The F-22 Raptor has got to be the coolest plane I've ever seen. I work in an office building about 5 miles south of Dobbins Air Base where Lockheed does the final assembly and testing of the F-22. My side of the building just happens to face north so when I hear the roar of jet engines, I'm often treated to a maiden flight from a new Raptor. In fact, some of them have recently been flying sans the gray on gray paint scheme. It's kind of interesting to see. The color is a mixture of tan and dark brown. Most of the tan color consists of the radar absorbing material that the plane is made out of. The plane itself is a marvel to see. It's about twice the size of an F-16 and during many of the fly-bys the little F-16 looks like it's just about at maximum military power (as fast as you can go without lighting the afterburners) and struggling to keep up. One day I saw the Raptor hit the end of the runway and go straight vertical. I've seen an F-15 do this on numerous occasions at airshows. The Raptor outclimed the F-15 considerably. One of my neighbors works on the F-22 program and he said that one of the test piolots asked a flight engineer what they could do to fly the plane more effectively. The enigneer's reply... "Don't touch anything."
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
When Technology Flies
The F-22 Raptor has got to be the coolest plane I've ever seen. I work in an office building about 5 miles south of Dobbins Air Base where Lockheed does the final assembly and testing of the F-22. My side of the building just happens to face north so when I hear the roar of jet engines, I'm often treated to a maiden flight from a new Raptor. In fact, some of them have recently been flying sans the gray on gray paint scheme. It's kind of interesting to see. The color is a mixture of tan and dark brown. Most of the tan color consists of the radar absorbing material that the plane is made out of. The plane itself is a marvel to see. It's about twice the size of an F-16 and during many of the fly-bys the little F-16 looks like it's just about at maximum military power (as fast as you can go without lighting the afterburners) and struggling to keep up. One day I saw the Raptor hit the end of the runway and go straight vertical. I've seen an F-15 do this on numerous occasions at airshows. The Raptor outclimed the F-15 considerably. One of my neighbors works on the F-22 program and he said that one of the test piolots asked a flight engineer what they could do to fly the plane more effectively. The enigneer's reply... "Don't touch anything."
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Jumping on the YouTube Revolution
I've uploaded my "War Machine" video to YouTube. Everybody else is doing it so I thought I would post it and see what kind of response it generates if any. If you would like to find out a bit more about the video read about it or watch it here. I guess I'll see if I actually get any plays from among the volumes of videos that are already there.
Saturday, April 8, 2006
File under WTF?
I'm a pretty big Star Wars fan. The prequels... Umm... well, mediocre at best. Great eye candy, sucky writing. I know good ole George likes his creative control, but damn. "I don't like sand. Sand is rough". What? Did Darth Vader actually say that? What kind of dialogue is that? Any way, that's not the WTF part. The thing that makes me go WTF is the fact that Madonna may be part of a live action Star Wars tv show. I'm expecting "Hello Larry" in space if Lucas does the writing. But still, Madonna? Can't she go away and take Paris Hilton with her? Well, whatever. I'm not buying any more DVDs. I bought the original Star Wars trilogy no less than 3 time. I'm done. Instead, I'll spend my hard earned credits on The Gilmore Girls.
Thursday, April 6, 2006
I’m Glad I Didn’t Get the Tattoo
CD Review - Queensryche Operation Mindcrime II
My buddies and I saw Queensryche twice on their Empire tour; once in Chattanooga, TN and the second time in Knoxville, TN. We were in nirvana. We all had our own copies of Empire and Operation Mindcrime. Those of us who were completely obsessed had the EP, Warning and Rage for Order as well. We were stoked. Twice in one year we got to hear Operation Mindcrime live in all its progressive, ahead of its time, conceptual glory. I even bought a T-Shirt for that tour. We were all excited about the show. We even contemplated driving to Kentucky or some other point a few hours away to see them a third time. We were so mesmerized we even considered getting the Tri-Ryche symbol tattooed on our left shoulders. We refrained. Our lament was "what if they put out an album that sucks?" Well...
Operation Mindcrime II came out just yesterday. I promptly went to Circuit City on my lunch break hoping to get it for 9.99 as I was under the impression that is what they charged for new releases. I guess I got there before they put the sale stickers on. I paid 14 something after tax. Anyway, I'm not saying it sucks but it is definitely less than stellar. It's forced. The mix is thin. Vocal and guitar harmonies sound as if they were all recorded with the Antares Vocal Producer. There is no punch in the drums. The only thing that hit me in the face was how sophomoric the writing came across. The lyrics are forced and melodically parts sound as if they were written and sung by an aspiring songwriter ("choppin' brocc-o-lee") not an accomplished one. I'm one of the first ones to sing Geoff Tate's praises when it comes to vocal performances. I think he's got an incredible voice. He just falls flat on this one. As far as I'm conerned, the only two good tracks on this one are "The Hands" and "Fear City Slide". Both are clearly quoting musical ideas heard in the original Mindcrime.
