Mathematics, Games, Music...

Need

2011-02-18T15:26:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

desperately in need
of something warm
cold to the touch
my hands stop shaking

I sincerely need
your honesty now
though there isn't much
I can do to see you waking

would that I need
your caring
yet I desire your heart

should I give
give it all
or not give at all

Inspiration

2011-02-10T17:42:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

a creative mind falls victim to inspiration all the time
a brilliant mind knows how to bend inspiration to fit in a line
a poetic mind does not whine
nor is it mine

if only I was blessed with any of these
if I could only write a single sentence
that would befit you in any way
that could describe the way I feel

oh how I wish I could write
a poem
a single line
one stanza
that could even come close
to emotion
oh how I wish I could write down the tear in my eye

The Best Thing

2011-02-05T21:31:00.001+01:00

A short story by Sebastiaan

May be it's the best thing, but maybe it's not worth it. May be it is the worst thing, but maybe it's so worth it.

I just don't know. It's hard to decide on good and evil, there are no stamps to be placed upon people, no labels by which they can be defined. I've always firmly believed this.

There's just no knowing where time may lead us, at this moment though I'm spun onward by music.

I live alone inside my room, occasionally though, time drips by to say hello. It doesn't stay long, but never stands still, except for those few moments. Time has thought me two things. The first: enjoy moments while they last, time will seem to stand still (and maybe it does?), but it never stays that way.

The other: you can never be sure of the future.

For example, happiness is momentarily.

Whilst I was pondering over these and many more time-related issues, someone knocked on my door. "You there?" I heard the voice of a friend of mine.
"Come on in," I replied. After she sat down, I posed here the question, "what is it you seek, my friend?"

Now, before I continue, there may be some explanation befitting this friend. She is no ordinary friend, not just someone whom I could laugh with, talk to about the serious depths of life... This friend, she's song-worthy.

Yes, I sing a lot, and write my own songs. It is not something widely known, I like to keep this to myself, but to some friends, I sing a few songs, and to those very special friends, I even write a song.

For her, I wrote about my heart.

She replied: "I seek your advice... There's something which has been on my mind for a long time now..." I wondered what she meant with these words, what she was talking about. I let her continue, without interruption, though clearly that was what she sought. "You know, it's been a really long while since I've truly experienced happiness, those frozen moments, standing still in time. Even though it continues to flow, I know I'm caught in a moment... You do know what I'm talking about, right?" I nodded, but did not speak. "Why are you silent, my friend? Has ill befallen you?"
"It has not," I replied. "You see, it is exactly this you speak of which I was just thinking about, before you entered. I like to call those little moments you speak of, the pearls of life. It is these pearls we must treasure. It is this, and music, that define a good life. Let me sing to you."

The song I sung next was as follows (it was actually more of a poem, than a song, yet still I did sung out the words under a melody):

Is it shelter you seek?
Is it your heart I should keep?
Should yours actually be mine to hold?
Is it pure, saintly good and made of gold?
Is it your heart I'm meant to seek?

Is it your dreams you dare not speak?
Are mine too unnerving and deep?
Why feels your hand so cold?
Is it solely the thought of your kiss
that makes me tremble and weak?

She interrupted my singing with a tear, it broke through the sturdy glass panes called her bluest eyes, and I was brought to a shake. "What's the matter?" I asked, carefully.
"I am moved. It was just now, this moment, that time had stood still, for me. I thank you." With those words she left.

I still think of the day she left me, I do not exactly know why she did, but she did as she pleased all the time anyway.

If there's one thing time has thaught me, it is that it cannot be trusted in the hands of a loved one.

Love. May be it's the best thing, but maybe it's not worth it. May be it is the worst thing, but maybe it's so worth it.

Storm

2011-02-05T16:51:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

from blue to black
lightning forms in sky
flashes overhead

cast aside this storm
raging over me
to pick up the pieces again

turn the tide
and fight
this restlessness inside

Relativity

2011-02-04T23:10:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

nothing's certain
but what we see
naked to our eyes
pure science shines
bright into your face

what we can
or cannot do
is hidden and lies
within our hearts
leaving us without a trace

relatively spoken
you're all that's left for me
in theory
there's only you
in this shell filled with pieces of me

Brainless Proposal

2011-02-03T20:06:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

thoughtless pondering over subjects
unmoved by pieces of particles
dead to the naked eye

this brainless thinking must stop
the fierce strider in me must get up
and stand strong

I gotta make my stance
the final act
the final movement
in all I am

I've got to fight
for the right
to live love life

be mine

Cellar Door

2011-01-31T22:34:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

inside your heart I found comfort
cellar to all but the nocturnal

inside my mind I find shelter
closed the door behind me

it was in love that I found peace
striding forever onward
waging war
against the demons of my heart

I shut this cellar door
threw away the key
to my heart

Somewhere Else

2011-01-21T21:09:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

...this would be heaven
if it weren't for the absence of you...

life holds no burdens
for the pure of heart
if only they are found
together

live life in love
no pain and sorrow can attain
what reaches beyond the stars

...though this will be hell
should I still live without you...

Inside My Mind

2011-01-19T21:50:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

haven't seen you in days
yet still you're here
in so many ways
your presence is still near

haven't heard your voice
since all that time ago
still I've got no choice -

you tear me up
shatter me to pieces
lightning bolt from the sky -

you crash
you burn
inside my mind

lest I befall no ill I'll take thine hand yet once again on 'morrow's eve...

Melting

2011-01-19T21:42:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

tender to the touch
yet so unattainable

you cannot fathom
what makes me tremble

as much as your sight...

...and you should know
my heart melts before you...

Truths

2010-09-18T13:45:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Here's another poem!

Truths

This is not a poem
of lively rejoice -
this is of truth,
the whole and only.

