So right. My Grandma has all of the book collections and as a kid I could spend hours at her house reading them. I still can really.
The Doors are the band that showed me that poetry didn't have to be strictly structured and conform to anything. That in turn inspired me to try writing some of my own.
Um, honestly Fall Out Boy must be credited as the band that got me off rap music and got me into rock music. Yeah, back in the day when I used to listen to FOB, I listened to shit rock, but now I know what's up. I'd say that was pretty life changing.
Um, honestly Fall Out Boy must be credited as the band that got me off rap music and got me into rock music. Yeah, back in the day when I used to listen to FOB, I listened to shit rock, but now I know what's up. I'd say that was pretty life changing.
Hearing "Fall Out Boy" and "back in the day" in the same sentence makes me feel REALLY old.
I'm just trying to make it sound like it was a long time ago. In reality it was more like 3-4 years ago.
You best be trollin'.
Nope. I used to be a die hard rap fan. My friend was like "dude listen to this band" (which was FOB). I liked it, then got into other rock music. I'm counting my blessings, cause otherwise instead of listening to Led Zeppelin and Arctic Monkeys and all the other shit I'm listening to, I could be listening to Asher Roth and Soulja Boy right now.
If you want good hip-hop, listen to the aforementioned Sage Francis. The track "Hopeless" made me realize how much diversity can be present in that kind of music.
I guess the art that changed me would be that of yoshitaka amano and miyazaki. I first saw yoshitaka amano's work in the instruction booklet guild for final fantasy 6. It was the first time i realized someone designs the the images before they are made into a game. I knew he had an awesome job so he was like the first artist I looked up to really. The first time I played ff6 I borrowed it from my friends brother. I never gave back the instruction booklet though. I said I lost it lol...but I kept it and I still have it in draw. I took out that booklet when ever I wanted to be inspired. Now that I think about it... it's kind of funny. There was a time, not so long ago, that I wanted to explore all types of art. I wanted to sculpt, craft, paint, do comics, illustrate and do what ever else I could do. Then I read a little bio about miyazaki and how he had focus. I realized if I really want to be awesome, I should focus too. So now I try to concentrate on what I'm really good at because that's what I can be the best at.
For me, the oversensitive person that I am, it is hard not to have a large reaction to the quality art I come in contact with but a few of the artists/works that I can think of at the moment and have left long standing impressions on my life: Tori Amos - specifically Under the Pink. I know a lot of her fans point to Little Earthquakes, but Under the Pink was the first album of hers that I ever heard and it still floors me every time I hear it. Clive Barker - in particular Sacrament and The Art Trilogy (though only two books in the trilogy have been released) Ayn Rand - while I have read a great deal of her work, Anthem always sticks out in my mind. It isn't her best work and upon re-reading it as an adult, it is actually a bit weak. However, my father gave it to me when I was eleven and I remember the wonderful discussions and further research it prompted between us about the various ethical, political, and social theories that address the relationship between the individual and society. Jane Austen - from the insight into her era, the strong female characters, the historical interest it piqued, the love affair with a witty phrase, and the ability to find humor in those that infuriate; she is an author I will always enjoy (Lucy Maud Montgomery is almost there with her, in level of influence). Oscar Wilde - from his personal struggles to his creative genius he definitely made me take comical theatre more seriously. Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot and Krapp's Last Tape. A theatre student need not say more. Anne Sexton - The Play and The Witch's Life are two poems that changed the way I read poetry. Sweet Charity - this musical made me take dance lessons and voice lessons. A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle (he also wrote the Last Unicorn, though this is nothing like it). It is another book I read at a young age, but works so lovely read at a young age do tend to shape a person.
I very pointedly tried to list only works that had a specific, tangible, direct, and significant effect on my life, as opposed to works that I simply enjoyed. Three stand out as having clearly and dramatically altered the course of my life.
The Bells of Moscow by Sergei Rachmaninoff
This piece at an early age fomented my love of expressive piano pieces, as well as my interest in Russian music in general. It was also the first full-length, high quality digital audio file I ever acquired. In my youth, I listened to it almost daily, to the point that I can to this day conjure the work into my head in full without mental effort.
