Dressed up like going to work with khakis and a polo, hair el-perfecto (as usual). Got there 10 minutes early to drag my gear in and set up.
Played with bass player, named, "Some call me.. Tim?" It's weird to not audition for a rock band, to play something backed-off and mellow for a 15 year old girl, but the kid had pipes that'd knock yer socks off and played piano with great dynamics which was wonderful. I was able to add my own guitar parts, backing off as necessary (which is again, weird but okay).
Got there and set up my mini-rig and then was presented some sheet music to play with off-the-cuff. I'm pretty sure I got most of the chords at the right timing. Rather good for a first time. Got to play it a second time with Tim, both times with Abagail. Came out rather pretty I think. No drummer this time 'round. Got minimal feedback from her manager, "Mom, aka Jackie" (who's interestingly my age), though second song was a Lady GaGa piece I had never heard of. Got to play it through once as well. I requested I add a solo during the "Hey Jude" portion that was injected into it ala bluesy.
I had to make up the guitar parts as we went, given only the chords and having seen them the first time ever just then. I got to hear the song once.. theeeeen.... GO.
Overall pretty good, but I got the "We'll call you" bit. I think I don't have any competition though, plus I'm pretty awesome for rocking out off-the-cuff. Mom let me play a few riffs of Tom Sawyer. Tim had never heard of it as I explained the notes as we went along. I cut it short right before the solo. Didn't get any "wows" or jaw-drops, just nods as Jackie took notes down and explained contracts and what-not.
Man, I was so sleepy after working a few mids. You think I'd be spot-on but I just didn't have that vibe tonite, playing so quiet and all in a living room sitting on a nice couch. My mind was all fuzzy for some reason. Probably the Russians zapping me with their outer-space lazer-rays and I didn't have my tinfoil helmet on.
Very fun regardless and Abagail has some talent to be sure.
Hm. I guess we'll see then.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Audition
Signed, up-and-coming teen Abagail Geddyes needs a guitarist and I'm auditioning tonite. I'm bringing only monaural gear (no need to get fancy with stereo right now). Riffs seem simple enough.
Abagail is the piano player. I don't know who the other vocalist is. I think I can learn all her songs in about 3 days. This song has no bridge though. Hmmmm...
Should be a hoot. I'll try not to play my amplifiers to eleven. Well, quasi-try.
Abagail is the piano player. I don't know who the other vocalist is. I think I can learn all her songs in about 3 days. This song has no bridge though. Hmmmm...
Should be a hoot. I'll try not to play my amplifiers to eleven. Well, quasi-try.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Dispatch War-Rocket Ajax, to bring back his bo-dy!
I've acquired quite a few guitar pedals on-the-cheap and have been playing around with them. Some of the antiques, such as the Boss CE-2 Chorus and the Boss PH-1r Phaser require a completely different power supply, as they're Japanese so as I'm waiting for those to come in, I'm using 9-volt batteries for those. The PH-1r is arguably better than the MXR Phase 90 "swirler" and I found a very beat-up one for cheap, missing a knob and pretty much smacked-around like a $2 hooker and a bit rusty but I'm promised it works so I bought a new knob for it and once it comes in, I'll giver 'er some TLC.
Vintage guitar pedals are in high-demand right now. The PH-1r in decent shape costs around $500 as does a true, non-reissue 1974 MXR "script" pedal pre-Dunlop. Pretty nuts!
Anyway, some of the pedals I don't really need and I'll probably relist, maybe. I didn't pay a lot for 'em. The Boss AC-1 Acoustic Simulator sounds about the same as my own crafted setting I made on my Digitech 2112. The DigiVerb Reverb pedal (by Digitech) is almost identical to my Digitech 2112 rack unit as well. I suppose I'll put those back on eBay. Here's what I got so far: (note* the links give tonal examples):
Vintage guitar pedals are in high-demand right now. The PH-1r in decent shape costs around $500 as does a true, non-reissue 1974 MXR "script" pedal pre-Dunlop. Pretty nuts!
Anyway, some of the pedals I don't really need and I'll probably relist, maybe. I didn't pay a lot for 'em. The Boss AC-1 Acoustic Simulator sounds about the same as my own crafted setting I made on my Digitech 2112. The DigiVerb Reverb pedal (by Digitech) is almost identical to my Digitech 2112 rack unit as well. I suppose I'll put those back on eBay. Here's what I got so far: (note* the links give tonal examples):
- Digitech 2112 (upgraded to v.2.11 Digitech 2120 brains) - I'll never part with this one. Click the link to listen why.
- Ibanez Turbo Tube Screamer TS9 (with Japanese chip) - can't part with that one ever.
- Boss Power Stack Distortion - Gives a modern metal sound that has a clever feature that when you turn down the volume on your guitar it sounds like an acoustic guitar. Neet trick. I'll keep it.
- Boss CE-2 Chorus (1982 Japanese chip) - Pretty perfect by way of mono chorus.
- Behringer VD400 Vintage Analog Delay - Has a nice ambiance.
- DigiVerb X-Series Reverb - Well, it's a digital reverb, so it's kind of choppy.
- Brian May Red Special Pedal - I'll never know when I get on a Queen kick. Boxed, but I'll keep 'er.
- Boss Acoustic Simulator - It does a good job making an electric sound quite acoustic, but my Digitech 2112 does the same thing, and I already have an Ovation 1983 acoustic.. so it's probably a sell.
- Boss PH-1r Phaser (1980 Japanese version) - A sought-after prize, and analog, which is sweet. 4-Phase.
- Behringer EQ700 7-band Graphic Equalizer - $19 is a steal. A little hiss off the high-end but my Noise Reduction feature on my Digitech 2112 it's looped into will take care of that just fine.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Metallica is dead
This is a sampling of every song off the new Metallica album, Lulu. You might want to sit down with this and have a box of Kleenex handy. This is no joke. This is actually Metallica's album. You judge each sample:
After cleaning myself with 300 sieverts of radiation and taking a deep breath, I'm going to say right now that some of the guitar work is actually very good, especially with the stereo-chorus pedal setup. Um.. I wonder if Lou Reed didn't sing on this album and Hetfield did instead, more angrilly-ier, it might have helped. Still, the song Little Dog is unbearable. Okay, all of it is unbearable. Some people have mentioned that Iced Honey might be the best track on the song, or View but that's like saying that little piece of grass that's not too covered in dog vomit all covering the dog diarrhea is pretty okay because it's cold outside and it doesn't smell as bad now that it's night, and I'm drunk.
Fail.
Well, Metallica fans, you always have Iron Maiden and Antrhax. Try those and move on.
After cleaning myself with 300 sieverts of radiation and taking a deep breath, I'm going to say right now that some of the guitar work is actually very good, especially with the stereo-chorus pedal setup. Um.. I wonder if Lou Reed didn't sing on this album and Hetfield did instead, more angrilly-ier, it might have helped. Still, the song Little Dog is unbearable. Okay, all of it is unbearable. Some people have mentioned that Iced Honey might be the best track on the song, or View but that's like saying that little piece of grass that's not too covered in dog vomit all covering the dog diarrhea is pretty okay because it's cold outside and it doesn't smell as bad now that it's night, and I'm drunk.
Fail.
Well, Metallica fans, you always have Iron Maiden and Antrhax. Try those and move on.
Friday, November 25, 2011
I don't hate the Russians
A lot of people note that I have a furvor against the Russians. It's not actually so. I don't hate them as a species. To be specific, I hate their government. The people, if unmanipulated by their government or corrupted by its virus does not make me angry. I pity them a bit, actually, but I don't hate them. I don't hate their sub-culture either. Borscht is pretty gross, as it's soup made from beets, which is truly gross with no saving grace. I can't blame them, however, as it's a common item in their country and, well, you make do with what you got. Actually I admire a lot of the Russian's tenacity and ruthlessness (no Ruths?). They're a bold bunch, and amazingly clever an adversary.
A few years back, around 2002 or so, some Al Qaeda were holding some children hostage in a school near Moscow. Russian special forces came in and with one of the terrorists holding a small girl as a shield, the special forces shot through the girl, killing her, and laid waste to all the terrorists. They then seized the school back, took the terrorists Muslim bodies, wrapped them face-down in graves so their souls could not rise to Ala, wrapped in pig skin, the most foul and corrupt substance to Muslims, their souls trapped forever in its vile sin. They then took pictures of all of this and sent it to Al Qaeda leaders.
The Al Quiada never bothered to mess with Russia again since then.
Imagine the touchy-feely Americans trying this? Imagine the tree-huggers whining about it all? We don't have the balls to get that point across, which is a shame, really, because it was brutal and effective.
A few years back, around 2002 or so, some Al Qaeda were holding some children hostage in a school near Moscow. Russian special forces came in and with one of the terrorists holding a small girl as a shield, the special forces shot through the girl, killing her, and laid waste to all the terrorists. They then seized the school back, took the terrorists Muslim bodies, wrapped them face-down in graves so their souls could not rise to Ala, wrapped in pig skin, the most foul and corrupt substance to Muslims, their souls trapped forever in its vile sin. They then took pictures of all of this and sent it to Al Qaeda leaders.
