Bathtime with Cthulhu

MV & EE’s Psychedelic Supernova (Battlemouth)

2010-03-09T12:28:00.000+13:00

With a musical collaboration as prolific as MV & EE, it’s somewhat strange not to have heard of them before now. This Vermont pair have worked with a number of artists to accumulate over 30 releases over the past decade, and now bring us their fourth major release Barn Nova under Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! label. Combining Indian raga-style composition with Appalachian folk and post-psychedelic electrical experimentalism, Matt Valentine and Erika Elder take the listener on a journey through an extraordinary and haunting soundscape. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

This Is No Substandard Fare (Battlemouth)

2010-03-09T12:24:00.000+13:00

Standard Fare may be named after a sign spotted on a bus, but their effect is anything but pedestrian. Sounding like the perky younger siblings of the Arctic Monkeys, the power trio’s uncomplicated lyrics of life and infectious beats make for a rollicking good time, and now Emma Kupa, Danny How, and Andy Beswick are set to release their debut album. Recorded in six days with an indie aesthetic that would have made John Peel proud, the album is named for a formative period in the band’s development when they travelled across the channel to play at a festival in Noyelles Sous Lens, France. “It was where we felt our sound came together,” says How, and the collection of songs they were playing became The Noyelle Beat. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

Symphonic Serj Tankian (Battlemouth)

2010-03-02T20:55:00.000+13:00

In mid-March 2009, a one-off special concert was performed at New Zealand’s majestic Auckland Town Hall. At this concert, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian performed songs from his critically-acclaimed solo debut album Elect the Dead, along with some previously unreleased songs, accompanied by the well-regarded Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Thankfully for those unable to be part of the audience, this unique concert was recorded, and is being released as Elect the Dead Symphony. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

Not a Consolation Prize (Battlemouth)

2010-03-02T20:50:00.000+13:00

Every now and then, one comes across an artist that truly reminds you how good simple music can be, and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten is one of these artists. I came across her music in an odd moment of serendipity, and was immediately taken by the wonderfulness of her work. Recorded under the artist-centric Language of Stone label, Because I Was In Love is her first studio album, and is a clear demonstration that she is a talent to be watched. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

A Boozy Taste of Latin America (Battlemouth)

2010-02-22T21:56:00.000+13:00

Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that I’m fond of the occasional mojito. This traditional Cuban cocktail is a nice light-flavoured drink and is very refreshing on a hot summer’s day. Also popular in our house is the Brazilian caipirinha, which has some similarities to the mojito, and is also very tasty. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

Heavy Rain: First Impressions (Battlemouth)

2010-02-22T10:07:00.001+13:00

Heavy Rain is an upcoming single-player video game, developed by the French company Quantic Dream exclusively for the PlayStation 3. The game is a dark film noir thriller, featuring four protagonists being pulled individually into the search for the Origami Killer. Earlier this week, the demo was made publicly available, and I took the opportunity to try it for myself. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

Journey to The Golden Archipelago (Battlemouth)

2010-02-16T15:53:00.002+13:00

Shearwater make beautiful music, it cannot be denied. Their albums are critically acclaimed and invoke great passion in their fanbase. Their new album continues this fine tradition with the band’s most absorbing and accomplished work to date. The Golden Archipelago is the third panel of a triptych (preceded by Shearwater’s Palo Santo and Rook albums) linked by themes of environmental and personal decay, and humans’ impact on nature. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

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ACTA: Do You Know What It Means? (Battlemouth)

2010-02-11T15:40:00.001+13:00

In 2007, a select number of countries announced they were about to begin negotiating the US-proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). At first glance, the aim of the proposed treaty was to tackle the international issue of counterfeit physical goods (such as medicines). Since then, leaks from the secret negotiations, and some public announcements, have revealed that the treaty will have a far broader scope and will have a section targeting “Internet distribution and information technology”. But what does this mean? [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

Five Live Albums to Check Out (Battlemouth)

2010-02-11T15:35:00.002+13:00

What is it that defines a good live album? It may the intensity of a stadium concert, or the intimacy of a ballroom acoustic set. Perhaps it’s the artists interacting with the audience and obviously having fun. It could even be a reminder of concerts that a person has gone to in the past, or wanted to. For this article, in place of the usual album review, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and present one of those ubiquitous lists you see on the Internet - this list being five great live albums. These isn’t a list of the top five live albums as I haven’t heard a number of the “great” albums and wouldn’t presume to rank things outside of my ken. Instead, these are five albums that I recommend as being worthy of checking out. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

Possible Transference Issues for Spoon (Battlemouth)