What is this if not
a call-out, shout-out,
fearful, frightful song
of lonely truth?

Might I see thy face,
once more, once again?
Might I hear thy voice
singing in my ear?

Yet all that remains
is the memory of you,
'till we meet again,
I'll always remain truthful to myself.

Life may not always be fair,
it may not always fare well -
yet fair it has been never,
still this is what we're thrown into.

You remain ingraspable,
as always -
we may be sinners,
we may be saints -

though that is all we'll ever be,
saints can sin and sinners can be saints,
the sinful saint should sanctify the sinner's way -
sinful truths still speak truth and wisdom forever on.

Nameless

2010-09-15T19:18:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Here's a poem for you!

Nameless

Where's your heart at
for it's not with me.
Residing in mine
is a flood that keeps me bleeding.

I'm weeping red for salvation -
you don't even know my name.

I call you starlight,
you call me smart -
I call you moonlight,
you take the compliment right.

Calling out to you -
yet I still remain nameless.

It Seems Today

2010-09-04T20:35:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

It seems today's
the day of my departure
from oblivion.

It seems the fires,
the flames of my hell,
will be cast out.

It seems today
...purification...
will lead me to

reality.

Murmur

2010-08-22T14:31:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Murmur

Quiet and speechless -
out of breath.
I have fallen into recess -
no more to forget.

"Your silent murmurs never reached me -
your tears, deeply drawn into your skin, wasted."

This ring, diamond set,
could never steal your heart;
yours is unmet,
mine merely foiled.

"Whispers are all they'll ever be -
though lakes of salt opened up to me,
I could never be
what you needed to see."

Desert Sands

2010-07-14T00:07:00.001+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Again I present you with a poem.

Desert sands

Whilst the wind whistles through the sands
we try to make amends
with past in the present
for a future so pleasant.

Whilst the wind wails sandstorms
howling we find forms
of writing in our minds
together this binds

words together as if attached with strings
with more value than gold rings
they create these things
called poetry.

Experimental Poem

2010-07-13T20:33:00.002+02:00

By Sebastiaan

I always like to make my poems with a little twist, a play on words, for example. Here's another experiment:

Rightful heart, brightly
light my weighted burden,
light pathways stretched before
lightning strikes between

our hearts, filled,
our love, enticing flightfull
hour of dreams, fight
for painless façade.

Please end this charade,
release my hurting shackles,
unleash the darkest shade.

Make my paleness leave,
take bleeding broken leaves
wake me with love.

Ineffable

2010-07-13T01:36:00.002+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Here's one more poem for you.

Ineffable

Ineffable, my feelings for you,
normal words, like fire,
cannot be used like heart's passion,
to show what I aspire.

Indescribable, my lover's lovely face,
for it is not one but many,
that seek to represent, for I resent,
the idea of the one that is mine.

"Alliterate all you want, lover boy,
all the figures you speak,
it is of no use to define me,
ineffable, indescribable, universal lover of thee."

Pascal's Triangle In Motion

2010-07-04T20:23:00.004+02:00

By Sebastiaan

I recently created this Flash video for my (upcoming, nearly finished) site. It shows Pascal's Triangle in motion:

(If the space above is empty, you do not have QuickTime installed)

For more information on Pascal's Triangle, take a look at my previous post on this subject.

Short Story: Lightning Struck, Part Five

2010-06-30T12:48:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

The fifth and final part to my story.

Lightning Struck, Part Five

If only it had been a dream...

There we were, with the overcast sky howling thunder at us. We argued, I was mad at you for acting so strange. That's when I changed, I lost myself. After all, it should have been you who was mad at me for acting strange.

I threw you out of the car and drove away. But I drove blindly, right into a tree. I was knocked unconscious.

When I woke up, it all seemed a bad dream. A doctor was hanging over me. "Good morning," he said. "Sleep well?" And it was here that the recovery process had started.

It is only now that I understand what beast lures inside me.

"I hope you can hear me, I hope you can see me," I called out loud on top of the hill were we last were. The car was standing next to me, a new car. I looked at the sky, which was rapidly turning a dark shade of grey. "It's these three words: I am sorry." I sat down, and waited for the thunderstorm to get here.

Lightning struck again.

Dust to dust... I thought. Storm clouds gathered all over my head.
Ashes to...

Short Story: Lightning Struck, Part Four

2010-06-11T20:01:00.001+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Part four to my story.

Lightning Struck, Part Four

Perhaps it's time I came to terms with it.
"You don't have to. Tell us, I mean."
I stared him blankly in the eye.
"Are you still with us?"
"Yes I am, doctor Sherman," he answered.
Sherman whispered something in the ear of the man next to him, who then slowly walked forwards and started talking: "This won't hurt, it's just to get you to focus. Do you understand?"
"I certainly do," he replied.
"Good, then..." the man started, but he was interrupted by a smack to his face.
Doctor Sherman stood up and grabbed the sedative from the man who just fell to the floor. "You wouldn't hurt me, now, would you."
"I have... a name..." he hissed through his teeth.
"Yes, murderer is your name. You murdered your wife, remember?"
His eyes turned big. "Liar!" In rage he charged forwards, but the doctor avoided the attack.

Next thing I knew I woke up, bound to a bed... There was something.. vague.. about coming to terms... "Help!" I screamed. A man with a black eye came inside, he looked at me sourly. "That seems painful."
"It is," he said, grinding his teeth.
Then doctor Sherman came inside. "Good, you're awake. I'm sorry we had to bind you. We can't take another risk."
"I'm sorry, but I do not... understand..." I said hesitantly. "Oh.. oh... hey man, I'm sorry... I..." I said looking to the black-eyed man.
"You remember?" Sherman asked uncertain.
"Yes... I think I do." A flash shot through my mind, lighting everything. It was a bright flash. I shook wildly with my head, and then it dawned on me. "No.... no! No!!!" I started screaming. The doctor and the black-eyed man left the room.

