Eh, I think the Grandia series is like the FF series in that there are similarities, like similar themes and the intangible "mojo" that you know it's a Grandia game, but each Grandia game is its own self-contained storyline in its own self-contained world.  

Granted, there was a game published by Hudson for Game Boy Color in Japan (and Japan only) called Grandia: Parallel Trippers that had Justin, Feena, and company in it, but other than that, all Grandia games have their own independent worlds, storylines, and characters.

Not a CD purchase, but since I'm saving up some money to outfit my parents' basement to be a spot to host jam sessions and do some rudimentary recording, I decided to splurge some dough on some early birthday gifts for myself.  (My birthday is May 8.)  

I got a great deal on Ebay on a Tama Rockstar kit with bass drum, 2 mounted toms, and a floor tom.  

I also ordered me a set of AA Meinl MCS cymbals (hi-hats, crash, ride.)  Meinl= the best cymbals no one knows about.  Forget Zildjian, Sabian, or Paiste.  Meinl is where it's at!  I want a set of their Safari hi-hats.    

EDIT:  I also got a used Tama Swingstar snare drum; 7.25" deep, man.  That's almost 2 inches deeper than a standard snare and boy is it beefy.  I splurged some on the hardware too.    

Next up is to buy a PA system.  Then I need to save up for a keyboard and keyboard amp.

The most important purchases to me at this point were/are the drumkit and the PA system.

Thing is, though Gnosticism currently is a splinter group.  I believe Gnosticism itself predates the Catholicism we all know today, and the article did say a decent amount about Gnosticism.  

And the thing is, what I found interesting about the article was the canon itself.  That what was canon was merely what the Christian groups, who were quite poor at the time, could actually publish, so they ended up picking and choosing texts to publish.  So what ended up being canon may not be the whole story.  

I find that notion fascinating, you know that there are holes in what we think we know and they're slowly being filled up.

You didn't have a :P emoticon or anything so how could I read sarcasm?  I can't read sarcasm using just words on a screen like I can read sarcasm from a live person's speech inflections.

'sides, I don't even know who you are in the RPGfan community so I can't tell sarcasm like I can from guys like Vil, Dade, or Daggerstrike.  

"Colors Fading" by Anavana is still song of the moment.

But still, no one finds this intriguing?  Fascinating?  Really really interesting?  Are you all really that jaded?  

And maybe it's just me, but when I read that article in National Geographic, I couldn't put it down.  I was so fascinated by the whole thing.

What the hell are you saying?  Are you putting words in my mouth?  I'm talking about two aspects of a song that I think makes the song good.  The song seamless blends the disparate genres of R&B and rock.  The song has a mass appeal beacause it has a great hook, is something everyone can bob their head to, and is neither too loud nor too soft to turn people off regardless of what style of music they listen to.  Damn good song.  I'm really passionate about music and like to share music with people that I think is really good, and I think a lot of people would really dig this song.  

I fail to see where this Linkin Park/Dvorak comparison is coming in.  And who's to say classical is one single genre?  There are many subgenres of it.  Schubert sounds different from Tchaikovsky who sounds different from Brahms.  Back in ye olden days, classical composers were blending genres all the time, to the point where a lot of people thought it was pure noise and now, people think they're genius compositions.  Dvorak's New World Symphony has a LOT going on in it.  

Throughout history, music has always been about fusion in many ways.  Jazz fusion in particular has always been huge what with ethnic blends like Indo-jazz (blending Indian music with jazz) or Afro-beat (blending jazz with African style drums) and all that.  Fusions of flavors make things interesting.  And the most enduring music of the ages usually is the stuff that breaks boundaries and fuses flavors in ways that excite and delight.  And in the olden days of classical music, there was tons of genre bending and genre blending going on.  Many composers defied conventions and at the time they were thought of as crappy-ass noise and now we think of their stuff as genius.  I'm not saying a band line Linkin Park will reach that status, but all I'm saying is that pushing the sonic envelope of genres and mixing genres has been around since music's first been played.    

