Seeing as how he was probably my greatest hero, his death came as a great shock, and made that day one of the most depressing in recent memory. These last ten days I have been thinking a great deal of how to put into words what a terrible tragedy this is.
Gary Moore was a man who kept busy throughout his career. You'll find his name alongside some of the very greatest in the industry; Bob Daisley, Cozy Powell, Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Neil Murray. He covered every possible genre, from jazz with a swing to ruthless heavy metal, and excelled at all of them. At one point, he even incorporated elements of techno beats into his experimental album "A Different Beat".
I have strong memories from the time when I was first introduced to his music. I was exposed to it by my elder brother, who used to play Lost in Your Love and Wild Frontier on his huge stereo. At this point, I should mention, I had scarcely heard more than a few bits here and there, but I absolutely loved it.
Thus, one day, when we were ordering CDs from Ginza, as we would always make joint orders for the family to cut down on shipping charges, my brother bought a limited edition of Blood of Emeralds, the Very Best of Gary Moore Part 2, that featured an extra CD with special versions of some of Gary's top songs. Now, that record had some great song,s and the bonus CD had the one I loved the most; a live version of Wild Frontier.
But somehow, I felt that something was held back, as if I was just standing at the edge of a great lake, ready to dive in. So I ordered the CD I really wanted; Out in the Fields, The Very Best of Gary Moore Part 1.
I remember vividly when I got it. We were on vacation in Småland, and we celebrated the birthday of my grandfather, if memory serves. My father and elder brother were coming by train, and the CD I ordered had just arrived back home, so they were bringing it.
I got permission to sit in the car and listen to it, and it was the most awesome thing ever! I must've listened to Out In The Fields and Wild Frontier fifty times over the course of that holiday!
If it weren't for Gary, I would've never come across Thin Lizzy or Iron Maiden, and whatever part of me that is a rocker I owe entirely to him.
In the lyrics of the song "Hero" by Europe, we find this line of text that I'd like to dedicate to him:
"You're still my hero, my friday night
You wrote the soundtrack to my life
You give me something to hold onto
As I'm still growing up, you are the rock in my life"
Rest in peace, and know that we love you!
onsdag 9 februari 2011
söndag 16 januari 2011
World of Warcraft!
In World of Warcraft, this evening, I had an exciting experience, that pleased me enormously!
First, some backstory: In the latest expansion, Cataclysm, all of Azeroth was remade. The old quests were mostly thrown out and replaced with new ones.
For those who had played the game before the great cataclysm, there was nothing odd in finding a character called First Mate Fitzsimmons in a flooded town on the coast.
He was involved in a storyline that consisted of the player bringing him some mead, then hearing his tale; how the fleet he was sailing with was ambushed by dragons and sunk, but the sailors were doomed to forever walk the earth as ghosts, because of an artifact called the Cursed Eye of Paleth, that was carried by one of the ships.
The player then retrieved the eye, and gave it to a priest who cleansed it, thus supposedly lifting the curse.
But still, after the great cataclysm, the player would find Fitzsimmons asking for help. He said he had given up drinking, but he was itching for another drink, so you were told to fetch some from a keg in the cellar of the local inn. The keg was dusty and had clearly been left alone for a long time.
When given the drink, Fitzsimmons told of the curse, and how his shipmates were doomed to haunt their sunken vessels. Then, he sent the player to put them to rest, and recover the Cursed Eye of Paleth, so that it might be cleansed.
It's worth noting that, for any player of World of Warcraft, doing a quest that has been completed before by other characters is nothing out of the ordinary.
Anyway, the player retrieves the Eye and brings it to the priest.
But, dear reader, when you hand it over, the priest, at first, doesn't know what you are talking about.
Then, he tells you that the Cursed Eye of Paleth was retrieved and cleansed by an adventurer several years ago.
Stranger still, Fitzsimmons died not long after...
The priest says said that, from time to time, adventurers had said they had talked to him, and been asked to recover the Eye.
So, it would seem Fitzsimmons couldn't escape the curse after all...
He will forever be sitting outside that inn, waiting to talk to another adventurer...
Perhaps you'll see him there some day...
And he'll say "I gave up drinking long ago..."
First, some backstory: In the latest expansion, Cataclysm, all of Azeroth was remade. The old quests were mostly thrown out and replaced with new ones.
For those who had played the game before the great cataclysm, there was nothing odd in finding a character called First Mate Fitzsimmons in a flooded town on the coast.
He was involved in a storyline that consisted of the player bringing him some mead, then hearing his tale; how the fleet he was sailing with was ambushed by dragons and sunk, but the sailors were doomed to forever walk the earth as ghosts, because of an artifact called the Cursed Eye of Paleth, that was carried by one of the ships.
The player then retrieved the eye, and gave it to a priest who cleansed it, thus supposedly lifting the curse.
But still, after the great cataclysm, the player would find Fitzsimmons asking for help. He said he had given up drinking, but he was itching for another drink, so you were told to fetch some from a keg in the cellar of the local inn. The keg was dusty and had clearly been left alone for a long time.