Lightning struck again...

Short Story: Lightning Struck, Part Three

2010-06-10T21:53:00.002+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Part three to my story.

Lightning Struck, Part Three

There was much going on. Mostly there was much confusion, but especially the striking resemblance between the two was remarkable! At least, that's how it looked towards the outside. What few noticed, was what was going on inside the, so to say, spacious cavern that was his. There was a lot of shouting back and forth, a lot of fighting. Yet few did understand...

Perhaps I should first make clear: he is not me. He is not even a part or facet of me. 'He' is just a bad dream, yet a dream I can't seem to control. At times I am not myself. It mostly seems to happen at night, which is why I sleep bad.

Yet perhaps I should first finish the story...

There I was, with you, in the car, remember? It wasn't too long ago, and we were simply waiting for the thunderstorm to pass over, for it was still right on top of us.

"I'm sorry..." you said. "It's just... you're so difficult to live with. Mood swings and such... you don't even seem to notice!"
I did indeed not understand what she was talking about, until much later, when it dawned on me that what seemed to here as mood swings... were...
"Please.. don't... be mad?" you asked. "Please forgive me..."
I stared blankly ahead, deeply in trance or such. Then I said: "It's okay, you have to do what you have to do." I understood perfectly what it was she would do next. Yet I didn't seem to care.
Amidst all the conversation, the storm seemed to grow. It was a perfect projection of what was going on inside the cavern.
"Goodbye." I watched you, as you slowly moved your hand away from me, towards the door of the car. With a soft click it opened, and you stepped outside. Then you shut the door. I couldn't watch. Yet still I knew.

It wasn't 'till much later, I realised this was not the way things had gone. This was my projection in the cavern, this was what my mind seemed to wish had happened...

Short Story: Lightning Struck, Part Two

2010-06-09T16:31:00.002+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Here's part two to my short story.

Lightning Struck, Part Two

"What on earth are you doing?" you said.
"I... I don't know." he replied. "It's just like this body isn't mine, you know? You don't know, of course you don't. No one understands. No one..."
"You're not yourself," you said in a somewhat frightened voice.
"Yet.. I feel... so like myself. So much more myself."
"Snap out of it!"

He fell, face down on the floor. Snapped back to reality.

Next thing I saw was her face over mine. "You had a bad dream," came the words from your mouth.
I shook my head. "No, no, it wasn't a dream... Please, you have to believe me."
"All right, I will, but please, tell me what was in your dream."
"I saw... you, and, well, myself. It was as if I looked upon both of us... Yet.. it wasn't.. me?"
You shook your head, but I could tell from your face, you were bit shocked by me telling this. Yet your words contradicted this: "It was just a dream, come, let's go back to sleep."
"I... I don't think I can. I'll get a glass of water and do some crosswords."
"But... we've slept just over an hour!"

It was this, this last sentence of her, that triggered me. After I went downstairs, I looked at the time. 5:56 blinked the time. "Just over an hour?" I murmured. "And I had a dream in that one hour of sleep?" This can't be right. A great white flash blinded me. It came from outside the window. What to do...

Odd Squares

2010-06-08T20:58:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

No, this is not a post about strange squares. It's all about odd squares though.

Warning! Non-mathematicians may find this post unreadable.

Let me list the first few:

1² = 1
3² = 9
5² = 25
7² = 49
9² = 81

At first glance, there does not seem to be a pattern. I got this puzzle from my school, where I study to be a mathematics teacher. It stated:

"The squares of all positive odd integers are eightfolds plus one."

First thing to do was translate this into proper mathematics language.

So, odd, would mean the integer can be written as "2k+1" with k any positive integer. Thus we get:

(2k+1)²

Also, an eightfold, is "8n" with n any positive integer. Thus we get:

(2k+1)² = 8n + 1

Now let's work out the brackets...

4k² + 4k + 1 = 8n + 1
4k² + 4k = 8n
for all positive integers k and n.

So now we have a relatively simple statement to proof. First thing that springs to mind is induction, but if you look just a little bit further... you'll find a much simpler and more elegant proof.

So, let's first start by dividing by four.

k² + k= 2n

What's left to proof is that the sum of an integer and its square is even. There are multiple approaches to solving this, I'll give you two.

Say, k is even. Then k² is most certainly even, for (2p)² is 4p² which is a multiple of four and thus even. When you add another even integer, it will always remain even.
Say, k is odd. Then k² is odd, for (2p+1)² is 4p² + 4p + 1, which are two even integers plus one, making it odd. Now add the same odd integer k, you will get an even integer, for two odds make an even.

So, for any positive integer k, we get an even integer. Thus every odd square is an eightfold plus one.
Q.E.D.

Another approach could be rewriting the left-hand of the equation, that would make k(k+1) = 2n. Now, an integer multiplied by the next integer, would always be 'odd' times 'even' or 'even' times 'odd'. This always makes even.
Q.E.D.

Short Story: Lightning Struck, Part One

2010-06-06T17:12:00.001+02:00

By Sebastiaan

I'm as much a poet as I am a writer, so here's a short story for you. It's not based on real events, it's just an exercise in writing. I will be posting it in a few parts.

Lightning Struck, Part One

It all began with the thunder that night, a bolt of lightning striking down mere meters away from us. You shivered, I put my arm around you, lightly caressing your arm, but you shook my hand off.
"What's wrong?" I asked you.
"Nothing..." you said under your breath. Then lightning struck again, and I decided we should hurry towards the car, which was nearby.
Once we had entered the car, I asked once more: "Please, darling, what's wrong?".
"It's just the weather," you replied, looking away.

