Harmonies of Snow

I liked how this piece turned out, and decided to sequence it. Horrors, it took probably half a day to sequence, and many many hours to mix and tweak.

Game Jam!

Spent the last 2 days working on this game jam. Took me 6-8hrs on the first day to get the gameplay sorted out, then the 2nd day I spent ooooh, 10-12hrs maybe to create and playtest/tweak the 8 different stages. Didn't have time to write music for it. I probably could have, if I didn't go out for lunch, read novels, cat naps etc XD

The First Noel

Had this tune stuck in my head, so decided to arrange it, and experimented using the sax and tin whistle together. They actually don't sound that good together, so in the end I decided to leave the sax out of the 2nd half of the piece - it was supposed to be playing harmony, which I replaced the sax with a vsl flute playing the harmony instead.

What do Cellular Automata sound like?

That was the question I was asking when I created this above. In all honesty, it does not tell much, it would be better if both axes contributed to the sound generation. And, instead of using samples, actually some sort of synthesizer. Alternative sound schemes would be like sounds played when cells become alive or when they die instead of playing back tones based on location.

Alternative modulation schemes could include taking into account the number of neighbours adjacent, or even a few steps out and use that to modulate say, volume. So many ideas.

Originally, I had planned to have the vertical axis be for the notes, and the horizontal axis for instruments, but I do not want to go there as I want to quickly finish this experiment and move on to my next experiment.

Game is here.

Snoooooow!

We had snow last night, and waking up this morning it was white all over! Surprisingly it was not _that_ cold and the fresh snow was a delight to walk on. In the evening things were rather warm, and the snow had melted into the usual black slush. Eww.

It's a far cry from the weather we had on Saturday:

Looks almost tropical, doesn't it? That was on Saturday, at -5C though :P

Distant Worlds: Montreal 2013

This is the 3rd Distant Worlds concert I've attended, and I think the magic of it is wearing off on me. It is still a great experience, with loads of old music but something felt a bit off today. I am pretty sure some pieces were missing some lines, and I felt in some places the rhythm section kinda went off against the rest of the orchestra. The new FF6 Opera arrangement, (above) I felt the pacing was not as good as it could have been. The stretches between the voice actors felt really long between.

I left for home right after, didn't really feel the need to check out the merchandise like other years.

Thinking about it, it's probably the music, really. No Susan Calloway == really sad, and the other pieces aren't as inspiring as the previous two I've attended. Blargh. I think the most memorable was Dancing Mad with the Royal Albert Hall's pipe organ, that was amazing.

On the flip side, it's rather nice to hear an orchestra in the flesh again. I think it's been almost a year since I last hear a live orchestra.  The double bassess doing pizz is just sublime. 6 of them together? Bliss. Thanks to an orchestration course I'm attending at the moment, I'm keeping an ear on how things are orchestrated and am able to appreciate it so much more. The basses together with the tuba is a great sound when heard live.

Unlike the Royal Albert Hall's tiered orchestra layout, this particular orchestra sits on a flat platform, and the choir sadly is nigh impossible to see as they are all seated behind. I really should have checked out what the seating is like and perhaps taken a seat higher up behind. And bring some binoculars to check out who's playing what?

Let's see what happens next year...

Boids!

Spent two evenings on this. Learnt a fair bit about vectors and forces.

Burger!

Tried a new burger place today. This was at The Sparrow. The decor stood out first, not sure of the worlds to describe it, but its rather hmmm "antique" looking. The tables we sat at had these tiny picture frames built into the top of the table. Damn, I really should have just taken a picture of this place.

On weekdays, they only seem to be open on Friday for lunch,  the menu of which consists of some semi-breakfasty food like eggs benedict, and burgers etc for lunch. I ordered the burger, rare, with a side of fries. Pretty good, and I'd probably rate this as my favourite burger thus far in Montreal. The serving size is good, not excessive, and the meat is very tender. Some pickles can be found in the dressing too. Fries came somewhat warm-ish but still tasted pretty good. Not sure what the cream coloured sauce was, but I was enjoying that!

