Derek J. Power's LiveJournal Entries [entries|friends|calendar] Derek J. Power [ website | The djproject Group ] [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ calendar | livejournal calendar ]

A Momentary Distraction [21 Mar 2002|02:55pm] [ mood | melancholy ] [ music | Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part I) ] Freshman halls can generate the most interesting music. And today I faintly heard the themes of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and wondered where the hell it was coming from. It turns out it was used on an ice skating routine. Not bad choice :) post comment

The Musical Story So Far (Part I) [18 Mar 2002|11:46pm] [ mood | exhausted ] [ music | Coil - Broccoli ] AMETHYSTIUM: Odonata It's pretty good. It's very reminscient of Enigma but I've learned that with the Enigma-like groups, when you hear one, you usually hear them all. And I haven't been drawn to listening to many of the derivatives of Enigma (Delerium is about my limit). Good album but not compelled to buy it. AMORPHOUS ANDROGYNOUS: Tales of Ephidrina Amorphous Androgynous is an alias of Future Sound of London. It's pretty good, decent length ambient type of stuff and I think I'll give it another listen. No particular rush to buy the album. AROVANE: Atol Scrap and Tides This German IDM artist is pretty interesting sound very similar to Autechre and Boards of Canada. No rush to get it but still good (I'll give it a few more listens but I really like "R/Elet" from Atol Scrap) AUTECHRE: Amber Their second album is probably the most ambient and makes Garbage a lot of sense. I will buy this at the same time as the rest of the Autechre EPs I haven't have yet (Envane and Cichli Suite) BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL: This Lush Garden Within This was on my wish list because of my purchase of The First Pain to Linger and was intrigued by the story. I thought that the album would be a reflection of that story but I haven't had that impression yet. As far as Black Tape albums, I'll probalby buy the newest one (The Scavenger Bride, coming out on 23 April) before I purchase this one. COCTEAU TWINS: Treasure This one I have to give another listen to but I might put it in the same vein as Amethystium. COIL: Musick to Play in the Dark (both volumes) This release - with its errie and oft unsettling atmosphere - made me reconsider my Lenten promise :) and if an album does that, then it has to be good. The plan is that Easter Sunday will be a temporary break and then I'll resume it for the Orthodox Lent (Pascha is on 5 May, which puts Good Friday the same day I take my Linear Algebra exam... talk about going through Hades :)). At that point, I'll purchase both CDs. This is proof that I would indeed purchase what I like. But I have to find what I like first. BRIAN ENO: Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks Most of Eno's albums are interesting and "An Ending (Ascent)" was famously used as the end credits to Steve Soderbourgh's Traffic. Another one where I won't rush to get it but I will eventually get. FUNKSTÖRUNG: Appetite for Disctruction German IDM artist except throw in experimental hip-hop and you have what I hope to be an electric shock treatment on the current mainstream hip-hop scene. Really good album and will get it soon (maybe). BO HANSSON: Music Inspired by the Lord of the Rings My father has a vinyl copy of this album and I remember growing up with this album. Although instrumentation is somewhat dated, it does capture the spirit and the mood of the most famed and prized literary triology. If it's in print again, I'll definitely get it. In the mean time, a digitized copy will be just fine. IMPOSSIBLE RECORDING MACHINE: Axioms I found this group through the Smashing Pumpkins website (one-half of IRM is Matt Walker, a some time drummer for the Pumpkins for Adore). Some of the samples of the unreleased material I was intrigued but I've only listened to the first third of the album. It hasn't grabbed me yet but I'll let it simmer for a while. OVAL: Systemische This German artist (known really as Markus Popp) uses the laptop and the act of manually fucking up CDs to create what I would call "technical dissonance" as a kind of rhythmic element. Very interesting album and will definitely get it sometime. In the mean time, I have Ovalprocess to keep me occupied. PORTER RICKS: Biokinetics I know them because of their remix of "The Day the World Went Away" (which is probably one of my favorite NIN remixes). Their sound is pretty interesting but I have to listen to the other Porter Ricks albums I downloaded (S/T and Symbiotics where it's half Porter Ricks and the other half is Techno Animal). SONIC YOUTH: Confusion is Sex/Kill Yr Idols I'm not a huge fan/am a novice toward lo-fi recordings but this one is really interesting. Naturally it's not Daydream Nation (which I do have an actual copy of) but it's good. It's nice to know that one of my assumptions of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is correct. No rush to get it. SWITCHBLADE SYMPHONY: Serpentine Gallery What the fuck is this shit? It reminded me why I did this. There were a lot of songs that I didn't like. I don't like the vocalists and the sounds were too predictable for an industrial group. Plus the lyrics were bad (which some will respond... why do I listen to NIN and why do I like The Fragile?). Get rid of the heathen. NOBUKAZU TAKEMARA: Scope This is an interesting Japanese IDM artist but I have to listen to it again to get a feel for it. TORTOISE: Millions Now Living Will Never Die I didn't finish it and I got rid of it. I'll probably download it later on and give it another try. Nothing personal but I think I was overwhelmed by the number of albums to sort through. VANGELIS: Beaubourg, Invisible Connections and See You Later It's Vangelis. I know these albums. And if they were easily accesible (and remastered as well), you bet your ass I'll buy these. post comment