In retrospect, I should have known. And I guess I secretly knew all along things would never be the same again. Just not exactly how bad it was.

It actually didn't start with the lightning; it started a few months earlier, with, of all objects, a carrot. Such a small and simple vegetable, orange, mostly, with a little bit of green on the top. The dinner you made me was wonderful, but for one small, seemingly harmless thing. You put carrot in the salad.

To any outsider, this would have meant nothing. But even though you knew I hated carrots, you put them in the salad. I didn't mention it to you. Perhaps I should have, but I guess, in the end, it wouldn't have mattered. This time, I couldn't save you, me, or us.

Lightning struck again, you shivered in the car, once more. I noticed you glancing outside. I said: "It's okay, you're safe in here, there's no need to go outside." You looked at me and smiled. A smile I had not seen before. It wasn't your smile... and the glance, it wasn't your glance, yet it told me everything.

You had every reason to go outside. Yet I didn't know it yet.

To be continued...

Current Activity

2010-06-06T11:15:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Lately I've been working with flash to create some own material for my internship. I'm currently studying to become a mathematics teacher, thus I use the flash files in my lessons.

Also I've picked up building a website, which is currently on-line, with not much on there except the flash files, a picture of me and some links. I'll link to it anyway: http://www.famnijland.nl/Sebastiaan/home.htm. I'll update today or tomorrow, so that the flash files are easily accessible.

I've bought a book on Java recently and have made my way through it, and I will probably post some applets on my site. I'm guessing I can't add them in a blog post, so I'll just link once I have something up. I'll first have to convert some applications to applets before I can post them, but that should not pose much of a problem.

And to top all that, I've come across Project Euler, a combination of mathematics and programming. I've solved near 20 of the problems in a few weeks time, but it's getting pretty difficult now, not only the problems, but most of all finding the time and concentration to work on some good programming.

That's all for now.

Symmetry

2010-06-06T11:00:00.000+02:00

By Sebastiaan

Symmetry is a wondrous subject, which one not only finds in mathematics, but in other subjects as well, and of course, in nature.

First, let's start by defining symmetry. There are different kinds of symmetry, but the one that springs immediately to mind, is reflection symmetry. Look at the following kite:

It has a clear axis of symmetry right through the centre. But we could also look at a star like this one:

This one also has the symmetry axis, but as you can see, it can also be rotated - this is called rotational symmetry.

But there are other forms of symmetry too. What about palindromes? They are found in words, numbers or sequences of words and numbers... Here are a few examples:

eye
never odd or even
1475741
etcetera..

I absolutely love playing with words and numbers. That's why I love symmetry. You can find symmetry in many places, if you look hard enough. Gorgeous symmetry can be found inside music. In the lyrics, but most definitely in the instruments too. But that's for some future post.

The Question Why

2010-02-09T21:32:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Another poem:

The Question Why

Linear time passes equally dull
as all other times -
straight forward,
immer gerade aus.

What's new becomes old
over time and
in symphonic obedience
of listening, telling, and

knowing what to do,
I startle, and question

why?

Pythagorean Theorem

2010-02-08T17:33:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

It's been long since I wrote about math, so here's a rather simple subject which almost everyone knows of, but taken to a bit higher level. I'm talking about the Pythagorean Theorem.

Let me first bring back the long ago acquired knowledge of the theorem. When you have a right-angled triangle, or simply a right triangle, the theorem states that the sum of the squares of the legs belonging to the right angle are equal to the square of the side opposite the right angle.

Right, that's a pretty large piece of information, but what I'm actually saying is, with reference to the picture above, that:

AB² + AC² = BC²

or

b² + c² = a²

The classic example is AB = 3 and AC = 4. The squares of these sum up to 25 (9 + 16 = 25), and the square root of 25 is 5. So BC = 5.

Now, a more interesting question comes up when one asks oneself, "why?". For most of us this is pure magic, but it is most definately proveable. Not only is it proveable, it has been proven in many, many different ways. I will actually try to take some of these proofs and show them to you, in understandable language.

This first 'proof', is actually just to make the matter a bit more comprehensible. It's good to get a bit more knowledge about the theorem.

With reference to the picture above:

If AC = 3, then the area of the square with side AC, is 3 x 3 = 9.
If AB = 4, then the area of the square with side AB, is 4 x 4 = 16.
If AC = 5, then the area of the square with side BC, is 5 x 5 = 25, which is indeed 9 + 16. If you work this out neatly, you'll find by measuring that this is indeed true.

But this doesn't actually prove the theorem. If you replace '3' with 'b' and '4' with 'c' and '5' with 'a', then you get b² + c² = a².

A nicer prove, in my opinion, is the following:

With reference to the above picture:

(1) The area of each of the triangles are given by 1/2 times a times b, so 1/2*(a + b), so all four triangles sum up to 4*(1/2*(a + b)) which is 2*a*b or simply 2ab.
(2) The area of the square with sides equal to c is given by c*c, or c².
(3) The area of the square with sides equal to a + b is (a + b)*(a + b) or (a + b)².
(4) The area of the square is also given by combining (1) and (2), which makes c² + 2ab.
Now we can combine (3) and (4), and you get, magically (or perhaps not so magically?), the Pythagorean Theorem:

(a + b)² = c² + 2ab
a² + b² + 2ab = c² + 2ab
a² + b² = c²

I will probably post more proofs, hopefuly more elegant ones, in the future.

Moonshine

2010-01-24T20:00:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

This is a poem to go along with the previous post by Jolanda.

Moonshine

This is triumphant calling
over graceful islands -
bubbles of sea
surrounded by land.

Triumphant he shouted
over tearful drops of water -
bubbles of snow
surrounded by heat.

Endless wailing
of the full moon - wants
to hear, to see,
the ground beneath its hand.

