Thursday, July 26, 2007
New Learn 2 Draw post is up.
8:24 PM
I am starting a new one. I think this format works a bit more than the old one but it takes me longer to get it together. Let me know what you think. Remember if you are interested or have captions or drawings send em over!
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Thursday, July 19, 2007
New Music Part 3:Interpol
1:35 PM
I finally decided I had to give the new Interpol album a chance. As I said earlier it doesn't have a steady flow of the canonical Interpol songs that the casual listener will recognize. It will probably take a lot of flack because the first single is what you expect from them. People will hear it and buy this album. Then some people will be frustrated by the rest of the content.
As with most hobbies it is the obvious that attracts people but it is the subtleties that keeps them around and drives them to go deeper. This is a deep album. Make now mistakes, it may not be as readily accessible as the previous two but it is just as good. Interpol has said that they included keyboards from the very start of the writing process for this album and the entire vibe is different. This album is moodier and harder to follow but I think the payoff is bigger. Interpol has really grown and challenged themselves with this album. If you want more of the same you should check out the two albums by The Editors. They are both great albums and though some people might write them off as Interpol knock offs they are quickly garnering their own strong following and seem to be pleasing critics. I can only imagine Our Love to Admire will help The Editors. I just hope that people don't write off Interpol because I think this album deserves a second, third, and even fourth listen.
As with most hobbies it is the obvious that attracts people but it is the subtleties that keeps them around and drives them to go deeper. This is a deep album. Make now mistakes, it may not be as readily accessible as the previous two but it is just as good. Interpol has said that they included keyboards from the very start of the writing process for this album and the entire vibe is different. This album is moodier and harder to follow but I think the payoff is bigger. Interpol has really grown and challenged themselves with this album. If you want more of the same you should check out the two albums by The Editors. They are both great albums and though some people might write them off as Interpol knock offs they are quickly garnering their own strong following and seem to be pleasing critics. I can only imagine Our Love to Admire will help The Editors. I just hope that people don't write off Interpol because I think this album deserves a second, third, and even fourth listen.
More Windows stuff.
1:10 AM
I promised to write some more about Windows Vista and the Windows Defender. It's been a couple weeks and although my wife told me not to blog about computers anymore I got a cool comment about another Vista Victim so here goes.
If you haven't figured out I am a PC guy. Not a Mac guy. I have a brother who is and I can't tell up from down on a Mac. I feel you get way more bang for your buck from a PC. I can also tell you exactly which components are in my box, not to mention which box I have. I can upgrade my computer's memory, HD capacity, video card, motherboard, CPU, and occasionally even the BIOS. I don't have to wait for a new OS to upgrade like most Mac users. I have already touched on how stable Vista is. When it is up and running you have to deal with one of the new features which I believe is called "Windows Defender." Sorry it has been a couple weeks and I have tried to clear the experience from my head so I can't be sure what it is called. Like I said, I'm not a Mac guy. I can almost appreciate the wittiness of the Mac vs. PC ads but they still kind of chap my hide so I either have a deep seeded case of Apple envy or I am a PC guy to the core. This ad is great. I laughed out loud when I first watched it. First I thought it was about a firewall. I remember my first firewall being cinched down so tight that it set off alarms every time I moved my mouse. I didn't realize this was about one of the Vista "features" until I had experienced Vista first hand. You can't open a game, the internet, Word, or pretty much any shortcut without Vista firing off a warning. Even as an admin you have to ok Vista to change the screen res when you launch a game. Am I sure I want to allow this program to edit settings??? I was the one who double clicked!! This ad could not be more accurate without showing actual screen shots.
The other reason I am a PC guy is games. Two of the main reasons to upgrade to Vista per Microsoft are security, see above, and gaming. Pfft. Yes there is a games folder. Yes it does have some cool features. You can sort your games by last played, alphabetical, or any of the other ways you can sort files now. I keep all my game shortcuts in a file on my desktop so this games file is nothing new to me. Some games get cool icons. Not all of them. Not all installed games end up in the games folder which is kind of pointless. Vista will also consider your PC components and rate your system for gaming. But this only gives you a very vague idea. My system is actually only rated a 4/10. Probably because I only have 1 gig of ram but for most games I can run everything max. It doesn't show individual games min/recommended requirements or if individual game ratings. Another cool idea is that the game folder will list which version of the game is installed. This doesn't seem to important but for online gaming like BF2 or WoW it is important to know because you have to have current versions. Vista games folders lists all of my games as 1.0 no matter what. There is no point to display this info. I have way too many issues with Microsoft's gaming initiatives to cover here so as always I will cover it later.
Hopefully if you are buying a computer with Vista installed the company selling it will have support available and unless that support wants more trouble than they can handle their engineers will have put together some stable systems. I know companies like Dell are offering XP installs again. Commodore(Yes that Commodore) is launching a new line of mid to high end gaming rigs that will only be available with Vista installed. If you have Vista I wish you the best of luck. There are rumors about Service pack one being pushed out sooner and if that happens I may buy a $25 hard drive to install it and see if it is ready for the real thing. Until then you can guess what I'll be running.