The Sparrow appears to be a cash-only place, lucky as I don't usually bring cash out. Definitely a place to return, if only to try the eggs benedict!

The South Wind

Arranged this piece for one of my music exercises, and the stars and moons are finally aligned enough so that I could record it.

Sonata for Harpsichord, Flute and Oboe

A new piece :3

Proper snow in Montreal!

It's finally started snowing in Montreal! It's started last night, and everything was pretty much coated with snow before I went to bed. In the morning, the snow was piled up rather high, but the roads and sidewalks were apparently cleared sometime in the morning.

At the moment it's feeling about the same as winter in London, i.e. slush everywhere. Unlike London where I didn't really buy winter specific shoes - I got by with waterproof walking shoes - the people here (and I!) are prepared for the cold with insulated, waterproof boots and proper jackets.

Today was hovering around the 0C range, but tomorrow promises something down to -14C.... we'll see what tomorrow brings. Mainly, my legs can chilled in the setup I've got now, because I've been reluctant to wear thermals for my legs. Plus, thermals don't help getting splashed by cars.

As such, I really want to get now some insulated waterproof pants. Found a pair of columbias for about CAD119? That should do the trick. If I ever go to another country with winter I am so ready for the cold!

The week in review.

Generally fine, apart from Tuesday. Tuesday is the definition of FREEZING. It was actually above 0C, but the wind was pushing some serious velocities. It felt like I didn't have any pants on. I think tomorrow I'll be going downtown to check out some insulation/windproof pants, and perhaps snag a warmer liner glove.

I have an obsession for gloves here.

Cat.

Had a somewhat angst written post about introversion - how I feel north america is so much more extroverted than the countries I've worked in the past, but you know what? Here's a cat poster I saw on the way to work.

The next few days appear to be steadily growing warm! Heck, I left my apartment today with my polartec(tm) fleece - 5 years old and still holding up! Yay macpac! - and softshell. And it was too warm lol.

The evening time was cooler, and it was perfect down in the city dressed that way. Next week promised to be cold though, brrr!

Sonata for Harpsichord and Flute

:3

Winter is coming.

I think today begins the road to a cold, cold winter!!! In the morning, I left the house at a nice cool -2C, and only wore my liner gloves. My fingers were feeling rather cold but you know, it's ok. Upon getting to work... I couldn't feel my finger tips. For a good half hour. Smart, eh?

The puddles today were all frozen solid, and the wind, oh the grasshoppers above, the wind! It wasn't all that cold as my face has already gone numb but it was rather strong. A few fellow (older) pedestrians had difficulty walking against the wind.

This will be an interesting experience... let's see what happens!

A few more winter gear purchases

Had a few things I wanted to pick up from mec.ca that were not available in their shop along St Denis, so I went down to their big store at Marche Central. It's a quick ride on the 80 bus to the end of the line, and then a short walk to Marche Central.

I bought a few things, such as the Seirus Windpro Xtreme Dome Hat. It's a high tech toque, and I needed one of these as the trapper's hat I wear is not very breathable, and it won't fit very well under my Khuno's hood.

I tried the Seirus hat this evening, and I think I may get another one when this one's in the wash! It's warm, the wind is totally cut, and there are little flaps that cover my ears, and with its low profie fits perfectly under the Khuno's hood.

I also got a few other bits and pieces; wool socks, some liner gloves and a Seirus face mask (will write once I actually use it!)

I am currently using polypropylene liners and they seem to do a swell job, and I got some wool ones (specifically, CTR Adrenaline Heater Gloves) when those are in the wash.

I thought they fit pretty well, but after properly removing them from the packaging, I found that the thumb was somewhat oversized. The reviews on mec.ca aren't that positive either but we'll see how these go. If these fall apart as suggested by the reviews, I'll probably get some thinsulate liner gloves. I used those in London and for the price they work very very well.

I also saw Goretex waterproof socks, 65 a pop for a pair!

Raaaamen

Finally found a ramen place I have positive thoughts about: Misoya Ramen. They don't seem to do reservations over the phone, but I arrived half an hour before my meetup with friends and the extremely friendly staff assured I would get a table for 4 by then.

