The gift that keeps on rockin'!

As I mentioned waaaaaaay back in my New Year's post, I wanted to spend a lot more time with my (acoustic) guitar so that I could justify the purchase of an electric guitar. I've wanted an electric guitar for years, so I was particularly motivated to practice.

Although my skills have definitely improved over the year, they still aren't anywhere near what I want them to be. However, I felt that I was definitely making progress, which warranted the purchase. An additional nudge is that most of the songs I listen to are rock-based, which would be easier to practice on an electric.

So, after having saved up my pennies for most of the year, I headed to my local Musicstop and purchased the following gear:

• Godin Freeway Classic - black, with a maple neck and fingerboard
• Line 6 PODxt Live
• Roland CUBE-30

I was originally just looking for the PODxt, but all they had in stock was the Live. I hummed and hawed about it and decided that it would be nice to be able to just use my feet to switch between tones, so I opted for the Live. That, and I just didn't want to wait. :)

I bought the CUBE-30 mostly because my friend has one, which I've used on several occasions, and because that's the amp the sales assistant gave me while I was demoing guitars. I wasn't all that hung up about the amp because I knew that I was going to be using the POD for its amp models and would likely be using headphones most of the time (which is indeed the case).

Selecting the guitar was a very long process. I went in thinking maybe a Yamaha or a Fender Strat (depending on pricing), but I ultimately knew that I would purchase the guitar in my price range that felt and sounded the best to me.

I went into the store and after looking at the wall of guitars for a few minutes, the sales assistant came over.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm looking to buy an electric guitar."

"Ok, is there anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Not really. My plan is to pick up every guitar on this wall and try it out. Whichever one speaks to me will be the one I leave with."

The sales guy nodded his head, invited me to select a pick, brought over the CUBE-30 amp, and left me to my work.

It took me about 2.5 hours of playing to make my choice. After about 1.5 hours, I had the selections narrowed down to a Fender Strat and the Godin. I really liked the idea of owning a Strat and the feel of the neck and the sound were certainly what I was looking for. However, the jumbo frets really annoyed the hell out of me.

The Godin had a great feel and I've had lots of experience with their products (my acoustic is a Seagull), so I was leaning heavily towards the Godin. Then the sales assistant said, "Just so you know, the Godin and the Strat are the same price, but the Godin also comes with a gig bag." He showed me the bag, and although it's not a hard-shelled case like I got with the Seagull, I really liked it. SOLD!

As I said, I had been saving up all year for the new equipment. However, in the interest of cutting down on our Christmas spending, I told Andrea that she could give me all of this stuff for Christmas. In fact, the PODxt Live ended up being a little more expensive, so basically Andrea bought me the amp for Christmas.

I rushed home with my new gear and wailed away for the afternoon. Andrea was none too impressed that I was playing with my Christmas present before Christmas, resulting in punishment that consisted of buying and decorating our tree more than 2 weeks before Christmas. Oh well, it was worth it.

Anyway, Christmas has finally come and now that I'm allowed to play with the guitar, I haven't been able to put it down. The feel of the neck is absolutely amazing and the sounds that the POD produces are simply amazing. With all of the amp, cabinet, and effects models, it'll take a lifetime for me to discover everything, I think.

I look forward to spending lots of time with my new guitar. And who knows... maybe this time next year my playing won't suck!

Ooooookay then

Wow.... last update was March 20th? What in the hell have I been doing that has kept me from producing any updates since March 20th?

It's been a hectic year, that's for sure. I've traveled more than 60,000 miles for work (and the year's not done yet), spent time with my family, and tried to work on my hobbies.

There are all sorts of interesting things that have been going on, so I'm hoping to make some time over the next few weeks to get this thing up to date. My Christmas vacation starts December 18th, so I should be able to find some spare cycles in there - particularly while Olivia is napping. :)

Stay tuned!

Guitar work

I haven't been picking up my guitar anywhere near as often as I should or as I would like. Having said that, though, it's not like it's been sitting in the closet collecting dust.

Back before I got completely and utterly hooked on C64 remixes, I spent quite a bit of time listening to Shanty Raid-io, which is an Internet radio station that plays piratey-themed music and is run by people who spend their time playing the Yohoho Pirate Puzzle game. Being a Maritimer and being obsessed by all things piratey, it's easy to understand the attraction I had for the station.

While they play lots of great tunes, there was one in particular that really caught my ear - One For The Road by The Jolly Rogers. It's a fun song and the guitar work is quite simple - simple enough that I figured that even I could learn how to play it.

As I always do when I hear a song that I'd like to learn how to play, I consulted the almighty Internet for a guitar tab of the song. I searched and searched and searched some more, but all I could find were the lyrics. Problem. However, although my musical skills are very weak, the song sounded simple enough that I figured that, given enough hacking away, I would be able to figure out all of the chords.