If you haven't figured out I am a PC guy. Not a Mac guy. I have a brother who is and I can't tell up from down on a Mac. I feel you get way more bang for your buck from a PC. I can also tell you exactly which components are in my box, not to mention which box I have. I can upgrade my computer's memory, HD capacity, video card, motherboard, CPU, and occasionally even the BIOS. I don't have to wait for a new OS to upgrade like most Mac users. I have already touched on how stable Vista is. When it is up and running you have to deal with one of the new features which I believe is called "Windows Defender." Sorry it has been a couple weeks and I have tried to clear the experience from my head so I can't be sure what it is called. Like I said, I'm not a Mac guy. I can almost appreciate the wittiness of the Mac vs. PC ads but they still kind of chap my hide so I either have a deep seeded case of Apple envy or I am a PC guy to the core. This ad is great. I laughed out loud when I first watched it. First I thought it was about a firewall. I remember my first firewall being cinched down so tight that it set off alarms every time I moved my mouse. I didn't realize this was about one of the Vista "features" until I had experienced Vista first hand. You can't open a game, the internet, Word, or pretty much any shortcut without Vista firing off a warning. Even as an admin you have to ok Vista to change the screen res when you launch a game. Am I sure I want to allow this program to edit settings??? I was the one who double clicked!! This ad could not be more accurate without showing actual screen shots.
The other reason I am a PC guy is games. Two of the main reasons to upgrade to Vista per Microsoft are security, see above, and gaming. Pfft. Yes there is a games folder. Yes it does have some cool features. You can sort your games by last played, alphabetical, or any of the other ways you can sort files now. I keep all my game shortcuts in a file on my desktop so this games file is nothing new to me. Some games get cool icons. Not all of them. Not all installed games end up in the games folder which is kind of pointless. Vista will also consider your PC components and rate your system for gaming. But this only gives you a very vague idea. My system is actually only rated a 4/10. Probably because I only have 1 gig of ram but for most games I can run everything max. It doesn't show individual games min/recommended requirements or if individual game ratings. Another cool idea is that the game folder will list which version of the game is installed. This doesn't seem to important but for online gaming like BF2 or WoW it is important to know because you have to have current versions. Vista games folders lists all of my games as 1.0 no matter what. There is no point to display this info. I have way too many issues with Microsoft's gaming initiatives to cover here so as always I will cover it later.
Hopefully if you are buying a computer with Vista installed the company selling it will have support available and unless that support wants more trouble than they can handle their engineers will have put together some stable systems. I know companies like Dell are offering XP installs again. Commodore(Yes that Commodore) is launching a new line of mid to high end gaming rigs that will only be available with Vista installed. If you have Vista I wish you the best of luck. There are rumors about Service pack one being pushed out sooner and if that happens I may buy a $25 hard drive to install it and see if it is ready for the real thing. Until then you can guess what I'll be running.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
New Music Part 2:More Smashing Pumpkins
12:36 AM
The Pumpkins disc hasn't left my player until today. I am loving it. The first hotspot for me is Tarantula which has a Siamese Dream feel to it. It is rift based and heavy with Jimmy's skins sounding better than ever. There is a hint of The End is the Beginning is the End which is cool and sonically the guitar work will remind you of Quiet or Cherub Rock. Doomsday Clock is easily the best way to start the album. There isn't a better drummer out there and a smile spreads across my face everythime Billy drops in with the heavy second guitar 15 seconds in. Once I heard this there was no doubt in my mind about the strength of the album. This song is classic Pumpkins.
Right now I think my favorite song is That's the Way(My Love Is). This song reminds me of Honestly by Zwan which may deter some people although I will never understand why. Zwan was great. It has a great bridge, beautiful chorus, strong solo, and Jimmy really nails it on this track. The two just balance each other so perfectly. When people would ask me who else was in the reincarnated band I would say that you really only need Billy and Jimmy. I was told it would never happen that way but here it is and this song is proof that it works.
Like I said I love the entire album. Even the 10 minute United States in the middle of the album at track 7!!! I will blog on that this later. I promise. If you want my take on any song or want me to elaborate call, comment, or email. If you can't tell I can talk Pumpkins all day. I will post more on Interpol too but for now just go buy both of these albums.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
New Music Part 1
12:33 AM
The new Smashing Pumpkin album is good. I bought both Zeitgeist and Our Love to Admire(Interpol) fully expecting to experience some buyer's remorse. I had listened to bits of the SP album the week before and nothing jumped out at me except for the single Tarantula, which I had heard quite a bit, and the opening song Doomsday Clock which I had also heard because it is on the Transformer's soundtrack. MTV.com had the entire Interpol album streaming so I listened to it once while at work. There was nothing on it that grabbed me. The Heinrich Maneuver which is the first single is just awesome. It is exactly what I wanted for this album so it was taking concentration just to keep focused on my day to day activities in the weeks leading up to release. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed when I heard the rest of the album. There aren't many songs in the vein of Evil, Slow Hands, PDA, or my personal favorite Obstacle 1. I like Interpol's slower songs but I didn't know if I was ready for a full album of them.
