The Official off/non topic THREAD

[Chanakya]

^

That's outright ridiculous! I heard that even festivals like Wacken and Brutal Assault only charged about 25-40$ per day.

 

[Chanakya]

it's a shame that such an amazing artist like Mattias Noren had to shut shop

It looks like Mattias Noren's back! Apparently he's working on the new albums of Evergrey, Ayreon and Epica.

 

[Ghâshûl]

I always wonder how festivals can be so cheap (comparatively), when some shows with one big band are incredibly expensive.
Metallica played five (or six) sold out gigs in Copenhagen in a row last year, and I can't remember the exact cost, but just that it was way beyond what I was willing to pay for it. It may have been around $130 as I recall.

 

[Morticia NL.]

Update on the expensive Israel Metallica show ticket prices, from the FB campaigning page:
Friends, I’m shaking with excitement as I’m writing this. After a 4 day campaign, tens of news items about us worldwide, over 6000 supporters and numerous media interviews we can say that we did it! We won!

This afternoon, Or & Tomer Mussman met with Mr. Gad Oron, the promoter’s representative and reached an agreement about a significant drop in ticket prices.
We would like to personally thank Metallica and their management for directly helping us with reaching our goal and reducing the prices.

We are officially asking each and every one of you to stop the boycott, and come and enjoy Metallica’s concert with us on May 22.

We want to thank each and every one of you who made their contribution to our successful campaign by joining, signing the petition, or sending links from and to the media everywhere and helping our voice to be heard and echo all around the world.

We want to thank the producers, Metallica members and management who were willing to talk to us

Quite a few sites brought the news of the boycot:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=136067
http://rockvillemag.blogspot.com/2010/03/israel-metal-fans-boycott-metallica-due.html
http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/...-show-band-s-plunge-into-assholery-continues/
http://www.mako.co.il/music-news/local/Article-6ee785bd3101721006.htm (in Hebrew)


It is good to see that sometimes these kind of initiatives are picked up on. They were just to complain and in the end they got the prices down-

 

[HaTikva]

People nonetheless complain about festivals getting more expensive. Silly ifyou ask me: 150€ to see a 30 or 40 bands in a weekend --- if you'd see them all separately in concert halls you'd pay a multitude of that money.

Nonetheless I extremely rarely visit festivals. I don't like the atmosphere.
1) in a concert of a single band it's easy to make new contacts because you're all fans of the band and the common interest = easy icebreaker
2) in a concert the band can play as long as they want without having to stick to a very tight schedule, and will play some fan favourites rather than only the well known songs that also non-fans know
3) a comfortable hall with clean toilets and affordable drinks > muddy outdoor venues with very unclean restrooms (if any at all) and long queus for expensive food and drinks

If there is no other option than a festival (= if the band I wanna see does no separate concerts) then I will ALWAYS check into a hotel. No way I am going to sleep in a tent on a muddy festival camping ...

 

[HaTikva]

OK, my rant for today... For some reason I cannot access this forum from work during my breaks because the internet filter at work considers this forum as "obscene or tasteless" ... What the heck? It's a site where people review and discuss music... What can be obscene about that?! Meanwhile some guys at work visit dating sites and we can also read online newspapers including the ones who have topless pics in a "WAG of the day" category. Filter does not mind. But a metal discussion board and it blocks the screen sending my boss a message that I opened a "obscene or tasteless" site....Where is the logic or sense in that??!

 

[Chanakya]

Anton, I'll ease your work by writing over here. Why is it that Mr FiveStringer isn't around?

 

[FiveString]

Dude, I knew it was time to tear myself away from my 3-hrs...shoot--less sleep to log on here. The impetus was a PM I couldn't skip. That wasn't a dream, Ananth, though I am mighty flattered, yessir, ah aym, that I was a participant of Texas dimensions & Spaghetti-Western customs. No sir, ah have a daily custom to git on out of the corral on my mustang (the warm-blooded one) & shoot @ the sky, b'cause ahm a peaceful mayn. Yep, that's raght, pardner, ah maght lahk my guns, but ah jest use 'em to shoot @ paper or if some rattler or rabid critter is fixin' to attack.