Prior, I had tended to prefer the more bombastic "classical" pieces. This work was the turning point for me, as I began to appreciate the subtle complexity of music, and furthermore to refine my previously crude musical tastes. It shaped my musical development for the rest of my life, influenced my studies, and remains one of my favorite compositions of all time.
Vampire Hunter D
This was my first anime. I was eight years old at the time, and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Considering the path I've taken in life (president of the RIT Anime Club, host of GeekNights, constant panels at conventions, etc...), the movie clearly had a profound impact on me. None of what has come to pass may well have in fact come to pass had I not seen this movie when I did. From this point onward, I culturally diverged from the people around me. The Front Row Crew formed largely out of the RIT Anime Club. I met lifelong friends at the early anime conventions I attended.
I very likely would have become an anime fan at some point. But, the fact that I did so at such an early age had a profound impact on my life. It could have been any work, but it happened to be Vampire Hunter D.
The Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia
If anime was so important to my life, then gaming was equally if not more so. I was playing games (board, card and video) before I would have considered myself sentient. I attended gaming conventions before I could drive. My parents played games before I was born. The D&D Rulebook filled countless hours with fantasies not of living in such a world, but of simply playing D&D. It wasn't until years later that I was able to find even a single other person with a similar interest, and I've been roleplaying regularly ever since. I originally met most of the FRC at RIT's gaming club, and of course GeekNights is clearly the result in part of my gaming exploits.
This book in particular, however, greatly changed my perspective on what games were. Games were battles, games were competition. Games were intellectual and physical combat. But suddenly, after reading this book, games could also be something else entirely. This was as revolutionary to me at the time as Burning Wheel was when I first experienced it, and my continued interested in role playing games in particular has clearly influenced my life to a great degree.
I didn't want to post in here until I had really thought about this.
Gundam Wing I would come home from a summer job I had in high school and watch the uncut episodes of GW on Cartnoon Network late at night. This show definitely got me interested in anime, which started with whatever CN was showing at the time. Eventually I picked up the first DVD of Cowboy Bebop, watched it, and was pretty much hooked on anime from then on.
The Chronicles of Prydain I read these books in 3rd grade, I don't know what attracted me to them aside from them being in the classroom. I also have absolutely no memory whatsoever as to what happened in them. All I know is that in 3rd grade I read them, and then I started writing stories based around them. I love writing now, so this seems to be the origin of that.
8bit Theater/Penny Arcade 8bit Theater was my first webcomic, quickly followed by Penny Arcade as my second. The two of them got me interested in the comic medium again, and also got me interested in drawing again. Which was something I hadn't really done since Elementary school.
This was one of the first paintings I had seen up close. It was absolutely exhilarating. Ever since, I have been absolutely enamored with impressionism.
Comments
The Doors are the band that showed me that poetry didn't have to be strictly structured and conform to anything. That in turn inspired me to try writing some of my own.
Um, honestly Fall Out Boy must be credited as the band that got me off rap music and got me into rock music. Yeah, back in the day when I used to listen to FOB, I listened to shit rock, but now I know what's up.
I'd say that was pretty life changing.
If you want good hip-hop, listen to the aforementioned Sage Francis. The track "Hopeless" made me realize how much diversity can be present in that kind of music.
There was a time, not so long ago, that I wanted to explore all types of art. I wanted to sculpt, craft, paint, do comics, illustrate and do what ever else I could do. Then I read a little bio about miyazaki and how he had focus. I realized if I really want to be awesome, I should focus too. So now I try to concentrate on what I'm really good at because that's what I can be the best at.
Tori Amos - specifically Under the Pink. I know a lot of her fans point to Little Earthquakes, but Under the Pink was the first album of hers that I ever heard and it still floors me every time I hear it.