The Al Quiada never bothered to mess with Russia again since then.
Imagine the touchy-feely Americans trying this? Imagine the tree-huggers whining about it all? We don't have the balls to get that point across, which is a shame, really, because it was brutal and effective.
New Bond film, "Skyfall"
Seems we get Daniel Craig again for this next installment of James Bond, coming up next year in October, along with Judi Dench as "M", which is nice. What's really interesting is a few things:
- This is the first non-book James Bond film. It hasn't been created by Ian Flemming.
- It's instead written by John Logan who made, Star Trek Nemesis, Gladiator, and The Last Samurai (all of which pretty much were stupid, poorly-made, lower-quality rip-offs of other films (ST:N was really Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, TLS was really James Clavel's Shogun, and Gladiator was really Spartacus). Though he did write The Aviator which was very good.
- S.P.E.C.T.R.E is being reintroduced from Thunderball and hinted-at in Dr.No.
- Ernst Stravo Blofeld, originally played by Donald Pleasance expertly will now be played by a far more Russian looking Javier Bardem, who's been in some interesting foreign films of note, which is good.
- Locations will include South Africa, India, and Scotland, which is cool.
- MI6 (England's foreign operations division) is going to get their butt handed to them by SPECTRE.
- It's James freakin' Bond.
All night?
It's amazing what folks do on this Black Friday thing. I've never been swept-up in it. Never got the bug. I think I have sensibility and I'm immune to it by inoculation of smarts. The weekend promises some mediocre holiday deals of around 10% off, which isn't really a big deal unless you're buying $2000 items, then you save a little on tax and that's about it. Other items, like those under $500 are about-meaningless a savings. Sometimes, some overstocked, outdated, cheap-o items are going for half-price. Overstock items a business was going to get rid of anyway, like 42" TVs when 80" is the new standard. Probably good for a computer monitor or laptop screen replacement I guess. Or the bathroom. Still, Best Buy was offering some of those for about two hundred bucks. People were camping-out for this Tuesday in front of the store. Normally I'd guess they run three hundred or so. That's a pretty okay deal I guess, if you want a shitty TV. I doubt people are comparing contrast ratios at that point. They're just happy to get something big. Sort of like Cici's Pizza. All the 99 cent low-qual pizza you want. Tastes exactly like a Toni's Partty Pizza. Fun thing is.. yeah, you can have as much as you want! Yay! Crap pizza! Mmmmn! I knew a lot of guys in the USAF that'd be very happy with free stuff. They'd say, "Yeah, it tastes horrible, but it's good because it's free." Is it? Is it good because it's free? Definitely a philosophy there. I guess if one was desperate, it'd be good, sure. One scraping for pennies in couch seats for a loaf of bread. I was there, once. Sort of when I was in-between my Marysol days and before my Air Force days. I remember having no place to go for several months and lived wherever I could. I was pretty vagabond and despondent, the realization of not every girl's gonna treat me like a prince. Those days, I'd find 99 cents and order a water and a slice at Pappa Gino's and wait for a family to leave after they'd order a pie and they'd not take the rest home which I'd snag when they'd leave before the cleaning guys'd get there. Pretty horrible times. At that point.I could see how saving 10% would be pretty okay.
In any case, I'd never stand in line (or sleep in a tent in line) for a 10% discount. It's not like it's current Russia where you have to wait in line for coffee overnight. I'd be amused if the tent-ers came back outside and their tents were stolen by the 99%.
I wonder if they realize you can buy the same stuff online for the same discount, and free shipping? You can use a computer for free at the library (remember those?) Ah, well.
America, enjoy your 10%, you 99%-ers.
In any case, I'd never stand in line (or sleep in a tent in line) for a 10% discount. It's not like it's current Russia where you have to wait in line for coffee overnight. I'd be amused if the tent-ers came back outside and their tents were stolen by the 99%.
I wonder if they realize you can buy the same stuff online for the same discount, and free shipping? You can use a computer for free at the library (remember those?) Ah, well.
America, enjoy your 10%, you 99%-ers.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving
Had to work today for 13 hours. People brought in pies and Jeffy brought in a pumpkin cake, so all my meals consisted of pie, which is not horrible, but pretty insane. We were also offered free soda, so the whole affair was pretty Willy Wonka: Shnozzberry? Who's ever heard of a shnozzberry?! (grabs girl's face hard) : We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of the dream!
So, Becky and I are having Thanksgiving tomorrow. It happens, in space. Not having normal vacations off. Becky and I figured we can move them + or - a few days. Makes life tolerable.
I'll make a more interesting blog tomorrow. Ciao.
So, Becky and I are having Thanksgiving tomorrow. It happens, in space. Not having normal vacations off. Becky and I figured we can move them + or - a few days. Makes life tolerable.
I'll make a more interesting blog tomorrow. Ciao.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
One of my pins
Someone was asking where I got my Earth/sword pin. It's from this:
http://youtu.be/sfbsZRbwbJ4?hd=1
An alternate universe.
http://youtu.be/sfbsZRbwbJ4?hd=1
An alternate universe.
The 1%
Some of us have served in foreign wars, about 1% of us. Personally, I was in Desert Storm I and II. I like to imagine I was the offspring of Alexander the Great, kicking King Darius' ass twice as did the Macedon king did in 320 BC (give or take a BC). Call of Duty MW3, Halo, etc. doesn't count, nor is it really that cool. I don't talk about it much, that's for The History Channel to talk about infinatum in 40 years or so, in XD. Anyway, it turns out that Congress can't figure out how to make cuts in the budget, such as to cease grants to bloggers, silly science, student loans for other melanin shades besides myself, etc. so a "Super Committee" has been created to figure out what Congress can't, which is silly in itself, like an Illuminati Congress or something. This is not unprecedented. In the 60's, I belive, there was an Atomic Super Committee to deal with those things atomic. The Super Committee deadline to decide how to fix America (which consists of 6 democrats, and republicans, seemingly at random from the Senate and House of Representatives.. which is interesting because this gives the House of Representatives an equal level of strength in this voting process) ends tonite I'm pretty sure. It was created because at the rate of spending, in less than 10 years the deficit will triple, thanks again, to Obama.
If the deficit is not solved at this insane, new rate, cuts will default to the US Military as per the decision before the Committee was formed, specifically with veteran benefits and most importantly, all of TriCare, which is the entire medical workings for all US Forces. What is decided is that two things will happen: 1) Retirees get jack-squat. No medical, and pensions will either be permanently cut or reduced significantly. Secondly, all medical for active-duty soldiers will no longer be free. If a soldier gets a leg blown-off, he has to have his own medical benefits he pays for on his own. Yep. Not even a joke there. It's so insane and grim. This was already written and is in motion right now. If the soldier doesn't have medical coverage, he'd have to pay out-of-pocket for the plasma, surgery to stop the bleeding, etc. Also, dependents no longer will have free medical coverage of active-duty soldiers. All gone. Bye bye. Thanks, Obama!
There is a rumor that this might not be implemented immediately. There is talk that the Super Committee will have a time extension until mid-January, but the democrats want to hand out all that government free-stuff to people who want to smoke pot and the republicans want our troops to be able to not be denied medical attention on the battlefield when they're bleeding-out in agony. Gee, that's a tough call. Interestingly, it's a stalemate that will end it disaster if nothing is decided.
If you voted Obama, I curse you. You're all idiots who fell for a slogan as my friends bleed to death in mud. Go ahead and smoke your weed. Might make you forget the millions of Americans dying, because of you. Because we can't have good armor.
-update* Oh, by the way, the decision doesn't affect me one bit either way. I myself don't get free medical despite my 15 years of service, nor am I currently active-duty, so all these cut benefits for soldiers affects me not. I just feel bad for 'em, because I now how it is. If anything, it'd benefit me if troops were denied medical coverage and retirees were short-changed. So that's that. I just have good heart for our troops. I was one, and it was tough.
If the deficit is not solved at this insane, new rate, cuts will default to the US Military as per the decision before the Committee was formed, specifically with veteran benefits and most importantly, all of TriCare, which is the entire medical workings for all US Forces. What is decided is that two things will happen: 1) Retirees get jack-squat. No medical, and pensions will either be permanently cut or reduced significantly. Secondly, all medical for active-duty soldiers will no longer be free. If a soldier gets a leg blown-off, he has to have his own medical benefits he pays for on his own. Yep. Not even a joke there. It's so insane and grim. This was already written and is in motion right now. If the soldier doesn't have medical coverage, he'd have to pay out-of-pocket for the plasma, surgery to stop the bleeding, etc. Also, dependents no longer will have free medical coverage of active-duty soldiers. All gone. Bye bye. Thanks, Obama!
There is a rumor that this might not be implemented immediately. There is talk that the Super Committee will have a time extension until mid-January, but the democrats want to hand out all that government free-stuff to people who want to smoke pot and the republicans want our troops to be able to not be denied medical attention on the battlefield when they're bleeding-out in agony. Gee, that's a tough call. Interestingly, it's a stalemate that will end it disaster if nothing is decided.
