On the implementation of my fiendish plan . . .

I know, it's been a while since I've posted anything. For anyone who may have noticed, I apologize.

I've been quite busy, actually. I mentioned a while back I was going to get into filmmaking, and to that end I bought a camera--a Canon EOS 70D. I also got an iMac so I can run Final Cut.

I've never been all that into photography so I've got a lot to learn there. I'm getting there, mostly through trial-and-error, which is the best way for me to learn anything.

I've always been a PC-guy so it's also taken me a little time to get up-to-speed on the iMac, but I think I know enough now to get by. I'm using it to type this, actually. I have to say, this huge Retina 5 display is amazing.

One gripe I have, though, is with whoever writes the "Help" documentation for Apple's software. Trying to figure out how to create a master in Garage Band only brought up a definition of what a master is, not instructions on how to make one. Fortunately I could resort to Google to find an article that explained it. Still, it's really frustrating.

Final Cut is the software a lot of people in the film industry use to edit video, which is why I made the substantial investment in this new computer--as well as for the software, which also ain't cheap. I'm going to make this little film starring some toy dinosaurs I have--I've already recorded the dialog using Garage Band, and now I'm going to create the video and edit it using Final Cut. Maybe I'll make the final result available on You Tube or something, or maybe not. It depends on how happy I am with how it turns out.

I also managed to register with the Writer's Guild and copyright a script for my short film, "Niobe," today. So even though it's a holiday I'm not just sitting around eating and watching football.

So, after I finish fooling around with my toy dinosaurs I may shoot one or two more little films featuring those guys before moving on to filming something with actual people in it.

Of course, with the holiday I've got some time off from work, and I'm going to use that to work on this short film. I need to shoot the video portion, edit it and associate it with the dialog I've already recorded, put it all together so that it makes a witty and entertaining little film.

Or trash the whole bloody thing and start over. Either way, I will have learned something!

Sovran (Draconian)

Draconian Sovran

It's always a concern for me when a vocalist leaves a band that I'm really into.

Such was the case with Draconian--I was broken-hearted when Lisa Johansson left, as her amazing voice was one of the reasons I started listening to them in the first place.

In my experience many bands decide to go in a different direction when replacing a vocalist, but fortunately Draconian decided to stick with what was working. New vocalist Heike Langhans has a voice very similar to Lisa's, and this is a very good thing.

The first track, "Heavy Lies The Crown," sets the tone, and when Heike's vocal began I felt a great sense of relief. It was beautiful and powerful and full of drama, which is exactly what I was hoping for, and, indeed, demand from this band.

The remaining tracks are what I've come to expect from this band, which is a Very Good Thing. Their previous albums have raised the bar very high in my book so to have my expectations met with this one is almost mind boggling.

The song "Rivers Between Us," (featuring guest vocalist Daniel Anghede) is a bit of a departure for them--it's a little more romantic than their other material, but it's haunting and beautiful. Check out the video here. This tune has managed to finally dethrone Within Temptation's "Let Us Burn" as my favorite, and it's currently in super-duper heavy rotation on my personal playlist.

All-in-all, this one is well worth the wait. I give it an A+ and highly recommend that you click the link at the top and buy it. Now.