Ink Jets Rock -- Really

So whats a techie to do with their old Ink Jet Printers? Turn them into a musical instrument of course. That's Lesley Flanigan and Andrew Doro. I think it's pretty cool. Now if we could figure out who is printing documents worthy of a Grammy nomination we could take that drug addicted Amy Winehouse out of the running.

Main Music Rig Being Re-Built

Well,

The creative process has come to a grinding halt while I re-build my main music making machine. I'm totally re doing everything. I've got a brand new SATA drive that getting a fresh install of Windows XP Professional. I'm not quite ready to take the plunge into Vista yet. The OS Really doesn't have anything to offer me quite yet.

I'm adding a couple of new hardware pieces to my rack as well. I picked up a MOTU Midi Express XT 8 in 8 out Midi interface. I decided I wanted to run the bulk of my gear with USB and Midi as Midi so when I decide to gig out it will be easy to get everything to communicate instead of having a daisy chain of USB hubs. I also picked up a Pocket POD for my guitar sound sculpting needs. I was using a Behringer V-Amp but the POD sounds sooo much better. At least I think it does. Both have their merit but there seems to be more support for the POD products.

Creativity will be resuming soon as I add back on the Music software and various VSTi's and what not. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, some of my newer stuff can be heard on my myspace page if you are into that. http://www.myspace.com/idtmusic Add me as a friend.

Green n’ Sexxy!!

When I go green, I want to look damn good doing it. Think I'll pick up one of these puppies. Fisker’s Hybrid sports sedan. Screw you hippies in your Toyota Prius. I'm all about un-adulterated Green Materialism here. Sleek, Sexy, and Fuel Efficient. Gotta Love it.

Public Schools: “We make things gooder.”

Thank goodness she looks good. She should have at least said "world peace" or "end hunger."

Alternate Commuting Methods

What I wouldn't give for a pneumatic tube from house to my desk. I would just step in at the front door and *foomp!!!* off I go. And then on the other end *foomp!!!* "Hey everybody!"

It's all about time really. The other morning it took me 1 hour and 45 minutes. School is back in so the time it takes to get from my house to the interstate seems to increase exponentially.

I've tried leaving the house earlier but I'm, not that guy. I loathe the morning. Always have. Even when I was a kid mom would have to drag my sorry ass out of bed almost every morning. I never ate breakfast. That was 10 or 15 minutes of sleep I would "lose" in the morning. Get up (eventually), shower, catch the bus just in time and go to school.

Yesterday I left later. Well, I trimmed 15 minutes off. An hour and a half. Today I left even later. I left at 9:20 and got here at 10:05. Better but traffic was still pretty thick in places. That just means I have to stay till 6:30 or so. The drive in the evening is usually shorter but I won't get home till around 7:30 probably. Then eat, watch a bit of TV, pay bills then bed. So where is "my time"?

That's why I want the pneumatic tube. My commute will be a matter of seconds as opposed to hours. Plus I think it would be loads of fun. I could even go home for lunch. I would even have the luxury of using my own bathroom. No public toilets for me.

I'm not sure about the physics behind it but I don't really care. That's an SEP. Just make one and I'll install it.

Since it's just air I doubt I would even have to dry my hair after my shower. That would save an additional 5 minutes.

The Death of Reading?

I remember back in the day when the first Harry Potter book came out. I was amazed to see so many kids reading. They weren't playing video games nor were they watching TV they were reading. I was amazed. I haven't read any of the books myself and probably never will. I'm not a big fantasy genre fan. I prefer history, techno-thrillers and just about anything involving submarines. Any way I digress...

I've heard rumors that the beloved Harry could possibly meet his untimely demise in the last installment though it would seem unlikely to me given the fact that there are still a few movies left to be made. I just wonder that if Harry does end up ten feet under what will that do to the millions of kids and adults who only read Harry Potter books?

I could imagine all of J.K.'s myrmidons turning on her and storming her estate with pitchforks and torches. Imagine a bunch of LARPers, pre-teens and adults in business suits marching across the moors to exact the same brand of justice that Harry received at the hands of some nefarious evil. More than likely if Harry dies, he may well slip in the shower on his Hogwarts soap on a rope. It's soap on a ROPE Harry. You wear it around your neck so you don't drop it. It does make washing your feet kinda difficult though.

