JOURNAL: daxhack (Jason Bridgmon)

  • Because it is there... 2002-11-08 18:55:15 I remember a scene from a Star Trek Movie, (I don't know which one, 6 maybe?), where Kirk is climbing a mountain (maybe Devil's Tower?) and Spock flies up next to him wearing gravity boots and scares him into falling. After saving Kirk, Spock asks why he climbs the mountain, and Kirk responds "Because it is there." Chances are this line is ripped from literature that I probably should have read but didn't. Anyway, it's a great scene, and a great answer when someone asks why we do what we do. If they are a trekkie or a librarian, they'll get a chuckle out of it. If they are in the other 99.99% of the world, they'll say "That's freaking stupid."

    So I've been climbing a lot of mountains and rocks lately, training twice a week in the indoor gym and going out into the wild on weekends. Lots of fun, it is. I often get asked why I climb, and I always think of that scene from star trek, but I never say that line. I usually use a few canned lines like "I like the challenge" or "Better than doing drugs, and you get higher," but never the real reason. The truth is, I don't know it myself, I just love climbing.

    I'm finding I enjoy a lot of things, and now I'm even getting to the point that I enjoy so much and so many different things that I have to be selective. If you've read my last posts, you know that making AMV's didn't fit in the top ten list and so I'm not doing them anymore. The thing is, I leave myself open to try new things as well. I've grown into this new philosophy of life: If I have 10 slots for events, I choose 9 I know I like, and leave 1 open for something I've never done before. Then I find out if I like it, and see where it goes from there.

    The moral of the story? Of course there is one: It doesn't matter what you do so long as you love it, but don't love any one thing so much you leave no space for new things.

    Don't read more into this than I'm writing, please. I'm not trying to say that Otaku are evil; I'm just trying to say that if you are 100% consumed with anime, perhaps you should step back, examine your life a bit, and maybe try something else for a little while. Try something you've always wanted to try. Maybe you watched blue crush and thought surfing was the coolest thing since the refridgerator. Why not have a go at it? Might be a little more fun than surfing the newsgroups for the last RAR file for an extra 24 seconds of Cowboy Bebop. 
  • I say hey, baby I got your money, don't you worry 2002-08-23 19:48:53 It is funny how neurons fire and things you long forgot become as vivid as the day they happened. I was listening to Ol Dirty Bastard for some unknown reason and I heard the line "you wanna look pretty though, in my video" and I thought of AMVs. I realized that I hadn't put thought about putting anime to music in ages.

    However, that doesn't mean I'm not thinking at all when music is playing. I still think about timing, rhythm, beats, counts, and all the great technical music stuff that make songs so enjoyable; but instead of placing anime to the beat, I place dance steps. When songs come on the radio, I immediately categorize the music into some dance genre and think "Hey, this would make a great rhythm two-step" or "Ah yes, a rumba with moderately fast-tempo. Some open cuban walks during the refrain would work nicely."

    Music enriches life. Good music makes you appreciate talent and dedication, bad music makes you appreciate good music even more. Music can make you want to get your groove on at the DDRMAX machine in the arcade; or spend three weeks staring at a computer splicing frames to beats before a convention deadline. It doesn't really matter what music excites in you, so long as you don't ignore it. And for those of you who have already found your calling, don't put anyone else's musical motivation down. Most songs with lyrics are about love anyway.

    To summarize my soap box for the day: "Make Love and AMV's, not War." 
  • Consistency. 2002-07-23 11:45:32 Just taking a moment to reflect on my last entry, I am pleased to say that I still agree with everything I said. Consistency is good, whether it be in making videos or in verbalizing opinions. The president has a team of people writing speeches for him that do just that (verbalize opinions consistent from one day to the next).

    I am pleased to say I haven't seen an AMV in ages. Actually, I haven't even seen any anime in ages. I've slowly weaned myself away from thinking about matching songs to anime while listening to music, and just enjoying the music instead. I haven't been mad or frustrated with newbies, I haven't felt anger towards people with good systems and poor skills. I haven't lost many hours of work because of a computer bug, and I haven't spent money on something that loses most of it's value before the box hits my doorstep.

    All in all, I feel great about my decisions. Obviously, they aren't for everyone, but I felt as though I should share them anyway. After all, if you can't post unwarranted opinions on it, what good is the internet anyway? 
  • Change of Heart 2001-12-20 14:52:26 So I was going to dump money into my computer, but instead I didn't. I put new tires on my car instead. Then I ditched my DSL connection cause I wasn't using it enough to warrant spending as much as I was on it. Then I found that a computer without a network connection is lame, so I gave my computer to my sister in college. I probably won't be making videos now for a long time, or watching them either.

    I'm gonna pretend to be an old geezer now and talk about the days when all of like, 3 people made videos, not 300, or 3000, or 30,000 or whatever this site is up to. I'm gonna reminisce about when the AMV mailing list didn't suck, when newbies weren't a dime a dozen, when videos were distriubted on VHS, and when videos were actually worth watching.

    Not that you all are making crap now, that's just all I've been privileged to see. I guess I'm burned out, after only 3 vids. Being burned out of AMV's and computer games may be a good thing though, it leads me to a life of more good, wholesome, physical activity and less sitting around staring at a screen, be it a TV or monitor.

    Sure I hear a cool song and get the urge to go nuts with it and put pokemon to system of a down, just for kicks, but then reality sets in again. Making videos is a hard, time consuming process. Anyone who says (or does) otherwise is full of shit. If I had a chance to say something to all the newbies out there, I'd say this:

    "Put some effort into your work, do drafts and revisions. Don't be afraid to take some time, explore some software tools, make mistakes and learn from them. Spend the extra 2 minutes to synchronize that frame just right. Don't be rushed and try to eat dessert first. Try to raise the proverbial bar. When you're done, it *will* be good, and you can take pride in it, and in yourself." 
  • What really matters? 2001-10-17 16:28:40 I haven't done a video in ages. I don't even have any in progress. That's because I've come to the realization that quality matters. I'm dumping some money (way outside my spending comfort zone) into my computer so that I can produce something that will not only be competitive in top contests, but will also be enjoyable to watch. 
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