2010-02-03T21:26:00.004+13:00

Spoon for me has always been one of those bands that you often see mentioned in various places and mean to check out, but never actually get around to doing it. When Mike asked me to have a listen to Spoon’s new album, Transference, I was certainly keen to check them out. What I discovered was that this album is a bit of a mixed bag. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

The Flaming Lips vs Pink Floyd: The Kiss of Death or a Breath of Life? (Battlemouth)

2010-02-01T13:22:00.000+13:00

Pink Floyd’s album The Dark Side of the Moon is generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest albums of all time, and a key influence on a number of modern musical artists. It is one of the albums I grew up listening to and have carried through into my adulthood as one of my favourites. The album’s notable use of musique concrète and conceptual, philosophical lyrics resonate strongly with myself and its other listeners, and is truly something that needs to be explored in its entirety, rather than its parts. [...]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

Music Preview (Battlemouth): Heligoland from Massive Attack

2010-01-22T12:50:00.006+13:00

Seven years after the release of Massive Attack’s last studio album, 100th Window, DJs 3D and Daddy G have returned to bring us their new offering, Heligoland. A pioneering and highly influential institution of the Bristol scene, the UK duo follow their usual model of collaborating with guest artists to bring their listeners on a new journey into the surreal trip-hop genre. […]

Click through to the full article on Battlemouth.

What's All This Battlemouth Malarkey Then?

2010-01-19T14:57:00.000+13:00

As some may have noticed, it's been a bit quiet on my site recently. Between holidays, reading the Wheel of Time series, and gaming, I haven't really been up to updating the site with anything. I also seem to have hit a spot somewhere between "can't be arsed" and "a dry spell" with doing anything graphical, so that hasn't helped here either.

One thing I have been doing though is thinking over ideas for stories and articles on various things, and the best way I could present them. I could have put them on here, but I wasn't really sure how they fit with my general site theme (if, in fact, I actually have one).

A week or so ago, Mike from Battlemouth put a call out for new contributors for his site. As I had been interacting (read: trash talking) with a few of the Battlemouth guys for a while on Twitter, and had contributed a guest game review in the past, I indicated my interest and promptly sent off an article on the social inadequacy of Sony's PS3 console. Skip forward to now, and I have several articles up on Battlemouth and have been welcomed into the team.

I'm quite enthusiatic about this opportunity, and look forward to contributing to Battlemouth. It's not that I have any pretensions about my writing ability, but more about being a member of a like-minded community developing a quality magazine-style site. I certainly feel that Battlemouth is the best place for the articles I'm thinking of, and I hope the rest of the team feel the same way.

I will be posting links (with some text) to my Battlemouth articles on this site for the foreseeable future, but this may change if I think it doesn't feel right. I also hope to get back into the fold of posting my more regular stuff (photos, drawings, etc.) so this site stays alive.

Going forward, please feel free to offer any suggestions or ideas for changes in this site, or articles for Battlemouth.

Battlemouth articles to date:

Going to the Zoo

2009-11-26T12:58:00.007+13:00

Some of the animals seen on our recent trip to Wellington Zoo.

Photos originally uploaded by Bathtime with Cthulhu

Stargate Universe: Thoughts Thus Far

2009-11-17T15:25:00.001+13:00

Stargate Universe (SGU) is the latest series in the long-running Stargate franchise from MGM. The series follows a group of humans who have been stranded in a distant corner of the universe, aboard an Ancient spaceship named “Destiny”. At this stage, there have been eight episodes screened, with 20 planned for the season.

The series begins with the arrival of roughly 80 military personnel and civilians aboard the ship Destiny after their evacuation from the somewhat ironically-named Icarus base, where they have been attempting to dial a nine-chevron address with the Stargate. This evacuation is forced upon them by an attack upon the base’s planet by what is thought to be the Lucian Alliance, and leads the humans to successfully dial the address, which brings them to Destiny. Here, they soon discover that they are billions of light-years from Earth and the ship is in poor condition. Their goal quickly becomes finding a way to survive, then finding a way to get home.

There are seven core characters, as well as recurring characters and guest appearances. Within the core cast are four military characters (including the military command structure), the machiavellian Dr. Rush, a slacker genius civilian, and the civilian daughter of a US Senator. To date, most of the characters haven’t been explored that well, so they still appear quite two-dimensional. The only characters who have provided much promise are the genius (who provides the comic relief) and Dr. Rush (excellently portrayed by Robert Carlyle). I’m sure all the characters will be developed upon over time, but I would have hoped for a bit more after eight episodes.

Destiny is a massive vessel, which is travelling on autopilot at faster-than-light (FTL) speed away from the Milky Way galaxy. It is millions of years old and, accordingly, has a great deal of wear and tear. Destiny, although unable to be controlled, has intelligent sensors that can determine if something is urgently needed by its passengers. It then determines the nearest resources, drops out of FTL, and dials the Stargate address for the best planet to supply said resource. In the pilot episodes, Destiny dropped out of FTL in a solar system so the humans could get lime for the life support system before they all died from carbon dioxide poisoning. Every time this occurs, Destiny counts down a set time before jumping back into FTL.

