Now that's punk rock!!!
Also, while cleaning the house, this is your friend:
Now THAT'S cleaning!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
I look forward to killing you soon.
Ok, so I keep watching these, and the next one was even funnier.
Wanted to share. ;)
Wanted to share. ;)
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Beware!! The Robo-planes are coming to rule us!
Lockheed Martin is now testing Cormorant, a stealthy autonomous spy jet that starts and ends its mission 150 feet under water. Launched from Ohio-class submarines, the four-ton aircraft is designed with folding wings that allow it to fit inside a Trident missile tube, which is about 48 feet long but just 7 feet wide. The stealthy drone quietly floats to the surface and goes about its business of putting the hurt on those who hate America, and then when all the killing is done, slips back under the waves to be retrieved by a sneaky robotic underwater vehicle. Testing should be done by September, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will decide if it will commission a flying prototype. So it’s not real yet, but even so, this has to be one of the coolest-looking airplane drawings ever.
Lockheed Martin is now testing Cormorant, a stealthy autonomous spy jet that starts and ends its mission 150 feet under water. Launched from Ohio-class submarines, the four-ton aircraft is designed with folding wings that allow it to fit inside a Trident missile tube, which is about 48 feet long but just 7 feet wide. The stealthy drone quietly floats to the surface and goes about its business of putting the hurt on those who hate America, and then when all the killing is done, slips back under the waves to be retrieved by a sneaky robotic underwater vehicle. Testing should be done by September, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will decide if it will commission a flying prototype. So it’s not real yet, but even so, this has to be one of the coolest-looking airplane drawings ever.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Supermodels
So I ordered the MFX supermodels for my GNX4 yesterday. Apparently, they are amazing. What the GNX4 is designed to do is allow you to simulate any amplifier and amp cabinet. (*Woosh*). Ok, I know I'm talking over the head of the 98% of you out there that are not guitarists and have never played with this thing, but it's awesome. The only problem is, there's a HUGE time investment based in creating your patches, mainly due to the fact that the amplifiers that are included with the unit are not very good. They are extremely basic, and mostly a shallow impression of a real amp, because the guys designing it had time to do that.
Enter Mike, the guy who made these supermodels.. he's an acoustic modeller who's been doing it for 25 years, and he had the equipment available to acoustically model all these amplifiers.
So I'm kind of excited. I'll let you know how they sound when I get them, but I spent a good portion of yesterday reading and they're getting only raves from the prosound community.
In addition, I purchased this : The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, 2006 (Paperback)
We're planning to go in the fall, this book apparently has some good info and pulls no punches.
For those who were watching (I got no guesses)... the movie was John Woo's Paycheck. Cheesy I know, but fun on the day off.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The failure of the movie game!
Ok, so apparently in all my template changes, at some point blogger decided to revert to the locked down "only registered blogger users can comment."
Obviously, this was a detriment to the movie game, since 98% of people don't HAVE a blogger account, or WANT to get one. (Most of us have enough accounts already, right?)
Regardless, I have fixed the nazi setting, now it's 75% less nazi. I did leave the "type the stupid jumble of letters" setting on, to prevent all the spambot posts, I'm assuming most of you didn't want a bigger penis, or nasty love from a transexual.
I'm not here to judge.
Obviously, this was a detriment to the movie game, since 98% of people don't HAVE a blogger account, or WANT to get one. (Most of us have enough accounts already, right?)
Regardless, I have fixed the nazi setting, now it's 75% less nazi. I did leave the "type the stupid jumble of letters" setting on, to prevent all the spambot posts, I'm assuming most of you didn't want a bigger penis, or nasty love from a transexual.
I'm not here to judge.
Monday, February 20, 2006
The movie game
Ok, so since i'm home today and it's a holiday, I figured I would make it a game.
Can anyone figure out what movie this is??
This is a hard one (didn't want the first one to be too easy).. if no one gets it I'll post an easier pic later.
Ok, here's the 2nd easier pic, both of the big names right there.
Mr. Adams
Since I'm on a Douglas Adams rant tonight, here's another great quote :
1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.
1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
You'll never watch them the same way again..
