My Top 10 Favourite Musical Songs

I love musicals so much. Just mention Patti LuPone and I will rapidly devolve into a quivering emotional mess stuttering "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" through tears of awe. So in light of that, I thought I'd collate some of my favourite musical songs here, for your judgement and perusal.

1. Little Shop of Horrors - Skid Row

 

I love Little Shop of Horrors. Not just because the concept of an alien talking plant who wants to eat people is the best, and not just because Rick Moranis is adorable in this role, but also because the songs are so evocative and fun and excellent. My favourite is this, the opener about the alienation of the poor, the vulnerable, and the labourers in Skid Row.

 2. Evita - Rainbow High

I mentioned Patti LuPone in my introduction because she is such an iconic musical figure, and hear performance in Evita was breathtaking. My favourite Evita song has to be this one - a gleeful, almost sinister song about fashion and power.

3. Bugsy Malone - Bad Guys

This is a silly but perfect song about the Bugsy Malone gangsters and how much they love being bad.

4. Spring Awakening - Mamma Who Bore Me

I actually haven't seen this musical, but some of the songs are incredible. This one really cuts straight to the bone for me and I love its tone of despair and confusion and anger. Lea Michele is amazing.

5. Rent - Seasons of Love

Rent is far from my favourite musical, but this song stands out for me. I think it's song is so well executed and bittersweet and smart - and it reminds me how many minutes are in a year, so that's useful.

6. A Very Potter Musical - Granger Danger

I had to include a song from one of the two incredible "Very Potter" musicals. The whole thing is so expertly crafted and tongue-in-cheek, but Granger Danger is a particular favourite because it's super catchy and shows off Malfoy's sensitive side really well alongside his petulance.

7. Hair - Aquarius

A powerful song with some good use of trumpets. I love how majestic this feels. It really is an intense and brilliant opener to a questionable musical.

8. Hamilton - You'll Be Back

This is the obligatory Hamilton song that I am of course contractually obliged to include in a post about musicals. This is easily my favourite Hamilton song just because it is so jolly and unhinged and darkly funny.

9. Shock Treatment - Shock Treatment

Shock Treatment is an oft-forgotten sort-of-but-not-really sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show (it's more of a parallel canon type of thing, featuring Brad and Janet doing something totally different). There's a lot of incredible songs about such subjects as: marriage problems sung to a Generation Game style list of household appliances, Richard O'Brien getting excited about making a dress, how good it is to be a man and do important man things, and this title song about... shock treatment. It's good.

10. Heathers: The Musical - Beautiful

Heathers is a really incredibly written musical, and this opening song conveys that very well indeed. Of course, I loved the original movie a lot, so I guess I'm predisposed to liking this, but I love the musical style, the jokes, and the overall tone. All of those things come out really well in this song, a fantastic introduction to the musical.

Visit The Stars: Playing With Games Development

I'm making a very silly video game - or at least, I'm experimenting with game design to make something at least vaguely resembling what we call a "game". I'm using Construct 2 (a brilliant piece of free software) to play around with platformer physics. Currently there are no collectables, ways to die, or an end to the game at all, but maybe there's a chance I can figure out how to add those things. Maybe.

If not, it's just a game where you can walk around and receive compliments from stars, which I think we probably all need in our lives anyway.

Regardless, I'm having a great time being a terrible games developer.

Here's a video about it:

Blossom At Sunset

I went for a nice walk around sunset one day last week, and I took these pictures of some of the flowers I found. I love this time of year when all the blossom is out here. All these trees adorned with cute little flower outfits. It's so nice.

Sunset is obviously a really good time to go for a walk and look at how nice the sky is as its changing, but every time I see it happening it feels as if it's the first time I've seen it. It never loses its perfect, serene feeling.

I'll have to make a pact with myself to make sure I'm outside to see more sunsets. They're the best.

Strawberry Milk & Cat Ears: More Cute SNOW Gifs

I can't resist making more and more of these, so please enjoy numerous specific and tiny movements of my face. Plus cartoon cat ears. Just because.

THE

Sometimes I get all ready to make some cool collages, sit down with a magazine to chop up, and quickly realise I don't have much usable material. This was one of those times. The only things I found and liked in this magazine were this one black and white portrait, and the word "the". So I decided to use my own face as the only other sensible collage material.

Cool.

Friendly Stars

Have you ever wanted the glowing, faraway bodies in outer space to personally support and congratulate you? Have you ever wanted a little insight into their thoughts and their cute little noses (which they definitely have)? If so, you're in luck, because I have gathered some stars to say hello. We're having a tea party later. It'll be great.

5 Games I've Been Enjoying Lately

Here's a list of games I've been playing recently - from complex and magical world-saving, to disco-based combat, to aimless night-time wandering, because games can do anything. Isn't that nice? I love that. Well, let's get on with it then.

1. Final Fantasy VI

I've played most of the long list of games that make up the Final Fantasy franchise by now, but I'm currently working my way through Final Fantasy VI for the first time. It's been a pretty strange, involved, and very funny experience so far. I am ready for as many opera house antics and burrowing castles as possible. Also, the phantom train is amazing.

