Category: Jules Schlicher

Songs to Zone Out to

Sitting in the train listening to music can be a strange experience. Apart from a feeling of momentum and some vibrations you don’t really register your movement. For all you know, you’re sitting in this vehicle, and giant projections on either side of it create the illusion of transportation. You’re simply sitting there, immersed in some special songs. Or you’re somewhere else entirely, being slowly enchanted by music. It’s all about those tracks, though, carefully crafted by artists to help you “zone out” and actually “feel” it. Well, let me share with you a foursome that does just that. Continue reading “Songs to Zone Out to”

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From the Dutch Canon: Flodder

When I was but a nipper, say, an eight- or nine-year-old, I was first introduced to a peculiar fictional Dutch family called Flodder. They are boorish, crude, violent, criminal, antisocial, and even occasionally incestuous when brother and sister Kees and Kees engage in some choice adventures. Despite these flaws, they are lovable in all their obscenity, because they always stick together, even when they don’t, and in the end they are just a small lower class family that is despised by the Dutch bourgeois. So let me now introduce you to this abhorrent pack of misfits: Ma, Johnnie, Kees, Kees, Henkie, Toet, Opa, and Whisky. Continue reading “From the Dutch Canon: Flodder”

Experiencing That Dragon, Cancer

I put off writing this for a long time, which is unusual for a text about a video game. Then again, I put off playing that videogame for an even longer time, because I was afraid of playing it. Now I’m putting off actually introducing it… I’m writing to you today about That Dragon, Cancer, a game created by a father of a young child that suffers from terminal brain cancer. It is unlike any type of game you’ll ever play, both in terms of gameplay and the emotional impact it has on its player. Continue reading “Experiencing That Dragon, Cancer”

Pulp Fiction: I Read Crap and I Struggle with Literature. Shoot Me.

Forgive me, Dante, for I am a sinner. I confess. Do not judge me too harshly, oh Joyce, Tolstoy, Waugh, Saramago, and other greats that collect my dust instead of my readership. I mean well. I feel genuine pleasure and admiration when I muster the will and energy to read your famous words, but that will is wanting and the energy is eluding me. That, and I sooner finish reading a Scarrow, Follet, or Eggers than I start reading Kafka. I confess. Continue reading “Pulp Fiction: I Read Crap and I Struggle with Literature. Shoot Me.”

Be Prepared When Study Meets Abroad-y

Like many students I made the choice to pursue part of my degree abroad. Last year I submitted my resume alongside a letter of motivation and filled in a batch of forms for various institutions, in order to apply for a semester’s worth of studying at the University of Edinburgh. To my surprise and delight I was selected for that university, and from the 21st of September up until the 21st of December I was a student there. The experience was a treat, at once arduous, surprising and entertaining, as well as enlightening and joyous. Studying abroad is therefore something I can recommend to everyone, but not without the proper preparation. Thus, without further ado, be prepared to…  Continue reading “Be Prepared When Study Meets Abroad-y”

FortaRock 2015 – A Festival of Metal Fun

Since 2013 I attend the metal festival FortaRock in Nijmegen. Like I do with most of the shows I attend, I go on my own and make new friends while we’re all rockin’ out. The weather has been glorious every time and no band has ever disappointed in their performance (save for a ridiculously horrible Slayer last year). This year was no different, except for one thing: this year my girlfriend went along with me, which was an interesting experience. Continue reading “FortaRock 2015 – A Festival of Metal Fun”

From Sound to Screen – How Good Music Videos Can Be

 

Music videos can be works of art in and of themselves. They are a director’s interpretation of a piece of music, and depending on the kind of song he or she is working with and their own creative capability, that visual rendering can lead to some fascinating results. A good music video can give its source new layers and cement the quality of that song. Here I present to you a threesome of videos that do just that.

Continue reading “From Sound to Screen – How Good Music Videos Can Be”