Triumphant was crowded,
triumphant the land,
triumphant the sea,
triumphant drops of water
in snowy landscapes
of me -
moonshine.

Moonlit

2010-01-24T19:59:00.000+01:00

By Jolanda

Drawing a moon with my drawing tablet. Just trying out some techniques...

Nightshine Poem

2010-01-20T19:43:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Sunny days
and moonlit skies
divided darkened nights
with lies

of tomorrow,
of the future,
an end to sorrow.

Sunny nights
and dimly lit oceans
divided blackened land
and took our sight

of tomorrow,
of the future,
and refuelled our sorrow.

Progressive Rock Artist

2010-01-15T22:58:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

I'd like to say a few words about a very talented guitarist and composer, Jasper van Emmerik. He also happens to be a good friend of mine, and we've had some collaborations in the past, jamming, recording, or just sharing musical thoughts.

Aside from playing well together, he also composes a lot of songs on his own, using his guitar, his mac, and input from his friends. You will be able to download some of his musical ideas for free from his site (which has a complete English translation available for you) in the near future. Meanwhile you can listen to them there, or download them from his last.fm artist page.

Happy listening!

Believe

2010-01-13T13:50:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Here's another poem for you, made by myself:

Believe

Hold high hopes and have faith,
believe and sorrow,
from black to white,
can shift out of the grey,
out of the night,
into the light.

Try to think of things that turn tomorrow
from dark to bright,
believe,
everything will turn out right.

More Quick Poems

2010-01-11T15:25:00.001+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Number 5. is actually a translation of one my Dutch poems.

4.
Light turns dark
is black turns
grey turns white
is light.

5.
Night turns to red
light lies light in lines
stretched out over land -
let us walk, hand in hand.

6.
No more light,
no more right,
no more fight,
this is the quiet.

Guitar Hero 5: Progress Update

2010-01-06T19:36:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Just a progress update, I'm about halfway through the 360 achievements, and halfway through the campaign as well. Met some really great people on-line with whom I did achieve a whole bunch of stars.

Just have to finish Rush - The Spirit of Radio on guitar, solo, then I'll be satisfied and call it 'finished'. I can get the intro at ~65% now, but, well, that's in practice mode, and the intro riff is found in other sections of the song as well. But I'm confident I'll finish it soon.

Anyone who wants to play with me can add me as a friend, my gamer tag is The Wise Dragon. I'll also compete with you, if you'd like.

Quick Poems

2010-01-05T17:11:00.002+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Quick poems, I don't know if it's a term, but to me they're like haiku's - real short poetry that does not have to rhyme, and, unlike haiku's, does not have any form. Here's some for you:

1.
Morning red shines on
mourning black dress.
Wept tears to tie
the knots back together.

2.
In terms of leaving,
coming, going and being there,
someone shouts
"just passing through."

3.
Dreaming deafening sounds,
sound defeat,
sound the retreat,
I'm homebound.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:01:00.003+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Would like to wish all of you a happy 2010, may it be your year.

Or rather: may you make it your year. It's something you have in hand. Here's a little poem:

To someone special.

In dreams absolve the pain,
find comfort and regain
your spiritual strength,
for nothing is in vain.

Do and live,
don't give up,
fight, stand strong,
it's your own life you live.

Twenty-nine was not the end,
twenty-ten is no beginning,
live your life -
you're winning.

Eternal Sonata

2009-12-29T20:26:00.002+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Well I finally finished Eternal Sonata (for the 360) yesterday, helped by a friend of mine.

All in all, a brilliant game, with a very innovative battle system. Only once or twice was the camera system a bit awkward. Another weird thing was the ending scene - it's three quarters of an hour and you'll have a whole bunch of clichés thrown at you.

The story is beautiful, the world is beautiful, the graphics-style is gorgeous (though the animations are sometimes a bit static)... And the biggest plus: it's a game about Chopin. It makes me want to read the biography I wanted and got for my birthday.

The game is not expensive, it scores pretty decent. If you like a good Japanese RPG, get this one. You might even learn something.

Math Puzzle: Solution

2009-12-25T17:16:00.002+01:00

By Sebastiaan

This is the solution to this post.

The answer is 22 hours.

You can look at it in different ways, for example: n₀ = 1. Then n_i+1 = n_i * 3 + 1. So then we just enter the numbers, and work our way towards the answer.

One could also get the following formula: n_i+1 = 4*n_i - 3*n - 3 with n₀ = 1.

Lets take a closer look a the second formula. If you take a big n, say, 20, what does it look like? If n is that big, the second term (3*n) is insignificant, not even speaking of - 3. But what is 4*n_i? It's four times the previous n, which is four times the previous n, etc... The first term is 4*1 (so, 4¹), the second 4*4 (so, 4²), the third is 4*16, you can guess where we're going: 4ⁿ. This is a quick way to see how fast this progresses, within a day everyone knows what the secret is. But it does not provide you with the exact answer (22), since it's only an estimate.

If you calculate exactly, or use something like this calculating programme, you can easily find the answer. First number would be 1, the common ratio 3, and n is 22. Try progressing n up to 22, and see how fast it goes up.

Guitar Hero 5: First Impressions

2009-12-22T16:28:00.000+01:00

By Sebastiaan

I recently got Guitar Hero 5 for my birthday, the XBOX360 version, and I have been playing it, well, frankly, a LOT, especially since Sunday.

Now, I have played Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, with my brother, we finished all songs in the co-op career except for two songs. Then, after a few months, we got World Tour, including a new guitar, a drum-set and a microphone. We played hell out of it, I perfected a few songs, and went on-line with Live Gold after a few months, when the community was, well, dead, but still had a lot of fun. Then I decided it was time to get the new Guitar Hero, for that sole purpose: going on-line. And of course, the convincing set-list (Nirvana, Muse, 3 Doors Down, Johnny Cash, to name a few). Though as with each Guitar Hero, I know less songs than that I do know...