Considering the Deafening Silence [18 Mar 2002|05:25pm] [ mood | busy ] [ music | Sonic Youth - The World Looks Red ] birthday: 6.9.1982 (it's written European style) birthplace: Great Falls, MT hair color: Dark brown eye color: Brown height: 6'2" ethnic ancestry: Irish, Italian, German hair style: hair parted to the right, fades on the side tattoos: no (not interested) piercings: no (not interested) fave lipstick color: doesn't apply fave nailpolish color: doesn't apply fave makeup brand: doesn't apply [note for future: read surveys before taking them] are you a good student?: yes are you currently in a relationship?: no best friend: I have several really good friends do you believe in reincarnation?: no do you believe in astrology?: no (although it's interesting but I don't believe in it) what's your sign and does it fit you?: Virgo as the Sun, Aries as the Moon, Sagittarius Ascendent (isn't it always suppose to fit) wheels: undisclosed do you have a deep dark secret no one knows except you?: yes (and why should I expose it to the public eye) do you like your body?: yes fave pair of underwear: would it transform your life if I revealed it to you? fave movies: currently I'm on a Kevin Smith craze movie you saw last: Artifical Intelligence fave books: Siddhartha (Herman Hesse), The Divine Comedy: Inferno (Dante Aligheri), Set this House on Fire (William Stryon) book you read last: (currently) The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistros Ware 5 albums you couldn't live without: Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd), Selected Ambient Works 2 (Aphex Twin), Tri Repetae++ (Autechre), El Greco (Vangelis), Kid A/Amnesiac (Radiohead) - or I should say fuck five and bring the whole bloody ship full of them. fave beverage: Cherry Coke fave food: pretty much anything Italian or Mexican fave candy: Reese's Pieces fave colors: Black, turquoise, aquamarine, red fave season: spring and fall fave cartoon: The Simpsons fave t-shirt: blue polo shirt fave pair of jeans: nothing in particular fave jacket/coat: black curduroy jacket fave article of clothing: see above fave place to buy clothes: Hot Topic and Structure (do I detect conflict here?) fave designer: (this is definitely the wrong survey for me to take) fave model: see above dream job: music producer and film director have you ever lost someone you loved? by death no, by other ways yes night or day? night top or bottom?: should I even be answering this? coke or pepsi?: whatever number of pillows: three including a body one drug of choice: music, art, books, music, prayer, music what are you wearing right now?: NIN/The Fragile/blue smear black T-shirt, black jeans, black sweater jacket with my Phi Mu Alpha pledge pin, New Balance sneakers, white low-cut socks and yes I do have underwear what's next to you on the right?: mousepad and a huge clutter of stuff including DVDs and a gym bag full of CDs on the left?: both closets, my workbag, laundry bag and a bottle of water when do you get up in the morning?: around 10 who do you talk to the most online?: Tim and Phil usually what sites do you visit most online?: LiveJournal, mail sites, my own site, Joyrex.com and top sites for my various bands are you part of any online communities?: a lot on Yahoo, a couple of discussion boards and a lot on LJ fave font: Lucida Sans Unicode (8 pt), Times New Roman (10 pt), the Calson package and TLePetitTrottin (the one used for the lyrics of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness). post comment