I managed to get the chords for the verses figured out with little trouble, but the chorus proved to be much more difficult. Over the course of a few months, I'd pick up the guitar and try and try again to figure out the chorus. After much aggravation, though, I believe that I finally have the results. In hopes that maybe my hard work will help someone else, I'll include the chords here. Rather than post the whole song, I'll only bother with the first verse and the chorus.

Intro: lots of D's

Verse:
D D D D
G G A A
D D D D
G G A D

Chorus:
A
D D G G D D A A
D D G G A A D D
G G G G C C D D
G G G G C C D D
A E
A E
D D D D G G A A
D D D D G G A D

- Mike

Everything old is new again

I spent a good deal of my adolescence playing games on my C64, and while it got me into some trouble from time to time, I have nothing but the fondest memories of those days.

I have dozens upon dozens of favourite games that I used to play, sometimes endlessly. With simple (albeit still powerful for the time) graphics and a 3-voice SID chip for sound, game play and innovation were important for making a game great, which is in stark contrast from today's 3D behemoths, where everything is about better graphics, faster refresh rates, and the like.

Graphics and sound were very rudimentary during the early years, but became much more advanced as people began to discover the awesome power of the VIC-II and SID chips. Indeed, the demo scene was a great influence on discovering the true capabilities of these chips.

With the true power of the SID chip revealed, programmers and composers such as Rob Hubbard, Ben Daglish, Martin Galway, Maniacs of Noise, et al began producing incredibly complex and catchy tunes. Although the chip had only 3 voices, clever composers were able to create tunes that sounded like there were 4 or more voices. Truly a remarkable feat. Songs such as Thrust, Chimera, Trap, and The Last Ninja series have managed to stick in my head for YEARS after I last turned on my C64 and played those games and demos.

About a month ago, a friend of mine starts talking about this Internet radio station that is playing old C64 tunes. I type 'c64' into Shoutcast and come up with SLAY Radio. Intrigued, I tune in. What I discover, however, truly amazes me.

Not only do they play original music files (which they call SIDs, which can be confusing because the original SID format produced really bad music, yet was popular for some odd reason), they also play remixes. Yes, you heard me right - remixes. It turns out that there's quite a movement in Europe where people take original game music from machines such as the C64, Amiga, and NES and rework them. Sometimes the songs are only slightly tweaked, keeping very close to the original sound, but other times they are given major overhauls, sometimes without containing any of the original sounds at all. Not only are these remixed then played on internet radio stations, sometimes concerts are organized and they are played LIVE! Absolutely incredible.

SLAY Radio is VERY well done. The web site isn't too bad and, if you register, provides functionality to view the current song queue and even make your own requests (you search for the song, click the button and it shows up in the queue). The playing mechanism is also linked to an IRC bot (SLAYRadio) that hangs out on #slayradion on the EFNet network. It doesn't offer all of the same functionality of the web site, but it does offer some things that are not available via the site.

The live shows are scheduled fairly regularly and the DJs take their task very seriously. They know these tunes and their history very well. They've got great personalities and make the whole live experience really good. On top of that, the live shows are recorded and made available, usually shortly after the broadcast has been completed.

I first tuned in almost 2 months ago and I haven't been able to stop listening since. I stream the station all day long while at work. There are sites that contain all kinds of the remix MP3s and I've downloaded many of them so that I can lug them around on my laptop and MP3 player when internet access is not available. I've been travelling a lot lately and being able to play back the live shows has been a livesaver on the ridiculously long flights I've been suffering through, such as the 13.5 hour flight from Toronto to Beijing. (For some good fun, download the entire "24-Hour Fleming Show", which I'm currently working through, much to my delight).

- Mike

Overloaded melody?

It's common knowledge that the melody for both the alphabet song ("A-B-C-D.. E-F-G...") and Twinkle, Twinkle is the same. If this is coming as a surprise to you, try it yourself. It seems to me, though, that the melody is shared with at least one other childhood tune.

I put Olivia to bed the other night and turned on her Ocean Wonders Aquarium (which she absolutely loves, by the way). The song that started up was Twinkle, Twinkle. As I was leaving her room, I started singing to myself.

"Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?"

I'm, like, "What the hell? That song is clearly 'Twinkle, Twinkle', so why am I singing 'Baa baa black sheep'?"

Now, I may totally be on crack here, but I'm pretty damned sure that the melody for all three songs is exactly the same. If this is true, I wonder how many other kids' songs also share this melody.

- Mike

Basement update

Whoa... it's been quite a while since my last update here, and a lot has been going on.

So, the update on the basement. No, it's not done yet, but we've been enjoying it all the same.

We were on the verge of having it complete, until the electrician went to put in the pot lights in the home theatre room. He cut a couple of holes to install the light, but when he reached in, he wasn't happy with what he found.

"Hey, you know you've got insulation in the ceiling?"

"Ummmmm... yup. It's supposed to be there. It's been in the plan since day 1."

"Yeah, well, I can't install THESE pot lights into a ceiling with insulation. You need to get the other kind, the ones with the big metal boxes."

Well la-de-da, thank you very much for telling me that NOW.