First thing we did when we got it, was play Ring of Fire, by Johnny Cash. I played straight on expert on guitar, my brother sang on expert as well, and my father did bass on easy. I really like the new Star Power system, you can synchronize activating it better, though it has a disadvantage - when a band member is in trouble, he can't spend your star power, as he could with World Tour, though this is easily solved. If one band member is struggling, his instrument 'breaks', and you have to convince the crowd in order to let him continue. If you use star power when convincing the crowd, hit a few notes, your friend can play along again.

Another big advantage for most gamers, is that all tracks are available from the start of the game. Still, I'm playing through career, just because I like the challenges, which are new as well. In career mode, each song has a challenge. This can be a challenge for guitar only, for the band as a whole, or for bass, drum or vocals. With this challenge you can win up to 3 extra stars, on top of the possible 5 (6 if you perfect a song, which I did for the first time today) stars you can win by playing well.

Multi-player offers a lot of cool game modes, which I haven't even played through yet, at least not all of them.

The fifth part of Guitar Hero doesn't contain a lot of difficult songs for me as an experienced Guitar Hero player, of the approximately 35 songs I've played so far, I could finish over 30 in my first try, and one in second, and well, only one or two I find too difficult and I'm too lazy to go into practice just yet... Though Judith by A Perfect Circle, which I find pretty brilliant, will be a challenge to complete on expert... And Santana will be a challenge as well, I think, though I haven't had the guts to try that one yet. A quick glance through the track list on quickplay taught me it's going to be a big nut to crack.

The complete list of songs in Guitar Hero 5 can be found here. A big plus for most of you will be that over half of the songs are from the last decade.

At the moment I have over 170 stars, of which I collected 150 in the last two days... I'm going to try and max it out, with help from my brother.

I really like this new game in the franchise, 10/10 in my opinion!

Finding Grace

2009-12-21T21:52:00.005+01:00

By Alouette

Walking along
the sea shore,
I find grace
in pebbles no more.

Wind flowing
through my hair,
and when everything
is forgotten,
I still won't care.

Hiding behind you
and running along,
it seems like nothing
will ever turn wrong.

But everything changed
at the place
where I often come
to find my grace.

Daylight Poem

2009-12-20T20:19:00.004+01:00

By Sebastiaan

I am an intense poetry lover, and occasionally I write my own poems. I'd like to share my latest creation with you.

Daylight Poem

Beaming sunlight shines on my face,
my thoughts slip away,
and I find myself astray,
fading out.

Beaming sunlight reaches my face,
though barely, as I drift
further from you, left
with but a staring gaze.

Inhaling, deep breath,
one more second,
then you're dead,
sunlight burning away your face.

Engel: Melodic Metal, Superb Song Texts, And One Hell Of An (Absolute) Design!

2009-12-15T22:01:00.012+01:00

By Sebastiaan

I want you to leave me far behind,
To start over and create something new.
I want you to be free from me and find,
Someone special to call your own.

From: Casket Closing.

Another find from the budget corner: one, single euro for a CD by the melodic death metal band Engel, the album Absolute Design. I listened to it almost right away, and no, I did not know they existed, nor that they were this good. The CD cover design just intrigued me. Now, a few months later, I'm listening once more, and this time, some of the lyrics are really impressing me. I already noticed this the first time listening, but I didn't care to look them up in the booklet. Well, I finally did.

The lyrics at the top of the post are from Casket Closing, the second track of the album. It's the chorus, and what a chorus it is! To me, it's about coming to terms with having to let go of someone, which a lot of us have to go through at a certain point in their lives, because of illness, or at the end of a friend/relationship, or because of both. Or because of any number of reasons...

Oh, everything I've been fighting for,
Is behind the next closed door.
I've been fighting all my life,
I want to turn this page around.

From: Next Closed Door.

These lyrics are from the third track of the album, again, the chorus. For me this one means, well, literally turning the page: getting on with my life. Again, I am surely not the only one who has had to do this. In fact, I believe everyone is constantly turning pages: while you are reading, you enjoy life, but at the end of the page, the story turns sad, and you have to turn the page but it's really hard to do so, because you're afraid the story will continue to be sad, even though in fact the story has not yet been written. You write your own story. It's not about standing still, waiting for the next page or chapter to unfold - you stand in the middle of your life, it's your call. So make the most of it. Now.

Overall, the Absolute Design album has a nice metal sound to it: mostly fast drums, nice guitar riffs, grunting when it's necessary, and a very melodic sound to it.

Plus, the cover design is absolutely brilliant!

Listen here.

Some more nice lyrics with which I will leave you:

Split my flesh to reveal
There's nothing left to curse.
Tearing my wounds in vain
when seeking for myself in pain.

From: Trial and Error.

Calling out so I'll change my ways,
working hard to turn me in to someone else,
they don't see why I choose to be me,
trying hard to end the reason of my life.

From: Calling Out.

Watch Out! Explosions In The Sky

2009-12-15T18:05:00.003+01:00

By Sietse

A little over a month ago I decided to go out to a shop and buy a post-rock album. I didn't know if they would have one and I certainly didn't know what band it would be, but since no band in the genre has ever disappointed me yet, I was just going to buy the first thing I would find. Though when I talked to a friend about it he said that he had seen a Explosions in the Sky album and that it was only 10 euros.

The next day when I went to the shop, that friend, Almar, came with me to check if the CD was still there. Well, it was and it looked just awesome. I took the album and glared at it for awhile to check it out, because the cover was just amazing. It appears to be a cover with some (awesomely) drawn burning trees and random words on it, line after line after line. However, when you take a closer look, you'll see that those random words actually form the album title: "The world is not a cold dead place". Thing became even cooler when I turned the album around and saw the repeated words yet again, but this time some of the words were coloured red and spelled out the 5 track titles. It seems short, but the post-rock genre is notorious for its long tracks and indeed the album is still 45 minutes long, with the shortest song coming in at 8:18.