Clive Barker - in particular Sacrament and The Art Trilogy (though only two books in the trilogy have been released)
Ayn Rand - while I have read a great deal of her work, Anthem always sticks out in my mind. It isn't her best work and upon re-reading it as an adult, it is actually a bit weak. However, my father gave it to me when I was eleven and I remember the wonderful discussions and further research it prompted between us about the various ethical, political, and social theories that address the relationship between the individual and society.
Jane Austen - from the insight into her era, the strong female characters, the historical interest it piqued, the love affair with a witty phrase, and the ability to find humor in those that infuriate; she is an author I will always enjoy (Lucy Maud Montgomery is almost there with her, in level of influence).
Oscar Wilde - from his personal struggles to his creative genius he definitely made me take comical theatre more seriously.
Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot and Krapp's Last Tape. A theatre student need not say more.
Anne Sexton - The Play and The Witch's Life are two poems that changed the way I read poetry.
Sweet Charity - this musical made me take dance lessons and voice lessons.
A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle (he also wrote the Last Unicorn, though this is nothing like it). It is another book I read at a young age, but works so lovely read at a young age do tend to shape a person.
The Bells of Moscow by Sergei Rachmaninoff
This piece at an early age fomented my love of expressive piano pieces, as well as my interest in Russian music in general. It was also the first full-length, high quality digital audio file I ever acquired. In my youth, I listened to it almost daily, to the point that I can to this day conjure the work into my head in full without mental effort.
Prior, I had tended to prefer the more bombastic "classical" pieces. This work was the turning point for me, as I began to appreciate the subtle complexity of music, and furthermore to refine my previously crude musical tastes. It shaped my musical development for the rest of my life, influenced my studies, and remains one of my favorite compositions of all time.
Vampire Hunter D
This was my first anime. I was eight years old at the time, and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Considering the path I've taken in life (president of the RIT Anime Club, host of GeekNights, constant panels at conventions, etc...), the movie clearly had a profound impact on me. None of what has come to pass may well have in fact come to pass had I not seen this movie when I did. From this point onward, I culturally diverged from the people around me. The Front Row Crew formed largely out of the RIT Anime Club. I met lifelong friends at the early anime conventions I attended.
I very likely would have become an anime fan at some point. But, the fact that I did so at such an early age had a profound impact on my life. It could have been any work, but it happened to be Vampire Hunter D.
The Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia
If anime was so important to my life, then gaming was equally if not more so. I was playing games (board, card and video) before I would have considered myself sentient. I attended gaming conventions before I could drive. My parents played games before I was born. The D&D Rulebook filled countless hours with fantasies not of living in such a world, but of simply playing D&D. It wasn't until years later that I was able to find even a single other person with a similar interest, and I've been roleplaying regularly ever since. I originally met most of the FRC at RIT's gaming club, and of course GeekNights is clearly the result in part of my gaming exploits.
This book in particular, however, greatly changed my perspective on what games were. Games were battles, games were competition. Games were intellectual and physical combat. But suddenly, after reading this book, games could also be something else entirely. This was as revolutionary to me at the time as Burning Wheel was when I first experienced it, and my continued interested in role playing games in particular has clearly influenced my life to a great degree.
Gundam Wing
I would come home from a summer job I had in high school and watch the uncut episodes of GW on Cartnoon Network late at night. This show definitely got me interested in anime, which started with whatever CN was showing at the time. Eventually I picked up the first DVD of Cowboy Bebop, watched it, and was pretty much hooked on anime from then on.
The Chronicles of Prydain
I read these books in 3rd grade, I don't know what attracted me to them aside from them being in the classroom. I also have absolutely no memory whatsoever as to what happened in them. All I know is that in 3rd grade I read them, and then I started writing stories based around them. I love writing now, so this seems to be the origin of that.
8bit Theater/Penny Arcade
8bit Theater was my first webcomic, quickly followed by Penny Arcade as my second. The two of them got me interested in the comic medium again, and also got me interested in drawing again. Which was something I hadn't really done since Elementary school.
Mary Cassatt - Susan Comforting the Baby
This was one of the first paintings I had seen up close. It was absolutely exhilarating. Ever since, I have been absolutely enamored with impressionism.