If you voted Obama, I curse you. You're all idiots who fell for a slogan as my friends bleed to death in mud. Go ahead and smoke your weed. Might make you forget the millions of Americans dying, because of you. Because we can't have good armor.
-update* Oh, by the way, the decision doesn't affect me one bit either way. I myself don't get free medical despite my 15 years of service, nor am I currently active-duty, so all these cut benefits for soldiers affects me not. I just feel bad for 'em, because I now how it is. If anything, it'd benefit me if troops were denied medical coverage and retirees were short-changed. So that's that. I just have good heart for our troops. I was one, and it was tough.
..and THEN?!
Had my guitar "class" yesterday. Paid for it (and a second one) with an extra Japanese Ibanez Tube Screamer I had accidentally won for a mere $70 (rather cheap, as I've seen them going for $500 on some sites). A well-sought-after piece that any band that survived more than 10 albums undoubtedly own and use: AC/DC, Rush, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Tom Petty, this list is near-infinite, though early 80's TS9 Tube Screamers are finite. Only a few exist in the universe with the sought-after JRC4558D chip. No worries, I kept my TS9 Turbo Tube Screamer as the first-setting on it shares the exact same ceramic resistors and circuitry to even the same mines the gallium was extracted from, so it's not only a clone, but has 3 other settings as well. It's not a re-issue or a copy, it's a twin. There's a lot of religion based on guitar pedals and effects. Re-issues, such as MXR's script-logo Phase-90 phaser are almost as good as the original 1970's version, but not quite, and you miss a bit of warmth due to carbon parts versus ceramic from Japanese mud despite their claim to exact parts used before. Yes, even the location of the mud used in the making of a ceramic part makes a tonal difference. Only a critical, non-MP3-listening ear would notice the difference. I suspect in a noisy, live environ you'd probably not tell the difference, but then again, it's a matter of soul.
Here's an example of a Tube Screamer TS9 distortion sound. Two guitars are playing here, both using the Screamers, though one has the "Tone" knob cranked to full brite treble, the other is at the mid-way point.
Anyway, he liked my previous efforts (downgraded and uploaded on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikecronis?feature=mhee) and offered no criticisms. John Mack (who looks like a Molly Hatchet cover) gave me some good criticism, however. He mentioned the bass guitar was shaky (well sure, since I was only playing bass at the time for 3 days when I tried Tom Sawyer) and vocals were pretty meh. Interestingly, he didn't think much of my most recent release Where's My Thing? which I was sort of quite proud of, but I did use MIDI drums and bass guitar and didn't play the organic bass (though I could have, I just wasn't in the mood). Fair enough. He did say that I played the actual rock guitar well though, which is nice, and that 3 Pedal Mix which was a demo of 3 of my guitar pedals was insanely good, which is odd to me as I think it sort of blows and has no direction, just sort of a random mess of me messing around. Hm.
Rick Green Master Bard insists I stop covering other bands and do my own stuff, this time with vocals and the like, though I might try an instrumental so as to not draw away from my playing. When I sing, it's a bit.. distracting from the guitar work, put in a nice way.. I don't think it's horrible when I sing, I mean, I try to get all the notes. I don't think I'm flat or sharp, I just don't have that "jois sais ne qois" that say, Master Bard Josh Groban has, though good luck Josh on a Ibanez Saber! Hmph.
Up and to the right, I'm putting a poll where you can pick if you want me to do an instrumental or a full-on song below. I'm more apt to do the instrumental but if people want me to sing with my voice and my own lyrics as opposed to emulating someone else's work, please choose so. It's fully anonymous, and you can vote as many times as you want and can pick more than one answer.
Here's an example of a Tube Screamer TS9 distortion sound. Two guitars are playing here, both using the Screamers, though one has the "Tone" knob cranked to full brite treble, the other is at the mid-way point.
Anyway, he liked my previous efforts (downgraded and uploaded on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikecronis?feature=mhee) and offered no criticisms. John Mack (who looks like a Molly Hatchet cover) gave me some good criticism, however. He mentioned the bass guitar was shaky (well sure, since I was only playing bass at the time for 3 days when I tried Tom Sawyer) and vocals were pretty meh. Interestingly, he didn't think much of my most recent release Where's My Thing? which I was sort of quite proud of, but I did use MIDI drums and bass guitar and didn't play the organic bass (though I could have, I just wasn't in the mood). Fair enough. He did say that I played the actual rock guitar well though, which is nice, and that 3 Pedal Mix which was a demo of 3 of my guitar pedals was insanely good, which is odd to me as I think it sort of blows and has no direction, just sort of a random mess of me messing around. Hm.
Rick Green Master Bard insists I stop covering other bands and do my own stuff, this time with vocals and the like, though I might try an instrumental so as to not draw away from my playing. When I sing, it's a bit.. distracting from the guitar work, put in a nice way.. I don't think it's horrible when I sing, I mean, I try to get all the notes. I don't think I'm flat or sharp, I just don't have that "jois sais ne qois" that say, Master Bard Josh Groban has, though good luck Josh on a Ibanez Saber! Hmph.
Up and to the right, I'm putting a poll where you can pick if you want me to do an instrumental or a full-on song below. I'm more apt to do the instrumental but if people want me to sing with my voice and my own lyrics as opposed to emulating someone else's work, please choose so. It's fully anonymous, and you can vote as many times as you want and can pick more than one answer.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Analog vs. Digital
Honestly, there's no beating an analog audio device versus a digital one. I recently acquired a 1983 Boss Chorus pedal CE-1 from Nippon the other day and got around to plugging her in. Now, Digitech's 2112 Stereo Chorus is quite nice and tries really hard in getting that juicy chorus sound but the basic, mono, ceramic resistors on the Boss CE-1 just has that extra.. "je ne sais quoi". More.. rounder, perhaps. Less frequency cut-off, maybe. Where Digitech's emulation at 24-bit is still "stepped" at close-up range, the analog one is invariably smooth and natural (well, it's analog versus digital after all).
Imagine a circle, first rendered by a pencil, then rendered by an Atari 2600. Now I wouldn't go and say the Digitech 2112 (ver. 2.11) is as unrefined as that, but it's an example of digital rendering versus analog. Now consider a circle rendered by a PlayStation 3. Well, it probably looks pretty close to the pencil version, but if you get right up-close to it, even with the best monitors, you'll still eventually see those "steps", those pixels of steps that render the circle.
At 32-bit audio, such as in Blu-Ray audio, things are getting pretty good. It's a heck of a lot more difficult to see those "steps", those pixels. There are several new devices coming out that have 32-bit processing both for recording and playback. I've heard these and they're fabulous. I have a very hard time discerning a live recording from these. One example is, say, if a guitarist is using some digital guitar pedals or effects or processing, it's converted to 32-bit (at best) digital anyway so when they get it to their amplifiers and converted invariably back to analog there IS no difference. In that case, you are getting an exact copy. Drums are rarely digitized, however (except in pop music) so the resonance is left in-tact. Analog still wins, almost.
Eventually, 64-bit audio will be the norm, maybe in 10 years or so. Maybe 5. I would say by then, even the most critical ear will not be able to tell the difference, those "steps" being too finite for even the most avid audiophile, that "fizzle", that "pixelation" being undetectable. Maybe one in a billion could discern it.
In my Future World vision, 64-GIGABIT audio will be present, not a few dozen "bits" quality. At that point, the resolution of audio will EXCEED that of REAL LIFE! Air molecules will be BIGGER than the actual resolution, as the air molecules pushed are what makes the analog sound. Improvements might be in different air mediums aside from our 80/20 nitrogen/oxygen mix on Earth. One might listen to music in a chamber consisting of an argon/oxygen environment for better bass or treble than current reality as only then can real instruments' digital counterparts be realized!
Until then, however, we got 24 or 32 bit at-best, and it sounds pixelated a tad, so ancient, analog guitar pedals are the shizit...for now, anyway.
Oh, if you listen to MP3s then you're not going to understand any of this as you're listening to 8-bit audio, and you're a 'tard who admires convenience far-more than quality.. and you probably own an iPhone because you think it's "pretty handy" and a "pretty neet idea". These are the same folks that thought digital watches were super-cool back in the 80's with their lossy 1-second/day retrograde clock-drift... oh.. wait.. that was me! Then again, I was 8.
Ciao.
Writer's note: I had 3 dangling modifiers in this post and had to go back and fix those. Yeah, I'm that critical. Maybe that validates my point, or maybe I'm just awesome. You decide. You can choose between I'm awesome or I'm awesomelier. (cheeeeesey smile)
Imagine a circle, first rendered by a pencil, then rendered by an Atari 2600. Now I wouldn't go and say the Digitech 2112 (ver. 2.11) is as unrefined as that, but it's an example of digital rendering versus analog. Now consider a circle rendered by a PlayStation 3. Well, it probably looks pretty close to the pencil version, but if you get right up-close to it, even with the best monitors, you'll still eventually see those "steps", those pixels of steps that render the circle.