So naturally I wanted to buy it and grabbed my wallet at which Almar suddenly remarked: "Damn, I should've not told you about that album, I should've waited untill I had the money to buy it myself." Which made the pleasure of purchasing it even greater as it was really fun hearing him mock about it. Then even at the counter the guy who sold me the album complimented me on my taste for such a young guy and he started talking about when he listened to the album. He said: "I listened to it whilst flying from America, but maybe that was entice the gods" enticing the gods being a translated Dutch saying which means something like "to ask for problems".

The album is a real beauty with nicely distorted guitars, great drums that help build up the song and they didn't use any vocals at all, which is normal for the post-rock genre and it brings a lot more creativity to the sound of the instruments. Yet even without the vocals the songs present you with a story. Yes, they present you with a story that you can make up for yourself. I recommend to just sit there, have a drink and listen to the music, without doing anything else. It's a great experience.

Wallace Stevens

2009-12-14T23:08:00.004+01:00

By Sebastiaan

This poetry book has been in my possession for some time now. It's a collection with Dutch translations, which I don't read, of some poems by Wallace Stevens. I would like to share the following stanza with you:

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Just think about it, read it another time.

EDIT: This stanza is the last one of the poem "Snow Man".

First CD

2009-12-14T22:37:00.004+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Nearly ten years ago, I got my very own "real" CD (so not a children's sing-a-long disc). It was the single Supergirl by Reamonn, which was quite popular at the time. I listened to the radio every evening in those days, and this song was on quite frequently.
We had to bring along a CD to school, and I choose this one. I don't remember exactly how I got it, perhaps we even bought it especially for this occasion.

Anyway, while I was cleaning my room I stumbled upon it again, covered with a layer of dust. I'm listening to it right now... Nostalgia.

German homepage .
English homepage.
MySpace.

Art: Desire

2009-12-14T17:10:00.005+01:00

By Sebastiaan

A few weeks ago, I was feeling like painting something. A friend of mine gave me a subject: "Smachten", which translates to "Desire". Thought I'd share this one with you:

Fun fact: my mother formed the final idea in me, painting an island. I ended up giving it to her as a birthday present.

More of my artwork will be (is) posted on DeviantART.

Munchkin

2009-12-13T21:57:00.005+01:00

By Sebastiaan

A little something about one of the most epic games ever. This is no video game; I'm talking about the card/board game Munchkin.

Over the years, this game has grown into something pretty big. There are six expansion packs for the card game alone, not counting the eight stand-alone games and Blender, which is ideal for mixing multiple sets of cards, with each their own expansion packs.

We have a pretty big Munchkin collection, though it is not yet complete. ~~I will post a photo of our collection soon.~~ EDIT: photo posted. Excluded from the photo is Munchkin Blender, we put it in the Star Munchkin box. Most of our games are in Dutch (1-4, Munchkin Bites and Cthulhu).

Yesterday we played Munchkin Quest, the board game version, for the first time. We had to get used to the rules a bit, there are some significant differences with the card game, although it has all the power of the card game (especially the humour). A lot of the cards are direct imports from the card game, but there are also some I don't recognize. Could be because most of our card sets are in Dutch, I'm not quite sure. But does it really matter? The game remains brilliant.

It's quite inspiring, I will probably go and create my own set of cards, purely for home-use.

For the Munchkin-players reading this: we had an epic final boss battle, in which we had to scrape every last resource as a bonus from our hand and cards in play. We being me and the second master of Zwollywood, my brother. We teamed up for the final battle, coming to a total of 55, not counting dices, versus 63 for the boss (and a wandering level 17 monster). Then I rolled pretty badly, and my brother rolled pretty good for the monsters. I used my bobble-head, a loaded die, and found that I could throw another die for a card. This had to be a three for us to win, but it was a two... Then we noticed the monsters still had a minus 4 penalty, and thus we were able to win...

Right, that was unreadable for non-Munchkiners, and probably all the more boring.

Harrisons: Britpop As It Should Be

2009-12-10T21:53:00.006+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Way back in September 2009, I found this CD by the britpop group Harrisons: No Fighting in the War Room. I had never heard of them, but was feeling lucky, and the CD was in the discount corner - five, yes five CD's for just one euro each - and it had a bonus DVD! How cheap can it get.

Well, three long, musically filled months passed, and I've finally listened to the CD. I am Amazed (yes, Amazed, with a capital A)! This CD is brilliant! It has a nice, britpop/indie sound to it, how shall I put it... the true britpop sound, the way it should be. It has everything you would expect from a britpop band.

On first listening, I didn't really have ear for the lyrics, then I grabbed the inner sleeve and started reading along... A lot of the texts are absolutely brilliant. Allow me to quote:

The kicking punching
Trigger happy car crashing kids
Stink of drink and think
That it is just the way life is.

Really love the alliteration in this, "car crashing kids", and of course the rhyme in"stink of drink and think".

Definitely worth buying, or, listen on MySpace.

Math Puzzle

2009-12-10T19:23:00.002+01:00

By Sebastiaan

I came across a puzzle a few days ago. It is part of the (Dutch) National Science Quiz, my brother was reading the question out loud. I hadn't given it much thought, until now.

It is as follows: one person knows some sort of secret, he/she then tells three others. This takes an hour. Now these three others will each pass the secret on to again three others, which takes another hour. This process continues this way, until everyone in the world knows about the secret. Only the persons who were told about the secret last, can tell three more persons. How long will it take for the secret to be known by everyone in the world?

