Johannes Schult

The music section has been revised. I hate to say it’s under construction, but that’s the way it is. My plan is to add various songs through the course of 2008. In the end, there will be all 14 songs which together constitute my “new” solo album. It’s basically going to be a collection of stuff I’ve recorded over the years spiced with a few new numbers in between. I will post lyrics and other related stuff, eventually. If someone wants the files in flac format, make yourself heard (i.e., post a comment). Maybe I can arrange it.

That’s it for now. Check back in a couple of weeks for new additions and further madness.

Several months ago I had announced I’d make a movie. I’m sorry to report that this particular movie did not work out due to time constraints. We didn’t even get to the actual shooting of it, so no harm done, no money lost, and hopefully no hard feelings from anybody involved.

You can read/download the screen play for the short movie. It is identical with the final draft of 16th March 2007, except for the title (which is now B.P.P., that is the abbreviation of the working title) and the name of the male lead (now Karsten; I was never happy with the original name). NB: The B.P.P. screen play by Johannes Schult is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Germany License. So feel free to film the movie yourself!

My (non-existant) career as a film maker is currently on hold. I recently finished writing another screen play, though. But that’s based on material I don’t own the rights of. I only wrote it for my personal fun and to get some more practice.

Fates Warning are an amazing band. I saw them live in Cologne (15th November 2007) and was reminded of just how good a band they really are. Although they’re not really a band in the original sense for some time now. Drum God Bobby Jarzombek joined the band for their recent European Tour, so I just had to see them, come hell, high water, or railway strikes.

It was nice to see Frank Aresti back in the band again. He played some awesome guitar magic. Joey Vera was a bass animal. Ray Alder’s vocals were drowned in the mix, but he gave a great performance, anyway. He’s no longer singing the high parts of some older songs, but manages to re-invent the melodies. Highlights of the show were the three songs off Parallels and the epic “Still Remains”. Especially the later one was breathtaking – progressive metal at its very best! Bobby threw in some double bass in “Point of View” and mastered the complex drum patterns without any visible effort. There were maybe 300 people, so it was a rather intimate show. The atmosphere was great and the chorus in “The Eleventh Hour” was stunning. Check out Flickr for a few more pictures. Wahoo!

1. One
2. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray III
3. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray IV
4. Another Perfect Day
5. Life In Still Water
6. Island In The Stream
7. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray VII
8. The Eleventh Hour
9. Point Of View
10. Still Remains
11. Stranger (With A Familiar Face)
12. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray XI
13. Silent Cries
14. Monument
15. Nothing Left To Say

Ich hätte gern etwas, das ausdrückt: Ich habe dich sehr geliebt. Aber vielleicht hätte ich dich nicht mehr lieben sollen als Natalie. Denn schließlich warst du ja nur ein Hund. Machen Sie mir bitte so etwas zurecht?

Yesterday, I bought JPod by Douglas Coupland. It was a spontaneous decision in the store. I didn’t regret it. I began reading it on my way home. And then on page 62 I found my innermost thoughts and feelings turned into words: “Belgian keyboards are totally from hell.”

If you’re interested in some geeky pop songs I recommend Jonathan Coulton. His homepage is an excellent example of a good (i.e., informative and accessible) artist homepage. My favourite songs (so far) are “The Future Soon”, “Ikea” and “I Feel Fantastic”.

Things STATA cannot do:

• knead your feet
• explain the meaning of your data
• understand telepathically transmitted instructions
• raise the dead
• tap-dance
• turn silver into gold*
• love you back
• moan at incompetent users

NB: This list is incomplete and applies to the versions 10 and lower.

*literally, that is; otherwise:

gen silver = 37
rename silver gold


Wer einen Blick (oder auch mehr) auf meine Diplom-Arbeit werfen will, kann dies im KOPS tun. Die Datenanalyse führte ich damals in der Uni auf den Rechnern auf Ebene B6 mit STATA durch. Kürzlich kaufte ich mir eine eigene STATA-Lizenz und hatte das Programm gerade erstmals voll in Betrieb. Zum Einstieg ließ ich die komplette Analyse der Diplom-Arbeit noch einmal durchlaufen:

. do master

Nach exakt 99 Sekunden waren alle Graphen geplottet und alle Analysen gerechnet. Sehr schön!

Unlike most people I didn’t like that movie. I found it incredibly ordinary and the characters were too smooth. The conflict of the lead character wasn’t resolved in the end, only postponed (until the even worse sequel). What remained was a pale depiction of the chaos and mayhem that’s all around me now.

If you are interested in a true online diary about my current experiences, please make yourself heard. I’m not going to write one, unless there is some kind of demand. I don’t mind sharing the ups and downs, but I think mediocrity would prevail. I mean, thousands of students are experiencing similiar stuff and I don’t think it’s necessary that I add another voice to the choir, because there won’t be many exceptional incidents, I guess; just an ordinary life.

Ab sofort ist das Vampster-Blog online, bei dem ich hin und wieder meinen Senf dazugeben werde. Dort gibt es Beiträge aus der Redaktion zu mehr oder weniger aktuellen Geschehnissen in der (harten) Musikwelt.

Kürzlich hörte ich bei WFUV eine (im April aufgezeichnete) Sendung, in der Richard Shindell zu Gast war. Er spielte u.a. ein neues Stück namens “Walden Well”. Neben der schönen Musik und seiner sonoren Stimme faszinierte mich einmal mehr sein Gespür für großartige Texte. In der ersten Hälfte des Lieds wurde eine relativ unspektakuläre Geschichte erzählt. Ich zweifelte bereits daran, dass noch etwas Spannendes passieren würde. Doch dann kam nach dem zweiten Refrain eine überraschende (textliche) Wendung, die mich sogleich fesselte und begeisterte. Ein bisschen wurde ich auch neidisch, weil die Idee an sich so simpel wie eindrücklich ist. Wie so oft lässt sich auch hier die ganze Wirkung nur teilweise mit Worten beschreiben. Das dürften alle feststellen, die das Lied hören, nachdem sie das hier gelesen haben, und dann zu dem Schluss kommen, dass sie es sich völlig anders vorgestellt hätten.