This was pretty hilarious, truly tells you how horribly things can be taken out of context. ;)
Brokeback to the Future
Brokeback to the Future
It must be Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays.
So I was curious about the origin of President's day, when it was changed from Washington's/Lincoln's seperate days, so I did some searching. Here you go:
History of the Holiday - The original version of the holiday was in commemoration of George Washington's birthday in 1796 (the last full year of his presidency). Washington, according to the calendar that has been used since at least the mid-18th century, was born on February 22, 1732. According to the old style calendar in use back then, however, he was born on February 11. At least in 1796, many Americans celebrated his birthday on the 22nd while others marked the occasion on the 11th instead. By the early 19th century, Washington's Birthday had taken firm root in the American experience as a bona fide national holiday. Its traditions included Birthnight Balls in various regions, speeches and receptions given by prominent public figures, and a lot of revelry in taverns throughout the land. Then along came Abraham Lincoln, another revered president and fellow February baby (born on the 12th of the month). The first formal observance of his birthday took place in 1865, the year after his assassination, when both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial address. While Lincoln's Birthday did not become a federal holiday like George Washington's, it did become a legal holiday in several states. In 1968, legislation (HR 15951) was enacted that affected several federal holidays. One of these was Washington's Birthday, the observation of which was shifted to the third Monday in February each year whether or not it fell on the 22nd. This act, which took effect in 1971, was designed to simplify the yearly calendar of holidays and give federal employees some standard three-day weekends in the process. Apparently, while the holiday in February is still officially known as Washington's Birthday (at least according to the Office of Personnel Management), it has become popularly (and, perhaps in some cases at the state level, legally) known as "President's Day." This has made the third Monday in February a day for honoring both Washington and Lincoln, as well as all the other men who have served as president.
So there you go. Sort of interesting.
I'm also finally brought up the proposition of getting myself a music studio. It doesn't look like it's going to happen just yet, but at least Stace knows it's high on the priority list. Unfortunately, we just don't have enough rooms in our house now to squeeze one in. However, I do have an excellent entertainment room right now though, so I can't complain too much. I will be happy when I get a music studio with full drum kit setup for recording though.
Currently, I'm watching Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (hence the title of this post). I've read the series of books too many times to start thinking about counting (but I don't think i'm up to 42 yet.) Initially, I wasn't extremely happy with the movie, however I did like it enough to buy it on DVD when it was released. After seeing it a couple times, I have grown to enjoy it more. There was so much material for them to cover, so many amazing parts of the book that had to be left out, which I'm sure means that when I walked into the film I had extremely unrealistc expectations. At this point, I think that it's well done, that Zooey Deschanel is extremely cute, and that they make a couple more of them (which is probably unlikely). It is too bad that Douglas Adams didn't survive to see it on the big screen, I know he had been working on a film version for a LONG time. You did it my friend. /Salute
History of the Holiday - The original version of the holiday was in commemoration of George Washington's birthday in 1796 (the last full year of his presidency). Washington, according to the calendar that has been used since at least the mid-18th century, was born on February 22, 1732. According to the old style calendar in use back then, however, he was born on February 11. At least in 1796, many Americans celebrated his birthday on the 22nd while others marked the occasion on the 11th instead. By the early 19th century, Washington's Birthday had taken firm root in the American experience as a bona fide national holiday. Its traditions included Birthnight Balls in various regions, speeches and receptions given by prominent public figures, and a lot of revelry in taverns throughout the land. Then along came Abraham Lincoln, another revered president and fellow February baby (born on the 12th of the month). The first formal observance of his birthday took place in 1865, the year after his assassination, when both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial address. While Lincoln's Birthday did not become a federal holiday like George Washington's, it did become a legal holiday in several states. In 1968, legislation (HR 15951) was enacted that affected several federal holidays. One of these was Washington's Birthday, the observation of which was shifted to the third Monday in February each year whether or not it fell on the 22nd. This act, which took effect in 1971, was designed to simplify the yearly calendar of holidays and give federal employees some standard three-day weekends in the process. Apparently, while the holiday in February is still officially known as Washington's Birthday (at least according to the Office of Personnel Management), it has become popularly (and, perhaps in some cases at the state level, legally) known as "President's Day." This has made the third Monday in February a day for honoring both Washington and Lincoln, as well as all the other men who have served as president.
