Romantic stuff through the spectrum.
I've lately had surprisingly many friend requests over Live Messenger (mainly through my hotmail account). However, most of them have been spambots who seem to have found another way to irk me. I wonder how resourceful they'll get in the future?
So, in case any of you (lurkers or acquaintances who happen to read this) have tried to befriend me recently but have been blocked, it's because I've mistaken you for one of the dozens of annoying spambots. If you still wish to befriend me, however, please post in my LJ, PM me or send me an e-mail (e.g. to my Hotmail account) so that I know that the strange nick trying to befriend me isn't a spambot and I can befriend you back.
Thanks in advance. If we lived in a perfect, spam-free world, I wouldn't even have to write this, but oh well.
Also, an urgent note to dear spammers and their spambots: you need a better strategy, yo! Spamming about girls in undies is so 1990. If you want to really catch my attention, you need to keep up with the times and start posting about cute, topless girls. That's where it's at. ;D
A few members of our choir went to sing at our friends' wedding (well, more like after the wedding, but you get the idea). What made this event special was that the bride and the groom had both been members of our choir, so in essence they were the first "choir pair" to get married. ^_^
We began with having a toast with the happy couple, after which we sang the first of our three songs, "Rakkauslaulu (Love Song)". Unfortunately I couldn't find the Youtube video of the song, so I'll just have to post the original lyrics and my translation instead. The lyrics are a bit cheesy, but we really liked them, and the melody accompanying them is very beautiful:
Rakkauslaulu (kansanmusikaalista Henrik) - Love Song (from the folk musical Henrik)
Pysty en lupaamaan sulle lailla ruhtinaan
I can't be a prince and promise you
kauniita vaatteita enkä koruja kaulaan,
Beautiful clothes or jewels to wear on your neck
mutta vannon sen, ett' vuoksi rakkautes
But I swear that for your love
uhmaan vaikka kuolemaa.
I'll defy even death
Näen sieluni silmillä kauniin alttarin
I can see in my mind's eye a beautiful altar
ja sinut siellä morsiamenain tietenkin.
And you, of course, as my bride
Kun sormuksen sormeesi pujotan,
When I slip the ring on your finger
koko maailma vaikenee.
The whole world quiets down
Sinun rakkauttas vaihtaisi en mä mihinkään,
I wouldn't change your love for anything
askeleita en ottaisi yksin pimeään.
I wouldn't take any steps alone into the darkness
Sinun kanssasi elämä niin kaunista on,
Life with you is so beautiful
ja se saa minut itkemään.
And it makes me cry.
Ja jos meidän tiemme viel kerran erkanee,
And if our paths ever separate
tiedä että sydämeeni sulle paikan teen,
Know that I'll create a place for you in my heart
sen sinulle säilytän yksin vain,
I'll save it only for you
vuokses vuodatan kyyneleet.
I'll shed tears for you.
The next song we sang was the utterly beautiful "Så skimrande var aldgrig havet (The sea was never so gleamy)" which had also been performed at Princess Victoria's wedding in Sweden recently. The audience, including the couple, were about to cry by the time we reached the end of this song. Guess their reaction when we began our third song which turned out to be...
...a choral version of "Love and Marriage". Cue in loud laughter. I thought it was a funny way to end our three-song performance, and the couple certainly liked it.
Usually we've either been singing in funerals or to a general audience so it was nice to sing in something personal and joyous like a friend's wedding. A wonderful experience which I hope I'll get to experience again someday. =)
Because this post has so far been about romantic stuff, I guess I'll use the opportunity to post links to a few nice vids from Eureka Seven and Heroic Age series. xD
Some beautiful, romantic scenes from Eureka Seven. Although all of these are nice (the English dub isn't that bad either), my favourite is the second one in this video (with Dominick and Anemone) because it's about the frickin' villains of the series. It's rare to actually have sympathetic villains who actually fall in love nowadays, and the series decide to give them the best scene. And of course having your first kiss while falling to your doom is epic beyond words. And who wouldn't feel sad about Norbu and Sakuya?