More than likely they'll bitch and moan on forums an blogs then just stop reading all together.

I see the death of Harry as the death of literacy. We've had good run. Farewell.

I Have a New Addiction

It's been awhile since I got totally cracked out on a video game.

My new time killer dujour is called Sensible Soccer 2006. It's easy-peasy to play. There are essentially only two buttons you use: Pass and Shoot. The cool thing is after you hold down the shoot button for power you can apply all kinds of English to the ball and score some pretty killer goals. Nothing like pegging the upper left hand corner from 35 yards out. The sprint button is useful for knocking opposing players off the ball as well. You can play an entire game in about 15 minutes too.

There are tons of options for playing leagues an tournaments. Right now I'm in the middle of a 40 game season playing as Newcastle. I lost my first two games then tied two and heave been undefeated since.

There are patches you can download to make the play a little more realistic. I'll probably get those when I finish my first season. You have to win tourneys and leagues to unlock different balls, pitches and playing conditions. The game is a total hoot.

Even if you are not a big soccer fan, this is fun to play. I haven't played any of the EA FIFA games but I hear Sensible Soccer is much easier to play. Even thought the play is kind of arcade like the players seem to behave with real "soccer intelligence."

I am having much fun with this one.

Hog got Balls!

Take a look at the motorcycle on the left. I know the pic is kinds grainy but my cell phone camera kinda sucks. Either that or I don't have the settings adjusted properly. Anyway, the bike on the left has a pair of gonads hanging down off the back. Not sure if they belong to the driver or the rider. The driver was a guy but the rider was a rather burly looking lass. So who knows.

What is this supposed to mean. I got balls? My bike has balls? I like balls? Kinda disturbing the things people try to say with their "things" on their stuff.

The Pre-Re-Mix CD Avaialble Soon

In the near future I'll be releasing a "hand made" edition of the Pre-Re-Mix CD. I say handmade because I will be printing and assembling all materials myself. Plus I will be hand numbering and signing each one as well. It's already mastered and I am currently working on the artwork for the cover as time allows.

It will contain all my old tracks that were on the old mp3.com site as well as my school projects from my college days. It will be a very limited release of 50-100 CDs. I haven't decided yet. So once it's gone... It's gone. I'm not planning on pursuing any online distribution for this release at this time. I will probably make some of the tracks available for download on my site. The idea is to get something out there and start working on more new material.

I'll keep everyone posted through the usual channels. Keep Listening!

Barry Bonds at 754

I don't care for Barry Bonds. He's a jerk form I've seen and read about him. I know he's close to closing in on Hank Aaron's home run record.

When I was a kid, my parents let me stay up "extra" so I could watch hand break the record. Even though it's a vague memory at this point, I still have what I think I saw in my head. I don't want that memory erased by some performance enhancing drug using butt head ruining that for me.

Will I watch the historic occasion? I have this to say: "Hell no." Hank Aaron said he wouldn't be there wherever there might be. I hate to see a record tarnished with an asterisk. But that is what is going to happen. It will say: "Barry Bonds 7xx Home Runs*". So sad for the game of baseball.

Here's my solution: All the pitchers in the league band together after Bonds reaches 754 and walk him every time he is at bat. No matter what the score or the situation is. Better yet hit him with a pitch. Maybe it will force him into an early retirement. Give him 754 bruises to go with his home runs. Sounds mean, I know. But he's a real a-hole so why not.

Death by Dance

People, I wish I could say I'm making this stuff up. Apparently a man has died from a Dance-Off. His 1 upsmanship included the move he could only do once: DEATH. Don't believe me? Read about it here. I wonder if it started "West Side Story" style then progressed to the "Beat It" gang fight/dance then ended with this dude doing his Death Dance? On his tombstone: "Top that, Bee-Atch."

Spare a Square and Save the World?