2. Heaven Forest NIGHTS

This is a strange game where you can walk around and collect a lot of apples, and there's a huge Buddha statue in a swamp. I don't know why I've been playing this one (except for the apple-collecting achievements), but it's earned a strange place in my heart.

3. AdVenture Capitalist

This is a clicker game where you make lots of money and can travel to Mars. It's pretty fun.

4. Crypt of the NecroDancer

Have you ever wanted to go clubbing and fight a dragon at the same time? Well, that's sort of what this game is like. It's good. I absolutely love the art style as well.

5. The Stanley Parable

I refuse to explain this game, but it makes some excellent use of pie charts. I'm not sure what else you would want from a game.

Reminiscing: 5 Nice Memories

It's a lot of fun to look back on old, hazy memories, old pictures and posts that evoke a certain kind of feeling or that give me a little bit of wistful gratefulness for some partially forgotten moment. I thought it would be fun to go through some old stuff and highlight some nice moments from the past, just to remind myself that nice little things will keep happening all the time. It's good to remember.

Without further ado, here is a compilation of strange digital artefacts wrestled from a sinking ship (okay, not really).

1. This pencil drawing from December 2014.

Featuring a cute polar bear and a pair of brogues I used to have (and love), this is just so representative of me whilst also being a bit of an unusual and unique drawing. It makes me feel sort of cosy.

2. This picture of a distorted Grave of the Fireflies DVD menu.

This was from when I tried to watch it on a very old TV and had some issues with the SCART cable not fully connecting. It did a weird strobing thing and I thought it looked cool and spooky.

3. That time I got some excellent gifts.

This was in January 2014, when a kind family member sent me the greatest assortment of delights ever seen on Earth. I have never fully recovered.

4. This flawless drawing.

I drew this in August 2015, and quite frankly I don't know why I ever bothered drawing anything after that, because this is clearly the best.

5. This pure and wholesome video about pigeons.

Lastly, I present possibly the most necessary bit of content I will ever produce. A nice pigeon video from February 2016. This was a very good idea that I will stand by forever.

Actually, maybe I should make some more happy bird videos like this. There we go, I've been inspired by past memories in just the way I'd hoped. Please send multiple birds directly to my bedroom window if you happen to know any personally.

Scanner Adventures: Owls & Daylight

Lots of daylight leeched into these scans, which is unusual because I'm usually operating only in the deepest darkness, inside a fairy ring and covered in moss. As you'd expect.

Still, sometimes it's nice to emerge from my cave of mystery and into a sun-bleached landscape. Of course, I've also brought my owl. My personal advisor who is here to make sure all of my operations (mostly me retrieving snacks) run smoothly.

Also, it's been a while since I did stretchy scans, so here's me with creepy long fingers (incidentally, that's also my stage name).

Blue Heart, Blue Stars

Here are some drawings, featuring stars who care and cats who scratch (please obey all cats or face terrifying repercussions). ✶☾*｡･

The Best Films I Watched Last Year

I know it's a bit late now, but I thought I'd share a list of some favourite films that I watched in that long lost time we call 2016. Quite a few of these films are from the 2013 - 2015 period, because that's just the staggered rate at which I tend to see a lot of films, but there's also some earlier gems. Let's take a look at them.

Rogue One (2016)

This was the last film I saw, just a couple of days before the end of the year, and it was one of the most satisfying films I saw all year. Almost every component of this one just really hit the spot for me - a great story, a perfect sarcastic robot, Mads Mikkelsen being incredible as always, and an ending that felt gratifying and appropriately bittersweet.

Spy (2015) 

In Spy, there's a running joke about the possible romance between Miranda Hart and 50 Cent, and it's amazing. That's all I'm going to say about this one.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

This is such a unique, surreal, and darkly funny story. Al Pacino is a bank robber who ends up on live TV news coverage. The bank ladies are probably my favourite element of the film (they are gleeful hostages). It's just... good.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

I'm not sure how I managed to go so long without seeing this film, but I watched it in 2016 and it is a stunning piece of film-making. The humanity of each character is so expertly shown through various directorial choices, and the whole film is so touching.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

This is another film which has lots of shots and sound design and use of visuals that you can pick out and marvel over. The post-apocalyptic world feels very real and dense thanks to lots of tiny, well thought out design elements that build a strong sense of culture within the film's universe. It's a film that touches on a lot of interesting concepts concerning society, community, and liberation.

Obvious Child (2014)

This is a heart-warming story about one woman's abortion. I watched a few films that dealt with this topic last year (including one that featured Cher as a doctor - If These Walls Could Talk), but this one deals with it in a really interesting way. Comedy is central (the protagonist is a comedian), but the film knows exactly when to be serious, and to express vulnerability and fragility. It's a very hopeful story, and I really enjoyed its approach to its themes.

Badlands (1973)

Sissy Spacek is the perfect shell-shocked and suggestible teenager in this brilliant film about a Bonny and Clyde-esque escapade which feels very sleepy and wide and sunkissed.

Dead Leaves (2004)

Lastly, Dead Leaves. How do I explain Dead Leaves? It is a wonderfully fast-paced, angular animated film about two characters who attempt to break out of prison. It's crass in a clever way and the whole thing feels like a long dream in the way that things loop and erupt continuously. It's very weird, kinda short, and a bit magical.