Some romantic moments for Renton & Eureka. The list from 5 to 2 is similar to what I would've picked, although I would've left out number 1 moment because it doesn't quite reach the emotion of nr. 2. The "Your wings are beautiful" clip is such a classic, and I was really happy that the poster also included the scene with shorthair!Eureka confessing her feelings for Renton from season 1 finale. Now that I think back, the series had many emotional and epic moments; it requires lots of patience but the story keeps getting better and better after the initial comedic episodes (by the time of episode 26 the series is in full swing).
One of the best scenes from Heroic Age. Not many people seem to know this series. It's above average and has some nice ideas but is nowhere near classic status. However, I always liked the central romance between Age and Deianeira, and this scene halfway through the series really steals the show. Don't get freaked out by the astral projection stuff or Age's transformation (or the lack of subs...I tried searching for a subbed version because the dialogue is nice, but oh well). It's the emotion, the scene itself and the beautiful song that count. As if that isn't enough, it also provides the series with a great cliffhanger at the end of the clip (the heroes find the place they've been looking for during the 15 episodes). Oh, and this scene is also played during the credits: I've always had a soft spot for such scenes. What also makes this scene nice is that it comes after a particularly epic battle and Deianeira's seiyuu sings the Azurite song in the background. Double win, much?
I heard that Nic Raine had conducted the frickin' The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the Crouch End Festival chorus to rerecord Dimitri Tiomkin's classic score The Alamo (1960 version). And they weren't just going to tackle the 40-minute album release but actually record the complete score (which includes cues which were cut from the film itself!). Cue in a loud WHEE from yours truly.
I of course downloaded the score for evaluation purposes. After having listened to it a few times, it's definitely a release worth buying. I just need to save up money as I want to support Mr. Raine as well as his team for doing something so great. They have released and are releasing many rerecordings of classic scores (e.g. Miklós Rózsa's El Cid and Ernest Gold's Exodus), and what better ensemble to use than the epic combination of professionals like TCOPPO and CEFC? Kudos to James Fitzpatrick and Nic Raine for making this release possible.
Anyways, what instantly warms me up is the beautiful orchestration. Although the guys had to work with some unfinished transcripts and such, they've done a good job keeping things faithful to Tiomkin's style. The depth and mixing of the ensemble is great, and I particularly liked the choir and the percussion which really get to shine on this release. "Marching Field Drums" cue in particular has some wicked percussion work. It's also great to hear the lengthy final battle cue in its entirety (almost 10 minutes of epicness unleashed): it has lots of nice thematic developments. Tiomkin had eight themes which he played around in this score, and each one is memorable and gets a spotlight during the ~3 hours of score (spread between 3 CDs).
As for the choir, "The Ballad of the Alamo" (its entr'acte and finale versions) plus "The Green Leaves of Summer" have never sounded better. I wouldn't have minded to hear the choir sing a bit more enthusiastically but overall they do a fine job bringing the massive choral cues to life, and at least they pronounce English properly unlike some Russian choirs which have featured in a few other rerecordings (I'm looking at you, The Sea Hawk and Red River). It's awesome to hear the bittersweet "The Green Leaves of Summer" in full, digital sound with a bigass choir and wonderful mixing.
The choral finale track (they have two versions of it: the one recorded for the film and the one later released on album!) in particular is chilling in its bittersweet romance and resignation to fate while it's also defiant and proud. Here are the lyrics to the finale:
Finale: The Ballad of the Alamo
Let the old men tell the story, let the legend grow and grow
Of the thirteen days of glory at the siege of Alamo
Lift the tattered banners proudly while the eyes of Texas shine
Let the fort that was a mission be an everlasting shrine
Once they fought to give us freedom, and it's all we need to know
Of the thirteen days of glory at the siege of Alamo
Now the bugles are silent and there's rust on each sword
And this small band of soldiers lie asleep in the arms of the Lord
Lie asleep in the arms of the Lord!
Looks like the Raine/Fitzpatrick team is going to tackle Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia next. It's going to be interesting to see how different their rerecording will be compared to the earlier rerecording. I guess that in any case their version is going to be the complete score, though.
