i’ve got another toy:

well, it’s more a tool than a toy, and it’ll become an integral component of my daily life… at least, for the next three months. here are some close-ups:

feathery and fragile fingers reaching out, fumbling for something which isn’t there, not anymore. a scenery emblazed by glaring light, soon being drowned by utter darkness. melancholy hovering like leaves in the chilly air, seizing me. exposing me.

well. today i did my first outdoor tests with my new toy. here are some of the results, which i like .

landscape.

i took the following pictures in the nature protection area next to the place where i’m staying at the moment.

trees

i like trees, as some of you probably already noticed :)

university.

two views on the more beautiful part (which happens to be the part where mathematics and natural sciences are located) of the carl von ossietzky university oldenburg.

zoom.

besides trees, i also like my new telephoto lens.

today i stumbled about a song called gloomy sunday, originally composed by the hungarian pianist rezső seress. there are probably as many urban myths about this song, which is also known as the hungarian suicide song, as there are cover versions… i like the original lyrics the most; you can read them here (both the original hungarian version and a literal translation). reads like a typical doom song, just written around 50 years too early…
for me, it seems like a really strange idea to kill yourself because of listening to a song, and in particular, it seems really strange to blame a song for making people commit suicide. for me, it sounds like an excuse for not having to search for other reaons… maybe it was the last straw to tip people off, or suicideers decided to listen to it on or shortly before their suicide because it expresses their feelings.
but anyway. i’m somehow wondering whether a doom metal band has covered this one, too; the only metal band i found who did this is a german black metal act called negator; a video of a life performance can be seen at their homepage (don’t watch it if you don’t like black metal); they are performing sam m. lewis‘ english version of the song. i didn’t like it too much, first of all because i don’t think black metal fits here and, secondly, i’d prefer something more close to the original lyrics.

it is autumn and the leaves are falling
all love has died on earth
the wind is weeping with sorrowful tears
my heart will never hope for a new spring again
my tears and my sorrows are all in vain
people are heartless, greedy and wicked…

literal translation of the first stanza taken from phespirit.info.

just listened to ayreon‘s latest prog metal opera 01011001 (binary ascii representation of the letter y). it features, next to fifteen other singers, ex-the gathering singer anneke van giersbergen and katatonia‘s jonas renkse and also features, besides some other solos, a synth solo by keyboard virtuose derek sherinian, who also played with dream theater for a few years. featuring a story on loss of emotions and rediscovering, on messing with peoples destiny, of attempts to help which make everything worse, which lead to ultimate destruction. it’s a great story, with great music, and great vocalists. what else do you want?

“face the facts, there is no way back
arise, it’s time to act
face the facts, our future is black
arise, we’re on the wrong track”

from beneath the waves by ayreon.