This week, I’m working on two music pieces – one of the last tracks from the upcoming second Thirteenth Hour soundtrack. The song, called “No Hero (The Future is Here)” is basically the equivalent of the soundtrack’s ending track (like a song that would play over the ending credits). Some previews:
I’m working on the backing synth track today. The version on the podcast was an early warmup. At the time of this writing, many, many frustrating recording attempts (and hours) later, I do have a version of the backing track that is 95% done.
Speaking of ending tracks, I’ve also been playing around with the ending song from the US release of Legend, which we’ll be talking about in the coming week. The song playing as the movie ends is “Loved by the Sun” by Tangerine Dream and sung by Jon Anderson from the band Yes. I’m just messing around with on the guitar with my kids in the version on the podcast, but here is a much better orchestral version of the song done by kids with the O’Keefe Music Foundation, a nonprofit that provides free music instruction to children.
Look for more on Legend next week and the release of Once Upon a Dream later this year!
Today, we are again working on the start of a new music track, this time with the iOS app Auxy (laying down the backing percussion and some notes in the verses) as well as watching the Rocketeer cartoon episode number 16, one of my kids’ favorites. Some pictures from the episode …
I don’t know if this was written intentionally, but the part where Kit and Valerie go back and forth about stealing / borrowing a statue remind me of the part in the 1991 movie where Cliff and Peevy do the same thing (though the statue they “borrow” if of Charles Lindburgh, not the Rocketeer).
It’s hard to see in the above screenshot, but the dinero Kit and Tesh are holding in this scene has Rocketeer helmets on it where the Presidential head usually is 🙂
Lastly, about a year ago, there was a tragic explosion in Beirut, Lebanon (the country where half of Kit’s family comes from). Things had been bad for some time, but the explosion and COVID really have done a number on the people of Lebanon. Last year and recently, I made little posts on Twitter about it, mainly to raise awareness in a positive light (things on Twitter seem to have a habit of turning negative / political very quickly). As I mentioned there, although Kit’s obviously not a real person, if she were real, she would be trying to help in some way, and if it’s one thing the world needs more of right now, it’s more everyday people who embrace their inner “heart of a hero,” just like our friends, Cliff and Kit.
When I think of those sentiments, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from another high flying aviator, astronaut Ellison Onizuka (RIP).
“… the people who make this world run, whose lives can be termed successful, whose names will go down in the history books, are not the cynics, the critics, or the armchair quarterbacks.
They are the adventurists, the explorers, and doers of this world. When they see a wrong or problem, they do something about it. When they see a vacant place in our knowledge, they work to fill that void.
Rather than leaning back and criticizing how things are, they work to make things the way they should be. They are the aggressive, the self-starters, the innovative, and the imaginative of this world …
Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but by what your mind can imagine. Many things that you take for granted were considered unrealistic dreams by previous generations. If you accept these past accomplishments as commonplace then think of the new horizons that you can explore …
Make your life count – and the world will be a better place because you tried.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
There are now Thirteenth Hour toys! If you’d like to pick up one of these glow in the dark figures for yourself, feel free to email me or go to the Etsy store I set up (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirteenthHourStudio) and get them there.
If the past few months have got you needing a break, you may want to chill out to this 80s synth throwback track for a upcoming LP with the accompanying music video:
Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.
Stay tuned. Follow along on Spotify! There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.
Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s Instagram pages: @the13thhr for your random postings on ninjas, martial arts, archery, flips, breakdancing, fantasy art and and @the13thhr.ost for more 80s music, movies, and songs from The Thirteenth Hour books and soundtrack.
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