At 32-bit audio, such as in Blu-Ray audio, things are getting pretty good. It's a heck of a lot more difficult to see those "steps", those pixels. There are several new devices coming out that have 32-bit processing both for recording and playback. I've heard these and they're fabulous. I have a very hard time discerning a live recording from these. One example is, say, if a guitarist is using some digital guitar pedals or effects or processing, it's converted to 32-bit (at best) digital anyway so when they get it to their amplifiers and converted invariably back to analog there IS no difference. In that case, you are getting an exact copy. Drums are rarely digitized, however (except in pop music) so the resonance is left in-tact. Analog still wins, almost.
Eventually, 64-bit audio will be the norm, maybe in 10 years or so. Maybe 5. I would say by then, even the most critical ear will not be able to tell the difference, those "steps" being too finite for even the most avid audiophile, that "fizzle", that "pixelation" being undetectable. Maybe one in a billion could discern it.
In my Future World vision, 64-GIGABIT audio will be present, not a few dozen "bits" quality. At that point, the resolution of audio will EXCEED that of REAL LIFE! Air molecules will be BIGGER than the actual resolution, as the air molecules pushed are what makes the analog sound. Improvements might be in different air mediums aside from our 80/20 nitrogen/oxygen mix on Earth. One might listen to music in a chamber consisting of an argon/oxygen environment for better bass or treble than current reality as only then can real instruments' digital counterparts be realized!
Until then, however, we got 24 or 32 bit at-best, and it sounds pixelated a tad, so ancient, analog guitar pedals are the shizit...for now, anyway.
Oh, if you listen to MP3s then you're not going to understand any of this as you're listening to 8-bit audio, and you're a 'tard who admires convenience far-more than quality.. and you probably own an iPhone because you think it's "pretty handy" and a "pretty neet idea". These are the same folks that thought digital watches were super-cool back in the 80's with their lossy 1-second/day retrograde clock-drift... oh.. wait.. that was me! Then again, I was 8.
Ciao.
Writer's note: I had 3 dangling modifiers in this post and had to go back and fix those. Yeah, I'm that critical. Maybe that validates my point, or maybe I'm just awesome. You decide. You can choose between I'm awesome or I'm awesomelier. (cheeeeesey smile)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Space Battleship Yamato intro
I found an intro to the movie that hasn't been hunted down and removed yet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18cNn4apRkM&feature=colike
I must apologize, however, as this low-qual version doesn't quite give the same scope as the HD Blu-Ray 5.1 Dolby Surround version does, but it gives you the idea.
I strongly recommend getting this version on eBay or Amazon or whatever. Make sure you get the live-action 2010 version and not the anime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18cNn4apRkM&feature=colike
I must apologize, however, as this low-qual version doesn't quite give the same scope as the HD Blu-Ray 5.1 Dolby Surround version does, but it gives you the idea.
I strongly recommend getting this version on eBay or Amazon or whatever. Make sure you get the live-action 2010 version and not the anime.
Space Battleship Yamato
Bought the blu-ray of this movie. If you like all things awesome, you should watch this film. Yes, you'll have to read subtitles (awww.) so dumb people who can't read aren't going to like this, sorry Tennessee! Earth is ravaged by an unknown alien enemy that is devastating the earth with radioactive meteors. The Earth Defense Force launches space vessels to try to stop the meteors but is out-flanked by the enemy's ships. Earth has run out of materials to reconstruct any more vessels so retro-fits the WWII ship the Yamato as a last-ditch effort to get to the coordinates of a mysterious capsule that crashes near one of Earth's underground cities. Predictions indicate the Earth has less than 1 year to survive.
Based on the 1974 anime, Star Blazers which I used to watch as my first Japanese anime (next to Speed Racer by TransLux of course), this sci-fi is very action-packed with awesome surprises and space-tactics and is very action oriented. Very common to Japanese sci-fi of the time, such as Robotech (aka Macross Saga), there's quite a bit of very impressive space battles back-dropped with personnel inter-relationships. This setup is often known as a Space Opera for it's levels of complexity. Firefly TV series approaches this, but the action in the show as a bit weak with more focus on the individuals. Space Battle Ship Yamato (made in December 2010) balances the action sequences and character development expertly. Truly brilliant. There's a few nod to the fans by way of the original with IQ9 (aka Analyzer) making a cameo, and some of the scenes are almost direct replicas of the '74 series here and there.
THIS is THE sci-fi to watch this year. Aerosmith plays the end-credits, which is surprising and unexpected. Blu-ray transfer is outstanding and the audio, though only 5.1 surround Dolby Digital and not the 7.1 we expect with Blu-ray release is well executed with ships flying from behind and in front ala Top Gun. Acting is top-notch, particularly with Otika (aka Captain Avatar).
Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Battleship-Yamato-Blu-Ray-English-Subtitled/dp/B005H2IAM6/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1321556818&sr=1-1
Or here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPACE-BATTLESHIP-YAMATO-BLU-RAY-MINT-CONDITION-NOTE-BOOK-AND-SLIPCASE-/250932871459?pt=UK_CDsDVDs_DVDs_DVDs_GL&hash=item3a6cc3c123
Or you could just simply borrow it from me, of course.
Based on the 1974 anime, Star Blazers which I used to watch as my first Japanese anime (next to Speed Racer by TransLux of course), this sci-fi is very action-packed with awesome surprises and space-tactics and is very action oriented. Very common to Japanese sci-fi of the time, such as Robotech (aka Macross Saga), there's quite a bit of very impressive space battles back-dropped with personnel inter-relationships. This setup is often known as a Space Opera for it's levels of complexity. Firefly TV series approaches this, but the action in the show as a bit weak with more focus on the individuals. Space Battle Ship Yamato (made in December 2010) balances the action sequences and character development expertly. Truly brilliant. There's a few nod to the fans by way of the original with IQ9 (aka Analyzer) making a cameo, and some of the scenes are almost direct replicas of the '74 series here and there.
THIS is THE sci-fi to watch this year. Aerosmith plays the end-credits, which is surprising and unexpected. Blu-ray transfer is outstanding and the audio, though only 5.1 surround Dolby Digital and not the 7.1 we expect with Blu-ray release is well executed with ships flying from behind and in front ala Top Gun. Acting is top-notch, particularly with Otika (aka Captain Avatar).
Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Battleship-Yamato-Blu-Ray-English-Subtitled/dp/B005H2IAM6/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1321556818&sr=1-1
Or here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPACE-BATTLESHIP-YAMATO-BLU-RAY-MINT-CONDITION-NOTE-BOOK-AND-SLIPCASE-/250932871459?pt=UK_CDsDVDs_DVDs_DVDs_GL&hash=item3a6cc3c123
Or you could just simply borrow it from me, of course.
Space Battleship Yamato (2010 live-action film):
Comic book fans (or fans of the series): A+++infinity plus 1
Zombies: A
Everybody else: B (what, I have to read?)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Nice I'm on-par
I'm listening to Rush's new live release, Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland. Rather raw sounding release, but they do perform all of the album Moving Pictures in its entirety, which is amazingly good. The songs "Tom Sawyer" and "Witch Hunt" make me re-listen to Resonance's own recordings of these songs and I realize I really hit the nail-on-the-head on my versions, which makes me smile. I really want to try the song "Red Barchetta" with "YYZ" being on a skill-haitus cuz' I can't still get that riff at 0:50 quite smooth enough and I'm working on "Limbo" right now. But as everyone knows, my mood changes with the tides, and I might just ignore everything and become a concert-triangle-player-monk at a moment's notice.
Russia's Phobos-Grunt cannot receive commands, which is a bad sign. My suggestion for them to dump hydrazine was considered on Wikipedia, actually, but the craft will not respond to anything and the solar array deployment was automated. They're pretty much screwed. Unless they consider inverting the Myplexes (which I had to do with DSP flight 23, later "accidentally" sabotaged by a Canadian 7 months later by bursting the fuel-tank by not turning-off the plenum-pump after commanding it and letting it over-fill for 12 hours causing a critical loss-of-earth scenario).
I'm considering creating a "pedal board" to house all my pedals at this point. By the time the last one ships, along with my Digitech 2112 (ver. 2.11) and BBE Sonic Maximizer 882i (coming in soon and is downright amazing) I'll have 7 pedals on TOP of everything else. Some people ask me, "Hey Mike, whatchya using for your gear?" Well, here's my gearlist that musical nerds will delight in, along with some photos:
Queensryche headless bass guitar (chaotic evil) (mandolin hiding in the corner)
1983 Ovation Electric-Accoustic
1993 Ibanez Saber Custom sporting 2 new Seymour Duncan Invader humbuckers
Digitech 2112 (v.2.11 upgraded to 2120 firmware) into a
Behringer EuroRack M802A ultra-low-noise 16-track soundboard
into a Presonus AudioBox USB (into my IBM i5 PC)
2010 Yamaha E423
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
OWS and economic solution
I think every company should hire 10% additional workforce. Every company. For 3 months there would be a loss, as overhead is now 10% higher, however after which everybody is employed and buying things, and then there would be a much larger gain, starting with lending companies, food, and credit cards that would start being paid back instead of defaulted. That should get the ball rolling. If not, the government should simply increase the military hiring by 10% and allowing a 2-year enlistment, effectively eliminating unemployed. The money the troops would earn would go back into the economy, eliminating the situation, and the troops would learn structure and organization and skills. Well, that's my quick-fix.