Early Summer Weather and Soft Serve Ice Cream Makes One Very Happy [15 Mar 2002|05:45pm] [ mood | cheerful ] [ music | Bo Hansson - Leaving Shire ] I wrote this poem about a year ago and it's very appropriate based on the weather outside. It's called "The Sunlight of the Evening Hours" and can be found on Black and Nihilism are the Colours We Wear Today The sun lingers overhead to bade us Good night and remind us to keep our promises. The sky is still bright as the meals are served. The day winds down for a while to rest the machines of the brain The free paint strokes of the clouds still decorate the horizon. And we talk for hours on end as the children run barefoot in the grass. For a season has come to greet us To keep us warm for a while. The nightly activities go uninterrupted. The children play their own championship game. The family cools off from toil and trouble to be themselves for a while in the comfort of upholstery, drink and digital clarity. Older siblings fulfill their obligations (but not without having a glass of milk first). Temperature decreases And the twilight chorus of animalia rings out an echo. A piano plays ever so delicately Like the feeling of grass kissed by rain and wind Against our skin, cushioning the body, launching the soul Into the cloud formations of child’s mind. I close my eyes and nature kisses me again And again, sending me to ecstasy and bliss. She loves me so and takes me into a bed… Where I awake again. I looked outside the window and there, The sun still lingers overhead to bade us “Good night” and remind us to keep our promises. On a different note, I've been downloading albums right and left (what else can you do when you decided to give up CDs for Lent) and at some point I'll add a comment as to what titles are currently eating away my precious hard drive. And now to figure out what the hell to do for the evening. 1 comment|post comment

Now we can identified not just as numbers but a single letter as well... [13 Mar 2002|05:44pm] [ music | Vangelis - Thermo Vision ] So which letter of the alphabet matches YOUR personality, huh? post comment

Is it insight or disillusion? [13 Mar 2002|02:28pm] 01. Fallen for your best friend?: yes 02. Made out w/ JUST a friend?: yes 03. Been rejected?: yes 04. Been in love?: yes (with lots of people) 05. Been in lust?: yes (unfortunately) 06. Used someone?: if I did, I've forgotten (and I do apologize) 07. Been used?: possibly 08. Cheated on someone?: no 09. Been cheated on?: no 10. Been kissed?: yes 11. Done something you regret?: yes Who was the last person... 12. You touched? Ariel (holding hands) 13. You talked to? Will 14. You hugged? Ariel 15. You instant messaged? Tim 16. You kissed? Kristina (not on the lips), Amanda (on the lips) 17. You had sex with? virginity 18. You yelled at? God (and it was because I was angry in general not angry at Him) 19. You laughed with? Robert, Kevin, Paul and Asher 21. Who broke your heart? Laura *Do you... 22. Colour your hair? I used to once upon a time 23. Have tattoos? no 24. Piercings? no 25. Have a boyfriend/girlfriend/both? nope 27. Own a webcam? no 28. Ever get off the damn computer? when class calls 29. Sprechen sie deutsche? ein bisschen 30. Habla espanol? no 31. Nihongo o hanashimasu? no (several friends of mine do) *Have you / do you... 32. Stolen anything? yeah 33. Smoke? yes 44. Schizophrenic? we don't have a consensus 45. Obsessive? yes 46. Compulsive? depends 47. Obsessive compulsive? maybe 48. Panic Attacks? yeah 49. Anxiety? yeah 50. Depressed? possibly 51. Suicidal? no 52. Obsessed with hate? no 53. Dream of mutilated bodies, blood, death, and gore? no 54. Dream of doing those things instead of just seeing them? no 55. If you could be anywhere, where would you be? London 56. Who would you be with? either Laura or Kristina 57. What would you be doing? today I'll let the lady (whichever one ends up with me) decide 58. What are you listening to? nothing 59. Can you do anything freakish with your body? no 60. Chicken or fish? chicken where is number 61? [we don't know] 62. Is ice cream the best thing in the world? not the best thing but ranks in the top ten post comment