I went to Best Buy to pick up the Smashing Pumpkins album. Best Buy only had the yellow cover available with the bonus track "Death From Above." Emma didn't like the color and I agreed with her so I headed to Target. They had a purpleish color and that pleased both of us a bit more plus it was cheaper. Bestbuy.com offered it for $9.99 but in store was $13.99. Target had SP and Interpol at $9.99 so I grabbed them both. I don't like that Billy or the label(I don't know which) offered 5 different versions of the album. iTunes, Best Buy, and Target all offer a different bonus track and there are 5 different colored covers, blue, green, red, yellow, and purple.
Mine came with the title track listed at number 13 right behind a pretty little gem called Pomp and Circumstances which is akin to the French Movie Theme from the Cherub Rock single and Vieuphoria movie. It is a bit more grand but is right up my alley. After hearing the short and mellow Zeitgeist it is pretty clear that it doesn't really fit anywhere on the album but number 13. I am looking forward to hearing Death From Above and because it earned a spot at track number 9 I am assuming it is a bit heavier and probably fits right with the rest of the album. It is pretty easy to identify what time period a Pumpkin outake or B-side is from because each album has a unique sonic thumbprint and everthing from the corresponding period falls right in line. If these songs follow suite it will be cool to see where Billy originally imagined them.
Mine came with the title track listed at number 13 right behind a pretty little gem called Pomp and Circumstances which is akin to the French Movie Theme from the Cherub Rock single and Vieuphoria movie. It is a bit more grand but is right up my alley. After hearing the short and mellow Zeitgeist it is pretty clear that it doesn't really fit anywhere on the album but number 13. I am looking forward to hearing Death From Above and because it earned a spot at track number 9 I am assuming it is a bit heavier and probably fits right with the rest of the album. It is pretty easy to identify what time period a Pumpkin outake or B-side is from because each album has a unique sonic thumbprint and everthing from the corresponding period falls right in line. If these songs follow suite it will be cool to see where Billy originally imagined them.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I meant to post this last night.
2:05 AM
By the time you read this the new album by the Smashing Pumpkins will be sitting on store shelve. I will go out and buy a copy. I couldn't help myself when I saw it online so I have listened to most of it. I haven't sat down and listened to it straight through. I haven't even listened to the entire album pieced together over multiple sittings. What little empirical data I have tells me that this album isn't their best effort. It isn't what I have been waiting for. And yet after 7 years of waiting anything by the Pumpkins is entirely what I have been waiting for. You can call me stupid because I am willing to pay for something that I already have or can get freely. You can call me wasteful for purchasing a CD with paper and useless jewel case rather than go with the "greener" option and legally downloading from iTunes. You can point out that if I pre-buy on iTunes I can pre-buy concert tickets. I am a fan. I have my tickets to a Pumpkins show(they go on pre-sale tomorrow.) I want the artwork. I want the physical CD. I want to show my support for my favorite band and I want to be able to list the names of the songs, song order, and identify the disc itself from across the room. Too many people download albums and call themselves fans but can't even name a song that doesn't get radio play. I am goin to see them play in Seattle and if I had the money I would watch them in Vancouver, WA and Vancouver, BC. I have seen them every chance I've had. I am proud to add my $15 to Billy's ever growing pile of money. I am a fan. And so I head out the door with cash in hand.
I wrote this a couple days ago.
2:04 AM
Sorry for the lapse in updates. I took Vista completely off of my machine and it took me a day or two to get XP installed, updated, and stable. No Blue Screen of Death yet though. My Mic works like normal which was something that not only had no functionality under Vista but would shutdown the computer. I am currently running Counterstrike Source at 244 FPS Woot!!! Sooner or later I will partition a drive and install Vista. Once or twice a month I will boot it up and look for updated drivers. Someday I think it will be stable. At that point I will migrate. It was a pretty trip but it was more headache that it was worth. Some of the programs that I had good luck with are:WoW, CS Source, Oblivion, Star Wars Empire at War(if the EXE is launched as and admin and not the launcher), Mahjong, Flash 8, Dreamweaver 8.
These programs completely crashed: Poker, any Dreamscene besides the original, Dungeon Siege 2, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas(it worked once), Photoshop is incompatible with Aero and Dreamscenes so my desktop changes every time I use it, Chess, Microsoft Games Launcher(which I really should blog about). It is worth pointing out that Dungeon Siege 2 is a MS game, as is Chess. Dreamscenes and Poker are both optional MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA updates that I downloaded from the Window update page and resulted in BSOD more often than not. Other than trying to get my mic and sound card to work(which MS is not supporting in Vista) the programs that crashed the most were MS programs or even Vista only programs. Go Figure.
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