That's it for the time being. I'll do my best to survive the heat wave. Today we had close to 27 degrees Celsius which is too hot for my taste.
Yours,
Mikko
So, in case any of you (lurkers or acquaintances who happen to read this) have tried to befriend me recently but have been blocked, it's because I've mistaken you for one of the dozens of annoying spambots. If you still wish to befriend me, however, please post in my LJ, PM me or send me an e-mail (e.g. to my Hotmail account) so that I know that the strange nick trying to befriend me isn't a spambot and I can befriend you back.
Thanks in advance. If we lived in a perfect, spam-free world, I wouldn't even have to write this, but oh well.
Also, an urgent note to dear spammers and their spambots: you need a better strategy, yo! Spamming about girls in undies is so 1990. If you want to really catch my attention, you need to keep up with the times and start posting about cute, topless girls. That's where it's at. ;D
A few members of our choir went to sing at our friends' wedding (well, more like after the wedding, but you get the idea). What made this event special was that the bride and the groom had both been members of our choir, so in essence they were the first "choir pair" to get married. ^_^
We began with having a toast with the happy couple, after which we sang the first of our three songs, "Rakkauslaulu (Love Song)". Unfortunately I couldn't find the Youtube video of the song, so I'll just have to post the original lyrics and my translation instead. The lyrics are a bit cheesy, but we really liked them, and the melody accompanying them is very beautiful:
Rakkauslaulu (kansanmusikaalista Henrik) - Love Song (from the folk musical Henrik)
Pysty en lupaamaan sulle lailla ruhtinaan
I can't be a prince and promise you
kauniita vaatteita enkä koruja kaulaan,
Beautiful clothes or jewels to wear on your neck
mutta vannon sen, ett' vuoksi rakkautes
But I swear that for your love
uhmaan vaikka kuolemaa.
I'll defy even death
Näen sieluni silmillä kauniin alttarin
I can see in my mind's eye a beautiful altar
ja sinut siellä morsiamenain tietenkin.
And you, of course, as my bride
Kun sormuksen sormeesi pujotan,
When I slip the ring on your finger
koko maailma vaikenee.
The whole world quiets down
Sinun rakkauttas vaihtaisi en mä mihinkään,
I wouldn't change your love for anything
askeleita en ottaisi yksin pimeään.
I wouldn't take any steps alone into the darkness
Sinun kanssasi elämä niin kaunista on,
Life with you is so beautiful
ja se saa minut itkemään.
And it makes me cry.
Ja jos meidän tiemme viel kerran erkanee,
And if our paths ever separate
tiedä että sydämeeni sulle paikan teen,
Know that I'll create a place for you in my heart
sen sinulle säilytän yksin vain,
I'll save it only for you
vuokses vuodatan kyyneleet.
I'll shed tears for you.
The next song we sang was the utterly beautiful "Så skimrande var aldgrig havet (The sea was never so gleamy)" which had also been performed at Princess Victoria's wedding in Sweden recently. The audience, including the couple, were about to cry by the time we reached the end of this song. Guess their reaction when we began our third song which turned out to be...
...a choral version of "Love and Marriage". Cue in loud laughter. I thought it was a funny way to end our three-song performance, and the couple certainly liked it.
Usually we've either been singing in funerals or to a general audience so it was nice to sing in something personal and joyous like a friend's wedding. A wonderful experience which I hope I'll get to experience again someday. =)
Because this post has so far been about romantic stuff, I guess I'll use the opportunity to post links to a few nice vids from Eureka Seven and Heroic Age series. xD
Some beautiful, romantic scenes from Eureka Seven. Although all of these are nice (the English dub isn't that bad either), my favourite is the second one in this video (with Dominick and Anemone) because it's about the frickin' villains of the series. It's rare to actually have sympathetic villains who actually fall in love nowadays, and the series decide to give them the best scene. And of course having your first kiss while falling to your doom is epic beyond words. And who wouldn't feel sad about Norbu and Sakuya?
