Wesley Cho's Random Musings

Finally, back to commenting on music! Time is a more precious commodity for me these days, but I am starting to regain the time to listen to music again, and the next in line under my watchful eye is the Brazilian power/progressive metal band Angra, which is back after their hiatus to deliver another album for our listening. Keep in mind though, this album treads different grounds than their previous ones, with less aggressive songs & more of a more overarching feel to it. Lyrically, this album is weak given the combination of the lyrics & the rest of the music itself, but the music separate from the lyrics is arranged quite nicely.

After an intro, the album kicks off with Arising Thunder, which is a track that exhibits a more neoclassical flair to it, but showcasing some vintage Angra.

The second song, Awake From Darkness, is mostly in a little more slower vein, but it contains one of the most awful transitions I’ve heard from a professional level artist that I haven’t heard in a song since perhaps a song by Franz Ferdinand (who can’t make songs of the calibur Angra has done). I’m not quite sure what gave them the idea to end the song, and then start back up with a piano before launching back into the song a little while later. The song title might offer a clue, but it still is incongruous – there is a disconnect here that I do not believe has been carried out well.

The third song, Lease of Life, is a generic ballad.

The fourth song, The Rage of the Waters, is more of what one might expect & love from Angra, full of energy & intrigue. It doesn’t do anything special though, so don’t come expecting that.

At this point, the album takes a twist towards an increased ethnic flair, which is evident from the start of the fifth song, Spirit of the Air. This ballad emphasizes more of the gentler passion which carries over from various songs found in the Temple of Shadows album, although to lesser effectiveness.

The next song, Hollow, starts off with a soundscape appropriate to its name, but then shifts to a more lighter sound, which unfortunately is incongruous with the subject matter.

The seventh song, A Monster in Her Eyes, is a solemn song, but it is quite easy to be deceived by how the song progresses. It also is fraught with some broken English, although that is more forgivable considering this is a Brazilian band. I can’t say that the progression makes much sense in this song given the lyrics, which is a shame since there are some good ideas here.

The eighth song, Weakness of a Man, also suffers from the difference between the arrangement & the lyrics, with some strong words but more tame music to accompany it. The music apart from the lyrics is quite nice, as expected.

The final song, Ashes, is more appropriate musically, but the lyrics is a mess, as it contains ideas that are in direct opposition to each other.

This album is more limited by the band’s command of English than anything else. Musically, the band is still quite excellent & show a great capacity for creativity, but the mesh of lyrics taints the purity of many of the songs. It’s still worth a look into, but be aware that there are shortcomings that comes with the territory in exploring music made by those who aren’t experts at English.

For those who don’t know much about the band, a better start would be the albums Rebirth or Temple of Shadows. Angra showcases some of the great qualities of music in the power metal genre in those albums.

Posted in: Metal, Vocals by Wesley Cho /
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Everybody likes to have a nice well-shaped body, with many far from it. Admittedly, I’m one of those in the latter category, working off my extra pounds to get to a nice state – more importantly for preparation for basic training and OCS (Officer Candidate School). I’m compelled to make this post because of this main observation though: there’s no way around hard work for weight loss.

I’ve tried quite a lot of approaches to weight loss, varying from altering my diet to lifting & running regularly and various combinations of the two. While altering a diet to a leaner one has some effectiveness, it often isn’t enough to do the most fundamental aspects of weight loss, to lose more calories than you intake. If one chooses to try to essentially starve himself/herself of a vital nutrient, you end up sacrificing other functionality like being sharp mentally. That is one of the principal flaws of diets like the Atkins diet, as with those types of diets, you lose the source of energy that the body craves most, carbohydrates, due to the body’s optimal process for converting molecules into energy sources.

Now exercise alone doesn’t necessarily mean one will lose much weight, if any. In any form of exercise one does, whether anaerobic (i.e. lifting) or aerobic (i.e. running), one needs to push himself/herself hard to the point where incredible willpower is exerted to keep going. One has to want the weight loss more than one wants the comfort of ending an exercise earlier. Of course one doesn’t want to injure oneself by pushing too hard, but alternative ways to distribute the effort can help as well, such as varying the workout types with supersets when lifting or even alternating rapidly between aerobic & anaerobic exercises. Altering how fast & far one goes when running, biking, swimming, etc. also provides strengthening in didn’t areas.