I am the following... [13 Mar 2002|02:04pm] [ music | Black Tape for a Blue Girl - The Green Box ] Carl Sandburg You see the world in a different way than your peers and are able to find beauty in the most unusual places! T.S. Eliot Your are introspective and have an affinity for creatures that purr. You also have a tendency to doubt yourself. You can see the beauty in the world - don't let it pass you by! Alfred Lord Tennyson You are very analytical and like to debate. You want truth and beauty. For you, it seems that every cloud has a silver lining. You believe it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Maya Angelou You have a strong sense of self and have faith in your abilities. You are an optimist and believe that things can get better if people work together. You also have faith in humanity. e.e. cummings Your use of the English language is not bound to any grammatical or even logical standards. You live your life with rhythym and passion and find yourself constantly searching for meaning by traveling or in new relationships. William Shakespeare You have a certain eloquence and stoicism about you that is juxtaposed at times with a most peculiar sense of humor. Your world is orderly and simultaneously romantic. You are able to note beauty in the old and the new. Just keep in mind that passion and order are often at opposite ends of the spectrum. Take the Which Poet are You? Quiz - brought to you out of boredom and pretention! Not bad eh. But where's John Ashbery in this? post comment

An Ode to Anonymous Posters, Part I [12 Mar 2002|07:53pm] [ music | Vangelis - Suffocation ] What's up with this? You're always last... Last of the group, and even last on a single! It doesn't mean you're least though, so don't feel bad. You're into your thoughts, and you dig explaining things. You're quite creative. It's obvious you were one of those kids who used to ruin it for everyone else by eating the community crayons. The ABC's of Smashing Pumpkins songs; Which "A" song are you? post comment

Semiannual Remembrance [11 Mar 2002|12:52pm] [ mood | contemplative ] [ music | Vangelis - Beaubourg Part II ] Strangely I didn't write my own accounts of what happened on 11.9.2001 (reserve it if you're an American). I woke up around 9:05 and I had to get to class (Art History Survey I). I didn't have time to get breakfast, let alone check the news headlines. So for a blissful two hours, I was completely unaware of what was going on and was immersed in learning about the art of the Ancient Near East... the beginnings and the construction of civilization. The news came when I bumped into Evan H., an old schoolmate of mine back at HHS. His face was one of distress and I thought it was because of lack of sleep. I obviously didn't know. Hearing the words "World Trade Center," "Pentagon," "planes" and "crashed into" in the same sentence is even to this day still very surreal. Even though this comparision is often cliché, it was very Hollywood in its realization. My brother would later tell me that he automatically thought ID4 (as probably did everyone else in America that day) and that there might be more. After walking around New Campus for a while, I headed towards Swem. A crowd was there watching the television and I saw the damage. It was surreal looking at it then and is still now. I came across Sara S. - a fellow classmate for what seems like an eternity - and she asked if my family was alright. Then the brain changed gears from surrealism to momentary panic. I was one of the millions trying to reach my folks separated by distance but was caught in what seems to be the ultimate informational traffic jam of not only recent memory but probably of any memory. Two hours later after some lunch and residing in my dorm absorbing all of the emotion and information, I finally reached them. My father - the one member I was deeply concerned by because of the nature of his job - was alright. In fact pointed out to me later that if the plane that hit the Pentagon flew twenty feet lower, the Navy Annex building would have been knocked out (where my father works... he's a contractor working with the then BMDO now something else... yes connected with NMD). That day was filled with more emotion than anything else. And this is why I try not to dwell on it every single moment. It's easy to get caught up in emotions and have it distract you from your present life. It is not to diminish the atrocity of the event but one can dwell on it for so long. Another interesting tidbit was when I came back to my room, my way of memoralizing what happened those few hours ago was playing Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten. It's a simple yet haunting and melacholic piece using a descending A minor scale played in rounds amongst a string quartet and on occasion an A bell chimes in. The strange irony I found out later was Arvo Pärt's birthday is (yes he's still alive) 11 September 1935. 1 comment|post comment