I shan't bother you with everything that happened after that, except to say that the contractors were out a few days later, cutting holes in the ceiling and building drywall boxes into the ceiling so that the lights we had originally purchased could be installed. The plan was to cut open the ceiling and build the boxes, have someone come out a couple days later and do the taping/mudding again, wait a couple more days for it to dry, sand it, paint it, and then have the lights installed. That was all a month ago at this point. All that has been done is that the boxes have been build and the ceiling put back and taped. We're still waiting for paint and light installation.

Luckily, though, none of that has taken away from us using the basement, so we aren't in any hurry to have the work finished. Besides, they don't get paid until the work is done, so if I can earn a little bit of interest on the money before giving it to them, then I'm happy.

And how about my HD problems?

Well, I called up Eastlink about switching to a box with an HDMI connector. However, those connectors are only available on PVR boxes, which they wanted to change me another $10/mn for. The $15/mn I'm paying now hardly seems worth it, so I certainly wasn't going to add another $10 to that total. Besides, we just don't watch enough TV to make having a PVR worthwhile.

So, no problem - I went to Future Shop and bought a DVI->HMDI connector, hooked it all up, and now I've got a much better picture. Sort of...

Some channels have been absolutely amazing - CBS in particular. Some channels are really awful - TSN. Some are good sometimes, but not others - PBS, CBC, etc. Annoyed with the whole picture quality problem, I asked a videophile acquaintance about what I should expect as far as quality is concerned and he gave me a lot of good information.

Most of the shows that I've seen on CBS, NBC, Fox are shot in HD, so naturally they look amazing. Shows shot in HD for CBC and PBS also look amazing. However, I think PBS sort of upconverts a lot of non-HD shows to HD and, as a result, the quality can be pretty poor. The biggest disappointment, of course, was Hockey Night in Canada. I was really annoyed by the terrible (and inconsistent) picture quality. It turns out that all of the shows that look really good have had lots of work to ensure they look good. Because they are filmed and broadcast later, the engineers can spend lots of time fiddling with the compression algorithms. For live broadcasts, however, they have no such luxury. They're pretty much stuck with a middle of the road configuration, resulting in some things looking incredible, but others being outright horrific. Hockey, being a fast-moving sport, suffers greatly. American Idol (no, I don't watch that useless tripe - I was only experimenting) is pretty good. Things like giant logo screen wipes are just plain awful.

One of the major reasons why I wanted HD was so that I can watch sports. Given that sports suffer in picture quality the most, and the fact that we get our HD channels from eastern Canada, resulting in everything being on an hour later, I doubt that I'm going to keep the HD stuff.

It's a shame, though. I love watching PBSHD, and I totally love the on-screen guide that comes with the HD box. I've been doing a bit of research into switching to ExpressVu, but I think I'm too lazy to make the switch. ExpressVu has a lot more HD channels (like Discovery!) that I would really enjoy, but the price to play is pretty high. We have 3 TVs in the house, so we'd have to get 3 receivers, and that really sucks.

I'm going to hang in for another couple of months to see what happens. If Eastlink adds more HD channels, I may continue my subscription. If not, I'll be getting rid of it.

- Mike

Happy New Year

I won't bother regaling the details about our riveting (not!) new year's eve. All I will say on that topic is that, once again, we had to fight to stay awake until midnight. We watched the countdown, I gave Andrea a kiss, and promptly fell asleep. Pretty much the standard for us on new year's eve.

One of the (apparently) most important aspects of the new year is coming up with a set of resolutions for self-improvement that everyone will most likely fail in attaining. Oh, sure, everyone has the best intentions to keep those resolutions, and may actually keep at it for a month, maybe two, but ultimately this year's resolutions are doomed to become next year's resolutions.

On that note, I'd like to offer up my own list of resolutions for 2006. I have every intention of keeping these resolutions (just like everyone else). :)

1. More practice with my guitar. I've been hacking away on this thing for several years now and I should be a lot better than I am. Hell, I don't even know the scales yet. Pitiful, really. I would really like to get an electric guitar, but there's no point in laying out the cash for that sort of thing if I'm not going to get the best use out of it.
2. More time with the telescope. I've got a lovely 10-inch Dob and I've only used it a handful of times in the 1.5 years that I've had it. I'd like to get some additional equipment for it (UHC filter, a couple of eyepieces, Telrad, laser collimator) that will hopefully encourage me to head outdoors a little more often. Olivia has a pretty good routine now, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get out for a couple of hours a week.
3. More coding time. I've had a couple of ideas for coding projects running through my head for a couple of years now. I've gotten partway through one of them (DVD inventory system), but I just haven't had the necessary motivation to work on it. As with the astronomy, I'd like to spend 3-4 hours a week working on these projects.

The trick to keeping these resolutions is time management, which I've never really been good at. The other major component is laziness. It's a lot easier to sit down and read a book or watch TV than to work on other things. I will use the 3 items I listed to help drive the two fundamental resolutions. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can achieve at least some success.

- Mike