Here's #OWS with Insult the Comic Dog from Conan O'Brien everyone's been talking about:
Here's #OWS with Insult the Comic Dog from Conan O'Brien everyone's been talking about:
Monday, November 14, 2011
Socialism From a friend
When your "friends" cannot explain why they voted for Democrats, give them this list.
They can then pick their reasons from this "TOP 12"...
1. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't. 2. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would. 3. I voted Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it. 4. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves. 5. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius. 6. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about millions of babies being aborted so long as we keep all death row inmates alive. 7. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits. 8. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the Democrats see fit. 9. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters. 10. I voted Democrat because I think that it's better to pay billions to people who hate us for their oil, but not drill our own because it might upset some endangered beetle or gopher. 11. I voted Democrat because while we live in the greatest, most wonderful country in the world, I was promised "HOPE AND CHANGE". 12. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my ass, it's unlikely that I'll ever accept a well-informed point of view. |
Actually, that last one was unfair and kinda mean, so I'll replace it with a quote or two, even though Eddie from Iron Maiden seems to want her head on a pike:
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -- Winston Churchill
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money [to spend]." -- Margret Thatcher
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Fear of Soil, Part II.VIII of III
Russians have so far failed to ignite the 3rd stage of Phobos-Grunt, stuck in a highly-eccentric orbit around the Earth. To buy time, they've cleverly deployed the solar-array panels, though I'm not certain if it was by pyrotechnic bolts or springs (both common array deployment techniques). Regardless, I applaud them for such a last-ditch effort to buy time until 21 November: Phobos-Grunt-Dooms-Day-Dot-RU. There will be happy coverage from me that day, rest assured. I should therefore get working hard on Gangster of Boat Trilogy's Part II: Limbo before that day to make it a race for production.
A few of my pedals have come in: the Digitech's DigiVerb and the Danelectro "Hashbrowns" flanger (which to my horror was repaired with scotch-tape, but only cost me 99 cents, and it works.. so....)
Nice analogy, the scotch-tape'ed-repaired Danelctro and the Phobos-Grunt.
There's extreme danger that atmospheric drag will make the P-G crash sooner as the B-Star component on the 2-card-element-set has increased tenfold, coupled with the increased solar pressure for our sun's solar-cycle makes it quite hazardous, not to mention the now exposed array being naked to cosmic dust and space "brick-a-brack" that might smash into it enroute. Ah, but these are only my opinions, not any scientist's. Still, a clever idea. They might consider dumping attitude adjusting hydrazine and employ the vehicle's momentum wheels to buy a little more time but I'm not giving away any hints comrades.
A bold move, that array deployment to collect solar-powered electricity, but will it be enough to earn your space wings?
Stay tuned.
A few of my pedals have come in: the Digitech's DigiVerb and the Danelectro "Hashbrowns" flanger (which to my horror was repaired with scotch-tape, but only cost me 99 cents, and it works.. so....)
Nice analogy, the scotch-tape'ed-repaired Danelctro and the Phobos-Grunt.
There's extreme danger that atmospheric drag will make the P-G crash sooner as the B-Star component on the 2-card-element-set has increased tenfold, coupled with the increased solar pressure for our sun's solar-cycle makes it quite hazardous, not to mention the now exposed array being naked to cosmic dust and space "brick-a-brack" that might smash into it enroute. Ah, but these are only my opinions, not any scientist's. Still, a clever idea. They might consider dumping attitude adjusting hydrazine and employ the vehicle's momentum wheels to buy a little more time but I'm not giving away any hints comrades.
A bold move, that array deployment to collect solar-powered electricity, but will it be enough to earn your space wings?
Stay tuned.
Well hello then.
In my time-travel adventures, I went into the future, and I discovered Captain Hello. He's a fancy Space Pirate and he's got a penchant for Pez candies and saucy spank-filled adventures. He has a side-kick, Mr. Fancy Pants, shown below. He has a hobby of collecting and restoring antique technologies such as the laptops below. He also has the power of telekinesis and pyrotechnics and didn't like how I smelt.
Finally, we were accompanied by first-mates IG88 and his crew (who were in mortal combat at the time of my arrival, but suddenly became bestest of friends and are now inseparable.) These are IG88 and his Warriors THREE! Marcus, Dre Bu-ta, and Scalliwag McFancyPants III.
Anyway, we went on a long and scary journey and battled all sorts of robo-undead in the future (is now) and stopped the Galactic Empire from devastating the League of Seven Planets. McFancyPants almost got his hand blown-off in a dogfight, but we'll be okay. Treasure for all!
YESSSSS.
If anyone wants to join me, I put an ad in the Denver Post this week here:
The Krampus
Something I didn't know until today and it's freakin' excellent. In Europe, apparently, Santa Clause (aka St. Nicholas) is accompanied by another character, The Krampus that punishes bad little boys and girls by flogging them right before Christmas. No one stops him either, neither parents nor St. Nick. The children are just whipped senseless. That's freakin' awesome!!! Europe as a continent also still delights in heavy metal, more-or-less turning their back on rap and crappy pop-music. Europe's pretty awesome all-around.
The Krampus: with St.Nick and parents looking on in approving fear. Notice the boy hiding on the left, in horror. None escape the judgement of.. The Krampus. WE should implement that this year, except the Krampus looks like Obama and he takes 46% of your paycheck every year. Oh, wait, that already happens. Yay, we won!
The Krampus: with St.Nick and parents looking on in approving fear. Notice the boy hiding on the left, in horror. None escape the judgement of.. The Krampus. WE should implement that this year, except the Krampus looks like Obama and he takes 46% of your paycheck every year. Oh, wait, that already happens. Yay, we won!
Click photo for a larger view.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
New studio and Family Dollar
I re-arranged my studio setup so things are more logically placed for easy access to pedals, settings and the like. I'm still waiting on 4 more effects pedals to come in the mail, possibly this afternoon or Monday (if it's not a holiday). Funny that ever since I was 15 I never could take advantage of holidays. I suspect there are a lot of careers out there that actually can. You know, the ones that have weekends off and Columbus Day (the day the Italian discovered Cuba and never set foot even near what is now the United States and then brutalized and raped several boys, then killed them and fed them to the sharks? It's in his journal, after all. Happy American Holidays. I bet I can defunct all of them. Don't get me started on Easter and Christmas.)
Went and had a Jalapeno McDouble at McDonald's today. Fine Scottish restaurant. Greasy and predictable in low-quality. The new shakes are deplorable. That they put synthetic whipped-cream and a MSG cherry on top doesn't make it better. Tastes like powdered milk and highly chlorinated water mixed with diluted synthetic vanilyn. Or vomit. You decide. Fries were soulless and vacant like the over-rushed slaves who work there, burned-out and empty as they try to compete with Starbucks for heavily corn-syrup'ed coffees at 2800 calories and 900 grams of fat. Honey, does this coffee make me look fat? Yep. Very. And dumb. Coffee is generally simply two ingredients: water (98%) and coffee. Starbucks uses tap water, so they fail there, as local water is so chemically treated it's barely H2O. More C6H6 and N2H4. Actually, I think they're winning at the shit-coffee wars, because they decorate theirs with synth-whipped-cream-chemical-process and synth-caramel-like substance swirl in a waxxed paper cup far superiorly to Starbucks' burnt floor-sweepings coffees that even Folger's wouldn't touch due to the large amount of rat droppings mixed-in (but they burn and over-cook the raw beans so the rat-droppings are now safe). Enjoy. Bon Boisson!
Went next door to a newly constructed Family Dollar. Inside was a mini-Wal-Mart reeking of Chinese crap and alien-looking 2-liters of what seemed to be Coke-Cola. The gimmick of Family Dollar is that very few items cost actually a dollar. Most items are normally-priced. Cheap-o sweat-pants for fifteen bucks isn't much of a deal. Saw OceanSpray Cranberry juice for $3.75 where Wal-Mart sells it for $2.50. There a few ultra-generic items from questionable companies that offered things like spices: a good amount of garlic or pepper for a dollar, or perhaps some unknown company selling a good amount sized bag of chips for a buck. Aisles were tight. My shoulders nearly glancing the products on either side. One micro-cart that they offer would barely navigate the realm. Two at an intersection would spell disaster like South American mountain-ranges where two buses meet on a muddy precipice that happens quite regularly.
Went and had a Jalapeno McDouble at McDonald's today. Fine Scottish restaurant. Greasy and predictable in low-quality. The new shakes are deplorable. That they put synthetic whipped-cream and a MSG cherry on top doesn't make it better. Tastes like powdered milk and highly chlorinated water mixed with diluted synthetic vanilyn. Or vomit. You decide. Fries were soulless and vacant like the over-rushed slaves who work there, burned-out and empty as they try to compete with Starbucks for heavily corn-syrup'ed coffees at 2800 calories and 900 grams of fat. Honey, does this coffee make me look fat? Yep. Very. And dumb. Coffee is generally simply two ingredients: water (98%) and coffee. Starbucks uses tap water, so they fail there, as local water is so chemically treated it's barely H2O. More C6H6 and N2H4. Actually, I think they're winning at the shit-coffee wars, because they decorate theirs with synth-whipped-cream-chemical-process and synth-caramel-like substance swirl in a waxxed paper cup far superiorly to Starbucks' burnt floor-sweepings coffees that even Folger's wouldn't touch due to the large amount of rat droppings mixed-in (but they burn and over-cook the raw beans so the rat-droppings are now safe). Enjoy. Bon Boisson!