When given the drink, Fitzsimmons told of the curse, and how his shipmates were doomed to haunt their sunken vessels. Then, he sent the player to put them to rest, and recover the Cursed Eye of Paleth, so that it might be cleansed.
It's worth noting that, for any player of World of Warcraft, doing a quest that has been completed before by other characters is nothing out of the ordinary.
Anyway, the player retrieves the Eye and brings it to the priest.
But, dear reader, when you hand it over, the priest, at first, doesn't know what you are talking about.
Then, he tells you that the Cursed Eye of Paleth was retrieved and cleansed by an adventurer several years ago.
Stranger still, Fitzsimmons died not long after...
The priest says said that, from time to time, adventurers had said they had talked to him, and been asked to recover the Eye.
So, it would seem Fitzsimmons couldn't escape the curse after all...
He will forever be sitting outside that inn, waiting to talk to another adventurer...
Perhaps you'll see him there some day...
And he'll say "I gave up drinking long ago..."
söndag 9 januari 2011
Lazy Sunday!
Today I'll just be really lazy and write down a few lines from songs that I am especially fond of!
"I swear on tomorrow if you take this chance
Our lives are this moment, the music the dance
And here in this labyrinth of lost mystery
I close my eyes on this night, and you're all that I see" - Not What You See by Savatage
"I never wanted to know, never wanted to see, I wasted my time 'til time wasted me
Never wanted to go, always wanted to stay 'cause the person I am are the parts that I play
So I plotted, I planned, hoped and I schemed, to the lure of the night filled with unfinished dreams
And I'm holding on tight to a world gone astray as they charge me for years I can no longer pay" - When the Crowds Have Gone by Savatage
"You've been fighting for your soul and sometimes it takes a toll
Hope one day you'll understand what it means to hold in hands
What we call a fantasy, it is nothing but a key to the world that now you're in, that they call a wicked dream" - The Seven Angels by Avantasia
"Too much love will kill you, just as sure as none at all
It'll drain the power that's in you, make you bleed and scream and crawl
And the pain it will make you crazy, you're the victim of your crime
Too much love will kill you, every time" - Too Much Love Will Kill You by Queen
"I can make the runner stumble, I can make the final block
I can make every tackle at the sound of the whistle, I can make all the stadiums rock
And I can make tonight forever, or I could make it disappear by the dawn
And I could make you every promise that has ever been made, I can make all your deamons be gone" - Making Love Out Of Nothing At All by Air Supply
Enjoy, and good night!
"I swear on tomorrow if you take this chance
Our lives are this moment, the music the dance
And here in this labyrinth of lost mystery
I close my eyes on this night, and you're all that I see" - Not What You See by Savatage
"I never wanted to know, never wanted to see, I wasted my time 'til time wasted me
Never wanted to go, always wanted to stay 'cause the person I am are the parts that I play
So I plotted, I planned, hoped and I schemed, to the lure of the night filled with unfinished dreams
And I'm holding on tight to a world gone astray as they charge me for years I can no longer pay" - When the Crowds Have Gone by Savatage
"You've been fighting for your soul and sometimes it takes a toll
Hope one day you'll understand what it means to hold in hands
What we call a fantasy, it is nothing but a key to the world that now you're in, that they call a wicked dream" - The Seven Angels by Avantasia
"Too much love will kill you, just as sure as none at all
It'll drain the power that's in you, make you bleed and scream and crawl
And the pain it will make you crazy, you're the victim of your crime
Too much love will kill you, every time" - Too Much Love Will Kill You by Queen
"I can make the runner stumble, I can make the final block
I can make every tackle at the sound of the whistle, I can make all the stadiums rock
And I can make tonight forever, or I could make it disappear by the dawn
And I could make you every promise that has ever been made, I can make all your deamons be gone" - Making Love Out Of Nothing At All by Air Supply
Enjoy, and good night!
lördag 8 januari 2011
Assassin's Creed...
Here's the deal: I've recently thought quite a lot about the foundation of the philosophy of the assassin's in said game.
In essence, the thought is "Nothing is true, everything is permitted".
Now, I don't take this to mean that literally anything goes, but rather that it is a bad thing for mankind to get stuck with dogma that strangulates the minds of the people.
Why are we still stuck with views on homosexuality and marriage from thousands of years ago? It's really quite absurd, and to a great degree simply disgusting, but it's all due to dogma.
And really, the major churches are incredibly fucked up when a mainstream videogame from France offers a more reasonable philosophy than the church has managed to work out in two thousand years!
In essence, the thought is "Nothing is true, everything is permitted".
Now, I don't take this to mean that literally anything goes, but rather that it is a bad thing for mankind to get stuck with dogma that strangulates the minds of the people.
Why are we still stuck with views on homosexuality and marriage from thousands of years ago? It's really quite absurd, and to a great degree simply disgusting, but it's all due to dogma.
And really, the major churches are incredibly fucked up when a mainstream videogame from France offers a more reasonable philosophy than the church has managed to work out in two thousand years!
onsdag 22 december 2010
Amazing talent!
Here's one that I've been contemplating for a good while, and with good cause.
In short, there are a lot of people in the world who have talents that I don't.
Yes, I know it's hard to fathom that I'm not an expert at everything, but just entertain the thought for a moment.
