Projection
Jan. 3rd, 2020 06:01 am"In order to get elected, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
barackobama will start a war with Iran." - Donald J. Trump, Twitter, 29 Nov 2011
barackobama will start a war with Iran." - Donald J. Trump, Twitter, 29 Nov 2011Jan. 3rd, 2020
Favorite Singers IV: Enya
Jan. 3rd, 2020 12:57 pmMy first encounter with Enya was an MTV video of "Orinoco Flow", soon followed by "Caribbean Blue". I found the tunes to be catchy, and, though the lyrics seemed to lack real substance, they *sounded* good. I purchased "Watermark" and "Shepherd Moons" soon after, and have since added "A Day Without Rain" and "Amarantine" as well.
The first thing to note about Enya is that a fair number of their songs - "Na Laetha Geal M'Oige", "Smaointe", "Deora Ar Mo Chroi" - are in Irish, which language I do not know. A number of the rest - "Cursum Perficio", "Afer Ventus", "Tempus Vernum" - are in Latin, and though I took two years of that in college, that was more than forty years ago, and I haven't exactly kept up. So, that's about 20% of their output which might as well be instrumentals, as far as I'm concerned. The human voice is one of the most flexible musical instruments there is, of course.
In general, then - and this includes Enya's English language work - what attracts me is simply the sound. The formal pace of "Flora's Secret", the somehow threatening tones of "Tempus Vernum", the geographical rhymes of "Orinoco Flow" - these are enough to please me, whether I understand the words or not.
Enya is my go-to singer for the times when I just want to close my eyes, lie back, and let beautiful sound just wash over me.
The first thing to note about Enya is that a fair number of their songs - "Na Laetha Geal M'Oige", "Smaointe", "Deora Ar Mo Chroi" - are in Irish, which language I do not know. A number of the rest - "Cursum Perficio", "Afer Ventus", "Tempus Vernum" - are in Latin, and though I took two years of that in college, that was more than forty years ago, and I haven't exactly kept up. So, that's about 20% of their output which might as well be instrumentals, as far as I'm concerned. The human voice is one of the most flexible musical instruments there is, of course.
In general, then - and this includes Enya's English language work - what attracts me is simply the sound. The formal pace of "Flora's Secret", the somehow threatening tones of "Tempus Vernum", the geographical rhymes of "Orinoco Flow" - these are enough to please me, whether I understand the words or not.
Enya is my go-to singer for the times when I just want to close my eyes, lie back, and let beautiful sound just wash over me.
Storms in... Well, Everywhere
Jan. 3rd, 2020 07:37 pmYesterday, I broke down and downloaded the Gathering Storm extension of Civ VI. I've been playing the Rise and Fall extension, and am very happy with it; I was uncertain about GS. Some of the changes sounded interesting, but others were less appetizing. When I realized that, when starting a game, I could choose R&F or GS (or plain vanilla, if I want), that broke down what remained of my resistance. (Also, hilzoy said she enjoyed GS, and I trust her.)
Today, I completed my first game of Gathering Storm. I was playing as Peter the Great, and it was a race to see whether I'd win a Religious victory - my original plan - or a Cultural one. (As it happened, I got the Religious win.) The new features... The Natural Disaster stuff seemed gimmicky, but working around eruptions of a volcano near one of my cities was interesting. I won before Industrialization got going, so pollution and climate change didn't come up. And the World Congress stuff... I'll have to go over the rules some more, but it didn't have too much effect on my gameplay.
I'm still not completely sold on GS, but I do want to play a game as Eleanor of Aquitaine (one of the new Leaders). Her special bonuses look intriguing. So do Suleiman and Matthias Corvinus. Going back to R&F for my next game, though.
Today, I completed my first game of Gathering Storm. I was playing as Peter the Great, and it was a race to see whether I'd win a Religious victory - my original plan - or a Cultural one. (As it happened, I got the Religious win.) The new features... The Natural Disaster stuff seemed gimmicky, but working around eruptions of a volcano near one of my cities was interesting. I won before Industrialization got going, so pollution and climate change didn't come up. And the World Congress stuff... I'll have to go over the rules some more, but it didn't have too much effect on my gameplay.
I'm still not completely sold on GS, but I do want to play a game as Eleanor of Aquitaine (one of the new Leaders). Her special bonuses look intriguing. So do Suleiman and Matthias Corvinus. Going back to R&F for my next game, though.