Web Log Archive January
22nd through February 4th, 2006
Saturday, February 4th,
2006
The 32nd anniversary of the kidnapping of Patty Hearst
Hey! It's two four six! After nearly five weeks, I believe I
can, at last, declare myself recovered from the flu! Whew!
Friday, February 3rd, 2006
"Forbearance
is the Hallmark of your Creed." Mary
Poppins to Bert, 1964
"From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with
the machinery of death." Justice
Harry Blackmun, Callins v. Collins, Feb. 22, 1994
Time To Buy a Vowel (or,
maybe, why it's SO
over):
"At the end of it, it's worth it, yeah, but I mean, really, it's a
good two years of your life, you know, for each kid." Richie
Sambora
[Perhaps he was talking about raising
goats, you know, all around the blooming Heather]
Thursday, February 2nd,
2006
Groundhog Day, of course!
I've been learning the 'Redrum' section of
'Reason'.
Redrum offers ten drum 'channels'. Each channel represents a component
in a 'drum kit' . For example, channel 1 may be a bass drum, channel 2
may be a snare drum, channel 3 may be a high-hat cymbal (open or
closed), channel 4 may be a crash cymbal, channel 5 may be a wood
block, channel 6 may be a cow bell and...you get the idea. There is a
variety of drum kits from which to choose and, of course, each kit is likely to
feature a different (though sometimes only slightly) sounding component. Each
channel (i.e., component sound) may be modified ('customized', if you will) as
regards its attack, sustain, tone and pitch.
Redrum also offers a selection of pre-packaged programmed rhythmic patterns
which can, once activated (at a chosen tempo), be modified
component-by-component (i.e., channel-by-channel) and edited (e.g., muted,
raised-or-lowered in volume) within a song. Of course, Reason allows all such
modifications to be saved in a named file (to be recalled for future editing and
use).
Finally, Redrum may be controlled by a keyboard interface (called a 'sound
module' in Reason parlance), using the first ten
notes (beginning with 'C') two octaves below Middle C. IOW, each note
(chromatically from 'C' to 'A') triggers the corresponding drum sound residing
in channels 1 through 10. One can thereby 'play' the drum kit
'live' (in 'real time'), using the keyboard...or Redrum may be controlled (and
played) using a MIDI file written using only those ten notes.
To overcome what some geniuses may regard as a 'limitation' to 'only' ten
components, MIDI protocol allows one to add to (as well as replace)
'events' (that's MIDI parlance for notes or drum sounds) within a track. With a
little (or a lot of) work, it's not hard to create unique percussion
tracks...ones that have been sculpted for the song at hand.
If you're not confused, then you haven't read this far. I'm still in the
back row of the first grade when it comes to learning and understanding this
stuff.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2006
"I was never told that I couldn't
wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my
jacket back up."
Cindy Sheehan
"ALLCAPS
attempts to compensate for his limited rhetorical weaponry through the
extravagant use of capitalized words - something netizens refer to as SHOUTING.
Sure, a sprinkling of capitalized words can add some zip to a thrust, but they
should be used sparingly. Even worse from a tactical point of view, too much
shouting alerts other Warriors to the opponent's verbal WEAKNESS and emotional
EXCITABILITY."
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006
One ongoing object of speculation: whether or not Fred
Phelps is serious.
I, for one, believe that he is. Fred says that our soldiers' "deaths
[in Iraq] are divine retribution for American tolerance of homosexuality."
That's not something that anyone is likely to joke about now, is it?
Monday, January 30th, 2006
Inquiring minds need to know Department:
"How soft do you need something
to be that you use for five seconds a day?" said Darby Hoover of the Natural
Resources Defense Council. Hey, Darby! Speak for
yourself!
Sunday, January 29th, 2006
"A
travel agent in Arizona is often asked whether or not it is cheaper to take the
train rather than fly to Hawaii."
If you be in need of a laugh, then check out this preview
of the State of The Union Address. I nearly choked on a carrot while watching
'Cheney' sitting in back of 'Alfred'.
Saturday, January 28th,
2006 The 20th anniversary of the
Challenger disaster.
There was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
The same came to Jesus by night, and
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for
no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a
man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's
womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye
must be born again.
The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
From the Gospel of
John, Chapter 3, Verses 1 through 8.
Friday, January 27th, 2006
Oh
Man!
If there is a Devil then,
when he appears, he will not (truthfully) identify him(or
her)self. Rather, the Devil will ask that
you accept him (or her) as beneficent, if
not Divine.
And, for example(s), when you find yourself enslaved to a drug...or to another
person...or to a faith, you will always report that the drug (or the lover...or
the religion) was not perceived to be an agent of destruction or confinement
but, rather, an agent of growth: promising liberty and enchantment...a break in
'the void', as it were...a way to feel 'alive'.
But what brings us pleasure on one day must, on another, bring us pain. This is
as unavoidable as death, itself.
And death itself is what makes life precious.
Thursday, January 26th, 2006
"In its most extreme form, footbinding
was the act of wrapping a three-to-five-year-old girl's feet with binding so as
to bend the toes under, break the bones and force the back of the foot
together."
Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
"The
problem arises from the need to sell twice as many tickets as there are
train seats to accommodate the crush of travelers. Those without seats must find
some place any place to put themselves, including in overhead racks, between
cars, and in the usually stinking toilets."
Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
"I do not agree that to be moral, the motive of one's
action has to be benefiting others. Morality does not have to be defined in
relation to others...People like me want to satisfy our hearts to the full, and
in doing so we automatically have the most valuable moral codes. Of course,
there are people and objects in the world, but they are all there only
for me." From the 1918 notes of Mao
Tse-tung (1893-1976)
Monday, January 23rd, 2006
Today's forecasted high temperature in
Melbourne, Australia is 107º.
Today's forecasted high temperature in Moscow, Russia is -1º.
In
Trenton, New Jersey, last Saturday night, James Morehouse, 46, escaped from the
State Penitentiary there where he'd already served fifteen years of a 25-year
sentence for armed robbery and aggravated assault. Morehouse broke into a nearby
house and surprised a young couple in their bed. The husband was ordered out of
the bed and tied to a chair with several neckties snatched from a walk-in
closet. Then, after tying the wife to the bed, the intruder got on top of her,
kissed her neck...but then got up and disappeared into the bathroom. The husband
whispered over to his wife: "Listen, this guy must
be an escaped convict. Look at his clothes! He's probably spent a lot of time in jail and hasn't seen a woman in years. I saw how he kissed your neck. If he wants sex, don't
resist...do whatever he tells you. Satisfy him no matter how much he nauseates
you. If you make him angry, he'll kill us both. Be strong, honey. I love
you!" But his wife whispered back, "He wasn't kissing my neck. He was whispering in my ear. He told me that he's
gay and he thinks you're cute. He asked me if we had any Vaseline and I told him it was in the bathroom. Be strong, honey. I love you,
too!"
Sunday, January 22nd, 2006
Proof
(!)...that I still can't sing!
Day 22 of the (bird) Flu! But
the track features a $100 harmonica: a Hohner Chromatica
270!!
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