Went next door to a newly constructed Family Dollar. Inside was a mini-Wal-Mart reeking of Chinese crap and alien-looking 2-liters of what seemed to be Coke-Cola. The gimmick of Family Dollar is that very few items cost actually a dollar. Most items are normally-priced. Cheap-o sweat-pants for fifteen bucks isn't much of a deal. Saw OceanSpray Cranberry juice for $3.75 where Wal-Mart sells it for $2.50. There a few ultra-generic items from questionable companies that offered things like spices: a good amount of garlic or pepper for a dollar, or perhaps some unknown company selling a good amount sized bag of chips for a buck. Aisles were tight. My shoulders nearly glancing the products on either side. One micro-cart that they offer would barely navigate the realm. Two at an intersection would spell disaster like South American mountain-ranges where two buses meet on a muddy precipice that happens quite regularly.
Friday, November 11, 2011
In Time movie review
Watched the movie, In Time staring no one. Pretty much a cyberpunk fare with 80's overtones. Not overly dramatic and current and very old 70's cars done-up to seem futuristic by adding hydraulic and pneumatic "swhoooosh" sounds when doors open or close, which is a bit amusing and cheesy the way I like it ala Hobo with a Shotgun which featured the 80's car, the Bricklyn.
The movie doesn't cross into B or Z movie category but flirts with it a bit. Overall a mild nod to Logan's Run and Strange Days as you'd expect. Big corporation vs. Robin Hood-esque fight-the-system cyberpuncture. A nice Friday afternoon watch with just the right amount of action. Not too distopian with pleanty of daytime scenes to not bring you waaaay down. Decent.
In Time:
Zombies: B
Comic book fans: A-
Everybody else: B+
The movie doesn't cross into B or Z movie category but flirts with it a bit. Overall a mild nod to Logan's Run and Strange Days as you'd expect. Big corporation vs. Robin Hood-esque fight-the-system cyberpuncture. A nice Friday afternoon watch with just the right amount of action. Not too distopian with pleanty of daytime scenes to not bring you waaaay down. Decent.
In Time:
Zombies: B
Comic book fans: A-
Everybody else: B+
Veteran's Day, the irony
I find it ironic that most veterans are actually working on Veteran's Day, except for the X-treme elderly ones that have a problem crapping themselves in public functions to which others can delight. Some can actually not do this, and are just lucky with their day off, such as myself (questionably, however. Crapping one's self does seem intriguing and exciting) or they're in business for themselves and allow themselves a small reprieve.
You see, veterans, retired or otherwise still have to work to make a living. That's right, kids. Despite one's sacrifice you either get jack-squat, or if you sacrificed your whole life you get a nice stipend of about $300 a week to live on, which for a truck owner is a tank of gas or 1 meal a day for a week. Such a small gift for such a large sacrifice (if you worked 20 years at doing it. You work 19 years, you get nothing. Maybe a few jeers of "Why didn't you finish 20?") Well, it's not all about the 20 years, often becoming a meek, ineffectual leader because you just want that brass ring at the end of the ride, ruining dozens of lives in the process when they need you. I see these spineless wimps all the time at work myself, "I just got 2 more years. Screw everybody else. Don't rock the boat. M-o-o-n. That spells spineless."
So we work, stipend or no. Battlescarred and with heavy hearts as locals fetivate on a day dedicated to our sacrifices and people get patriotic for a few hours for us and buy Chinese-made yellow magnetic decals for their cars and stick flags on the hoods of their Korean cars. Oh, yeah.. we're at war with both those countries btw. None of the money goes to any veterans, well, not American veterans anyway. Doesn't support the troops one lick. China pockets the money which they then use to fund their arms sales to our enemies. Yay, we won! Just go smoke your Afghani pot and leave us alone.
You think the government should legalize pot and "tax the hell outa it"? They do here in Colorado. Denver and Boulder both have legalized it, and it is taxed the hell out of it. $200-$500 an ounce. The growers get $30 per ounce, government gets the rest. That's pretty taxed the hell out of it in my book. You think that'll work on a federal scale? Think it'll help America? It's legal in other countries and no, they aren't doing so well. People get very.. relaxed, and the government pockets the money creating a huge gap in rich and poor. Example? Look at Jamaica. Nuff' said. Time for change? Yay, we won.
Happy f*ckin' Veteran's Day, *ssholes.
You see, veterans, retired or otherwise still have to work to make a living. That's right, kids. Despite one's sacrifice you either get jack-squat, or if you sacrificed your whole life you get a nice stipend of about $300 a week to live on, which for a truck owner is a tank of gas or 1 meal a day for a week. Such a small gift for such a large sacrifice (if you worked 20 years at doing it. You work 19 years, you get nothing. Maybe a few jeers of "Why didn't you finish 20?") Well, it's not all about the 20 years, often becoming a meek, ineffectual leader because you just want that brass ring at the end of the ride, ruining dozens of lives in the process when they need you. I see these spineless wimps all the time at work myself, "I just got 2 more years. Screw everybody else. Don't rock the boat. M-o-o-n. That spells spineless."
So we work, stipend or no. Battlescarred and with heavy hearts as locals fetivate on a day dedicated to our sacrifices and people get patriotic for a few hours for us and buy Chinese-made yellow magnetic decals for their cars and stick flags on the hoods of their Korean cars. Oh, yeah.. we're at war with both those countries btw. None of the money goes to any veterans, well, not American veterans anyway. Doesn't support the troops one lick. China pockets the money which they then use to fund their arms sales to our enemies. Yay, we won! Just go smoke your Afghani pot and leave us alone.
You think the government should legalize pot and "tax the hell outa it"? They do here in Colorado. Denver and Boulder both have legalized it, and it is taxed the hell out of it. $200-$500 an ounce. The growers get $30 per ounce, government gets the rest. That's pretty taxed the hell out of it in my book. You think that'll work on a federal scale? Think it'll help America? It's legal in other countries and no, they aren't doing so well. People get very.. relaxed, and the government pockets the money creating a huge gap in rich and poor. Example? Look at Jamaica. Nuff' said. Time for change? Yay, we won.
Happy f*ckin' Veteran's Day, *ssholes.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Fear of Soil part II.V of III
Russians are trying to get that last stage to fire. Time is critical for them and it requires critical thinking and creativity. At this point, if they get 'er to fire-up, I'll respect them, because they fought and earned their right to explore Mars' moon, Phobos by sheer tenacity, determination, and engineering cleverness. That is what it takes to be worthy of Space by this, "trial by fire".
They got about 2 days left, otherwise the hulking mass will plumet on top of us and light the sky with their failure for all to see. If they succeede, Cosmonaut victory! Long live Space Race! Long live, Molvania!
Hey baby, wake up from your asleep. We have arrived onto the future and the whole world is become...
Electronic supersonic. Supersonik Electronik!
Hey baby, ride with me away! We doesn't have much time!
My blue-jeans is tight so onto my love-rocket climb.
Inside tank of fuel is not fuel but love. Above us, there is nothing but love of the stars above.
All systems gone! Prepare for downcount!
Five, four, three, one, OFFBLAST!
Fly away in my space rocket. You no need put money in my pocket.
The door is closed I just lock it. I put my buttplug in your socket. Hot, hot, hot hot hot hot!
The sonic sky is bright like fire! You and me gets higher and higher.
Cut is communication wire! Only thing can stop us is flat tire! Hot, hot, hot hot hot!
Hey love crusader I want to be your space invader, for you I would descend the deepest moon crater.
I is more stronger than Darth Vapor! Obey me, I is your new dictator!
For you is Venus, I am Mars. For with you I is more richer than all the Czars.
Make a wishes on a shooting stars. Then for you I will play on my cosmic guitars!
Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your belt-seats. We have commenced our decent.
I trust you have enjoyed this flight as much as you enjoy this accent.
Now, back on Earth is time for downsplash! Into Sea of Eternal Glory my spaceship crash.
People have arrived for to cheer me from near and far. And, as I float I open door and shout,
"I am world's biggest washed-up superstar!"
As for sure as the sun rises in the West, of all the singers and poets on earth, I is the bestest.
Come, let me put ring of Jupiter on your finger then like a smell around you I shall forever linger.
Okay, is time for end, no more will I sang. Let me take you back in time,
I want for you to experience Big Bang!
Long live Space Race. Long live, Molvania.
They got about 2 days left, otherwise the hulking mass will plumet on top of us and light the sky with their failure for all to see. If they succeede, Cosmonaut victory! Long live Space Race! Long live, Molvania!
Hey baby, wake up from your asleep. We have arrived onto the future and the whole world is become...
Electronic supersonic. Supersonik Electronik!
Hey baby, ride with me away! We doesn't have much time!
