Omohide.com

I’ve been trying out the Vocaloid software, which synthesizes a Japanese female voice. The name give is “Hatsune Miku”. Usually they are used for pop songs, but I don’t really compose that kind of music, and it seems to work somewhat decently in this context. The first song is here:

http://www.omohide.com/omohide_dot_com_original_1.mp3

I also put up a youtube video in which…[]..

As many people know, several of the wonderful piano pieces which were scattered throughout Honey and Clover were never released on the original soundtrack. This includes the single most significant musical manifestation of all that is Honey and Clover – the Waltz piano version. But it also includes several other pieces…[]…

Collection of youtube videos of interest for the week concluding Saturday, December 29th…..

My new widescreen wallpaper. I can’t stop looking at it.

Yesterday was Boxing Day here in Canada. It’s sort of the equivalent of Black Friday in the United States, except everything seems a lot calmer than the stampedes that appear to happen down south. Ever since I first used a widescreen monitor, I’ve wanted one at home. I really like the expanded workspace, especially when working on subjects like computer science where sometimes lines of code can get a bit long. And of course, the benefit of watching….

I ordered this short novel through Amazon after stumbling onto its very brief page on wikipedia. The premise interested me, and its status as a work of classic Japanese literature only cemented that interest, as I have always had a deep interest in historic literature from India, Japan, and the rest of Asia.

Hōjōki is a short work by Kamo no Chōmei, written in Japan in 1212. It is the account of a man who witnesses several disasters that plague the people of Kyoto. Eventually, he becomes a Buddhist monk, a recluse, and lives his final days alone in a ten-foot hut. Through the story, we see how he becomes disillusioned with society and life – but he concisely sums up the general theme of the book in the opening lines, which have, I believe, become famous in Japanese literature………

Take note that I am clearly currently in a Honey and Clover phase. I am rewatching the series for the second time, and I think I like it even more than when I first watched it. (The first time I watched it, I didn’t watch any other anime for an year.) It remains my favourite anime, and my current posts will probably be a stream of Honey and Clover related material. As I just finished the series (again), I’ll write some general thoughts that are coming to me now, and probably will put a full review (be prepared for tons of gushing) later on…..

I have watched quite a few well-made anime series and they have had their fair share of beautiful, emotional, or simply well-done episodes and scenes. Yet, somehow, I can say with utmost confidence that the single greatest chapter of any anime I have seen is the seventh episode of the second season of Honey and Clover…..

Honey and Clover represents absolute perfection when it comes to the use of music. Okay, maybe I’m being too excessive, but it really is a shining example of music, both vocal and score, done right. Before Honey and Clover, I paid very little attention to vocal music of any kind or language (I mostly listened to classical music, film scores, or similar), but Honey and Clover really showed me how powerful vocal music can be when used properly. Perhaps I was just brainwashed by all the superficial songs that pervade the airwaves. Honey and Clover definitely changed that mindset…..