So there you go. Sort of interesting.
I'm also finally brought up the proposition of getting myself a music studio. It doesn't look like it's going to happen just yet, but at least Stace knows it's high on the priority list. Unfortunately, we just don't have enough rooms in our house now to squeeze one in. However, I do have an excellent entertainment room right now though, so I can't complain too much. I will be happy when I get a music studio with full drum kit setup for recording though.
Currently, I'm watching Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (hence the title of this post). I've read the series of books too many times to start thinking about counting (but I don't think i'm up to 42 yet.) Initially, I wasn't extremely happy with the movie, however I did like it enough to buy it on DVD when it was released. After seeing it a couple times, I have grown to enjoy it more. There was so much material for them to cover, so many amazing parts of the book that had to be left out, which I'm sure means that when I walked into the film I had extremely unrealistc expectations. At this point, I think that it's well done, that Zooey Deschanel is extremely cute, and that they make a couple more of them (which is probably unlikely). It is too bad that Douglas Adams didn't survive to see it on the big screen, I know he had been working on a film version for a LONG time. You did it my friend. /Salute
Thursday, February 16, 2006
ATZ recording - God of War
So we had a recording session tonight.. and we finished up a few tracks. I actually think they turned out really well, I did an early mixdown and they're sounding excellent. I think if we spend enough time or get someone who really knows their stuff to mix them, they'll sound just as good as anything I've heard lately.
In other news, God of War freaking rocks. I played through it awhile back (with the storyline being ruined by my brother... not intentionally, just one of those accidents that suck). He called me, asked what I was doing, and said "Oh God of War?? Have you gotten to the part where such-and-such happens??" "Um.... NO!!!" "Oh, well it's not that big a deal, it's like the middle of the game".
Come to find out, it's the BIG REVEAL AT THE END OF THE GAME THEY SPEND THE WHOLE TIME BUILDING UP TO. Don't worry, I'm not bitter. ;)
Regardless, if you own a Playstation 2, and like games, you must check this one out. It's one of the most cinematic, artful, and well controlled games i've ever played, (and I've played a few).
In other news, God of War freaking rocks. I played through it awhile back (with the storyline being ruined by my brother... not intentionally, just one of those accidents that suck). He called me, asked what I was doing, and said "Oh God of War?? Have you gotten to the part where such-and-such happens??" "Um.... NO!!!" "Oh, well it's not that big a deal, it's like the middle of the game".
Come to find out, it's the BIG REVEAL AT THE END OF THE GAME THEY SPEND THE WHOLE TIME BUILDING UP TO. Don't worry, I'm not bitter. ;)
Regardless, if you own a Playstation 2, and like games, you must check this one out. It's one of the most cinematic, artful, and well controlled games i've ever played, (and I've played a few).
Real Life Lara Croft
Valentines Day!
Ok, so i've discovered one thing that I definately need... more pictures.
Everyone loves pictures!!
Regardless, I have begun composing drum tracks for our existing songs with my GNX 4.
I think the midi drums sound pretty good, however, the application for managing them is not so good. It's ok, but it won't seem to keep my settings and forces me to make too many changes when I cut in and out of the track I'm working on. Not very efficient.
We now have a myspace site at www.myspace.com/anythingtimeszero. Add us as your friend, and we'll do the same! We have 2 older tracks up there, they've been redone several times since then, but we felt they kind of give some indication of where we're going with this project.
Valentines day!!!
So for valentines day, I decided to go a bit unconventional. Stace and I had already decided that we were not going to go out or do anything big, but of course I had to do SOMETHING (ignoring valentines day is always the kiss of death!). So when I got home from work, I cleaned the living crap out of the kitchen, and then made some banana pudding, put some vanilla wafers around the sides, and spent 20 min cutting vanilla wafers into the shape of a heart. (I figured I could just throw some on there in the shape of a heart, but they were too big.. so then I tried breaking them, but they pretty much just shatter. So finally, I had to get the sharpest knife we own, and slice them down the center. I think it came out pretty good, she could tell it was a heart. )
I really wanted to get a picture of it.. but of course the batteries in the camera were dead, and we ate half of it that night. It sure was tasty too, those banana slices I put on the top spruced it up.