My blue-jeans is tight so onto my love-rocket climb.
Inside tank of fuel is not fuel but love. Above us, there is nothing but love of the stars above.
All systems gone! Prepare for downcount!
Five, four, three, one, OFFBLAST!
Fly away in my space rocket. You no need put money in my pocket.
The door is closed I just lock it. I put my buttplug in your socket. Hot, hot, hot hot hot hot!
The sonic sky is bright like fire! You and me gets higher and higher.
Cut is communication wire! Only thing can stop us is flat tire! Hot, hot, hot hot hot!
Hey love crusader I want to be your space invader, for you I would descend the deepest moon crater.
I is more stronger than Darth Vapor! Obey me, I is your new dictator!
For you is Venus, I am Mars. For with you I is more richer than all the Czars.
Make a wishes on a shooting stars. Then for you I will play on my cosmic guitars!
Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your belt-seats. We have commenced our decent.
I trust you have enjoyed this flight as much as you enjoy this accent.
Now, back on Earth is time for downsplash! Into Sea of Eternal Glory my spaceship crash.
People have arrived for to cheer me from near and far. And, as I float I open door and shout,
"I am world's biggest washed-up superstar!"
As for sure as the sun rises in the West, of all the singers and poets on earth, I is the bestest.
Come, let me put ring of Jupiter on your finger then like a smell around you I shall forever linger.
Okay, is time for end, no more will I sang. Let me take you back in time,
I want for you to experience Big Bang!
Long live Space Race. Long live, Molvania.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Fear of Soil part II of III
Seems the poor ol' Russians failed to achieve hyperbolic orbit after all! Final stage did not engage leaving "Phobos-Grunt and friend" stranded in a disintegrating orbit. Russia's got 3 days to fix the issue, which is based on the payload's programming. Let's hope for catastrophic failure!
I was going to toast the Ruskies some Stolichnaya Vodka Gold that I've been saving for such an occasion of their "great success" but I'm going to hold-off. I might be toasting American A.H.Hirsh whiskey in 3 days, instead!
Do svidaniya, comrades.
I was going to toast the Ruskies some Stolichnaya Vodka Gold that I've been saving for such an occasion of their "great success" but I'm going to hold-off. I might be toasting American A.H.Hirsh whiskey in 3 days, instead!
Do svidaniya, comrades.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Fear of Soil
The Communist Empire launched "Phobos-Grunt" today, which sickens my stomach. It's a mission to collect soil from Mars' moon, Phobos. They had landed there about 40 years ago (more like crashed) and now they're returning with more finesse. Literally translated, it means (from the Greek: Phobos = Fear and from the Russian, Grunt = Soil). So.. Fear of Soil.
In the meantime, we have hippies banging bongos, refusing to work and demanding their free stuff and smelling really, really awful, and probably making deformed babies with all the drugs and sex they're doing. America's just fracking around while the Russians are eating us up for dinner. Putin and his gangster regime must be pleased as it went up without a hitch in a hyperbolic orbit out of the Cosmodrome. ARGH!
In a joint mission with the Chinese, Yinghou-1 (aka Firefly, aka Shimmering Planet) as the Zenit 2SB rocket had TWO FRACKING PAYLOADS!!! God DAMN them! Firefly is suck a frickin' god damn awesome name and my favorite sci-fi. This hits me right in my heart, folks, that Russia and China are doing this and America is fracking around doing jack and shite. This administration is the worst ever. Never before has America been so shamed in its entire history than today.
Yinghuo-1's primary scientific objectives are:
In the meantime, we have hippies banging bongos, refusing to work and demanding their free stuff and smelling really, really awful, and probably making deformed babies with all the drugs and sex they're doing. America's just fracking around while the Russians are eating us up for dinner. Putin and his gangster regime must be pleased as it went up without a hitch in a hyperbolic orbit out of the Cosmodrome. ARGH!
In a joint mission with the Chinese, Yinghou-1 (aka Firefly, aka Shimmering Planet) as the Zenit 2SB rocket had TWO FRACKING PAYLOADS!!! God DAMN them! Firefly is suck a frickin' god damn awesome name and my favorite sci-fi. This hits me right in my heart, folks, that Russia and China are doing this and America is fracking around doing jack and shite. This administration is the worst ever. Never before has America been so shamed in its entire history than today.
Yinghuo-1's primary scientific objectives are:
- To conduct detailed investigation of the plasma environment and magnetic field;
- To study Martian ion escape processes and their possible mechanisms;
- To conduct ionosphere occultation measurements between Yinghuo-1 and Fobos-Grunt, focusing on the sub-solar and midnight regions;
- To observe sandstorms on the Martian surface.
- Insult the Americans and bury us utterly.
- A plasma package, consisting of an electron analyzer, ion analyzer and mass spectrometer;
- A fluxgate magnetometer;
- A radio-occultation sounder;
- An optical imaging system, consisting of two cameras with 200m resolution, allowing high-quality images of the Martian surface to be captured from orbit.
- Make a mockery of the dying US Space Program that Obama destroyed last year by closing NASA and the space-shuttle program, making us no longer the leaders in space.
We're so fracked it hurts. Great job, Roooooskies. I guess I'll toast a vodka tonite to mine enemies who, like Cobra and Zartan have joined forces against us.. and won.
Well, there is a very slight possibility it might collide with YU-55 asteroid. Let's cross our fingers as we watch our stock-market plunge to negative gazillion. Screw you, O'bama. We're fracked.
Coffee
I find when you buy an all-in-one coffee pot, that burr-grinds the beans for you and carefully places them in the drip-cup for high-pressure brewing that it's probably best to add a filter first!!! Ugh. Messy, and surprisingly undelicious. Cleaned said pot and added filter. Sometimes being tired in the AM causes this coff-tastrophy.
On a lighter note, the meteorologists (aka astrologist hippies) failed to predict a nice day today. Instead, they warned of sub zero temperatures and 4" of snow. It's currently 45 degrees and sunny. Woops!
On a lighter note, the meteorologists (aka astrologist hippies) failed to predict a nice day today. Instead, they warned of sub zero temperatures and 4" of snow. It's currently 45 degrees and sunny. Woops!
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Dentist
Hadn't been in 2 years for a cleaning. I tend to get a bit of calcification in my lower fronts so it was about time. Since I joined Lockheed my insurance changed. Closest dentist "Perfect Teeth" was 13 miles north (as is everything in Fountain it seems).
Why is it a dentist never offers good news? Always gloom and doom. Dental hygienists are always hot so it's hard to discredit them. They seem to have a bizarre fetish for all things teeth. Pretty extreme. No matter how well you maintain them it's not good enough. I think the best grade you can get is "barely passable, maybe" of a score of D minus. I got an exciting F plus! A bit of calcification in need of a "deep scalar cleaning" that costs me, after insurance, $560. Total cost before insurance is almost $2000. For a cleaning. Pretty steep a price, methinks. They always make you feel cheap and bad afterwards too. How many times do you brush a day? Only twice? That's unacceptable!!! You should brush at least constantly all day and night! Only then will you almost win my favor! Maybe! How many times do you floss every day? Only once at night? That is entirely unacceptable!!! FAILURE! You must minimum floss constantly each tooth at the same time constantly all day and night twice, which means you must purchase a time machine and simultaneously have all of your teeth flossed by a team of experts constantly all day and night forever, then at the stroke of midnight, merge both your forms together and then repeat the process for all eternity like Sisyphus. Only then may you just barely be acceptable!!!
By gods they want you to brush your teeth OFF so that there's only bare, exposed nerve endings, bleached white to a diamond finish. If my teeth were VSS-grade flawless diamonds with granite, unmoving gums I might be allowed to almost lick their boots, may-be.
I don't understand how it's 2011 and still dentists use a stainless steel metal hook and then literally gouge your gums as deeply as possible and then chastise you for bleeding a bit. Tsk tsk, they announce and degrade you as your muscles tense in the chair in pain and shame. Thanks, Dr. Zell. Is it safe?
Felt depressed afterwards. Went to a diner but it did me no good. Went to Guitar Center and they only had Chinese knockoff AC adapters and wouldn't sell me the display model of the pedal board they had up as it was the last one. Limped home and watched State Fair (the rather droll 1945 version based on the 1933 version that won an Academy Award for best picture). It was horrible and the songs were painful, though a nice cameo from Paw Kettle for those in-the-know.
Oh well, tomorrow's another day!
Why is it a dentist never offers good news? Always gloom and doom. Dental hygienists are always hot so it's hard to discredit them. They seem to have a bizarre fetish for all things teeth. Pretty extreme. No matter how well you maintain them it's not good enough. I think the best grade you can get is "barely passable, maybe" of a score of D minus. I got an exciting F plus! A bit of calcification in need of a "deep scalar cleaning" that costs me, after insurance, $560. Total cost before insurance is almost $2000. For a cleaning. Pretty steep a price, methinks. They always make you feel cheap and bad afterwards too. How many times do you brush a day? Only twice? That's unacceptable!!! You should brush at least constantly all day and night! Only then will you almost win my favor! Maybe! How many times do you floss every day? Only once at night? That is entirely unacceptable!!! FAILURE! You must minimum floss constantly each tooth at the same time constantly all day and night twice, which means you must purchase a time machine and simultaneously have all of your teeth flossed by a team of experts constantly all day and night forever, then at the stroke of midnight, merge both your forms together and then repeat the process for all eternity like Sisyphus. Only then may you just barely be acceptable!!!