Leave it to the "un" educated celeb set to solve the world's problems. Sheryl Crow has spent the better part of a bio-diesel-hippie-powered bus trip trying to solve the faux problem of global warming. She proposes the use one square of TP when you go to the "office".  Read about it here.

C'mon. I use two for a booger. I'll double over 4 or 5 times that many to avoid a "tear in the void" that results in a stinky chocolate hand. And what about those pesky clingers? Half a roll at best.

How would that law be enforced? Honesty policy? Some freakazoid watching you pinch a loaf from some hidden TP Nazi super secret yet biodegradable alarmist cam? Ooo. I know. An actual government appointed "watcher of the waste" that hands out squares based on the severity of the load. They would be required to use their best judgment. Knowing my luck, my "fecal police" would leave me hanging with a case of the crusties for the rest of the day.

Hello. Mr. Obvious?

Yeah. Hi. Long time listener first time caller. I wanna talk about Anna Nicole. I know it's been done to death just like she has but they released the autopsy report. Right. It was an accidental overdose. Read bout it here. Apparently her butt got infected. I don't think it was from some guy but from shots she was taking in her rear. Yeah. No wonder she seemed so F-ed up all the time. Even though some of the drugs were not in her name they were all meant for her. Strange.

I'm going to wait and see what kind of reality series her duaghter will have. I'd call it "Who's my Rich-Ass Daddy?"

2/3 the Bond and all the Poker

I went to my local Wal-Mart the other day to pick up the latest Bond adventure, "Casino Royale". I was particularly excited about getting it at Wal-Mart because the DVD box set came with a limited edition poker set that was designed after the cards and chips used in the movie. I'm not a poker player but I like having the occasional Bond collectible around. Man was I disappointed.

The only version of the movie that came in the box set was the full-screen version. What a rook! When will people realize that movies should be seen the way directors and cinematographers intend them to be seen? Listen people, uncle Mike is here to educate. Love the black bars on your TV set or get a 16x9 set. If you go pan and scan, you only get 2/3 of the shot. Here's an example from Star Wars:

Pan and Scan:


Original Aspect Ratio:

images from widescreen.org

So, as you can see, you are missing a good deal of the shot. So let's get with the program and view the films the way they were meant to be viewed. There is a reason the shots are framed a certain way. The film maker is telling a story. Think of it this way: How would you feel if you went to the book store and got a book but when you get home to read it you find that 1/3 of it is missing?

Needless to say I didn't get the poker set. That's okay I got all the Bond though.

Are American Idol Voters Retarded?

Haley over Sabrina? Sanjaya over Sundance? WTF? At least Antonella is gone. She was horrid. I guess the naked pictures kept her around for an extra 15 minutes of of fame. I can see Haley sticking around a bit. She's hot. Sabrina is a much better singer though. Heads above Haley. Now I didn't see the guys sing on Tuesday night. I was watching the "Gilmore Girls." So unless Sanjaya tore up "Waiting on the World" by John Mayer he was even less deserving of being in the top 12 than Haley. Judging from the Randy, Paula and Simon's expression he probably stunk up the place like he did last week. Personally, I think Sanjaya has been "outsourcing" his voting. I'm thinking he called up all his hacker friends that are now over here working and they are somehow gaming the system. If he wins, I smell an Idol conspiracy.

Farewell Sundance. Don't worry, you'll get a job. And a recording contract and whatever else. You got it goin' on dawg.

Gimme another beer

Now if I just had an easy chair with a built in toilet it would compliment my robotic beer fridge quite nicely...

Scamming the system

I have an idea. I'll teach my kids to act retarded so I can collect benefits on their behalf. Oh, wait. This lowlife already beat me to it.

In Defense of Monster.com

Well, in my previous post I said monster had outsourced a letter that was written in very poor English. Well, it was obviously a phishing scam but it made me laugh and think "what would it be like if a company outsourced their copy writing?" That would be hilarious.

Monster is taking steps to track down the source and hopefully squash it. It's like phishers and spammers aren't even really trying anymore. There must be some total retards out there that are answering these emails based on the 2-3% rule. That being if you send out a million emails you are bound to get a 2-3% reply rate. You dunderheads quit answering these scammers!