One thing for everyone to remember though is that there must be dedication in order for such a process to be a success. Committing to a short period of time like 1 month doesn’t cut it. This must be a permanent lifestyle change. I have been working on myself for the past 4 months in an almost completely dedicated fashion, and so far have gone from 215 lbs to 190-195 lbs and have gotten faster & stronger physically in the process – I’m only a little under halfway towards my goal weight-wise, so there’s much more to go. The reward for such effort is increased self-confidence, a gradual visual change in your body, and just an overall ability to do more with yourself. In addition, exercise helps clear up the mind, letting one become more awake. It’s a situation you can’t hate!

Posted in: Personal by Wesley Cho /
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So I have updated pretty infrequently as of late, due to having busied myself with physical training, a move, and adjusting to the move.

In the meantime, I have explored what I want for a future career, and sadly enough the job search has been dismal. This led me to search for a career in the military, as there is more job security. I originally looked into the Air Force, as I was told by many people it is the safest branch, and they have some career options that align nicely with my education. However, the decision for OTS (Officer Training School) wasn’t until April, which was too long for me financially it seems.

I then explored other service branches. I thought of the Navy initially, but I wasn’t terribly keen with the prospect of being placed on a ship, or even worse, a nuclear submarine. I first went to the Army, as the recruiting station was relatively nearby, and the benefits & details were quite persuasive. I then checked into an Air Force recruiting station a little ways away, but compared it to the Army and thought it may not be the best route to go. That particular recruiting station had an Army and Marine office though, so I decided to walk into the office of the Marine recruiter out of curiosity over what they had to offer me.

I will be honest – I was quite surprised by the straight up presentation of what the Marines are about by Sergeant Castro. The ethos I was shown aligned quite strongly with my sense of principle & challenge. It made my decision quite complicated between the Army & Marines, as the benefits they are offering are enticing. Thinking about the choice between the two for 5 days wracked my mind, as there were many different factors to consider, such as likelihood of being sent to combat, life expectancy, job choices, character improvement, monetary benefits, and career improvement promotion-wise. Weighing the factors together, I have come to a personal decision of committing to enlisting in the Marines.

In coming to this decision, I thought hard & carefully about myself as a person. I found the challenge & self-improvement aspects extremely compelling – I have come to learn that these aspects are worth more to me than the significant monetary benefits offered to me in the other branches. In particular, I want to improve my physical & mental toughness, and I know the Marines is an highly assured path for doing so. I know that I currently fall short in these departments, so I want to take this extraordinary opportunity to break this shortcoming. I also decided I am satisfied with the job choices available in the Marines versus the other branches – my goal is to move up the ranks as high as possible & achieve as much as I can, which all branches offer, but I feel like I will need an improved self to succeed in the best way.

I understand the risk of being sent to combat, and have accepted that I am to be in the military to serve as my duty & will not back down in my duty I intend to pledge to. I am banking that the skills I gain in Marine boot camp will serve me better for survival than in the Army, or in any other branch.

From the looks of it, I will likely be shipped out in December or January for boot camp. Until then, I am in the process of physical training to be as ready as possible for that moment. I am inwardly nervous & excited for what the future holds for me with respect to this. I aim to succeed, and fully intend to dedicate my career to serving the United States with the USMC.

Wish me luck/pray for my safety.

Posted in: Personal by Wesley Cho /
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So for today, it will be short and sweet.

Just yesterday, Hylian Lemon on OverClocked ReMix released a rearrangement album on the music of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages. It is called Essence of Lime – just a disclaimer, the site formatting is way off with the current versions of Internet Explorer, so I recommend using a browser like Google Chrome, which is an excellent browser for those current users of Firefox.

This album is quite big, clocking in with 42 tracks total. It has an even consistency to it in terms of the musical style, which makes for a pleasant listen. Most of the tracks are done by Hylian Lemon himself, so I must give kudos to him for working hard at it with no motivation but the love of the music. I’ve only gotten to listen to it once so far, although I’ll have personal thoughts on it maybe in 24 hours, after spending time with it at a listening party.