This raises an interesting point for the series. The humans have no control over the ship, they can only take advantage of when it drops out of FTL to get any supplies they think they may need e.g. food. Technically, Destiny should be able to determine when they’re nearly out of supplies and stop (as happened in the “Water” episode”); however, the humans may not always know why the ship has stopped. In the episode “Time”, they thought the ship had stopped so they could get food from a planet; it turned out the planet had the cure for a disease that they were unaware they all had. This method and timeliness of resupplying means that the crew will go from crisis to crisis until they can find a way to gain more control over the ship.

Within the crew’s possessions that they brought with them, is the Ancient communication device referred to as the communication stones. These stones enable the crew to communicate with Homeworld Command instantaneously by swapping the consciousness with a person using Earth’s equivalent device. This method enables the Destiny crew to brief their superiors, discuss matters with peers, and visit their loved ones. While I think the communication stones are a weak point in the premise, it has created some interesting scenarios. For example, during a switch in the “Earth” episode, those transferred aboard Destiny attempted to carry out a very dangerous experiment, while the crew members on Earth were prevented from returning. The body-swapping aspect of the communication also raises some questions of ethics; what would you do in someone else’s body, and what are the implications for that body once you’ve switched back i.e. what if a “returnee” was having sex with someone the body owner didn’t like?

To date, the episode storylines in the series have revolved around the crew acquiring critical resources, or using the communication stones with Earth. Going forward, the former will obviously be a fairly regular story premise, and the latter will hopefully be a fallback story. It will be a challenge for the writers to find a way to introduce new elements and obstacles for the crew, otherwise the series will become quite stagnant. As it is, the show has relied heavily on the acting and suspenseful build-up to pad out some pretty thin plotlines. Saying that, I do like the series and I will keep watching it. Whether someone who’s not a Stargate fan will like it (as the creators hope), I’m really not sure it’ll have enough to keep their attention.

(also posted on Murmur under Stargate Universe: Thoughts Thus Far)

10 Life Tips for My Children

2009-11-09T19:37:00.003+13:00

I thought I'd pen some pithy words of wisdom for my children to take note of as they embark on their journey through life (in no particular order).

Be good to the environment. Global warming leads to Waterworld and that was bad enough the first time.
Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. You never know when the next revolution will be.
Never wear Crocs or Ugg Boots. They're fashion disabilities, not accessories.
Drive carefully and respectfully. There's only room for one Michael Schumaker in the family.
Practice safe sex until you're ready. If it helps, look at the before- and after-children photos of your mother and I.
Respect your elders. One of them may just have a big fat inheritance for you.
Be yourself. No-one else will do it for you.
Be happy in all your endeavours. Antidepressants and therapy are expensive.
Do research before joining a religion. At least know the extent of your hypocrisy before spouting it to others.
Love and respect your family. You'll need someone to hide you when you're on the run from the police.

One Bad Easter

2009-11-04T23:38:00.002+13:00

One Bad Easter
Originally uploaded by Bathtime with Cthulhu

Points of Language

2009-11-04T16:23:00.002+13:00

There are some examples of language used nowadays that really irk the shit out of me.

Naming a scandal by putting "-gate" at the end of a word. Let's face it... Watergate was the name of the hotel, Whitewatergate was a clever play on words, anything afterwards is just being an unimaginative dick. E.g. Corngate? Give me a break!
Calling a cycle race "Tour de [insert name]" when it's in a non-French speaking country. "Tour de Vines" is dickish, "Martinborough Cycle Race" is not.
Hyphenating the word "email". Come on people, it's the 2000s now, drop the hyphen.
Pretentiously telling people they can't use the Oxford Comma. It is a perfectly legitimate grammatical device, and we can't help it if our sentences look better than yours.
Using "like" more than a couple of times in a sentence. Die, valley girl, die.
People who don't know how to swear properly. Good for you for having a go, but you come across about as cool as a dad hanging around a teenagers' party.

What points of language set you off?

Cthulhu

2009-10-31T12:11:00.004+13:00

Cthulhu, originally uploaded by Bathtime with Cthulhu

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles

2009-10-13T12:51:00.004+13:00

This is a truly fantastic biscuit, which I have become quite addicted to.

This recipe was originally for normal (i.e. not gluten-free) ingredients, but we have adapted it for our own purposes. The amounts have not been altered so if you want to make a "normal" batch, substitute the gluten-free ingredients with standard ingredients.