In the quiz, you can choose between a day, weekend or a week.

I won't give the answer to this problem, not just yet. I will wait until the 22^nd of December, for then the quiz doesn't take entries anymore. I will post the answer (at least, what I assume is the answer) before the 27^th, the day the official quiz answers are given.

So, let's take a look at the progress in this problem.

1 person knows about the secret. After 1 hour, 4 persons know about the secret. After 2 hours, 13 persons know about the secret.

So. in maths language:

n₀ = 1
n₁ = 4
n₂ = 13

Can we find a formula describing this process?

Please do not comment any answers.

First Encounter With Math: Pascal's Triangle

2009-12-09T23:29:00.002+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Thinking back, the first time I fell in love with mathematics must have been reading the magnificent book "De Telduivel", the dutch translation of "The Number Devil" by H.M. Enzensberger.

The part I found most fascinating, was what I later learned is called "Pascal's Triangle" named after Blaise Pascal, a famous western mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher.

First let me explain a bit about the triangle. "1" is our top number, which comes in the uppermost 'corner' of the triangle. Then we go downwards and left, where we put another "1" and we go downwards right, where we put a third "1". Let me sketch the situation for you:

1 1

Now, we go down-left, and down-right from both ones. The number we put in the space, is the sum of both numbers above it, and in the leftmost and rightmost spaces we just put a "1". Continuing this process infinitely, we get Pascal's Triangle:

1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

1 4 6 4 1

1 5 10 10 5 1

1 6 15 20 15 6 1

1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1

You get the general idea.

Now, the most interesting thing about the triangle, is that it has a wide variety of uses. (I understand that almost everyone who reads this will lose interest in a few moments, but I still would like to share this)

One practical use is found in the calculation of combinations. Say, we are looking for the number of combination of n things taken k at a time. Mathematicians call this n choose k. Let's take a practical example, which we find in the game of poker.

Take a look at my example: we have n = 52, for there are 52 cards in a deck of cards, and let's say k = 5 because we have a poker hand with 5 cards. We now have 52 choose 5. The official formula for combinations is n! divided by k! times (n-k)!, so let's put that into perspective...

...which means there are 2,598,960 combinations of poker hands.

Could we not have found this answer in a differnet way? The answer is yes. Take a look at the following -much simpler- example: 3 choose 1. After a few calculations we find the answer is the simple "3". Take a look at the 3rd row of Pascal's Triangle (don't count the top "1" as a row, this can be seen as the starting number, or row 0), and then the first number that isn't one (for that would be 3 choose 0). This is also 3!

This works for all combinations. 7 choose 3 would be 35, according to the triangle. According to the formula this is 7! (so 7 times 6 times 5 times 4 ..... times 1) divided by 3!4!:

(7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1) / (3 x 2 x 1 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1)

...which is indeed 35.

As a kid, I used to write down the triangle as far as I could, which mostly meant 'till I ran out of paper... I especially used to do this during the more boring classes in primary school. It's ages ago, though I remember it as if it were yesterday.

I will probably post more about the triangle later on, since I so dearly love it. There are some great patterns in it...

Florian Wolff

2009-12-09T22:22:00.002+01:00

By Sebastiaan

I recently bought the newest CD by Florian Wolff, entitled: Catching up, standing still after seeing him perform some live, acoustic songs. Didn't have a chance to listen to it 'till last weekend, and I must say, it's got a few jewels! This is a very promising singer-songwriter.

Oh, my copy is a signed one! Pretty neat.

You can listen to four of his songs here, and buy the cd here.

A Romantic Favourite...

2009-12-09T10:59:00.007+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Classical music has recently grown to one of my biggest addictions. I've collected (bought, or received as a gift) many CD's, and my Chopin collection has nearly reached completion.

There are two words in that sentence I'd like to pick out and indulge on: "Chopin" and "completion". Let's start with the latter.

One can never quite complete ones collection of classical music: there is a wide, wide variety of performers of each piece of classical music. Think of the great Artur Rubinstein, one of the, if not the, most talented Chopin performers. Yet as I skim through my collection of CD's, names as Evgeny Kissin (Ballades) and Elisabeth Leonskaja (I really love her performance of the Nocturnes) cannot be excluded.

Frédéric François Chopin (born 1810, his only known photograph to the left, taken in the year of his death, 1849) is my all-time favourite composer. Now, let me make one thing clear: overall, I've listened to pop, rock and metal a lot more than classical music, yet it is a good fourth, and Chopin is among my top artists (momentarily 23rd on last.fm).

Chopin has composed in the "Romantic genre", so to say, but he has composed a variety of pieces. Among my favourites are the Nocturnes, which are pieces inspired by the night, the Waltzes, which is a ballroom/folk dance, and of course the Ballades, or rather: the Instrumental Ballades, a new musical form which Chopin invented.

I love Chopin's music for its subtlety, the nuances, the expression, the melancholy, though there are of course many dramatic pieces, and lovely melodies... All in all, I love his music for its variety.

I am still looking for a nice biography of Chopin. For those interested in Chopin, yet not into reading: check out Eternal Sonata, it's a very nice Japanese RPG for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, about the last days of Chopin. I'm probably going to post a more extensive post on the game when I've finished playing it (now in the last chapter, I believe).

First Blood

2009-12-08T22:28:00.004+01:00

By Sebastiaan

Hello everybody,

I've tried blogging in the past, didn't work out for me. Yet I've always wanted to try and attain a longer blogging streak, so here goes another shot...

In short, what's this blog about?

It's about everything that interests, puzzles and confuses me, that keeps me busy, going onwards. From daily events, to quotes, to things I read, news articles, twitter, other blogs, webcomics.... It's about Mathematics, Games, Music, and all the other things you find in this world.

Bye!