And are you saying I know nothing about music and/or have idiotic mainstream taste?  Then you, sir, are mistaken.  I know a lot about music.  I've studied some music theory, I can read both bass and treble clef, and I happen to be a decent bass player (I was jazz trained when I took lessons.)  I listen to a wide variety of music from ethnic, classical, children's music, all the way to brutal death metal.  I honestly do listen to everything, so long as it's good.  I look for independent artists and support local/independent music scenes.  How many people do you know that have even heard of Anavana?  My favorite genre happens to be progressive metal which happens to have a lot of neoclassical touches and some amazing musicianship.  

And, yes, "Colors Fading" is a terrific song by a terrific band.  Give it a listen and then judge accordingly.  

And so fucking what if some kid prefers the music of Linkin Park to Dvorak?  Different strokes for different folks.  I can't stand broccoli, my housemate devours is like candy.  In addition, I know some extremely intelligent and well-educated people who don't exactly have sophisticated tastes in music.  It's all about what music tickles your mojo.

True, a lot of people may end up being nonplussed by this either citing this is a false gospel or ignoring it because "gnostic texts have no bearing on the reality of Christianity" (which IMO is B.S. because to deny gnosticism is like denying one's birth or childhood) but I think this is a different case than the gospel of Mary, because of the role Judas played.  

Judas sold Jesus out.  He's a traitor.  Yet this newfound text paints a part of the story that Judas did Jesus' bidding by selling him out and having him killed.  Judas was thus forever cursed and is one of the most universally hated figures worldwide, yet this text posits that he wasn't the evil, rotten traitor everyone thinks he is, but rather the most ardent and devoted disciple.  

If this gospel turns out to be true, it could possibly signify the rewriting of history.

http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/gospel/index.html

This is big.  EDIT:  Maybe not as big as I initially, thought, but it did make me go "whoa!"

After reading that article, I did have a few a-ha moments where things I sometimes questioned seemed to make sense.  

Discuss.

My song of the moment is called "Colors Fading" by AnaVana (with tildes over the n's.)  They're a fusion group that classify themselves as reggae/rock, but on this song they blend Brand New Heavies style neo-soul with a rock edge using tastefully distorted guitars and some rocking piano.  

Definitely a fantastic song and one I think music listeners should check out, because it blends genres and has a mass appeal.  I love the chorus.  

http://www.anavana.com

Wrong again.  I don't think games like Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne would appeal to a mainstream crowd.  Heck, most Megami Tensei games are geared more toward a "hardcore" RPG crowd where you have to use a ton of strategy and thinking in the battle mechanics and all that.  Sure the visuals have improved because that's what happens, but I remember back when Persona 2: Eternal Punishment came out, I tried to get everyone I knew to play the game since they all thought RPGs were all cookie-cutter and too easy.  EP was something different and not easy.  Yet all of them complained that it was *too* different and *too* hard.  

Atlus is killer when it comes to bringing out cool and interesting RPGs that the more "hardcore" crowd looking for something different from the norm would check out.  Bumpy Trot anyone?  

Again, you miss the fact that there are other RPG developers besides Square-Enix.  

Seriously, go pick up a Nippon-Ichi title like Atelier Iris, Atelier Iris 2, or one of their SRPGs like Disgaea, Phantom Brave, and the like.  Again, a game like Disgaea would not appeal to a casual SRPG player, because it is pretty complex.  

I grew up in the olden days too.  I turn 28 in a week and some change.  And though there is a lot of crap and saturation in the gaming markets in ALL genres, all that means to me is that we need to work a little harder to wade through all that to weed out the chaff and find the gold.  

Basically, I feel you are overly generalizing.  Good thing you found this site, because we can inform you about developers/publishers like Atlus, NIS (Nippon Ichi Soft), Hirameki and others whose US branches do bring out cool, interesting, unique, charming, etc. stuff that probably wouldn't rake in mainstream big bucks, but be sleeper hits in the "art-house" circuit.

