Music Transcriptions! Gold/Silver Wild Pokémon Battle

Gold and Silver had the best battle music.
I've skipped the Red/Blue champion battle music for now because IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE.

Sheet music (PDF) can be found HERE.

Music Transcriptions! R/B Gym Leader Battle

This one I'm less sure about—especially in measure 20.

Sheet music (PDF) can be found HERE.

Music Transcriptions! R/B Pokemon Trainer Battle

Self explanitoreh.

Sheet music (PDF) can be found HERE.

Music Transcriptions! Red/Blue Wild Pokémon Battle

The GameBoy Pokémon games are pretty simple to do; there are only 3 voices to pick out, and it's especially easy when you have the Audacity (geddit) to slow the track down 75%. Dynamics/articulation etc. don't matter that much in these cuz it's all synthesized 'n' shit.

Sheet music (PDF) can be found HERE

I'm thinking about doing formal analysis on the battle music of the first Pokémon games, because it sounds like a neat idea. Yes, formal musical analysis of Pokémon music.

Music Transcriptions! The Passing of the Elves

So yeah, I'm also a musician and I do transcriptions by ear in my spare time—mostly from film music. Recently I've been trying to limit  my my transcriptions to strictly what I can pick up by ear and relying on as little outside information as possible.

Anywho, this is The Passing of the Elves (or Elvish Lament) from The Fellowship of the Ring—only appears in the Extended Edition.

Sheet music (PDF) can be found HERE.
Audio track (via YouTube) can be found HERE.

Pretty self-explanatory. Was surprised to learn that Howard Shore did not write this; a group called Plan 9 did all the "cultural" music in the Lord of the Rings films.

Anyone who cares can let me know if they disagree with anything I heard. I'm not at all sure if the two male voices are even in this piece, but I'm pretty sure I heard someone singing in that octave.

An Honest Look at the Friendzone (or, some pretentious, feminist bitch writes about the friendzone)

I originally wrote this in October when off my meds and up all night; decided to post it.


I've considered myself a feminist for as long as I can remember, but I've often experienced a rift between myself and the mainstream feminist opinion. Case-in-point: the topic of this essay and the fact that I think "pretentious, feminist bitch," is an apt description that doesn't contradict my feminism. Just because women aren't inferior to men doesn't mean that they can't be bitches like men can. Anyway, here are the ramblings of some random, romantically-inexperienced college student who hasn't slept in over twelve hours.

 Tumblr user delacroix (whose Tumblr page uses a Windows 98 theme and is impossible to navigate) posted on an unknown date this lengthy quote:

"It sucks when someone you have feelings for doesn’t share those feelings; it happens to women all the time, too. We hear "I just want to be friends" and "you're like one of the guys" and "you're like a sister to me" just as often. But you'll never hear a woman complain that guys just don’t appreciate a Nice Girl because we're taught it's our own fucking fault when we're rejected—we aren’t pretty enough or thin enough or sexy enough, we weren't sexual enough or were too sexual, we put out too much or too little or too soon or not soon enough, we didn’t wear our hair the right way or our skirt the right length, we're "too tomboyish" or "too butch" or "too feminine", or we're "not their type", or we're otherwise not good enough in various ways to entice the man to grace us with his affection. But when we're not interested in someone, we're vilified. We're the bitch that led them on, the bitch who let them buy us dinner but didn’t want to date them, the bitch who doesn't appreciate a nice guy, the bitch they were nice to and then got nothing in return from. And, frankly, fuck those people. Showing interest in me, being friendly with me, getting close to me, or eating a meal with me (even if they paid for it) doesn’t obligate me to open my heart or my legs. And anyone who doesn't appreciate my friendship sure as hell doesn’t deserve my love or my pussy."

Here are the things that really piss me off generally, with regards to this quote—in order from least to greatest: 1. people using smartquotes in html so that I have to manually replace everything to make it match the rest of my text; 2. when people are plain wrong; and 3. when people are wrong, and it actually makes a difference that they're wrong. I will go through this quote line-by-line, showing that she is wrong and that it does make a difference.

Now, the quote doesn't appear in its original form on delacroix's shitty Tumblr page (I found it through reblogging), so I don't actually know who is the author of this quote. So, to avoid attributing a quote to a mistaken author (the opinion of which delacroix probably agrees with anyway) I will refer to the author simply as such, or with the appropriate pronouns.

The post begins:

"It sucks when someone you have feelings for doesn’t share those feelings…"

Indeed, it does. The angels sing "hallelujah!" as I accept the olive branch and we ride off in a chariot of fire to victory, but she goes on:

 "…it happens to women all the time, too. We hear "I just want to be friends" and "you're like one of the guys" and "you're like a sister to me" just as often."