This is what you get when you outsource

I just got this message from Monster.com:

The subject line of the email is: Please, pay Your attention!

Monster.com company greets you.

We are happy to inform you that we had succesfully upgraded our
site. Because of our system has great changes, you
have to install Monster.com certificated utility (click here) to be able
to use monster.com database. If you don’t setup this tool
until March, 1st, 2007, you will not be able to use your account
You don’t have to answer this letter - it’s just a newsletter.
Thanks for cooperation.

Now for the record, Monster.com is a top notch operation. I have gotten my last 3 jobs courtesy of their web site. Not I'm not sure if this was an official email from them or if somebody is doing some phishing or some kind of shenanigans.

So what do I do now? Is my account expiring? Why should I have to install something on my computer to use your site? I don't get it.

UT Number 3 in Music File Sharing

Well, the football team had a hard enough time cracking the top 10 but apparently the student body as a whole has carved out a niche for itself on the RIAA's hit list. My beloved University of Tennessee Volunteers are currently number three in the polls when it comes to music sharing across the campus networks. Read about it here.

Hopefully the RIAA will run out of money trying to sue every Tom, Dick and Harry that downloads music without paying for it. I guess the boneheads have never stopped to figure out that it might actually help sales of music. Who wants to buy an entire album of crap for one good song?

Imagine doing interactive music with this thing

A friend of mine sent me a link to some new touch screen technology that is being developed. You are able to do some killer things with interactivity providing you or someone you know has the programming skills to pull it off. Personally, I'd like to use it for interactive music installations. Check it out.

Thomas Dolby is Doing it Again

I just watched my autographed copy of the Thomas Dolby Sole Inhabitant DVD. It was very cool. It was filmed at the Berklee College of Music during his tour last year. He came through Atlanta and I missed it but I picked up the DVD and it did not disappoint.

Thomas did the entire tour as a one man show. He had a MAC G5 running Logic Pro Audio driving most everything.  He used two hardware synths  made by Novation as well as an old Roland analog synth. For keyboards, he  mainly used controllers  with the keys split into ranges with different sounds mapped to different parts of the keyboard.  He also had a  M-Audio  Trigger Finger for doing drums and triggering samples.  A Muse Receptor was in his rack to control all the effects on his  voice.

The performance was very good. There were a few places where he wavered off key a bit but who cares... It was Thomas Dolby live for the first time since the 90s. Plus he had a lot going on with managing all the hardware and software. The audio on the disc is very good as well except there were some noticeable volume changes probably due to the fact the Dolby was tweaking the mix from the stage.  He also made use of the real-time video along with canned clips and software that was written for v-jaying. The creator of the video software served as his VJ for the tour.

The set list included his big hits like "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Hyperactive" but I thought the high points, at least for me. were "Living in a Suitcase" and my personal favorite "One of Our Submarines".

I got the DVD from CD Baby. He has a limited few that are signed. Mine is number 383/1000.

Killer Freebies

No, it's not some kind of mutant killer bee or radioactive Frisbees. It's a list of some really great free software. Click over here to FOXnews.com and persue the list and see what you might find useful. They've done the research and you should be able to get the stuff without having to navigate the gauntlet of pop-up ads and porn.

Do you have the time?

According to an article on FOXnews.com, watches are going the way of the dodo. Apparently more and more people are not wearing watches in favor of keeping time with their cell phones, computers and iPods. Personally, I prefer a precision timepiece.

I'm currently wearing the beauty pictured to the left. It's a Citizen Skyhawk Black Eagle. It was a Christmas gift from Mrs. MikeTheBlog. Sure I look at the clock on my cell phone from time to time but I have to take it out of my pocket. I rarely carry my mp3 player (I'm not even sure I can set the time on mine) so that's not an option. I do look at the clock on my computer screen but it's right in front of my face. I simply prefer to push back a sleeve and turn my wrist slightly to check the current time.

I have a watch fetish but unfortualtley do not have the bank account to fully indulge. I really wanted an Omega Seamaster like James Bond wore in Casino Royale but those puppies run about 2800.00 US. Well, I'll save that for another day.