I wanted to like it. It'll go on my Zen. I doubt very seriously it will even grow on me as Promised Land did. I have the utmost respect for Geoff and the boys. It was a very ballsy move to record this CD. I was okay not really knowing what happened to Mary and Nikki. In the words of Nigel Tufnel "best left unsolved." I think this is the last time I buy a Queensryche record without listening to it first. As for the tour, I *might* go see them live. They are going to do both Mindcrimes with live actors. That should be worthy of another blog entry. I'll save my money on the T-Shirt though.
My buddies and I saw Queensryche twice on their Empire tour; once in Chattanooga, TN and the second time in Knoxville, TN. We were in nirvana. We all had our own copies of Empire and Operation Mindcrime. Those of us who were completely obsessed had the EP, Warning and Rage for Order as well. We were stoked. Twice in one year we got to hear Operation Mindcrime live in all its progressive, ahead of its time, conceptual glory. I even bought a T-Shirt for that tour. We were all excited about the show. We even contemplated driving to Kentucky or some other point a few hours away to see them a third time. We were so mesmerized we even considered getting the Tri-Ryche symbol tattooed on our left shoulders. We refrained. Our lament was "what if they put out an album that sucks?" Well...
Operation Mindcrime II came out just yesterday. I promptly went to Circuit City on my lunch break hoping to get it for 9.99 as I was under the impression that is what they charged for new releases. I guess I got there before they put the sale stickers on. I paid 14 something after tax. Anyway, I'm not saying it sucks but it is definitely less than stellar. It's forced. The mix is thin. Vocal and guitar harmonies sound as if they were all recorded with the Antares Vocal Producer. There is no punch in the drums. The only thing that hit me in the face was how sophomoric the writing came across. The lyrics are forced and melodically parts sound as if they were written and sung by an aspiring songwriter ("choppin' brocc-o-lee") not an accomplished one. I'm one of the first ones to sing Geoff Tate's praises when it comes to vocal performances. I think he's got an incredible voice. He just falls flat on this one. As far as I'm conerned, the only two good tracks on this one are "The Hands" and "Fear City Slide". Both are clearly quoting musical ideas heard in the original Mindcrime.
I wanted to like it. It'll go on my Zen. I doubt very seriously it will even grow on me as Promised Land did. I have the utmost respect for Geoff and the boys. It was a very ballsy move to record this CD. I was okay not really knowing what happened to Mary and Nikki. In the words of Nigel Tufnel "best left unsolved." I think this is the last time I buy a Queensryche record without listening to it first. As for the tour, I *might* go see them live. They are going to do both Mindcrimes with live actors. That should be worthy of another blog entry. I'll save my money on the T-Shirt though.
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Back in the Studio This Weekend
After a brief hiatus, I'll be back at it this weekend. I'm hoping to get some of my software functioning with my external controllers. In particular, I'll be focusing on the Korg Karma Triton software with my UC33e. For those of you not "in the know" that software version essentially turns my Triton le into a Korg Karma so I have access to all that algorithmic goodness.
I've got an idea for a couple of tunes that are more downtempo in nature. Plus I'll be *hopefully* finalizing the mix of "Deep Thought I" which is the newest track going on my forthcoming "War Machine" CD. Once the mix is finalized, it's off to mastering. I thought about doing a package deal for production but I think I'm going to do about 200 or so "hand-made" CDs where I'll send them out as ordered. If demand seems to be there, I'll most likely see about doing a Mass run of 1000 or so. I'm really hoping the digital distribution will take off work better than selling the physical CDs.
I've got an idea for a couple of tunes that are more downtempo in nature. Plus I'll be *hopefully* finalizing the mix of "Deep Thought I" which is the newest track going on my forthcoming "War Machine" CD. Once the mix is finalized, it's off to mastering. I thought about doing a package deal for production but I think I'm going to do about 200 or so "hand-made" CDs where I'll send them out as ordered. If demand seems to be there, I'll most likely see about doing a Mass run of 1000 or so. I'm really hoping the digital distribution will take off work better than selling the physical CDs.
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Once in a Forever
Take a look at the posting time for this little diddy. See it? It was posted at exactly 01:02:03 04/05/06. That will never happen again. Ever. Unless God pushes the reset button, this is a once in a forever deal. Far be it from me to not exploit something that only happens once.
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