Well, I have literally never heard of a specific instance of that. I'm definitely not saying that it doesn't happen, but my intuition and experience make me skeptical that these instances occur "just as often." I think I've heard the phrase "'you're like one of the guys'" somewhere, but frankly, the line "'you're like a sister to me'" sounds made-up to me; something that a guy would never say, but I honestly have no idea. In reality, the discussion of whether men are friendzoned more than women is a non sequitur, and a pointless discussion in itself, as I don't think sociologists have done any polling on the frequency of friendzoning with respect to sex. It's simply my intuition that it's squewed at least slightly toward the men side of the spectrum, in part because the complaining comes almost exclusively from men—except in anime (see "I Hope Senpai Will Notice Me"). Oh, but don't worry, the author gives her explanation for this discrepency:

"But you'll never hear a woman complain that guys just don’t appreciate a Nice Girl [sic?] because we're taught it's our own fucking fault when we're rejected—we aren't pretty enough or thin enough or sexy enough, we weren't sexual enough or were too sexual, we put out too much or too little or too soon or not soon enough, we didn’t wear our hair the right way or our skirt the right length, we're "too tomboyish" or "too butch" or "too feminine", or we're "not their type", or we're otherwise not good enough in various ways to entice the man to grace us with his affection."

So let's get this straight: the author seems to think that complaining about being friendzoned is unwarranted (it's hard to tell), but she says that women don't complain because they are taught by society to blame themselves—a situation which, both I and the author agree, is deeply immoral and problematic. In other words, according to the author, women don't complain about being friendzoned (a good thing) because they were conditioned to be vain and superficial and blame themselves (a bad thing). This is almost guilt-tripping, but the motives in this sentence are so hopelessly confused that I don't even know what the term for it is. It seems, according to the author, that in the ideal state in which men and women are raised exactly the same way, that women would complain about being friendzoned just like men do.

"But when we're not interested in someone, we're vilified. We're the bitch that led them on, the bitch who let them buy us dinner but didn’t want to date them, the bitch who doesn't appreciate a nice guy, the bitch they were nice to and then got nothing in return from."

First, some advice to feminists: women don't have to be the victim in every situation. Women are only victims if you can show them to be, and we have plenty of examples of it; we don't need more.

Second, this, right here, is the core of the issue. This is why the word "friendzone" exists. This is the pain and sorrow expressed in poetry and song throughout the centuries, and I hope to settle this right here and now. 

Know Your Meme user LegatoSkyheart on the page for "Friend Zone Fiona" (a forced meme, but whatever. Fuck you Reddit) puts the issue thusly:

"You open this door to see a really cute girl, beyond any girl you have seen, a girl with talent, a girl with moves, a girl with smarts, you give her flowers and chocolates, but she still denies your pleas, you’ve just entered….THE FRIEND ZONE."

I am not a psychologist, so unfortunately, I don't have the proper jargon to describe this phenomenon, but the concept is simple: pent up expectations, immense time and effort spent, with no release (a trained feminist eye will see the sexual analogy here, but don't worry, your flaying on that issue will come later). Devoted men will "buy [her] dinner," as our feminist author writes, they'll "buy her flowers and chocolates," but the answer will always, sadly, be "no." Again, I wish I were a psychologist, because "dissappointment" is clearly an insufficient word here. This is the unfulfillment of a deep wish—a goal that the man truly thought was acheiveable, but wasn't in the end. This is passionate time and energy wasted.

Everyone is probably on the same page at this point, but the author brought up the issue in which the woman is "vilified." This issue is not unreal. On the same Know Your Meme page, the user Valadar917 writes, perhaps somewhat ironically: "[f]or any girl who are [sic] like this, you’re what’s wrong with this world." It's because friendzoned men feel the woman to be "the bitch that led them on." But if the woman did in fact lead the man on, I feel some blame should be put on her, so the question is, "is this the case?" Again, unfortunately having to refer to my intuition and experience, I would say that in the vast, vast majority of cases, the woman is blameless for any miscommunication.

Thus, the vilification would be indefensible, yet, I would argue, understandible. The guy in this situation has been let down and deeply hurt, but if it were simply rejection he were facing, it wouldn't be called the "friendzone." The friendzone is to be endured, you are kept in suspension like a magnet repelled in the air from falling to earth. It's the Limbo of romantic relationships: punishment for a sin not committed until redemtion by moving on in life, or by a renewal of sin in a more willing person. The people in Limbo might indeed curse the God that sent them there. There is no one directly responsible for being friendzoned, but people feel the need to cast the blame on someone. So unfortunately, the men blame the women, and according to our author, the women blame themselves (but at least they don't complain about it).

"And, frankly,fuck those people.Showing interest in me, being friendly with me, getting close to me, or eating a meal with me(evenif they paid for it) doesn’t obligate me to open my heart…"

…wait for it…

"…or my legs."

Fuck you.

