Comments for dfan says

Comment on I (still) don’t see anything when I close my eyes by Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:39:18 +0000

So strange i stumbled upon this. I am the exact same way, which may seem odd considering I am a graphic design major. My drawing skills are terrible, but by drawing skills i mean my ability to render something accurately from memory. I do believe that I have other skills that are superior though, such as orientation, and being able to recall practically anyone I encounter. The part that has always bothered me is this. I grew up my whole life with a close family, seeing my parents almost everyday of my life. Yet, when i close my eyes and think, really, really hard, I cannot make out a face to my own parents. I mean, I can, but it comes and goes in and out of my mind. Another odd fact, I dream every night. vividly. I can recall my dreams every morning. crazy mind’s.

Comment on Go problem books by David Carlton

David Carlton — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:50:05 +0000

Huh, interesting – I should look some of these up, clearly. At least if I lived in the hypothetical alternate universe where I spent more time playing go.

Comment on I (still) don’t see anything when I close my eyes by fiona

fiona — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:32:31 +0000

I too have never been able to visualise, just cant imagine. Am 40yrs old, found school and learning a breeze. I dream and often see things before I fall to sleep, just cant imagine. I dont think I was disadvantaged through lack of visualisation, more so frustrated at realizing the difference between others and myself and not understanding why.

Comment on I (still) don’t see anything when I close my eyes by Beth

Beth — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:32:16 +0000

I just wanted to say that you aren’t alone. I have suffered with this condition for 26 years of my life, becoming ‘aware’ of it during early childhood. I was diagnosed at age 13 by my specialist eye doctor with having a visual processing disability. All of the symptoms you describe are exactly the same, and are common in people with these type of disabilities. Generally it can make learning very difficult, though a good many children manage to overcome the issues by training their brain to process visual information in an auditory manner. For instance sound information (the sounds of words, numbers, people’s names and places) can help you replace and trigger retaining of your brain and lesson the difficulty trying to visualize can cause. My doctor described it as often seeing children in class with their eyes shut ”grimacing to see something they just can’t bring into focus. a blankness”. Most children struggle to learn, especially around those that cannot understand the condition. It can cause other issues later in life, such as the ability to have a good sense of direction, driving, telling right from left, reading, and mathematical skills. Those that were discovered to have this condition were often placed in a visual training program to assist children and ease the difficulty it provides. It may require glasses and other brain exercises. It was never reversable for me, but coping with it managed to help me be successful in education. The problem can be entirely related to how the eyes process information or relating to the learning disability itself with various degrees of severity. You have been successful in life, even with having visualization difficulties, but if you are ever very interested in what the cause of the problem is speaking with someone specializing in visual processing disorders would help.

Comment on Cardiacs – a video primer by Steve Wollkind

Steve Wollkind — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:52:06 +0000

After reading this I was looking forward to adding these guys to my new music exploration for the day, but they are not on lala.com

Comment on Cardiacs – a video primer by Iain

Iain — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:03:49 +0000

My new favourite is Insect Hoofs on Lassie. I looked up the lyrics, which I don’t normally care about, and burst out laughing. And the music is the usual triumphant sequence of chords — I say “the usual” but there’s a different spin on it each time. I’ll be interested to read whatever musicological analysis you come up with.

Comment on The Beatles’ most underrated songs by OMJoe

OMJoe — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:31:29 +0000

Thanks for your insight on this topic–Been a fan since I was a wee-one.
Some of my favorite ‘obscurities’ have to be:
* Old Brown Shoe–B-side to Ballad of John +Yoko–I’m so glad it made it to RockBand! I still get chills when I hear that opening honkey-tonk piano. Ringo’s skills are featured prominently, and the solo is probably one of the hottest in the entire catalog–totally raw and in your face, and I’m sure a nod to Clapton. The lyrics are very imaginative in this one–”For your sweet top lip I’m in the queue”–totally cool!

*Yes It Is–Perfect harmonies-pure, clean, soul-lifting. While the volume-tone pedal was a *very* new effect, it could’ve very easily been over-used. Instead it’s used as a flavor, rather than a meal. The harmonies are deceptively complex, and not the simple triads that everyone thinks–Although it’s a little hard to differentiate, identify George’s part (middle vocal)–When I figured it out, I would along with it in the car–and my wife swears I re-sampled the volume on the CD, because since then, she can’t hear anything but George! For a 45 year-old song to still have impact–amazing.

Comment on The Ring of the Nibelung, ranked act by act (Part 1 of 4) by dfan

dfan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:56:27 +0000

Yeah, I’m with you on most of that, but I actually do like the Wotan scenes that start out Act III; Wagner even manages to make an Erda scene interesting. Then things admittedly grind to a halt for a while before Brünnhilde wakes up – I’m always surprised how long that takes.

Comment on The Ring of the Nibelung, ranked act by act (Part 1 of 4) by Zoe Lang

Zoe Lang — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:49:07 +0000

Hi Dan, thanks for passing along this list! What I find even more excruciating, actually, is the end of Act II of _Siegfried_ (let’s say after the dragon part, which is kind of cool) into Act III (right where Bruennhilde wakes up, actually). There are so many reasons, but here are a few:

1) The bird. The bird is great. Lovely in fact. But it spends too much time giving information, especially considering…
2) At the start of Act III, Siegfried basically ignores any and all information that the bird told him in the previous act (‘I wonder who this is atop the hill of burning fire’ — were there numerous hilltops ablaze or something?);
3) There is a point in the overture to Act III where Wagner resorts to a descending chromatic scale. That tells you that you are in for a looooooooooooong act! But it does pick up, in my view, as you go along.

Comment on The Ring of the Nibelung, ranked act by act (Part 2 of 4) by dfan says» Blog Archive » The Ring of the Nibelung, ranked act by act (Part 3 of 4)

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:54:45 +0000

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