Yeah McB33F crushed it. Aliens will soon learn that drunk driving is okay, buying USA#1 cheese by the bulk is the only way to go, they'll have hyper megaelite vacation choices.
The only knock is his musical taste. It's the best, but he influenced so many of us.
Music has been said to be the "highest art." While books can flesh out complex ideas in intricate detail, music affects us in ways we can't even always understand, inspiring both dancing and weeping. Furthermore, music is a universal language. While the aliens may need some time to translate our words, rhythm and harmony are universal principles: mathematics in its most aesthetic form.
So, for the first piece of music off the board, we want something that represents the pinnacle of human achievement, that crosses human cultures, and that showcases our best selves. I want something with a breadth of styles, things that we may understand as happy, sad, romantic, dancing, and solemn, such that maybe at least one of those an alien can latch onto, even if it does so in a different way from us. I want something symmetric, so that a stranger who may not appreciate the aesthetic can at least spot the recurring patterns. I also wanted something at least partially vocal, as the fact that we ourselves are some of our most beautiful instruments that can also make words is an important aspect to share with the aliens. And of course, those words, while it may take some time to translate, should put our best foot forward.
At this point, y'all should have a pretty short list of pieces I might be referring to, and that's fine. It's always tempting to get fancy, to showcase a breadth of knowledge and try to pick something that isn't obvious, but sometimes, it's an all-time NFL dynasty draft, and you're picking first. You go for the GOAT.
Spoiler:
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
While my aim for symmetry and mathematical appeal might suggest any of a number of pieces from a guy who damn well better be drafted, Beethoven's 9th Symphony is a uniquely mighty piece of music that occupies a place in not just Western but human culture unlike any other. While German in origin, it has been selected to represent the entire European Union as its anthem, and it has become a traditional part of Japanese New Year's preparations. It achieved this stature by taking listeners on an epic journey of sound and emotion. The first movement explores dynamic range and tonality in the context of a regular sonata. The second, once again a sonata, explores rhythm and dance, straddling a feel of being both in 3 and in 4. The third, a slow, sweeping section that takes a stated theme and repeats it in varied fashions.
And finally, the fourth, a symphony in its own right consisting of four distinct parts, culminates the piece. After brief quotes of the preceding movements interrupted by foreshadows of the movement to come, our first vocalist is heard, extolling the mass of humanity behind him to engage in a more joyous exclamation. And exclaim they do. They pull out an excellent undrafted poem set to a magnificently simple tune that gets explored in several different musical ways to put together the finest piece ever written. The patch where the soloists come together for the first time is just about the finest 60 seconds of music ever composed.
The fairest criticism of the 9th is that it's music that's too big and too boisterous, exactly the sort of music that a man of failing health and especially failing hearing would write. It's true, especially in the 4th movement, that he sometimes has the musicians just wailing on the very high and very low notes, which were at that point all he could really hear. For me, that's part of the humanity and the importance of the piece. One cannot fully understand the music without some empathy for the genius near the end of his life when he wrote it. That might not be understood to the aliens, but for them, I say go big or go home. Let's just beat them over the head with the best humanity has to offer.
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
I will be in the draft and here is my pick- Obviously no one else could draft this. Ty Dolla $ign - Drop That Kitty feat. Charli XCX and Tinashe [Audio]: http://youtu.be/D_ouDwHfmrU
The bible is a clear #1
Last edited by slipslope; 03-04-2015 at 06:42 AM.
Reason: pm me next time
This draft needs like a 2 hour pick timer, it's just gonna die otherwise. SRM had Wookie's pick and has functionally been on the clock for like a day now.
Nope. There will be no pick timer. If the draft dies then it dies. It's up to the people drafting to draft on time. Pick timers will just result in everyone getting skipped if they aren't interested. With that said, SRM is skipped due to a review of his normal posting schedule and the fact that he hasn't checked in to the thread since he IN'd. Dye was PM'd to pick like an hour ago.
With this type of draft, it's perfectly fine to have a few picks a day. People will take their time in making selections and pick when they can. It's not like there's any reason we need it to finish super fast.
Few symbols represent the greatness of a nation as this work does.
The RED. The blood of those who passionately died for us.
The BLUE. Which brings us together as a whole, a melting pot of all.
The WHITE. The race of our greatest leaders and people.
We are USA#1. We are #1. Back to back World War Champs. Our greatest symbol...
Been going back and forth about this pick a lot. There are a lot of great pieces of artwork across many different fields that I was considering. I ultimately decided to go with this pick, not only because it's the best, but because it's also furthest ahead of any other work in its field. This masterpiece of art has been described as visceral, raw, impenetrable, and all encompassing. A deep brutal drama that spans class and race. It shows the real harsh realities of all corners of the socioeconomic climate. It makes you look inward. It's a seering, unflinching meditation on America war on drugs and its effect on the human condition. It's an indictment on the state of class warfare and bureaucracy.
It's hard to categorize it as it's television but it's also cinema and also a novel.
I'm drafting
The Wire
I am not specifying a season so hopefully the aliens have the foresight to not stop watching halfway through season lol2. The show in its entirety is a work of art.