Move Me
Happy New Year, all. A fruitful and prosperous 2008 to all ye who read here. Since last we met I have covered about 6000 miles and delved womanfully into the fiery crucible of the holiday season, to emerge altered, if not renewed. My tales of fish head soup will be forthcoming. Also, Japan is spending $44.7 billion to create the world's fastest mag-lev train. Rock on.
Well, apparently the can of worms I thought I opened up with my "Harnessing the Dragon" post on an alternative to the fanfiction/anti-fanfiction paradigm did indeed wax copious on Livejournal after being posted to metafandom. Head on over if you're inclined to dig into the fanfiction discussion -- been awhile since I had a post with over fifty comments, but certainly fanfiction will do it.
So this one is quieter and simpler. Paolo Bacigalupi notes that caffeine all ills heals. (And it's worth opening up the link to the larger jacket for Pump Six while you're there to squint at Terry Bisson's highly poignant and entertaining description of Paolo's work.)
The subject has come up with the oddfellows a few times, and over here as well in the past, I'm sure. No matter what kind of work it is, though generally speaking we discuss the creative kind, everyone seems to have their particular foibles for what they listen to when they write, paint, toil away in the office, what-have-you. My poisons tend to be video game music (Ecco the Dolphin in its many iterations, Shadows of the Colossus, old Genesis RPGs -- Shining Force, Phantasy Star), a capella, oldies (and yes I realize all of the above makes me manifestly uncool -- deal), techno, with the occasional forays into familiar specific favorites like Berkley Hart or Bad Religion. While working I'll tend to listen to things I'm very familiar with, and they become a sort of aural sensation backdrop more than anything else -- a rhythm that keeps the neurons firing without being a distraction. I can usually do vocals, though sometimes they distract me -- and I'll occasionally listen to music in other languages, primarily Japanese, if I want vocals without the distraction.
How about you? What kind of music gets you into the zone?
Well, apparently the can of worms I thought I opened up with my "Harnessing the Dragon" post on an alternative to the fanfiction/anti-fanfiction paradigm did indeed wax copious on Livejournal after being posted to metafandom. Head on over if you're inclined to dig into the fanfiction discussion -- been awhile since I had a post with over fifty comments, but certainly fanfiction will do it.
So this one is quieter and simpler. Paolo Bacigalupi notes that caffeine all ills heals. (And it's worth opening up the link to the larger jacket for Pump Six while you're there to squint at Terry Bisson's highly poignant and entertaining description of Paolo's work.)
The subject has come up with the oddfellows a few times, and over here as well in the past, I'm sure. No matter what kind of work it is, though generally speaking we discuss the creative kind, everyone seems to have their particular foibles for what they listen to when they write, paint, toil away in the office, what-have-you. My poisons tend to be video game music (Ecco the Dolphin in its many iterations, Shadows of the Colossus, old Genesis RPGs -- Shining Force, Phantasy Star), a capella, oldies (and yes I realize all of the above makes me manifestly uncool -- deal), techno, with the occasional forays into familiar specific favorites like Berkley Hart or Bad Religion. While working I'll tend to listen to things I'm very familiar with, and they become a sort of aural sensation backdrop more than anything else -- a rhythm that keeps the neurons firing without being a distraction. I can usually do vocals, though sometimes they distract me -- and I'll occasionally listen to music in other languages, primarily Japanese, if I want vocals without the distraction.
How about you? What kind of music gets you into the zone?