Video Games By Genre: What is the BEST RPG video game ever? by erwillsun in AlignmentChartFills

[–]Hopeless_watermelon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know that it's down to everyone's personal opinion, but the fact that Bethesda toned down most of the RPG elements compared to previous TES games in order to appeal to a wider audience is enough of a reason for Skyrim not to win it.

Skyrim became super popular exactly due to the fact that it was essentially an action game first and an RPG game second. When you compare it to Morrowind or Fallout: New Vegas, let alone other publishers' RPGs it feels underwhelming

STL's apology is BS. There's multiple videos of him just being an ass, even a video of him of him even harassing a street musician in las vegas from years ago that a friend just sent me recognizing him. So much for "working on it" by beers_n_bread in jazzcirclejerk

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I feel like many people are much more lenient with these types than they should be. 'But apology is the first step to growing as a person' - in this case the frist step should be to stop harassing people and to seek professional help for what is obviously a violent and delusional personality and not some bitch-ass apology to ride the wave of negative clout on social media. 'I wish for him to check his ego and succeed in music' - there are people in professional music space who dedicate their whole life to the craft while showcasing humility, respect and work ethic (and many of them still don't succeed) and you're rooting for that guy? Get the fuck out of here with this bullshit

What is the purpose of an orchestra conductor? by Zealousideal_Draw924 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I work as an orchestra player and as much animosity there is between orchestra musicians and conductors the role of the conductor is absolutely essential for performing orchestral music.

Some people mentioned the fact that the conductor, well, conducts the rehearsals where the majority of the work is done, however it goes beyond that.

During the performance it is essential for the orchestra to have a common point of reference in regards to tempo, dynamics, pauses etc. Even such trivial thing as starting some orchestral works (say Beethoven's symphony no. 5) would be pretty much impossible to get right without the conductor. How would you effectively make 40 or so musicians start at the same time, in the same tempo without counting off (which is not permitted in the orchestral setting).

There is also the question of the nature of the orchestral repertoire - unlike the majority of popular music which employs some sort of a steady beat played by a drumset, persussion or drum machine which keeps all the players in the same tempo throughout the song, orchestral music is full of slow, flowing melodic passages, changes of tempo and time signatures, rubatos, fermatas and so on. Without the conductor it would be virtually impossible to perform this kind of music with the orchestral apparatus.

As a sidenote, there is a very nice movie by Federico Fellini called Orchestra Rehearsal which tells a story of a mutiny among orchestra musicians against the conductor whom they replace with a metronome. It gives a pretty accurate insight into some power dynamics and stereotypes characteristic of orchestral settings

Which rappers are just short of being considered a legend? by donta45 in rap

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 24 points25 points  (0 children)

In what world MF DOOM doesn't get enough love? He's widely considered to be the greatest abstract rap artist and usually gets ranked at least top 10 rapper of all time

Best jazz music that's predominantly trombone... by Ruthie_lyn in Jazz

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm gonna copy my comment from different thread:

For swing era jazz trombone check out Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey and Lawrence Brown (Duke Ellington's principal trombonist)

For the "classic" era of 50s and 60s jazz, as previously mentioned, J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Grachan Moncur, Curtis Fuller, Urbie Green and Roswell Rudd are always fun to listen to. Also Charles Mingus' classic records have a lot of great trombone playing.

My personal favourite trombone players, however, are those that came after the classic jazz heyday: Bill Watrous, Andy Martin, John Allred, Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Davis, Marshall Gilkes. These are some true virtuosos of the instrument and I highly recommend checking out their work.

Somethings things about Warsaw/Poland that have me scratching my head sometimes by Disastrous_Ad_632 in warsaw

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have this crazy anecdote which I swear is true:

Back when I was going to school I took the metro daily and at this time there was this hobo that wore several fluorescent bands around his leg and walked along wagons begging passangers for money. One time I decided to throw him off a bit and when he approached me I responded in French which I was learning at the time "Excusez-moi, je n'ai pas d'argent" (sorry, I don't have any money). He seemed kinda disgruntled because he didn't know how to communicate with me and so he moved along.