By gods they want you to brush your teeth OFF so that there's only bare, exposed nerve endings, bleached white to a diamond finish. If my teeth were VSS-grade flawless diamonds with granite, unmoving gums I might be allowed to almost lick their boots, may-be.
I don't understand how it's 2011 and still dentists use a stainless steel metal hook and then literally gouge your gums as deeply as possible and then chastise you for bleeding a bit. Tsk tsk, they announce and degrade you as your muscles tense in the chair in pain and shame. Thanks, Dr. Zell. Is it safe?
Felt depressed afterwards. Went to a diner but it did me no good. Went to Guitar Center and they only had Chinese knockoff AC adapters and wouldn't sell me the display model of the pedal board they had up as it was the last one. Limped home and watched State Fair (the rather droll 1945 version based on the 1933 version that won an Academy Award for best picture). It was horrible and the songs were painful, though a nice cameo from Paw Kettle for those in-the-know.
Oh well, tomorrow's another day!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Guitar humor..
There's lotta wannabies out there, kids. There's a guy at work I know who I had a discussion with who has a vintage 1964 Fender Mustang which he's getting refinished.. and then distressed like pre-ripped jeans so it looks cooler. I guess for some it's all about the image. Same with motorcycling. Bah..
Well, it's somewhat about the image. Maybe a smidge. I mean, you probably don't want a gay-tar like a WalMart Special Deluxe Omicron.. unless you're in a punk band, in which case that's exactly what you want.
When I post guitar stuff on YouTube, I play all my stuff. No fakery there. Whiskey may or may not be involved though, and maybe a fine cigar afterwards. And more whiskey.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Sout Park denied?
Normally, I watch South Park HD at http://www.southparkstudios.com/, however, due to "contractual obligation" they're not allowed to show it until 26 Nov. I find that unacceptable! Especially since the episode is called, "1%"!!! (Not to be confused with the motorcycle group, The Mongols).
I've decided to post this link so that others can enjoy the episode. It'll be up for a short while before Comedy Central knocks it off the air (because they don't make enough money I guess).
Episode 12 Season 15: (wow, 15 years)
http://www.videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=xW3B7cFRO0Pb
I guess this sends me more towards Chaotic Good.
On a less interesting note, bought some soft corals and some sand-sifting starfish today. They seem to be doing well. Nitrites were at 40ppm which is a bit high, and Phosphates were at 20ppm so I did a rather rare for me water change of 10%. My Allen's Damsel, Picaso took the opportunity of sea-storm chaos to build a new nesting area by moving the sand and substrate around because I had re-arranged a few rocks I had tumbled, which was rather interesting.
I also purchased a Boss ST-2 pedal online. It creates a full-stack sound and is adjustable to different types, ie. British Stack, etc. (think big speakers behind a guitarist). An exiting feature it naturally has is a dynamic control, so that when I pick lightly, it sounds like an accoustic guitar. As I pick harder, more and more distortion is produced. That is pretty f*cking amazing, as nothing else in the world does that as far as I know. Should get it in a few days.
Watching the new 2 episodes of Beavis and Butthead online before going to sleep.
I've decided to post this link so that others can enjoy the episode. It'll be up for a short while before Comedy Central knocks it off the air (because they don't make enough money I guess).
Episode 12 Season 15: (wow, 15 years)
http://www.videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=xW3B7cFRO0Pb
I guess this sends me more towards Chaotic Good.
On a less interesting note, bought some soft corals and some sand-sifting starfish today. They seem to be doing well. Nitrites were at 40ppm which is a bit high, and Phosphates were at 20ppm so I did a rather rare for me water change of 10%. My Allen's Damsel, Picaso took the opportunity of sea-storm chaos to build a new nesting area by moving the sand and substrate around because I had re-arranged a few rocks I had tumbled, which was rather interesting.
I also purchased a Boss ST-2 pedal online. It creates a full-stack sound and is adjustable to different types, ie. British Stack, etc. (think big speakers behind a guitarist). An exiting feature it naturally has is a dynamic control, so that when I pick lightly, it sounds like an accoustic guitar. As I pick harder, more and more distortion is produced. That is pretty f*cking amazing, as nothing else in the world does that as far as I know. Should get it in a few days.
Watching the new 2 episodes of Beavis and Butthead online before going to sleep.
Fixed website, blogging, and comments.
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Obama doesn't know how many states we have.
Rather amusing at 02:04 above. You thought Bush was bad? 57 states indeed. Yay, we WON! Guess it's time for change. Ah, change. Things are so great now. Friend of mine, immune to the US disaster that's taking place because of the sheer luck of his clearance and career-field (space) says things are just fine. Okay, you live in your lil' ol' happy place right next to me. I have friends and relatives that I send money and food to so that they don't suffer. Check out Detroit or Boston. I'm just very very lucky I randomly picked a good Air Force career and somehow got talked-into a decent clearance and didn't screw-up these last 20 years. For those suffering who know me, give me a shout-out and I'll see what I can do who haven't contacted me yet. I know it sucks. Oh, if you voted Obama you're shit outa luck cuz' it's your fault though. You can suck on it... cuz' you're a sucker of sucks. Please click "Yay.. We Won!" below if you're with me..
To laude the benefits of winter tires
Ah, not stuck, whatsoever. Impossible to make my way to my annual checkup at the dentist though, had to reschedule as Powers Blvd. had no less than EIGHT vehicles akimbo. I can't really tout against SUVs this time. An equal number of SUVs accompanied the failed cars. Even-steven there. Some upside down-ish. Had to drive through boroughs until I could turn around and try a different route. Made it to my somewhat coinciding doc appointment thanks to my no muss, no fuss winter tires. Cake. All my mild ailments (left unlisted for the respect of the reader) were on the simple account of, well, I'm gettin' older (according to my Doc anyway). Sigh. Ah, well. My playing is still thankfully not affected, which is nice, and I can still fight the accursed Russians. Curse you, Russians! (shaking fist awesomely).
Tried a shout-out on Craigslist for if anyone needed a guitarist. Nope. Well, only one email back. Heard my work (Rush, of course). Found it "not moody enough". Why can't someone understand that if you can play Rush you can do anything (not that you'd want to, of course, as they're musicians' musicians). Sigh. I mean I can do moody. Heck, I'm borderline manic depressive for chrissake. Ah well. Better luck next time. Been wanting to play in an actual band for years now. I figure I'm pretty decent, covering Rush instrumentals and all and posting them boldly on YouTube. Still, it seems no one really likes the stuff. I get minimal hits. Maybe if I seeded it with, "Kardashian divorce fallout video" or something cheap like that. So I play for me since no one else likes my stuff. Well, mostly no one, anyway. Worse is I get say, a few dozen hits but no "likes" (Steve Roach gave me a mercy-like the other day). Odd a bard plays a tune and everyone gets up afterwards and leaves with no comment. I'm certain I don't suck like a black hole. I've taught myself guitar (I had a few lessons) and bass and keyboards and I can sing in-key. I must have The Artist Prince syndrome. At least I best him in height by an inch or so. Man, I just need a gig (and a band). Too many flakes out there, "Oh, sure, we can play" followed by, "Oh, I'm too busy this month". Yuck.
Well, for my own amusement I'm performing Limbo, Part II of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy next. Probably get on it today or tomorrow. Should take me a few days. At least I am having a good time!
I need some chocolate.
Ciao!
Tried a shout-out on Craigslist for if anyone needed a guitarist. Nope. Well, only one email back. Heard my work (Rush, of course). Found it "not moody enough". Why can't someone understand that if you can play Rush you can do anything (not that you'd want to, of course, as they're musicians' musicians). Sigh. I mean I can do moody. Heck, I'm borderline manic depressive for chrissake. Ah well. Better luck next time. Been wanting to play in an actual band for years now. I figure I'm pretty decent, covering Rush instrumentals and all and posting them boldly on YouTube. Still, it seems no one really likes the stuff. I get minimal hits. Maybe if I seeded it with, "Kardashian divorce fallout video" or something cheap like that. So I play for me since no one else likes my stuff. Well, mostly no one, anyway. Worse is I get say, a few dozen hits but no "likes" (Steve Roach gave me a mercy-like the other day). Odd a bard plays a tune and everyone gets up afterwards and leaves with no comment. I'm certain I don't suck like a black hole. I've taught myself guitar (I had a few lessons) and bass and keyboards and I can sing in-key. I must have The Artist Prince syndrome. At least I best him in height by an inch or so. Man, I just need a gig (and a band). Too many flakes out there, "Oh, sure, we can play" followed by, "Oh, I'm too busy this month". Yuck.
Well, for my own amusement I'm performing Limbo, Part II of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy next. Probably get on it today or tomorrow. Should take me a few days. At least I am having a good time!
I need some chocolate.
Ciao!