The Structure of the Brain Explained [11 Mar 2002|12:31pm] [ music | Autechre - Teartear ] Whole Brain Dominant leaning to the left You enjoy structure and work best when you can devote your attention to one task at a time. You also work well with abstract ideas and can visualize theoretical situations. test yourself at geekykid.net post comment

Something Completely Different [11 Mar 2002|12:12am] [ music | does Mallrats count as current music? :) ] Let's see: my Pope is Pope Benedict XV; I'm a fundamentalist (personally but doesn't mean I'm an asshole); I'm a water sign (even if I was earth) I'm close to Charlie Clouser (NIN); Colin Greenwood (Radiohead... hurrah for bass players) and here are my bands: # 1 Nine Inch Nails # 2 Radiohead # 3 Aersosmith # 4 Alice in Chains # 5 Live # 6 Metallica # 7 Paul Simon # 8 Pearl Jam # 9 Pink Floyd # 10 Abba # 11 Black Sabbath # 12 Led Zeppelin # 13 Red Hot Chilli Peppers # 14 The Doors # 15 Tool # 16 Ben Folds Five # 17 Dave Mathews Band # 18 Eric Clapton # 19 Jethro Tull # 20 Jimi Hendrix # 21 Nirvana # 22 The Who # 23 Duran Duran # 24 The Beatles # 25 Billy Joel 2 comments|post comment

Bias yes... but interesting... [10 Mar 2002|11:33pm] [ music | Bush - Bubbles (actually from Mallrats) ] # 1 Eastern Orthodox # 2 Evangelical Lutheran Church # 3 Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod # 4 Roman Catholicism # 5 Episcopal Church # 6 United Methodist Church # 7 Assemblies of God # 8 Orthodox Presbyterian Church # 9 Presbyerian Church USA # 10 Reformed Churches # 11 Seventh-Day Adventist # 12 Church of Christ # 13 Free Will Baptist # 14 International Church of Christ # 15 Mennonite Brethren # 16 Reformed Baptist # 17 Southern Baptist # 18 United Pentecostal Church # 19 Mormonism # 20 Orthodox Quakerism # 21 Jehovah's Witness # 22 Liberal Quakerism # 23 Unitarian Universalism # 24 Unity Church # 25 Atheist/Agnostic/Moral "Christian" 4 comments|post comment

I Have Returned [10 Mar 2002|07:12pm] [ mood | refreshed ] [ music | Tool - The Grudge ] Spring Break is about getting into weird situations and then coming back to laugh about it with your fellow mates. Last Sunday, I wanted to go to an Orthodox Church (St. Mary's to be exact). I was given directions but unbeknownst to me the exit numbers on I-495 (infamously known as the Capital Beltway for all you NOVA guys reading this). So after driving down aways (approaching exits for Alexandria) I realized I fucked up. So I called the church from the cell phone, got the right exit number and decided to try again. In my turning around process, I ended up going on North 95/495... which took me to Baltimore. Yes I did cross the Wilson Bridge (that dread of bridges) and yes I was in Maryland. But of course I was semi-oblivious as to what was happening to me. I found an exit that took me to Route 50 (the road I did need at some point). However this would lead into the humorous part of the whole experience and thankfully I took the right direction. So what was humorous about it? Well as soon as I realized I was able to see the Capitol my reaction was typical of a weekday commute except I was 19, had no job and it was on the Christian Sabbath (is there something bad about saying "Oh fuck!" on a Sunday? if there is, I'm sorry and drop it). So the humorous part was driving through the glorious District of Columbia. Thanks to past experience of DC streets and a basic sense of orientation, I was able to get out of the city without an aid of a map and without encountering what makes DC notorious... the traffic laws (what did you think I was afraid of? the gangs?). Of course I also ended up on I-395 (supposedly not the best way to get out of DC but it was the only way I knew how). Thankfully I saw Route 7 (then known Kings St. but more familiarly known to me as either Leesburg Pike or Harry Byrd Highway or a multitude of other names I imagined). The end of it was that I did arrive at the church... an hour after the beginning of the Divine Liturgy. But isn't the Orthodox notorious for having long services? But now I'm focused to finish the rest of the semester and the academic year here at the Alma Mater. May God be with you dear reader. post comment

