean and live the end of my life there, and probably will. And my mother said that one thing that concerned them was the distance to hospitals and if one would be injured, and I pointed out that if I broke my leg on the beach, and no one was able to come help, then I'd just die there, happy.
And she did state that if she'd wanted to raise a son who was ordinary, she'd have had to give that up a long time ago.
Ordinary is not on this list.
8. Oldsk0Ol.
I also like newschool. These are 'phases' of the demoscene.
I've been around long enough - I guess when it comes down to it, I might have been the oldest person at Breakpoint 2003 at times, and 2004.. basically when Ghandy doesn't show up, it's me... so I kinda am oldskool by definition. But oldsk0Ol is the spelling I use, to describe my particular take on it. Which is basically that I like what was done when it was done, and if it's done today in a way that's fun. If it's done because it's "better" then that's just as crap as any of the other "I'm better than you" attitudes that can't be backed up by just plain being GOOD, and not flaunting it.
Oldsk0Ol is, like the demoscene, a blood type. It's sort of the A, AB, B, or O. I'm pretty sure it's AB, but it might also be Type O Negative.
(Which I can't list as it's cheating.)
9. OpenGL.
OpenGL is a programming layer that lets you draw 3d objects (and 2d.) With many graphics cards today, it allows very fast drawing - which back in the day, we had to do by hand, and it wasn't that fast.
There are other libraries, but I like OpenGL, mainly because it's more portable. Also, I can use it on my machines, whereas DirectX, the main competitor (in the demoscene there are 3 'competitors' in this area: OpenGL, DirectX, and software rendering. Software Rendering is the best one, if done well, because it can remove any restrictions that the hardware manufacturer tried to impose - and it's hardcore - but it's also not something that can be done QUICKLY. So for quick, well done stuff - there's OpenGL and DirectX. And I don't use Windows anymore, so I'm pretty much left with OpenGL.)
Overall, there's no real difference between them all, but OpenGL itself is a really cool thing, and it's been in development for 20+ years... I remember seeing early OpenGL renderings in '79 in "Science 80" magazine. I would have been 11.
10. Options.
Not having options sucks.
Also, this is related to potential, and I love potential.
But mostly options rule.
11. Orb, The.
Perhaps cheating a bit, but I'm sorry, the Orbs Adventures in the Ultraworld is far too good a 2 disk set to not mention. If this was the letter "G" I'd list it, because it's that GOOD. I'd list if it were Z as well, because it's that GOOD.
Toxygene.
Little Fluffy Clouds is a fantastic tune.
12. One.
Metallica's 2nd to last great tune. (The last great tune Metallica has done, in my opinion, is Hero of the Day.)
Rachel Barton did a fantastic rendition of this Metallica track on her "Storming the Citadel" album, which was by a 3 string quartet. It holds up.
Land mine
has taken my sight
taken my hearing
taken my arms
taken my legs
left me with life in hell
While there were earlier discussions surrounding the brilliance of some Metallica Lyrics (the "look to the sky just before you die, it's the last time you will" seemed to be thought of as particularly brilliant among Kenmore students (Akron, Ohio. Ripper Owens also is a graduate. If you don't know who he is don't worry about it, just go listen to Iced Earth.) this song does it's job well. It invokes emotion and questions in a lot of us who listened to it, and, well, it's possibly the best song Metallica did.
(Ride the Lightning is a better ALBUM, however.)
13. Orgasmatron.
I really can't mention One without mentioning Orgasmatron, Motorhead's tale of Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush. In reverse order.
14. Orinocco Flow.
And while we're on tunes, this one rules. I also have a mix of it and Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up. It holds true during it.
Enya rules. She'd do killer fronting Sepultura.
15. Ottifanten.
Saw this on the front of the Albedo crack, at an APUG meeting. I still have the disk that it was brought to that meeting on. This is just a FUN demo. And the Ottifanten version, not the bit on front of Albedo, at one time held the longest scrolltext record.
(Which is something oldsk0Olers would appreciate, and possibly not that many others. Though they still have a place. You can't watch the news these days without scrollers.)
16. Overload.
Sticking to the Demo/Music theme - This is the music to the 2nd part of Razor 1911's 'Voyage' demo - placed 3rd at The Party 1992.
Absolutely fantastic track. Definately in my top 25 Amiga mod tunes, if not in the top 50 (I have a lot, and only one is #1 and the rest are all very probably #2.)
17. Oxygene.
Jarre. All of Jarre's stuff, the Oxygene stuff, the Rendesvous stuff, the Zoolook stuff, the Chronologie stuff - it's just ... it's just ethereal, or maybe it's magical, or maybe it just is some of the best stuff to be pulled magically out of synthesizers... who knows what it is, I don't really - it's just some of the best synth music of all time.
18. Opporotunity.
Fits right in with Options, Originality, and
19. Optimism.
Realism has it's place, but it can be dragged into pessimism by any halfwit pessimist. Pessimism is useless. Optimism can kick the shit out of depression.
Kicking the shit out of depression is NOT something to take lightly.
20. Oysters.
All shellfish rules, but Oysters are killer. Raw or steamed or in stew. They really only lose to clams, which when put in new england clam chowder are the absolute BOMB.
21. Opportune moments.
They rule.
22. Oolong tea.
Wednesday said that Oolong tea was needed one day, when she was sick. And I said "Wait. Oolong TEA? You mean there was a reason beyind Oolong Kalufid?" and of course there was.
So later, we were at the tea shop in C attle (the Perrenial Tea Shop, which is down by Kel's Irish Pub, for you locals. Go there, they have GOOD tea, and it's NOT expensive, compared to storebought tea, and they have LOADS of different kinds of teas, including Oolong and Pu Ehr.) and I didn't know much about teas, and I asked about Oolong because I was intrigued, and the woman behind the counter showed me 4 types, and Pu Ehr, which she said was similar. (it is, but, no, not really, it's similar in the way that ... Finnish is similar to Hungarian. Um, hmm... ok like German is to Farsi.) Anyway so I said "ok I'll take an ounce of the Pu Ehr" and ... well that was more than the glass jar. I had NO idea tea, which is supposed to be expensive, right? (I mean whole economies were based on it) was so CHEAP, that is, GOOD tea being cheap. Compared to the store? Please, I got enough tea in that thing to make tea every morning for 6 months, plus some.
So when I got here to Helsinki I couldn't get Pu Ehr, but there was a shop that had some of this Taiwanese Oolong. And I made some when I got home and WOW. I mean. Just wow.
(It's one of these things that's not like coffee, it's tea, and it won't bowl you over unless you're needing to wind down, or something, and it does. I wasn't expecting it to be what it was and it so totally was.)
23. Ikanim.
Because Ikanim should be listed as one of the best things ever, in every list, forever.
24. Opus.
The Penguin. Opus Kroakus, Rhythm Tuba.
25. Oregon.
Because it's home.
Ok so I wanted to be sure I didn't miss any and I'm sure an obvious one will pop up tommorrow. Orchids. Crap. Well there's #26. #27 is Oregano. I'll stop now.