Another album I’ve been listening to lately is Gamma Ray’s introductory album Heading for Tomorrow. As I’ve mentioned before, Gamma Ray is one of the pillars of power metal for fundamentally directing it. This album isn’t as popular or polished as newer ones, but it has a character to it that really reminds you of old Helloween – it’s really beautiful in that respect, although perhaps hard for most to appreciate without having prior appreciation of the type of music. For those who are unacquainted with Helloween, I heartily recommend listening to their Walls of Jericho album, which is their debut album. It really is the closest to the style found here, although their Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1 & Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 2 albums also share some similarities as well.

Posted in: Electronic, Metal, Rock, Video Game Music, Vocals by Wesley Cho /
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Politics is a game of power.

This isn’t exactly a new thought, but it really stinks to be reminded how often the rules of morality and ethics are tossed out in favor of one rule: amass support at all costs.

One perfect example is on display with the Republican response to the BP oil spill. In particular, we have the standard support for the business of oil rigs, slamming the Obama administration for playing cautious, something BP did not do. Then, there is comments about the government setting a liability standard – the only liability standard should be this: a company is responsible for their mishaps. On that note, Texas Congressional Representative Joe Barton believes that BP should have liability capped for all damage dealt to people’s lives whose careers are directly affected by BP’s mismanagement. It is shameful that someone with such a stance is representing any people – it’s clear that Barton is trying to obtain points for scoring shots at Obama, however illegitimate they may be. He knows that there are many people out there who are willing to support anyone who is against Obama wholesale because he is a Democrat applying some relatively bold reform – if any other Democrat did this, opportunists like Barton would attack him or her all the same.

This isn’t the end of the recent set of politicking – Republican North Carolina candidate William Randall believes that the Obama administration and BP conspired to cause the oil spill. I don’t think I need to comment much on this absurdity, as this disaster has hurt Obama’s stock nationally & has given rise to much criticism. I’m sure BP doesn’t enjoy its stock dropping significantly either.

Why so much gaming people going on with the Republicans? This is a big election year, with the House of Representatives up for grabs and many Senate seats as well. With the stakes so high and public & special interest groups driving a lot of the war for representation of their stances, politicians are forced to bend over and acquiesce or find themselves quickly replaced – it also so happens that acquiescing nets them a myriad of benefits such as high level connections, attention, and power belonging to an exclusive few. Those with higher aspirations have the chance to move even higher in the chain of power. It’s a high priced game that George Washington undoubtedly saw when he made the appeal for political parties to not be formed in vain. Representing the people judiciously has become only a tool to manipulate the voters instead of a necessity.

Along these lines, there is also the event of the mystery South Carolina Democrat who came out of the blue to win the South Carolina Democratic nomination for the US Senate – the leading Democrat candidate until the surprising upset filed a contesting of the results that was rejected. Irregularities were cited but then strangely dismissed by the Democrats. The only reasonable explanation is that the Democratic Party gave up on the election challenge to Senator Jim DeMint, who is expected to win handily. The whole circumstance is suspicious, and it would be in the Democrat’s interests to investigate this. My take is that there must have been an assessment of the resources needed to do a thorough investigation that the public would accept, with the verdict resulting in the belief that it is not worth the resources such as time & money.

On a bit of an intriguing note, a friend linked this article on Facebook – it provides an interesting perspective on how people can quickly screen others based on outward characteristics.

Now finally, E3 talk!

I missed the Microsoft press conference, although I was told it was uninteresting. Nintendo’s presentation on the other hand was brilliant. They opened up with a Legend of Zelda game for the Wii, a sure way to get the audience’s attention. Afterwards, they moved on to some brief talk for a few minutes on some more casual titles, but then launched into an assault of games that was sure to turn heads in the gaming press like a new iteration of Kirby and Donkey Kong Country. The real stroke of brilliance though was with how they handled introducing the 3DS – they showed off many games that were deemed to be a pipe dream to gaming enthusiasts, such as a brand new Metal Gear Solid game, Kid Icarus, and more. Nintendo talked about how the 3DS is the next step forward from 3D glasses, which I’m sure many people can relate to the annoyances of, especially those of us who normally wear glasses.

Why was Nintendo’s presentation brilliant? The year before they were taken to task by the press for spending half the time on games the general gaming press were interested in, and half the time on more casual games for the new audience Nintendo has carved. This year, Nintendo used the occasion to market to the press, which in turn marketed Nintendo to many who thought they were getting shunned. The “core” gamers are a selfish group – we live & breathe gaming, so Nintendo clearly learning from the previous year to accommodate to us is certainly something many companies don’t do, and none on the order of size as Nintendo.