I like looking at my watch, twisting the dials and playing with all the features. It's got a flight computer built in on the face of the watch. I'm not a pilot -- yet. But when I become one I'll be ready. In the meantime I'll be able to convert from statute miles to nautical miles with a twist of the watch face;l but it's knowing that I can that makes me feel good.

Do I need a watch with all that stuff on it? Well, Yes. I like the fact that it is water proof up to 100 meters. If I'm 300 feet under water, that last thing I'd be concerned about is my watch but at least I know it can take it. I wear it when I swim and use the stopwatch feature to time my laps. So far my best has been 1/2 mile or 15 laps in 26 minutes. If I actually swam freestyle instead of side/breast stroke I could shave at least 7 or 8 minutes off that time. I digress. The watch will also allow you to switch time zones. Pretty handy if you don't feel like doing the math or resetting a watch as you travel. Plus if you are going long distances, say to New Zealand, you can "bip" it right on over to the AUK setting and start trying to adjust to the local time there. Pretty cool. The other neat thing is it's an Eco-Drive watch. It is charged by light. So unless I stay in cave for an unusually long time, I'll never have to change the battery.

So, suffice to say, watches may be losing ground to all the other gadgets and phones and various and other sundry things out there. I'll always have one on my wrist. That's the way I prefer it. I wear two pieces of flair: my watch and my wedding ring. Period.

Irony in the mile high club

Should yopu engage in illicit activity on the way somewhere to promote safe sex? Apprently Ray Fines thinks it's okay.

Pimp My Potty

Oh yeah. It is time to officially declare the "throne room" the "THRONE ROOM". Roto-Rooter is giving away the ultimate john. The quintessential crapper. It comes complete with an X-Box and a beer cooler. Now if they could just figure out how to turn it into a recliner. I want one. Check it out.

I try not to be political but…

Just damn.

Okay Music Industry. We get it. You don't like President Bush. The Dixie Chicks cleaned up. Well, good for them. Our guys are defending their right to say what they want. That is what makes this country great. As Voltaire supposedly said: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." The entertainment industry has said it. And said it and said it. Move on already. It is what it is. I don't need every anti Bush or anti war song/album or whatever winning a freakin' Grammy because they are trying to send a message. Hell, one of our worst presidents ever even won one for Best Spoken Word. It was a tie for first! How's that for twisting the knife? IT was like the Grammy voters were saying "Let's try to find one more way to get our point across."

What is it with entertainers and their fascination with all things liberal? I just don't get it. I know throughout history art and music has sparked controversy but I can't think of a time when it has been so "in your face". I guess it's the media world we're living. Live and die by the sound-bite. Just take me back to the days when everyone would bitch and moan for a few days then get over it.

And another thing: here it is two years from another national election. TWO YEARS. Why all the campaigning already? I'm going to be so sick and tired of all the rhetoric, name calling, flip flopping and just plain meanness I'll be hard pressed to vote for somebody because they annoyed me the least. Suffice to say I'm pretty agitated by all this. Wait til the Summer before the election before you start stumping.

For now, just go away and shut yer pie hole. That goes for you too, Republicans!

Reflections still getting streamed on DI.fm

"Reflections" just got another play on the DI.fm chillout channel. It does happen from time to time but actually happened to be listening when it got played this time. It was pretty cool. I guess it was kind of like hearing your song on the radio in the traditional sense. I'm going to have to figure out a way to get some promotion going. Stay tuned...

IDT to Remix a Devo-esque Band

Yes, I'm going to be doing another remix in the near future. The name of the band shall remain nameless for now but through my feeble pimping of my myspace.com page, I've gotten hooked up with a band that sounds a bit like the spitting image of Devo. It's not actually Devo but I have been asked to contribute a remix as soon as they are through tweaking their tracks. I'm looking forward to it. As soon as the deed is done I will post info on where to hear it.

Jesus before His yearly review

If Jesus worked for the last company I worked for I think his last supper would have resembled this photo. You know Judas sold him out on his last performance review. Make sure Jesus is the only one doing the "big hands" thing.