"And anyone who doesn't appreciate my friendship sure as hell doesn’t deserve my love or my pussy."

This is where I throw my arms up in the air. This is why I started writing this in the first place. You pretentious bitch. This is why people hate feminists, and this is why I hate your feminism. You are the Westboro Baptist Church of feminism. "GOD HATES MEN," right? It's not about a relationship or any other emotional devotion. When the chips are down, men are just sex-obsessed pigs in the end. Do you have that pinned up above your Roseanne DVD box set?

Firstly, as I begin take this apart, I said I'd come back to the sex issue, and here we are. I imply that friendzoned men seek a real relationship, not because they only want some sort of Platonic relationship bullshit, but because sexual drive and other "better" emotions are not too easily separated. If I just wanted a Platonic relationship, I wouldn't call it the "friendzone." If I just wanted sex, I'd get a whore.

Secondly, about her pretentious attitude. She seems to be under the impression that a strong confident woman=asshole. This bitch seems to be obsessed with flaunting her sex hole to people. It's not that interesting. Stop it. Also, try saying that to a friendzonee of yours. I think you'd lose one right there.

Thirdly, and most importantly, this is the worst, most corrosive attitude you could have in this situation. For one thing, it's counter-productive. You get blamed for hurting a guy, and you antagonize him in return. And finally, you take a guy in one of his most sensitive, vulnerable, and emotionally unstable states, and you beat down on him. Friendship isn't some precious gift to be given through your devine mercy, it's a connection that people form together as equals. If he did appreciate your friendship, would he then deserve your love? No. Because this isn't an argument, it's a cocktease. This is God laughing at the people in Limbo. This is pouring salt into a wound. This is kicking a puppy. Even if the puppy had bit you, kicking it would be repugnant. And if you think men should know better when the puppy shouldn't, I suggest you rethink the what it's like to pine over somebody, and the irrational state one is in.

If one takes the cruel, pretentious attitude of the author of this quote, she can give herself a little gold star in her feminist notebook, but people will be hurt and left even more unstable, and her satisfaction will be illegitimate—undue. On the contrary, treating people with compassion allows the wounds to heal. One needn't assert oneself as superior in order to be confident, so one should best treat the situation as equals with mutual respect. If no fangs are bared in this licking of wounds, no more harm need be done.



Finally, to whoever wrote this quote, go play in traffic.

The Hate List

An on-going list of the innumerable things that never cease to raise my blood pressure.

The Arts in General

• “It means whatever it means to you,” and other relativist bullshit like that
• “This is a personal piece!” Then why are you showcasing it to the public if it's not for us?

Visual Arts

• Andy fucking Warhol
• Pretty much everything about the modern art community
• “Pornography isn’t art!”
• “Who's to say this isn't art?”

Music

• Feist and people who sing like her
• Claude Debussy
• Calling pieces by their common name, rather than their official name (e.g. “Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy,’” rather than Symphony No. 9 in D minor, 4^th movement, or a shortened version thereof)
• Atextual interpretations of music (the composer wrote things on the page for a reason)
• “You can’t sing in that range? Oh, let’s change the key then.” YOU JUST CHANGED THE MUSIC.
• “Whatsername” by Green Day (or moreso the fact that it’s tacked on at the end of the album. I listen to American Idiot with that track removed)
• Bob Dylan
• “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”
• Dodecaphonicism
• FUCKING JOHN CAGE. MOTHER. FUCKING. JOHN. CAGE.

Film

• The Star Wars Prequels (especially II)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• A Clockwork Orange
• One that note, film elitism—the attitude that people like Spielberg aren't serious filmmakers. How dare he appeal to the public
• The idea that The Avengers was anything more than a dumb summer action flick

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

• The .mov videos
• “Ponyswag”
• Clop-haters
• TWILICORN

Internet Culture

• Humanized Anonymous
• Slenderman with tentacles
• Creepypasta
• Most copypasta
• Weepypasta
• What I call "Cheesypasta"
• 42 references (Douglas Adams)
• The rampant cynicism

Religion

• “Religion was just made up to control people”
• The idea that debating religion is forcing your beliefs on people
• The concept of hell
• “Religion is a fairy tale”
• William Lane Craig (I could've put him in the philosophy category below, but that'd give him too much credit)

“Everyday” and Professional Philosophy

• “Live and let live”
•  “As long as they’re not hurting me, I don’t see the problem with it”
• Utilitarianism (see above)
• “Free will is an illusion”
• Rationalism (capital “r”)

Science

• The multiverse hypothesis
• String theory
• Quantum teleportation (this one’s actually really important, because it will kill you. I need to do an entry on this)

Sex and Sexuality

•  Homophobia of any kind
• Sexism of any kind
• Makeup (especially excessive)
• Cheating
• “Sex is inappropriate for children”
• “Nudity=sexuality”/“nudity is inappropriate for children”