But that shift isn’t enough to earn the presentation the label of brilliance – the real stroke of greatness has to do with Sony’s focus in their presentation afterwards, when Sony told the audience to put on the 3D glasses to view some Killzone 3 on their 3D display. They completely fell into Nintendo’s salesmanship of the cumbersome 3D glasses.

In addition, as well conceived as Nintendo’s presentation was, Sony’s was a trainwreck of contradictory messages. Sony took numerous swipes at Nintendo’s Wii remote and Microsoft’s Kinect. In particular, Sony mocked waggle motions during one of their demos – a little while later, they then showed a video montage where in one person a girl was waggling the Playstation Move controller for a game. Another time, Kevin Butler, a marketing executive for Sony, said enough of the talk, and asked the audience whether they were ready for more games. This only resulted in more talking from him, and even more talking from someone else before the audience was able to view more upcoming games. For a company that prides itself on being a luxury brand, Sony clearly viewed presented itself as a company that needed to prove itself, and there was a set of conflicting approaches at play here.

Not to say that Nintendo “won” or anything like that – it’s nice we’re seeing new technology from Microsoft and Sony enter the market. Just the same, it goes to show what any astute observer knew already: Nintendo drives the market yet again. As a gamer, I’m just happy I have new ways to experience games.

Lastly, here’s a random song for your enjoyment – a game-related song by Helloween, the grandfather of power metal. It’s surprising that this song was released in ’94.

Posted in: Metal, Politics, Video Game Music, Video Games, Vocals by Wesley Cho /
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So no music for today, but I want to comment on two things – first up, AT&T sure is bad at PR. It’s one thing to have an exploit, but it’s another thing to be disingenuous about what was done with the exploit. In this case, the hacker group Goatse Security (for those who don’t know of Goatse – you can look up what it’s a reference to, but as a warning it’s NSFW) collected iPad users’ email addresses and sent the information over to a media source, with instructions to not reveal them. Their intention was to put the onus on Apple & AT&T to fix the exploit, and AT&T responded by disabling a feature instead of a code fix, which is the best approach without question. Then AT&T decided to blame the hacker group – sure, the group did circumvent security, but they did so in a benevolent way, revealing the breach. AT&T is fortunate a malicious group did not discover it first – Apple has had ample time to fix this as well, but completely ignored it. Here AT&T should be pressuring Apple for a fix, not diverting blame for someone finding an existing exploit & bringing it to attention is a safe way. It makes me glad I don’t use an AT&T product if this is the way they treat customers.

Second up is this silly controversy over a US Congress representative getting harassed & responding aggressively. First off, the “student” starts off by asking whether Etheridge “fully supports the Obama agenda”, after a pleasantry. By framing the issue as such a vague generalization as the Obama agenda and by narrowing down support of it to fully, or unconditionally, it was a question meant to embarrass Representative Etheridge, with a video & audio recording pointed at him. He responded poorly after the questioner evaded answering his question honestly, by giving the evasive answer eventually of a student, although that is not the capacity that he embarked on the planned harassment of the congressman, and he knew it. This is one of the negatives of our society with the 1st Amendment, as it gives a form of protection to the trolls & vultures looking to feast on bystanders in a dishonest & unethical way. However, this makes it paramount to be the better man when someone tries to knock you down with such base attacks. Etheridge failed that test, but he should be forgiven for being unprepared for it. He should learn from this incident that he rewarded the dishonest despite not inviting them. Constant vigilance is important when dealing with people with those intentions.

Lastly, while the World Cup has been a boon & schedule-wrecker for many, it is sad for a specific group of people. Not that there is no joy in rooting for your nationality, but when that nation will attempt to assassinate you if you’re identified, these people cannot enjoy the efforts of the players as with these North Korean refugees in hiding. They cannot even enjoy the full freedom of their lives because of this overhanging danger. I pray for a better life for these especially, and for a day when Korea is reunited.

