bang bang Chicago

Looks like we can look forward to a lot more handguns in Chicago. Scares the shit out of me because it comes down to personal responsibility and impulse control. A certain percentage of people are just stupid and irresponsible. We all know that. In a higher density population that percentage makes a much greater number of stupid irresponsible people allowed to run around with hidden deadly weapons. If everyone were honest, responsible and smart, we could legalize drugs, not bother with drunk-driving laws, and allow anyone access to uranium for their own enrichment.

We'll see how it goes. Handgun freedom screams "wrongness" in my head, but I haven't actually heard any winning arguments in favor of gun control. Maybe the city will be enriched by a wave of common sense, criminals will turn in their illegal guns to buy legal ones, and then everyone can have some friendly neighborhood firefights. Hey, everyone had a great time in the Cold War, right? We're just bring that winning strategy home to ma and pa.

Partly cloudy, with chance of butt-ass cold

It finally stopped snowing, and some of the snow has blown away from my porch, but I'm sure those particular flakes have piled up somewhere else. Apparently there was also an earthquake here yesterday. Not a good day for enjoying nature in Chicago. But the storm is over, and we get to bask in the plunging temperatures.

Cloudy, with a 100% chance of suck

The sky in this photo is what Chicago looks like most of the winter. But all the snow is since last night, and it's still coming down nasty. I had to move the car off the snow route this morning, and took 20 minutes to move it around the corner half a block. I don't usually see tickets for parking on snow routes, but one could still be towed or — with a foot of sticky snow coming — plowed in.

So expect a wave of slip-slide driving, wet feet, flight cancellations, and further out, a cloud of jackasses on snowmobiles driving through your yard.

Death to IE6

The web company I work for finally gave the development axe to Internet Explorer 6, which was released in 2001. Surprisingly some people have not upgraded to the current version, which is 8, and which is FREE. Developing for IE6 really slows and limits a designer/developer, since IE6 cannot easily do many of the things current browsers do, and is not compliant with current standards.

Booting IE6 opens a new world of creative possibilities for the web designer, like a rock band not having to write songs on ukeleles, or an oil painter not having to use Crayola anymore, or an author not having to write for stupid people.

The Nature of History at Wikipedia

Here today...

I spend time wandering around Wikipedia, like most people who take a virtual break from computer work. And I occasionally hit the pages that pertain to people I'm affiliated with. I was a bit surprised this time, when I hit the Positron Records page, and saw it was slated for deletion due to unreliability and not being noteworthy. I've noticed this happen to a lot of pages I look at on Wikipedia, but Positron Records seemed like a pretty safe article for years.

This makes me question the historical value of Wikipedia. Something can be noteworthy for years, but as its popularity falls off  and people forget about it, and articles and other references that were written about it disappear as other websites go down and print publications are forgotten, the "editors" that troll Wikipedia are quick to, um, edit. This circumstance indicates to me that Wikipedia is strongly subject to the bias of trends and culture. Rather than an accurate record of our shared history, Wikipedia will be an edited, deleted, and rewritten history. The same strength of having all people able to edit the wiki is the weakness that will bring out that bias.

I suppose it can be argued that truly noteworthy events, places, and people will stand the test of time. And maybe our cultural memory works like our own brain, having a short term and a long term, and needs to forget some things after a while, to make room for new memories.

end of 2009, new in 2010

The holidays, funerals, and the flu are over for me finally. The holidays always seem like a big pause in life to me. Like holding your breath for one out of every twelve minutes.

Beatserv did well in December with Bombs and Bits, and the free pack and sale. We'll be doing more of those quick, inexpensive sound libraries like BnB, but I think we'll continue with some more massive beat packs as well. Sometimes people attribute value to a product based on how it's priced, so cheap isn't always good.

Number Nine

I spent a couple weekends recording my friend's band, and then a week or so mixing it. The band still has to review the mixes and we'll make changes I'm sure, but the tracks have turned out good so far. I learned a hella lot about engineering and producing for someone else's band. Stuff like the producer also has to babysit everybody, er, I mean conduct and work everybody like an orchestra. And how to mic a mandolin. Additionally, we recorded a couple Beatles tunes, so I could closely compare what we were doing with what the Beatles did (we did things differently).

I started writing new songs this week. Finished sketching one out already, lyric, melody and structure. Writing a good song is a better high than any drugs, you know.

I've also been listening to a lot of CDs this week for some reason. I have this urge to go out and acquire more now.

Qbert scratch battle 3

In hiphop, turntable, and internet terms this video is old as the hills, but if you do any scratching it all, it's golden. It's one of the scratch battles from the DJ Qbert DIY scratching video. I'm sorry to say it doesn't seem like much just to watch it, but scratching along with it is absolutely fun and funny as hell. It's almost worth learning to scratch just to partake. Well, it's my blog, so humor me and use your imagination. It all goes to show that scratching is fun, and Qbert is the master.

Who would bother stealing an iPod Mini?

In some sort of hyperspeed crime spree, someone stole my iPod from my car. I'm not sure if I left the passenger door ajar or they did something like the five-second airpump/rod deal that the road-side assistance fellows use. Strangely the iPod is all they took, in addition to rifling through the trash box in the driver-side door, where I'm sure they found a trove of chewed gum and dog-bone wrappers. Considering it was one of the original iPod Minis (that we got for free), it sure is no big loss. If they had taken my CDs from the car I might actually be pissed off. This thief now has the entire Orbital catalog on mp3, some Depeche Mode, Justice, BT, and other obsequious electronica, plus the whole demo of the new Bounte album, and that probably has more value than the iPod.

Luckily I have an early iPod Shuffle lying around as a backup:

Bounte presents the iFoam Shuffle

Imogen Heap

I've enjoyed her music, and I read an article recently about Imogen Heap. I think more than any other muscian I've heard interviewed, she approaches her music as a normal human being might. She's an incredibly talented producer and songwriter, but she doesn't make any big deal about what she does. She selects gear or sounds based on personal preference, without much thought to what's high-end or acceptable. More importantly, she puts a lot of elbow grease into arranging what she makes, so her songs are a product of talent and hard work. Yet what I find most admirable is her a light-hearted, dare I say smartly poetic, attitude toward life and music, without being a clueless hippie. She just seems to have a good time.

I'm going to catch her performance at the Vic in November. Should be a nice show.