Today is the day that my dental work, occurs. Last night I was prepped by sleeping with Prince Valium and this morning I have taken a Halcion. I will be in procedure for roughly 5 hours. The initial effects of he drug are only beginning to knock on the outside or to my brain. Just a vague lack of anxiety and a mild case of tired,
I hope to post more if I can… We’ll see how things go. This has been a long time coming,
Now, I’m honestly trying to not work on the project specifics except during the work week of Monday – Friday. Granted, like everyone else; I find a project I like; I dive in with both feet. Ironically, the average diver would probably hazard trying to go in hands first. But, then again; I’m not a diver.
What this means is that I spend the weekend trying to refine the work that needs to be done. I spend it learning technologies, experimenting with them and dreaming how they will incorporate. Despite being a holiday weekend (well, Yulishmash spill-over) I knew there wasn’t going to be much to get done. Also, with family in town, I really can’t kick them out of my home office when it’s also the guest room. (Yes, my home office has a Thinking-Queen-Sized-Bed)
So, it was down to sitting on the couch with laptop and hashing out the following. First was refreshing Java. I touched Java aeons ago. This was probably back when you could count Java’s age on one hand. Java is not yet 20, though it did become legal this year in the states. I’ve done a boatload of C and a shipload of Objective-C, and maybe a dinghy of C++. But Java was something that I kept getting pulled back from spending too much time in. Believe it or not; I’ve survived as a third-party Apple OS developer for over 25 years.
Java itself isn’t so much the problem. Object-oriented code with some syntax adjustments. Obj-C protocols are Java interfaces… sort of. The problem with most OO languages are the libraries and the build processes. In java is comes down to Packages, Jars, ClassPaths, and the like. So to learn Java I also brought in Eclipse. Eclipse is a popular Java IDE. Well, after watching 5 horrendously painful lectures on the baby steps of Java for non-programmers, I was able to get the ever joyful “Hello World” up and running. But why stop there?!?
Next up was loading Tomcat. Tomcat is a web server that runs mini Java programs (known as Servlets). This allows me to do dynamic generation of content dependent on calls to a server. The server takes the request and passes it to the Servlet. The servlet uses java to parse the request, do stuff, and return data. So my next job was setting up Tomcat on my internal server (on the scared side of my firewall) and trying to write a Servlet.
This stage didn’t go quite as smoothly. Servlets have their own brand of packaging that goes even further into the world of Java. Thanks to some helpful folks at StackOverflow I was able to get a better handle on WEB-INF directories and my Java crashing web.xml file. Granted, after all that, the Servlet still wouldn’t run. After many hours it was sleep time.
Today, undaunted, I went back to the Servlet. I tried to figure out why the samples that came with Tomcat worked but mine belched “Resource not found” errors. Then I learned about how Tomcat Servlet paths worked and there was my happy “Hello World!” Servlet running on my Tomcat Server. (2 notches on the tinkerer’s belt)
So, obviously “Stuff” means fetching from the data store. We go to MySQL for that. This is a low effort relational database that will let me keep the data that I will pick and choose for my web requests. Client calls URL, URL hits Servlet, Servlet parses request, Servlet fetches from MySQL, Servlet pushes response out to client.
For those of you who do this all the time like it’s a piece of cake. Remember, some of us have been working on an entirely different kind of pastry. So, I salute the work you do so effortlessly. I hope to get there soon-ish.
Some fine tuning on a quick install of MySQL, a mini throw-away database and VOILA, Servlet is responding and showing a nicely formatted table. Now going back to the client; as previously mentioned I’m going to be using a data format called “JSON.” JSON has a lot of clients and APIs that can consume data in that format and turn it into something usable. So, next up on my agenda was finding a JSON library my Servlet could consume.
Remember, this is all seat of the pants, and I’m likely doing half of this all wrong. But if I can get a working proof of concept that looks good enough for seed money, then I can hire in people who do this for a living to do it right. So, I find an open source JSON java library. I even figure out how to turn it into a JAR (Java Archive) and soon was able to have a sample java program burping out my data in the much hoped for data format.
So, next up is moving this JAR and JSON code into the Servlet. Once that is there, we have an end-to-end request from MySQL JSON generator. But by then it’s the end of the weekend and it’s back to working on the client proper with the hand coded data set.
All this and I had a cold this weekend, too. It’s quite an adventure and I’m really thrilled with what we’ve accomplished so far. We being now a team of 5 contributors (including myself) even if half don’t really consider themselves contributors yet.
As we get closer to our Proof of Concept I will endeavor to get less vague.
Til next time…
Back to code!
And now I’m pinned.
Let me start this review by saying that my pre-show guesses were off, but I am happy for why. We’ll come back to my pre-show calls later. I should note: I do like all four of this episode’s group. I will sadly make this comment many times through this analysis.
Episode 4: My Generation. Which is described as songs that are “Chart toppers that span the decades.” After a quick recap from the previous show. There is a mention that this week’s “Mentor” will be Ben Folds and we go into the opening production number.