WOOHOO [01 Mar 2002|11:55am] I'm outta here. Auf wiedersehen, alma mater 1 comment|post comment

Blue is the Colour I Wear Today? [01 Mar 2002|12:47am] [ mood | tired ] [ music | Sutekh - 6 ] BLUE You give your love and friendship unconditionaly. You enjoy long, thoughful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive. Find out your color at Stvlive.com! post comment

This Could Explain a Lot (Maybe) [28 Feb 2002|01:11am] [ mood | sleepy ] Are you Addicted to the Internet? 66% Hardcore Junkie (61% - 80%) While you do get a bit of sleep every night and sometimes leave the house, you spend as much time as you can online. You usually have a browser, chat clients, server consoles, and your email on auto check open at all times. Phone? What's that? You plan your social events by contacting your friends online. Just be careful you don't get a repetitive wrist injury... The Are you Addicted to the Internet? Quiz at Stvlive.com! post comment

Mind of an Adult, Faith Like a Child [27 Feb 2002|10:50pm] [ mood | contemplative ] [ music | Cacophony of Yates First South, Op. 1 ] Patrick reminded me of something. 1) I'm 19 years old and currently a college student who is not studying theology formally and merely a catechumen of the Orthodox Church 2) As much as I should love God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind and love my neighbor as myself, I should have faith like a child. Quite frankly, he's right. God bless us with the ability to think. This is why things like doctrines and beliefs do indeed matter because it involves the mind. But in the end, if there is no love there's nothing. If there is no faith like a child, it's nothing. And by "faith like a child," it does not mean abandon intellect. It means to understand that God is there and that He is someone you can trust and confine in. Children have no reservations on people, much less God. That's what it means to have "faith like a child." You can question and test the limits of yourself and of God. But remember that He's there even when you think he's not. And something came to me. True Christianity was not and is not founded by merely mortal men. So-called Christianity (and you know who those are and that consistutes a lot of clearly visible people) is. True Christianity embodies man with the actions of the Son and the awesomeness of the Father through the Holy Spirit to do God's work on earth. So-called Christianity does a half-ass job. True Christianity is about loving God and loving our neighbors, both of them with passion and with fire. So-called Christianity again does it half-ass. True Christianity uplifts the members of the Body with care while loving everybody as if they truly were members. So-called Christianity again... you know where this is going. If you want to know True Christianity, look to God through prayer, through fellowship and through the Gospel. When you done these things, you will find it. post comment

[26 Feb 2002|03:12pm] [ mood | working ] [ music | Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (The Bottom) ] I'm going to be opening up the forum again so that registeration is not required to share your thoughts. But mind you (to use a great Monty Python line) that "anything you may say will be ignored." In other words, you can say it but I don't have to follow it. post comment

Now Here's Something Artistic... [26 Feb 2002|08:33am] You lost your drummer and your album flopped, but you have a nice Russian girlfriend who takes pictures of scary women. Ahh, life is grand. Which Era of Billy Corgan are you? post comment

The Only Smashing Pumpkins Album That I Don't Have... [26 Feb 2002|08:29am] Don't look so blue.. or is it green? Don't be sad that you're the outcast, and jealous that you will never be as important as the others. You're important to those who know you, you just don't know it. Or them. Well, of course you know those around you, it's just that their names get in the way, like a chunk of pretzel in George W. Bush's trachea. Darla? Carla? Marla? Starla? Does it really matter? You can always write down these little mementos for others to read later on, just buy a new typewriter, skippy. Which Smashing Pumpkins album are you? I always considered myself a cross between Mellon Collie, Adore and MACHINA I. But oh well these things are just plain fun. 2 comments|post comment

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