Can’t stop listening to this at the moment.

I’ve only had a DSLR for a little more than a month now, so I don’t particularly feel qualified to make in depth reviews just yet. But taking the advice from some friends and teh interwebz, I decided to pick up a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II from Best Buy on Boxing Day since I saw that they were selling it for a piddly $99. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person keen on such a sale as it ended up being sold out. The lens was put on back order however, and I have received it this week. Having got a little time to play, I can say this: I likes. Here’s a few of the pictures that I’ve taken with said lens this week:

The bus shelter on King/Church, and my mug (Andrea made me that scarf).

My desk after a night of gaming, and a random person from my neighbourhood waiting for the streetcar.

The view from George St. in Toronto, and some optical equipment at my optometrist’s.

– Record 12 songs

– Destiny of an Emperor Palace Theme
– Mr Big: Take Cover
– Joe Satriani: Love Thing
– Satriani: Ten Words
– Megadeth: She Wolf
– Megadeth: Back in the Day
– Skid Row: Slave to the Grind
– Yngwie Malmsteen: Sorrow
– Bach: Prelude Cello Suite #1 (BWV1007)
– Moist: Push
– Jimmy Eat World: Futures
– Foo Fighters: Monkey Wrench

– Perform live
– Participate in a video game competition
– Beat the games I own but have never finished

– Assassin’s Creed
– Dragon Quest V
– Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
– Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals
– Drake’s Fortune
– Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

– Finish re-reading The Wheel of Time and then read The Gathering Storm

– The Path of Daggers
– Winter’s Heart
– Crossroads of Twilight
– Knife of Dreams
– The Gathering Storm
– Towers of Midnight?

– Redesign this website
– Pay for a new lens using money earned from photography
– Make a triptych
– Finish the Dragoon Kain Munny that I started
– Leave North America

You may recall that I am a fan of music. Of gaming. Of video game music. And you may even recall that I am a fan of Final Fantasy IV. Thus, it should be of no surprise to you then, that when I heard of Final Fantasy IV: Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption; a nerdgasm ensued.

So now that I have a guitar again, I’m in the process or re-learning how to play. I’ve decided to start with learning a song from Destiny of an Emperor. I just figured out the bass line and recorded it, so over the next week hopefully I can figure out the guitar.

Destiny of an Emperor, Palace Theme

INTRO:

G|--------------------------|

D|------------------------8-|

A|-13-----13-13-9-8-6-6-6---|

E|--------------------------|

THEME:

________________________________________________________

|

|3x

|G|-------------------------------------------------|

|D|-------11-------13-15-13----13-15-13----13-15-13-|

|A|----11----11-13----------13----------13----------|

|E|-11----------------------------------------------|

|

|

|G|-------------------13-15-|

|D|----------11-13/15-------|

|A|----11-13----------------|

|E|-14----------------------|

|

|

|G|----15----15----13----13---10---10-------|

|D|-------------------------------------6-8-|

|A|-13----13----11----11----9----9----6-----|

|E|-----------------------------------------|

|

|

|G|---10---10----13----13-------------|

|D|-----------------------------------|

|A|-9----9----11----11----13-13-11-13-|

|E|-----------------------------------|

|________________________________________________________

Gad ZOOKS man. It’s the future! But is this blog going to be about the future? Or even the present? Heck NO! I ain’t got time for the future, bro. I only got times for the past. And that’s why it’s time for another episode of “What happened already that you don’t know about.” It would be pretty pointless to try and tell you about celebrities… or world news. Chances are you have already paid more attention to that than I have. But the one thing I am an authority on… one thing I can tell you about that you have greviously under-attended, is moi. So what exactly transpired in recent memory that is worth discussing? Why X-mas of course!

Not that I like to brag (I like to brag), but my X-mas rocked my socks off. To the max. First off, I have to do the no-no of story telling and jump straight to the climax. See this guitar here? It’s a Douglas SR-370 7 String Guitar. I’ve only put a few hours into this one so far, but the verdict? Awesome. I ran out and bought the Dream Theater Systematic Chaos book and plan on learning the song Repentance… though I’ve been guitarless for 2 and a half years now, so while it’s awesome to finally have one again; between the lack of practice and the fact that it’s also my first seven string… I’ve got lotsa learnin’ to do.

Other items of awesome acquired this holiday include: Assassin’s Creed (played for a few hours yesterday and am loving it), Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune(not yet played), Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days(not yet played), Star Trek(as you know I loved everything except the lens flares), Transformers 2(have not seen), Devin Townsend Project: Addicted(AWESOME). I have more games now than I know what to do with. So it’s just as well that I’ve finally done the unthinkable and sold my Nintendo and Super Nintendo. It was a teary good bye… but I’ve got enough faith in Zerogame Project that it was time to clear up some space.

Here’s some more pics that I took over the holidays:

Some macros of a flower at my In-Laws’.

X-mas food.

My In-laws’ living room, and my wife’s new Keyboard.

My wife’s step-dad’s new camera, and frost on my window.