WTF have ah done to merit someone in India who has never met me suffer through a dream in which ah gallop? Ah reckon 'tain't no way to explain it, 'cept maybe this Ananth honcho's jest being nahce.

I have a rockin' band at long last, so I'm either practicing w/them in my free tahm or practicing alone in my "free tahm." We're fixin' to start giggin' soon, if all goes well, yep. Startin' in April, sho loox thay way.

Oh, & work.... But ah love y'all. If'n ah haven't met ya, or, rather, "met" ya, that's okay. S'long as ya come in peace, I believe I do too.

YEEHAH.

p.s.: After a stint w/MySpace & various "nings," ahv decided ah ain't venturing into that virtual world of y'all Can See Me Now. Heck, news items in which I wuz involved in shape or form come up w/Google; this is Orwell's prophecy come true in every way. Don't let the snooper git ya! Fight the Power.

Okay I'm gonna go OT in the OT thread.

Last night after a long day I go to sleep and then I have a crazy dream.... I remember all of were bitching about Hill not being around and all of the sudden he rushes into the scene on a horse with a cowboy hat and a thick Texan accent, shooting bullets into the sky going heeeehaaaw! ...
Gosh my dreams are eccentric

 

[Chanakya]

I don't know why I overlooked this post, but that's one of your trademarks And the redneck accented post does nothing more than reinforce that Texan image

Hope your days are much more chilled out, and you no longer have instances of drive-by shootings.

 

[FiveString]

Shoot Fire, Ananth;

You should know better'n dat, whippersnapper! Doggit to all tarnation, I NEARLY moved to Texas, but got freaked out by the fire ants (was summer), 110 F flames (they call it weather down thar, son), & the sorry tiny town where I wuz to work.

Nope, t'wasn't to be. I'm back in Missouri. Yep, yeah, alright, have some mooneshine while yer laughing, okay, yeah we're perty backwoods here, but at least we've got four real seasons, trees all over, & the MF'ing KKK'sheet-heads keeps its pin-head down more often. They know how flammable their diaper-sheets are. Ahm a'fixin to take care of a few of 'em in South County. Ah'll be alraht. Got lotsa experience exterminating varmints, son.

Props for the props on my beautiful Larry the Cable guy (he's from Yankee Nebraska!) redneck dialect. But ah kin speak lahk a civiliahzed mayn when I feel lahk hit.

FS

 

[Postmodernist]

It's awesome to see the good old redneck FiveStrings dropping by here now and then!


@Raziel X: in Introducing Ourselves threads you mentioned that you are a big cRPG fan.

Along with true great RPGs Fallout 1&2, Baldur's Gate 1&2, Planescape: Torment, Arcanum, Wizardry Series, Might & Magic series, Realms of Arkania, Spiderweb Software games, Daggerfall, Vampire series, SW: KOTOR, Ultima series, Knights Of The Chalice, Rings Of Power I would like to recommend you to check out the forthcoming all-time masterpiece RPG, Age OF Decadence:
http://antonsaysdotcom.livejournal.com/12573.html

The game is plainly a miracle, you can check out its combat demo here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ingdvgt0wot
or
http://depositfiles.com/en/files/tia7p7yjh
or
http://www.irontowerstudio.com/files/AoD_demo_R3_1.exe

The demo allows to feel the atmosphere, and combat/weapon/character creation and development systems, the full version expected in the 2nd half of 2010.

 

[HaTikva]

Shalom all!

You probably noticed my absence ... I just recovered from a quite bad flu. Fell ill end of last week and had to leave work halfway the day with cold shivers in the spine and a dizzy/groggy feeling. Went to the doctor the day after because it wasn't exactly much better (despite sleeping for almost 24 hours) but in Spain we don't have regular doctors working in the weekend so you are redirected to the emergency department of the hospital there. Those folks know how to scare a person into thinking he's got some serious illness I was immediately told they'd take a blood sample (which I refused as I strongly dislike needles) and an X ray. My first reaction was "why such measures, it's just a flu... or isn't it?". After a bit of waiting and some standard stuff (checking pulse, longs, etc) the diagnose was a simple flu after all but it took another 5 days before the headaches and weak feeling were gone ...

