Training Log Archive: iansmith

Terrible week due to (1) illness (mancold), (2) busy-ass schedule (not a good reason), and (3) some pain in my left foot that started at the Highlander. At the very least, I should be going to das gym and grinding away on the elliptical or stationary bike while listening to hardcore history.

C • Hardcore history 2

So, there's apparently another Star Wars movie coming out. I'm a fan of the series, but I don't have high expectations for the 7th movie. If JJ Abrams does to Ep. 7 what he did to Star Treks XI and XII, I expect to be underwhelmed.

However, one aspect of the Star Wars universe which is truly extraordinary is the music. John Williams - like Howard Shore and many other modern movie composers - incorporates the leitmotif technique, in which a particular melody or theme corresponds to a character, group, or concept. Three examples are the "Gondor theme" from Lord of the Rings, the Imperial March - Darth Vader's and more generally the Empire's theme from Star Wars, and one of my favorites, the Force theme - which is also Luke's theme - from Star Wars. Leitmotifs can be very simple - for instance, the two-note Jaws theme is the shark's theme and is played whenever the shark makes and appearance.

The latest trailer doesn't disappoint; the music is incredibly powerful. Some nerds managed to find lossless music tracks for the trailer and posted them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooncd-c519A

Pay key attention to:
- Dramatic piano notes and long string notes in the first 30s to build tension
- Gradual crescendo in 0:40 - 0:56, especially among the swelling horns
- Appearance of the stirring Han and Leia theme at 0:56 in the chorus, with more crescendo into:
- The climax at 1:13! The Force theme, played by the French horns in a wall of sound with percussion, a chorus, and strings. An orgasm for your ears. Note that the force theme, despite being associated with the protagonists, is in a minor key, which in this context gives it a very dark tone. The climax ends with hemiola - 3 vs 2 rhythm - in the percussion at 1:47.
- Silence at 1:51; you have to take a break for contrast.
- 1:54 - A slow, soaring appearance of the heroic main theme (good guys?) by a glorious solo French horn over a happy major chord in the strings.

Amazeballs. I really would like to hear this live; the experience is different when the collective ff sound of the orchestra makes your chair shake.

C • Music of Star Wars 4

Brooklyn Boulders with Crystle, who was visiting. The plan was to go orienteering at Lynn Woods this morning. My alarm was set for a luxurious 930 am, but I turned it off, went back to sleep, and overslept. I'm really irritated that I didn't make good on my plans; need to regroup and start actually executing.

After lunch at Zoe's, we did some top roping. Brooklyn Boulders (about 1 km from my apartment) has an excellent assortment of pitches and some neat auto-belayers - which work much like a seatbelt. I did about 7 pitches - 5.6 to 5.8.