I have some things that I'm damn good at, but I keep being amazed at the things other people can do.
Take painters, for instance; people who can draw and paint something with easy. Myself, I have a really hard time at this. Just painting a few strokes is trouble in my book, but there are people who can just sit down and paint masterpieces like you've never seen.
Oh, and while we're at it; maths!
In my head, mathematics is jibberish. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever in my head, yet there are people to whom the numbers lay down like a bed of flowers.
Maybe I'm just happy there are people who can do all that stuff, because I sure can't, and I can't imagine what it would be like to be able to in the first place.
In short, there are a lot of people in the world who have talents that I don't.
Yes, I know it's hard to fathom that I'm not an expert at everything, but just entertain the thought for a moment.
I have some things that I'm damn good at, but I keep being amazed at the things other people can do.
Take painters, for instance; people who can draw and paint something with easy. Myself, I have a really hard time at this. Just painting a few strokes is trouble in my book, but there are people who can just sit down and paint masterpieces like you've never seen.
Oh, and while we're at it; maths!
In my head, mathematics is jibberish. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever in my head, yet there are people to whom the numbers lay down like a bed of flowers.
Maybe I'm just happy there are people who can do all that stuff, because I sure can't, and I can't imagine what it would be like to be able to in the first place.
lördag 18 december 2010
Harry Potter...
...is an absolute moron!
Really, he's a bonehead.
It's a miracle that he survived the books, because he sure as hell worked hard enough to avoid it!
Just look at that whole episode in the Ministry of Magic.
He gets a vision telling him Sirius is in trouble.
A smart person would figure that it's most likely a trap, and just double check with the magical mirror to see that everything is fine.
A slightly less intelligent person would not realize that it is a trap, but would still check with the mirror to see if Sirius is okay.
An even less intelligent person would not realize it is a trap but alert Snape, so that he can put the entire Order of the Phoenix on the job.
Now, a stupid person would try to break into the headmistress' office and attempt to use the floo-network to contact Sirius.
A complete and utter arch-idiot, the stupidity of which is unparalleled, would try the floo thingy, fail, alert Snape, yet still run off to the Ministry of Magic to try and stop Voldemort.
Now, let's say it hadn't been a trap, then Harry and his gang would have been faced with a reborn Voldemort in all his glory, as well as a horde of death-eaters. Surely, even if it wasn't a trap, it would still be a fucking trap, because Voldemort would still be there to catch Harry!
My god, the idiocy of it all! Hadn't fate been favouring him all along, he would be dead in a ditch by the second book!
Really, he's a bonehead.
It's a miracle that he survived the books, because he sure as hell worked hard enough to avoid it!
Just look at that whole episode in the Ministry of Magic.
He gets a vision telling him Sirius is in trouble.
A smart person would figure that it's most likely a trap, and just double check with the magical mirror to see that everything is fine.
A slightly less intelligent person would not realize that it is a trap, but would still check with the mirror to see if Sirius is okay.
An even less intelligent person would not realize it is a trap but alert Snape, so that he can put the entire Order of the Phoenix on the job.
Now, a stupid person would try to break into the headmistress' office and attempt to use the floo-network to contact Sirius.
A complete and utter arch-idiot, the stupidity of which is unparalleled, would try the floo thingy, fail, alert Snape, yet still run off to the Ministry of Magic to try and stop Voldemort.
Now, let's say it hadn't been a trap, then Harry and his gang would have been faced with a reborn Voldemort in all his glory, as well as a horde of death-eaters. Surely, even if it wasn't a trap, it would still be a fucking trap, because Voldemort would still be there to catch Harry!
My god, the idiocy of it all! Hadn't fate been favouring him all along, he would be dead in a ditch by the second book!
onsdag 15 december 2010
Change!
I don't like when things change. In general, I'd like things to stay the same forever.
However, I want things to improve, so they have to change in order for me to get what I want. The eternal paradox of my existence.
The main problem with change is that it's not a game of sums, or at least it isn't in my case.
Let's say you lose a friend, but gain another friend. Some may think that you come out even, but the gaining of a friend doesn't change the fact that you lost one.
After all, people aren't just numbers, every friend is different, so losing one means losing a unique individual.
I don't like losing friends, and it seems to hit me particularly hard when I've been alienated from one, and no other friend will ever be able to replace that person, because they aren't the same.
In the words of Cardew Robinson; "They say when you gain a lover, you begin to lose a friend, that the end of the beginning's the beginning of the end".
However, I want things to improve, so they have to change in order for me to get what I want. The eternal paradox of my existence.
The main problem with change is that it's not a game of sums, or at least it isn't in my case.
Let's say you lose a friend, but gain another friend. Some may think that you come out even, but the gaining of a friend doesn't change the fact that you lost one.
After all, people aren't just numbers, every friend is different, so losing one means losing a unique individual.
I don't like losing friends, and it seems to hit me particularly hard when I've been alienated from one, and no other friend will ever be able to replace that person, because they aren't the same.
In the words of Cardew Robinson; "They say when you gain a lover, you begin to lose a friend, that the end of the beginning's the beginning of the end".
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