I had... probably their signature dish I guess, can't remember the exact name. But look at picture above. Yum. First thing is the soup. Good. The miso egg kicks arse, and there's some potato wedges in there as well. Oh, the centre piece, the cha-shu, tastes pretty damned good as well.

We ordered some starters; gyoza (above) and deep fried battered chicken. Both were excellent, I have no idea how they managed to get such soft chicken!

Definitely a place to visit again.

In other news, IT IS FREEZING! Mainly as I swapped out my polar fleece sweater for a quick dry sweater. It's just not as warm as polar fleece. I guess I need to get another polar fleece mid layer; in london I got by with wool sweaters, but the polar fleece sweater definitely keeps me much warmer.

Rapid Weather Changes

When I left my apartment this morning, it was rather warm, heck I was wondering if I was overdressed, and congratulated myself on leaving my heavier gloves at home.

Lunchtime, I went out for lunch and it was rather chilly, thanks to the loads of wind. But it was ok.

This evening however, I left the office rather late (French lessons), and oh my lobsters above. Even though the temperature was only 3 degrees, the wind was biting like..... aphids eating through infant cabbages. Ok, ok, poor analogy as I've not have experienced that but it was cold. I only had my wind proof gloves which were uber good during lunchtime, but at night, it was just cold >.>

Packing my big gloves from now on.

Yum yum! Laksa in Montreal

To celebrate.... hmmm, my flu vaccination a few days ago, I decided to eat out tonight. Been meaning to try this Indonesian place, Nonya and I must say that they make a really good Laksa! The viscosity was perfect, and my tastebuds were awash in flavour. I really should do nanowrimo agan. But I digress.

It's rather different from the Laksa I get in Singapore - singapore style laksa has got cockles, yellow noodles in it - this is the Indonesian style, I'd guess. A single but uber delectable prawn, and some white noodles at the bottom of the soup.

The satay is also very unique; the sauce is already applied to the satay, and my god it is good. I only saw one choice of meat; chicken, and it is probably the softest satay I've ever had. Ever.

On the whole, the meal didn't feel that satisfying - I tend to take a fair bit of carbs at dinner and I got some instant noodles on the way back  - but by the time I was home, I was really stuffed. It might not look or seem like much, but I tell ya, these two dishes are really filling.

I need to go back another day to try their rendang and gado gado; you might want to book ahead as it was jaaamed packed tonight, two other couples and I who didn't do reservations were sat at the bar. Thankfully, my kindle, who is my date is rather petite and didn't occupy too much space.

Definitely recommended.

Weekend musings.

My laptop died this week >.> Just won't boot up. No post, only a hint of the dvd drive spooling up before shutting down. Forums indicate it's a dead motherboard. Yeee haaa...

So.. I've only got my audio workstation (the macbook) to use. Which is meh, as my laptop has far more horse power for cpu heavy chores. But whatever. I've had it since 2009, and bought it as a refurb as well. It's given me a good run.

In any case, I've moved some of the chores over to the mac, and I actually ran itunes for the first time on a mac on Thursday. I must say, it's not too bad (I bought some CDs and needed to rip them) - but it lacks a feature I like alot - playback by folders. VLC to the rescue; I've been using vlc more or less for music nowadays. Use to be an amarok fan but it takes forever to start up, crashy; no point saying more since my linux box is gone.

Also picked up some really warm mittens (*cough* by a certain brand with "goose" in the name), was rather expensive but after I amortized the cost over the length of winter, and it wasn't too bad. I'm pretty sure I made the right choice as I took my windstopper gloves out today (2-ish deg C), and lo-and-behold, my hands were freezing! Looking forward to using the new gloves tomorrow.

For lunch I tried out this vegan place nearby, Invitation V. A bit pricey, but the service and food were pretty good. Well, the service is top notch; I don't eat at enough vegan places to say how good (or bad) it is :D It was definitely a great enjoyable meal imo. Food + kindle reading never goes wrong ;-)