Posted in: Philosophy, Politics by Wesley Cho /
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I’m still here, and hope to update more regularly again – the job search has precluded me from updating, as well as distractions such as finances. I still have much to think about and do, but I am going to think forward here. Many people panic over bad situations, and let them bother them to the point where their mind shuts down from being able to function. That will not be me. In fact, I recommend for more people to think ahead, answering whatever questions they can on any issue that pops up and if there’s no answer, to pick the best course of action & hope for the best. I still don’t have answers for my problems, but I will dwell with what I can during dedicated time.

Another reason why I haven’t updated as much as I’d like to, as least in the past few days – the 2010 World Cup! It is always a joy for me to watch a high level sports competition because there is usually such spirit and determination, combined with an astuteness in the competition by all involved, with the very best showing off their acumen in game changing ways. There is also some measure of national pride involved on a more casual level, hoping for the best for the United States and South Korea, although this does not mean I demean the efforts by other countries – on the contrary, I embrace them for their accomplishments.

As for music, one album I have been fond of for about 6 years is Aria by Paul Schwartz. His music is little known in general, but with this album, he blends traditional classical music with electronic elements to craft some excellent chillout songs. A perfect example is the song Secret Tear, a rearrangement of Una Furtiva Lagrima from L’Elisir d’amore (on a sidenote: it’s quite sad still that Pavarotti is dead ). I wholeheartedly recommend this album and the followup Aria 2, although Aria 3 is unfortunately disappointing in comparison with these two.

I also have a curious event I have heard about only a few hours ago – meet Alvin Greene, winner of the South Carolina Democrat primary for candidacy for the US Senate. But wait! Apparently there is a strong suspicion that Greene is a Republican plant – an open question to anyone: was it expected for Jim DeMint, one of the leading Republican criticizers of the Obama administration, to have a tough election challenge from the leading Democrat candidate? I can’t imagine why would someone commit sabotage in such an obvious way.

Posted in: New Age, Philosophy, Politics, Sports by Wesley Cho /
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So as I was trying to go to sleep earlier, I couldn’t sleep – a realization hit that I may have trouble with my finances when I get a job if the job doesn’t pay well enough, due to the extraordinary loans I’ve accrued from graduate school.

But even worse, I did a calculation on my current finances because it has been worrying me lately, and it’s looking terrible. How terrible might one ask? I am in need of $5000 in the next month. I don’t see where it will come from. I cannot apply for unemployment while I am in Illinois because of my plan to move, which I currently don’t have the money for. I don’t have the money to pay for my last month of rent even. I won’t have the money anymore to pay for the toxic balances on the credit cards, nor for printing the physical copies of the DKC 2: Serious Monkey Business CDs despite originally having the money from donations and such that were originally set aside. I haven’t even begun to think about the money to even eat.

If anyone has any ideas for what I can do, throw them at me – I’m breaking down from this extraordinary situation and don’t know what to do.

Posted in: Uncategorized by Wesley Cho /
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I have been quiet in the past few days, due to the ever frustrating job search. I am starting to get the impression that companies do not want to invest in an entry-level position that caters to higher qualified candidates due to expense vs. those with only a bachelors degree in this job market. It flummoxes me that a candidate with significant demonstrated skills, some highly uncommon, has trouble getting hired.

I’ll try to get back into a more regular posting rhythm. For today, I’d like to mention a soundtrack most people probably don’t think of from the game F-Zero X. The game was heralded for its time for having a smooth 60 fps at the time it was released, and the game overall played great. What was probably overlooked was the rocking music. Here‘s a track that’s a perfect example.

Posted in: Metal, Rock, Video Game Music by Wesley Cho /
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Work! In my case, I spent the free time thinking about a song I started to work on. I can’t say much more than that other than it’s for a competition of sorts – I’m hoping to finish it, as it would be the first song I finally complete. It will probably be rough in a lot of ways though, so I wouldn’t expect much from me .

Today’s treat is Kate Bush‘s album The Kick Inside. This is her debut album, probably best known for the song Wuthering Heights, based upon the Emily Brontë classic book of the same namesake. This is a quite entertaining album, but one thing I feel that it suffers from is production, most notably with how the vocals are mixed with respect to the other instruments. It can make the lyrics hard to discern at times. It’s still an album well worth checking out, and knowing that this album came out in the 1978, it’s quite impressive that it stands the test of time that strongly.

Posted in: Rock, Vocals by Wesley Cho /
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