So here's a quick approximation I did :
I've seen it gone over about a hundred times this year on various blogs and news sites, but I'm personally pretty tired of Valentines Day. Everyone wants to run out and buy buy buy things and not really put any effort into what they're doing.. so it really ends up being an empty gesture. "Hey, corporate America said I should give you flowers and chocolate so you don't hate me, here ya go! 100 bucks more in wal-m@rt's pockets!"
Everyone loves pictures!!
Regardless, I have begun composing drum tracks for our existing songs with my GNX 4.
I think the midi drums sound pretty good, however, the application for managing them is not so good. It's ok, but it won't seem to keep my settings and forces me to make too many changes when I cut in and out of the track I'm working on. Not very efficient.
We now have a myspace site at www.myspace.com/anythingtimeszero. Add us as your friend, and we'll do the same! We have 2 older tracks up there, they've been redone several times since then, but we felt they kind of give some indication of where we're going with this project.
Valentines day!!!
So for valentines day, I decided to go a bit unconventional. Stace and I had already decided that we were not going to go out or do anything big, but of course I had to do SOMETHING (ignoring valentines day is always the kiss of death!). So when I got home from work, I cleaned the living crap out of the kitchen, and then made some banana pudding, put some vanilla wafers around the sides, and spent 20 min cutting vanilla wafers into the shape of a heart. (I figured I could just throw some on there in the shape of a heart, but they were too big.. so then I tried breaking them, but they pretty much just shatter. So finally, I had to get the sharpest knife we own, and slice them down the center. I think it came out pretty good, she could tell it was a heart. )
I really wanted to get a picture of it.. but of course the batteries in the camera were dead, and we ate half of it that night. It sure was tasty too, those banana slices I put on the top spruced it up.
So here's a quick approximation I did :
I've seen it gone over about a hundred times this year on various blogs and news sites, but I'm personally pretty tired of Valentines Day. Everyone wants to run out and buy buy buy things and not really put any effort into what they're doing.. so it really ends up being an empty gesture. "Hey, corporate America said I should give you flowers and chocolate so you don't hate me, here ya go! 100 bucks more in wal-m@rt's pockets!"
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Update frequently, Who ME???
Alrighty, so now that I've been linked from another blog, and right now I'm listed as the most frequent updater, I guess I'd better get off my ass.
Over this weekend, I watched The Chumscrubber.
I rented this, as I rent most movies, which is completely blind. I believe I had seen some of the television previews, but they provided very little information. I personally believe that almost ALL movie promotion tools these days show too much information. Previews are running around 4 minutes now, and due to the fact that movies can be made with so little true story content, they're showing almost every twist except the last 2 minutes (generally; I have even seen previews that gave away the ending, if you were watching!).
So as I sat there, awake, at 2AM Monday morning (woke up at 1, wide awake, couldn't even begin to go back to sleep) I watched it. I was first amazed by how many big names were in it. I knew it was a rather indie type film, but they managed to get Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lauren Holly, and several others. The lead character was played by Jamie Bell (the boy who was Billy Elliot - another amazing movie, for those who haven't seen it).
Obviously, since I am against it, I'm not going to give away any information about this film, but if you enjoy more serious films (it definately has some humor, but I think most people will feel it's rather dark overall) I would rent it. Jamie Bell is going to stay around I think, he's an amazing actor.
I also sat down with my wife and watched The Corpse Bride.
Now personally, I'm a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I love the tale, I love the amazing style, and I love the Music (to the point of having a copy of the soundtrack). I think it's one of the most original and interesting works of animation in awhile.
Saying all this, I think it becomes rather obvious that I had high hopes for The Corpse Bride. I wanted more, I wanted the same level of emotional involvment, and I wanted the characters to really suck me in. (I mean, they're played by Johnny Depp and Helena-Bonham Carter f0r God's sake). In case you haven't read into it at this point, I was disappointed.