The baking time has been adjusted for the gluten-free ingredients - normal ingredients will need a couple less minutes.

Also, I used a food processor for Steps 1, 2, and 4. This worked perfectly, but there's no reason why you can't do the whole thing manually if preferred.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (about 115 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 & 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (we use the Plain Flour from Orgran)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
cinnamon sugar for rolling

Cream the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract together.
Add the egg to the mixture, and whip it until light and fluffy.
Whisk the dry ingredients together.
Add about 2/3 of the dry ingredients to the whipped mixture, and whip until combined.
Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix by hand.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. The dough will likely be tacky, but the cooling period will resolve this.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.
Line a baking sheet with baking or parchment paper.
Using a scoop, make balls of dough (each comprised of roughly 2 tablespoons).
Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar, and place on the baking sheet.
Using a fork, squish the dough out into biscuit shapes. These biscuits flatten and spread out, so account for this with your placement on the sheet.
Bake for 12-13 minutes for chewy biscuits; a couple of minutes longer for crunchy.
Remove from the oven and let sit for a minute. Note that they'll be very soft when they come out of the oven - that's fine.
Gently remove the biscuits from the baking sheet, and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before serving.

Abernethy Biscuits

2009-10-10T13:12:00.001+13:00

These traditional Scottish biscuits (or cookies to our American cousins) don't get their name from the town in Perthshire, but from a Doctor Abernethy who suggested the addition of caraway seeds and sugar to plain biscuits.

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour
75g caster sugar (although granulated sugar will do)
75g butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon milk
1 standard egg

Sift the flour and baking powder, then rub in the butter until thoroughly mixed .
Mix in the sugar and caraway seed, then add the milk and egg to make a stiff dough.
Roll the mixture on a floured surface until it is an appropriate thickness for a biscuit.
Cut out the biscuits with a three-inch plain cutter, rolling the trimmings to make more as required.
Prick the top of the biscuits with a fork, and place on greased baking trays.
Bake in a preheated oven at 190C/375F for ten minutes until golden brown.
Cool and store in an airtight container (although they are yummy fresh from the oven).

Templesmith's Wolverine

2009-09-21T11:41:00.001+12:00

Comic artist Ben Templesmith recently offered a sample of his line art for people to have a go at colouring. This is my attempt (and not bad for a first try if I do say so myself).

Templesmith's Wolverine, originally uploaded by Bathtime with Cthulhu.

5 Minute Review: The Lost Symbol

2009-09-19T19:46:00.004+12:00

Reviewing: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Let me start my saying that the Robert Langdon books are the only palatable Dan Brown books for me. This is likely due to the architectural puzzles and mysteries contained within. I picked up The Lost Symbol with expectations of being at least similar to the earlier Langdon books; however, this book managed to disappoint me beyond my expectations.

Dan Brown has a reputation for bloated dialogue and formulaic storylines; in The Lost Symbol, he excels in this to whole new levels. The storyline itself is somewhat predictable - I knew where they'd end up after the first few chapters. The dialogue itself is fat with redundancies, and even makes the storyline unintelligible in places. Oddly, the protagonist Langdon is seemingly led by the nose through the story like a clueless idiot; a far cry from the expert witnessed in his earlier books. Even the architectural mysteries are feebly used, tacked in almost as something to keep the Langdon fans happy.

This truly was an awful book with few redeeming features. I was lent a copy, so thankfully didn't have to pay for this. I recommend this book as one only to borrow from a library or a friend - do not waste your money, even if you are a Dan Brown fan.

View all my reviews >>

5 Minute Review: The Resistance

2009-09-18T04:37:00.002+12:00

Reviewing: The Resistance by Muse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a fairly big Muse fan and I've eagerly awaited the release of this album ever since I heard it was in development. When I finally got my hands on it, I was pleased to discover that the band have continued to experiment with their music without any detriment to the quality of their songs.

This, their fifth studio album, is somewhat of a concept album. Inspired by the love story between Winston and Julia in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, this album echoes the themes of love against the odds. The lyrics are surrounded by the strains of the familiar Muse "space rock" sound (notably reminiscent of Queen and Electric Light Orchestra), combined with the evidence of the band's continued evolution and experimentation with new sounds. Other reviewers have referred to this album as "predictable" and accuse the band of not stretching themselves. I disagree - this album combines the familiar and the new, and is a clear attempt at consolidating the lessons this band has learnt over the years.

For me, it is a thoroughly enjoyable album, although I do admit it's not their best. However, this band does release high quality music through all of their albums, and this album is no exception. I recommend this album to existing Muse fans, and as an entry album to new listeners.

See what else I'm listening to >>

Scorched

2009-09-16T19:56:00.002+12:00

Scorched, originally uploaded by Bathtime with Cthulhu.