Well, guess better now than if this had happened in a month's time. Imagine missing the Orphaned Land gig due to illness... That would have been a serious blow.

 

[Postmodernist]

Great to hear that you're feeling better now fellow.

Hehe, there is an observation - like, Mediterraneans get really concerned when getting a flu and stomach issues are hardly considered in problem, while Scandinavians don't care much about flu, but are very concerned when they have stomach issues.

 

[Raziel X]

It's awesome to see the good old redneck FiveStrings dropping by here now and then!


@Raziel X: in Introducing Ourselves threads you mentioned that you are a big cRPG fan.

Along with true great RPGs Fallout 1&2, Baldur's Gate 1&2, Planescape: Torment, Arcanum, Wizardry Series, Might & Magic series, Realms of Arkania, Spiderweb Software games, Daggerfall, Vampire series, SW: KOTOR, Ultima series, Knights Of The Chalice, Rings Of Power I would like to recommend you to check out the forthcoming all-time masterpiece RPG, Age OF Decadence

As much as I would want to check it out, any new RPG stuffz is almost unplayable on this machine unfortunately, I am happy with the stuff that runs here now. If I had a better computer, I would start playing TES IV, Gothic III, Risen, Dragon Age, Gothic IV (when it comes out), Heroes of might and magic V (on reasonable graphic settings) right away. Which sucks I cant, and I cant afford a new computer atm either, have to save as I go to US in the summer, and then later I am going to move in to live with my fiancee (then wife). A friend promised us some money so hopefully we can buy some good machine for that heh

Those games are some of the best inspiration sources out of video games, besides adventure and action/adventure games. Legacy of Kain series is still a huge jewel to me, especially the fates of Raziel

Oh yea ppl, hope I am not bothering anyone here with it, but feel free to check out my poems stuff on myspace and freewebs. I think I provided links in other threads, though if you want I can tell you em.

And if you feel too lazy to go to those sites, feel free to request some of my stuff to be put in here

 

[Postmodernist]

The stuff I'm talking about is old-school and does not try eating out all system resources unlike the new commercial "poster games".

 

[Raziel X]

Hmm sounds good, is it about gladiators or sth? I like this kind of ancient greek/roman stuff

 

[Postmodernist]

The demo only includes the game's combat part, so you don't do much RPG in the demo, only find out how to create and develop character, how to fight effectively, pros and cons of each weapon etc.

The full game will be much more than that, but the demo itself is totally addictive.

 

[HaTikva]

Great to hear that you're feeling better now fellow.

Hehe, there is an observation - like, Mediterraneans get really concerned when getting a flu and stomach issues are hardly considered in problem, while Scandinavians don't care much about flu, but are very concerned when they have stomach issues.

Hehe Well, having lived in 6 EU countries now I can safely say the Spanish doctors definitely rank amongst the least active ones I've seen. I luckily only needed them twice since living here, but some of them just sit behind a desk all the time and hardly want to stand up to check your blood pressure and listen to your lungs. Also, every single time I visit a doctor here they ask if I smoke, drink or use drugs (answer is NO on all three questions) ; wouldn't it be easier to write such things down in their database rather than asking it every time again?




I see videogames being discussed here ... And I know not a single one of them. I am 28 but this makes me feel like so much out of touch with the modern ongoings... I remember my childhood when a 16 bit Nintendo console and plating Streetfighter II, Super Mario Bros III or Tetris were still considered modern games. I guess they belong in an antique shop nowadays ... I am getting old

 

[Bound2Fate]

Those games are some of the best inspiration sources out of video games, besides adventure and action/adventure games. Legacy of Kain series is still a huge jewel to me, especially the fates of Raziel

HELL YEAH!!! That series is the shit! By far my favorite of all time and probably will be until I die since I barely play games nowadays, but LOK has a big spot in my life.



On a different note, I saw Opeth last night in Los Angeles. AWESOME show btw! I was sporting my Orphaned Land shirt and about 10 people commented me on that...and I saw another two guys with Orphaned Land shirts too.

 

[Raziel X]

Haha dude your avatar is apparently from Defiance! That game was ace IMO... especially the Raziel's last moments scene :'(