This movie is OOZING style . It's art direction is amazing, the puppetry is astounding, and it's a technical masterpiece. The colors and artful lack of color makes it look incredible.
It's just too bad it's not a very good movie. It doesn't have any flow, it feels incredibly disjointed, and you really just don't ever like the characters. Except for the Jazzy "Land of the Dead" number, the songs are completely forgettable, and the characters are simply cardboard cutouts.
If you enjoy the art style, and just the Tim Burton quirkyness (which he seems to be mandatorily increasing per project) then this is not a bad Sunday afternoon movie. It's easy to watch and very pretty to look at. However, it will not be a classic, other than an animation study class piece.
Over this weekend, I watched The Chumscrubber. I rented this, as I rent most movies, which is completely blind. I believe I had seen some of the television previews, but they provided very little information. I personally believe that almost ALL movie promotion tools these days show too much information. Previews are running around 4 minutes now, and due to the fact that movies can be made with so little true story content, they're showing almost every twist except the last 2 minutes (generally; I have even seen previews that gave away the ending, if you were watching!).
So as I sat there, awake, at 2AM Monday morning (woke up at 1, wide awake, couldn't even begin to go back to sleep) I watched it. I was first amazed by how many big names were in it. I knew it was a rather indie type film, but they managed to get Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lauren Holly, and several others. The lead character was played by Jamie Bell (the boy who was Billy Elliot - another amazing movie, for those who haven't seen it).
Obviously, since I am against it, I'm not going to give away any information about this film, but if you enjoy more serious films (it definately has some humor, but I think most people will feel it's rather dark overall) I would rent it. Jamie Bell is going to stay around I think, he's an amazing actor.
I also sat down with my wife and watched The Corpse Bride.
Now personally, I'm a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I love the tale, I love the amazing style, and I love the Music (to the point of having a copy of the soundtrack). I think it's one of the most original and interesting works of animation in awhile.Saying all this, I think it becomes rather obvious that I had high hopes for The Corpse Bride. I wanted more, I wanted the same level of emotional involvment, and I wanted the characters to really suck me in. (I mean, they're played by Johnny Depp and Helena-Bonham Carter f0r God's sake). In case you haven't read into it at this point, I was disappointed.
This movie is OOZING style . It's art direction is amazing, the puppetry is astounding, and it's a technical masterpiece. The colors and artful lack of color makes it look incredible.
It's just too bad it's not a very good movie. It doesn't have any flow, it feels incredibly disjointed, and you really just don't ever like the characters. Except for the Jazzy "Land of the Dead" number, the songs are completely forgettable, and the characters are simply cardboard cutouts.
If you enjoy the art style, and just the Tim Burton quirkyness (which he seems to be mandatorily increasing per project) then this is not a bad Sunday afternoon movie. It's easy to watch and very pretty to look at. However, it will not be a classic, other than an animation study class piece.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Superbowl This, Superbowl That
Ok, so I was having problems with my browser, it was displaying the text in white, which made it VERY difficult to proofread a post. :) However, it appears I was successful in posting the title, very confusing.
Regardless, now there shall be a post. Personally, I'm not infatuated with any individual sport, I have seen most of them played, and will watch some occasionally (generally to show off my HDTV to people that are over, since they spend the most money broadcasting sports they generally look great in HD).
So we went to a friend's superbowl party, mainly because it was a good excuse to see friends we hadn't seen in quite awhile and drink some beer. Overall, a pretty good time. Also, they steamed some crab legs, which were quite tasty.
I have discovered a graphic which correctly sums up my current feelings.
Enough said.
Regardless, now there shall be a post. Personally, I'm not infatuated with any individual sport, I have seen most of them played, and will watch some occasionally (generally to show off my HDTV to people that are over, since they spend the most money broadcasting sports they generally look great in HD).
So we went to a friend's superbowl party, mainly because it was a good excuse to see friends we hadn't seen in quite awhile and drink some beer. Overall, a pretty good time. Also, they steamed some crab legs, which were quite tasty.
I have discovered a graphic which correctly sums up my current feelings.
Enough said.
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