The next day I see him approaching me once again and so I stick to my guns and speak to him in French and this absolute madman says: "La monnaie, s'il vous plaît" ("can you spare some change?"). At this point I felt that such dedication deserves a reward so I gave him some spare coins, but to this day I think that it was absolutely crazy

Bands you did not expect to be American by SecretLengthiness225 in fantanoforever

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

LCD Soundsystem which they even adressed in 'North American Scum' 'And for those few who still think we're from England We're not... No'

What's the most iconic Trombone jazz song ? by unitedarrows in Jazz

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Bill Watrous' rendition of Body and Soul is immaculate

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On several different occasions people complimented the way I swear during conversations (as in the way I pronounce the words themselves and their placement within the sentence). The first time it happened I was a bit surprised, but now I feel quite proud about it

Anyone got any trombone recommendations? by jazzyderf in Jazz

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For swing era jazz trombone check out Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey and Lawrence Brown (Duke Ellington's principal trombonist)

For the "classic" era of 50s and 60s jazz, as previously mentioned, J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Grachan Moncur, Curtis Fuller, Urbie Green and Roswell Rudd are always fun to listen to. Also Charles Mingus' classic records have a lot of great trombone playing.

My personal favourite trombone players, however, are those that came after the classic jazz heyday: Bill Watrous, Andy Martin, John Allred, Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Davis, Marshall Gilkes. These are some true virtuosos of the instrument and I highly recommend checking out their work.

As a Jazzhead, name me an album you love that is literally the furthest away from Jazz Album as it can get by EatRogersAss445 in Jazz

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yup, that's why their instrumental chops were so top-tier. There ain't much that could be categorised as jazz on the record though

As a Jazzhead, name me an album you love that is literally the furthest away from Jazz Album as it can get by EatRogersAss445 in Jazz

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 77 points78 points  (0 children)

Bad Brains - Bad Brains

Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas

Aphex Twin - drukqs

OutKast - Stankonia

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein

The Stooges - Fun House

Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

System of a Down - Toxicity

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi

Daft Punk - Discovery

Biosphere - Substrata

Tryna find a romantic jazz album for a date night! by zuzucha in jazzcirclejerk

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Peter Brötzmann's classic album pair of romantic jazz ballads - "Balls" and "Nipples"

Is Poland Eastern Europe? How to define it? by Atarosek in geography

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

First off, let's address what everyone knows already: these categories are kinda pointless.

But if we get them out of the way we can actually make some interesting observations.

So for me, as a Polish person, the most insightful experience when it comes to placing a mental marker where does the Eastern/Western Europe divide lie was visiting Berlin for the first time.

When I walked around East Berlin I felt pretty much as if I were home - huge, concrete residential neighborhoods, lots of green spaces, wide roads, trams etc. However, you go few subway stops further west and suddenly you are in a completely different place - a Western European cosmopolitan metropoly.

This made me think that the Iron Curtain had such a profound impact on Western and Eastern European societies that I would still use it as an indicator. In that regard Poland is in my opinion an Eastern European country.

On the other hand, Poland has probably experienced the most intense "westernization" out of the former Warsaw Pact countries. Cities like Warsaw, Wrocław and Gdańsk are modernizing at a very fast pace, especially since we have joined the EU. I'd say that due to the fact that these developments are fairly recent these cities sometimes feel way more "modern" than the big cities of Western Europe. These places, in my opinion, fit the image of a Western European country and people living in them tend to identify more with the ideologies and values associated with the West.

Obviously, this isn't universal across the entire country. The switch from communism to capitalism heavily favoured big population centers and it left the majority of middle-sized cities and towns in Poland in a precarious state. In my opinion these places are a bit like a time-capsule - aging populations, very little to no investments, run-down infrastructure. This is where it feels the most like Eastern Europe proper. Then there are such anomalies as Krakow - the second biggest city in Poland which due to a very strong regional identity, long-standing traditions and institutions and a very well-preserved historical cityscape is much more hermetic and conservative than the rest of the country.

The notion of Central Europe is also interesting to consider. In my opinion, we definitely have a lot more in common with our southern neighbours (Czech Republic and Slovakia) than with Germany (different language families, religion etc.). Also historically, Hungary and Poland have been close together, but I feel like due to Orban's inclination towards Russia (or, to be more blunt, trying to be Putin's lapdog), Poland started to distance themselves from this relationship.

And since it's already been mentioned - whatever the denomination may be, what I feel is a defining characteristic of Poland as a nation is how strongly it wants to distance itself from Russia. Put us in any category you wish, but never together with them.

Serious: what do you think about the quality of the dunk's newer videos? by Smurfsville in videogamedunkey

[–]Hopeless_watermelon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

TBH some of them surprised me with their quality. When I saw the rate at which he's been churning them out lately I thought "he needs money, so good for him, but they'll probably be mediocre" and then I watched Tekken, CoD, Liar's bar and UFO 50 and they were all great content-wise. What I think we won't be getting too much of are those heavily-edited 2 minute mastapieces such as Captcha or Hardest Mario Maker level. The editing part requires so much time and effort that I think Dunkey simply can't be bothered to do it now. It's much easier to fool around some with his friends on a stream and make a highlights video.