Perhaps you may think that the Square-Enix juggernaut has become too "Hollywood" what with the ante-upped production values and all of recent FF games, but you seem to be forgetting about some of the smaller or less prominent developers.  

Nippon Ichi's titles are certainly charming.  They're not graphical behemoths, but people still eat their games up due to the mojo.  My game of the year for 2005 was Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana.  It had a certain charm and mojo that really gave me the warm fuzzies.  

Namco is huge and everything, but I really enjoyed Tales of Symphonia.  To me, it had the old school mojo with new school conveniences.  

And though it's not an RPG, my #2 game of 2005 and the only game I've given an Editor's Choice award to was Ever 17: Out of Infinity.  The story and characters were extremely well done, I've completed the game about 11 times (and only gotten 2 of the good endings) and want to play it more.  Best game I've played in a long time and I may end up even hailing it as my all time favorite video game.  

So all I'm saying is that like with movies, you may have all those Hollywood summer blockbusters that come out every year, but you also have independent and art-house film developers who offer an alternative.  

If you think Square-Enix has "gone Hollywood" that's fine.  Your perogative.  But to say ALL RPGs and all have done that is rather silly, because there are many representatives in the genre, released in the US even, that are more art-house than Hollywood.

This past Friday, my band Sullen Door played a Rutgers Musicians' Guild showcase with a bunch of other artists and, well, here are tons of photos from it.  I'm easy to find.  Just look for Sullen Door, a Warwick bass, or easiest of all- a wacky Indian guy in a red shirt and a blue Spongebob tie.  My personal favorite action shot is #18 in Rodney's (jenkness) gallery.  

I even got to sit in and do some improv with a hip-hop artists and his R&B/soul protege.  

http://eden.rutgers.edu/~rumg/neal_rvws/apr21_06.html (my synopsis/review of the show.)

http://eden.rutgers.edu/~rumg/photos.html (pictures from the show courtesy of Marc V. of the Guild.)

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/djjewboy/Venereal%20Exchange/Rutgers%20Show%20Apr%2021/ (more pictures taken by Dave from V. Exchange.)

http://jenkness.com/shutterjenk/viewjenk.php?album=rumg042106 (Even MORE pics taken by Rodney from Goosey/ Sound Sleeper.)

And my only response is the running gag from the webcomic Least I Could Do.

Rayne: "...and that's when I tried to buy the horse a prostitute."
Others: "I love this guy!"  

(and, yes, in one of the storylines, Rayne really does try to buy a horse a prostitute.)  http://www.leasticoulddo.com/arcs.php (Cyndi is the storyline.)

Pointless waste of a thread now.

Not a gameplay moment for the journal, but a memorable gaming moment nonetheless.  

I was checking out the Hirameki site when I discovered that the Ever17 character poll results were in.  I was happy when one of my quotes regarding one of the characters (Sara) was used.  I was even happier when I saw my name listed amongst the 2nd prize winners of goodies.  First prize in the drawing was the Ever17 vocal collection CD (which I reviewed for Ramza), and 2nd prize was a cel-phone strap & bath clock.

Warning: The character poll is extremely spoiler-iffic.    

Dude, I NEVER win anything!  Yes!

And the best part of all is that on the Hirameki site, there is a flowchart available for download with FAQs on how to get the good endings with each heroine.  Sweet!  I've played the game, I dunno, 11 times and only gotten a couple of the good endings.  There are so many decisions to be made in the game, even innocuous ones matter and sometimes the "wrong" decision may be the "right" one.  I can never tell which paths I've followed or not and in replays have often found myself retreading.  

But now, I can FINALLY get the full scoop on the story.  Ever 17= best fuckin' game I've played in years.  

Meh, but I'm not sure how much time I'll have to replay Ever 17 since Hirameki's releasing more games in the future (I can't wait for future Exodus Guilty installments) and I have a few more of their titles I need to review, but Nealy Boy (the biggest Ever17 fanboy on RPGfan) is a VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY happy camper.

Today started well.  I hope I can keep this momentum, especially since my band's public debut is tonight.