Some romantic moments for Renton & Eureka. The list from 5 to 2 is similar to what I would've picked, although I would've left out number 1 moment because it doesn't quite reach the emotion of nr. 2. The "Your wings are beautiful" clip is such a classic, and I was really happy that the poster also included the scene with shorthair!Eureka confessing her feelings for Renton from season 1 finale. Now that I think back, the series had many emotional and epic moments; it requires lots of patience but the story keeps getting better and better after the initial comedic episodes (by the time of episode 26 the series is in full swing).
One of the best scenes from Heroic Age. Not many people seem to know this series. It's above average and has some nice ideas but is nowhere near classic status. However, I always liked the central romance between Age and Deianeira, and this scene halfway through the series really steals the show. Don't get freaked out by the astral projection stuff or Age's transformation (or the lack of subs...I tried searching for a subbed version because the dialogue is nice, but oh well). It's the emotion, the scene itself and the beautiful song that count. As if that isn't enough, it also provides the series with a great cliffhanger at the end of the clip (the heroes find the place they've been looking for during the 15 episodes). Oh, and this scene is also played during the credits: I've always had a soft spot for such scenes. What also makes this scene nice is that it comes after a particularly epic battle and Deianeira's seiyuu sings the Azurite song in the background. Double win, much?
I heard that Nic Raine had conducted the frickin' The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the Crouch End Festival chorus to rerecord Dimitri Tiomkin's classic score The Alamo (1960 version). And they weren't just going to tackle the 40-minute album release but actually record the complete score (which includes cues which were cut from the film itself!). Cue in a loud WHEE from yours truly.
I of course downloaded the score for evaluation purposes. After having listened to it a few times, it's definitely a release worth buying. I just need to save up money as I want to support Mr. Raine as well as his team for doing something so great. They have released and are releasing many rerecordings of classic scores (e.g. Miklós Rózsa's El Cid and Ernest Gold's Exodus), and what better ensemble to use than the epic combination of professionals like TCOPPO and CEFC? Kudos to James Fitzpatrick and Nic Raine for making this release possible.
Anyways, what instantly warms me up is the beautiful orchestration. Although the guys had to work with some unfinished transcripts and such, they've done a good job keeping things faithful to Tiomkin's style. The depth and mixing of the ensemble is great, and I particularly liked the choir and the percussion which really get to shine on this release. "Marching Field Drums" cue in particular has some wicked percussion work. It's also great to hear the lengthy final battle cue in its entirety (almost 10 minutes of epicness unleashed): it has lots of nice thematic developments. Tiomkin had eight themes which he played around in this score, and each one is memorable and gets a spotlight during the ~3 hours of score (spread between 3 CDs).
As for the choir, "The Ballad of the Alamo" (its entr'acte and finale versions) plus "The Green Leaves of Summer" have never sounded better. I wouldn't have minded to hear the choir sing a bit more enthusiastically but overall they do a fine job bringing the massive choral cues to life, and at least they pronounce English properly unlike some Russian choirs which have featured in a few other rerecordings (I'm looking at you, The Sea Hawk and Red River). It's awesome to hear the bittersweet "The Green Leaves of Summer" in full, digital sound with a bigass choir and wonderful mixing.
The choral finale track (they have two versions of it: the one recorded for the film and the one later released on album!) in particular is chilling in its bittersweet romance and resignation to fate while it's also defiant and proud. Here are the lyrics to the finale:
Finale: The Ballad of the Alamo
Let the old men tell the story, let the legend grow and grow
Of the thirteen days of glory at the siege of Alamo
Lift the tattered banners proudly while the eyes of Texas shine
Let the fort that was a mission be an everlasting shrine
Once they fought to give us freedom, and it's all we need to know
Of the thirteen days of glory at the siege of Alamo
Now the bugles are silent and there's rust on each sword
And this small band of soldiers lie asleep in the arms of the Lord
Lie asleep in the arms of the Lord!
Looks like the Raine/Fitzpatrick team is going to tackle Maurice Jarre's Lawrence of Arabia next. It's going to be interesting to see how different their rerecording will be compared to the earlier rerecording. I guess that in any case their version is going to be the complete score, though.
That's it for the time being. I'll do my best to survive the heat wave. Today we had close to 27 degrees Celsius which is too hot for my taste.
Yours,
Mikko