“My Generation / We Will Rock You / It’s Time”
Well, in the words of Jim Steinman, “Two out of three ain’t bad.” Actually, all the songs were really amazing, I just know the first two inside and out and didn’t really know the third. I felt the transition out of WWRY into It’s Time was a little messy and jarring, but besides that. greatly entertaining. I’m also really happy when they get vocalists from different groups to sing together in duets/trios. It’s just a nice unique sound for the series.
And allow me again to state how much I love the theme to the series in a world where show theme music has gone the way of such ironic travesties as the theme to “Glee.” The Sing Off theme is perfect for the mood of the show. This of course brings in Nick LeSwagger and the introduction of the judges. The pre-competition video shows Ben Folds talking to the group about the theme and how he will mentor each team. Ben has one interesting quotation for the episode in the opening bit:
Each group has something getting in the way of them being unstoppable.
The competition.
Home Free – “Ring of Fire” – Johnny Cash.
My comments earlier about Home Free:
Once again, Home Free finds a country hit that has enough cross-over to keep them in the running. My fear is that so far we have begun to see a formula where the lead singer is awesome, the song is “Fun” and then they trot out Uber-bass for a few lines for the sex. I am beginning to want to see more from them.
I gave them 15:1 on the fear that they were going to trot out the same formulae again. Then Home Free came out and did EXACTLY what they needed to. With an impressive interpretation which told a story and changed the focus around, Uber Bass Tim Foust took control of the song. One person on Twitter said the group should be called, “Tim Foust, Super Bass and some other country guys.” The Beat Box brought out a Reggae beat which was astounding. Admittedly, again mentioning Pentatonix; it’s not the first time that Reggae was brought out during a country song. Granted… it works. Austin Brown’s lead vocals are always very nice. But if the reggae worked and the arrangement worked, then the ending worked overtime. Foust let loose with a low F#. Which is a frightening note to begin with and he hit it like a hole in one. I am privileged/cursed during my viewings because I have a sub woofer. Or more correctly until this song ended: Had one. The note was almost sub-sonic. It was a huge signature. Home free brought it, and my belief that they were 15:1 at worst odds for the episode were entirely wrong.
The Judges:
Ben: You did it all. Perfectly executed. Bass went from an instrument to a human. The end… Heavy note. “Holy $#|^! What was that?” Awesome guys.
Jewel: June wrote the song. Great Poignancy. F#. Over 3 octaves. Country a cappella reggae.
Shawn: A “country” a cappella group with a beat box doing reggae. Never would have thought of it. It works. Austin: Voice… Smooth as butter.
VoicePlay – “Don’t Speak” – No Doubt
My comments earlier about VoicePlay:
I really love this song. And I can not envision it as a cappella. This doesn’t mean anything of course. VoicePlay was the first group to get the Ultimate Sing Off wake-up call. So hopefully, they can keep up the energy and give a huge surprise.
I feel badly because I didn’t feel as strongly about this performance as the judges did. Things they greatly like didn’t work for me. Honey’s entrance seemed uneven. At first the song seemed slow, but then I grew to like the story telling they were doing with it. About halfway through was a Hebraic chant. I thought it was stunningly well done, but it just didn’t fit into the song for me. The arrangement overall was great and it was in the correct direction for them. I walked away feeling that Honey Larochelle is a mixed blessing for the group. There are things she does very well, and there are things that seem to feel like her vs. the rest of the group. I gave them a 10:1 to continue on which was at the time a weak second place. Which was where I ranked them with Home Free holding an easy 1st place.
The Judges:
Shawn: Amazing. A different side. Fantastic arrangement. Eli: Middle Eastern Solo… Very nice
Ben: They kicked the song’s ass. You started with your liability. This time you used the dynamics to say something. When You earn it, everyone feels it with you.
Jewel: Week 1 was very technical. This week we saw your hearts. You showed us angst. Showed us the poignancy in the moment. Fantastic dynamics.
Element – “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – The Supremes
My comments earlier about Element:
As opposed to the previous song; I can hear this one easily done a cappella. This also doesn’t mean anything. However, Element has not been bringing it anywhere near the power of Delilah (and one of their members was in that group)… They need to show or be in the bottom this week.
Ben’s advice was to let the soloists stand apart and not get lost by backup singers on the same parts. Element brought out the soloists. When the focus was on the solos this song really shined and Element was ‘in theirs’ and was doing a vey good job. Soloists were well highlighted, balance was good. Some very good energy and storytelling. Where things went wrong was that the harmonies got off far more than once or twice. At this stage in the show where there are only four groups… this is a kiss of death. With the level of euphoria the judges had for VoicePlay and Home Free, this performance does not look good for Element’s future. I gave them a 12:1 which meant they were positioned at third with their own ability to steal 2nd or clench defeat from the jaws of victory. After this I rank them 4th even though I don’t have a 3rd place yet.
The Judges:
Ben: Supported the lead and gave her space. A few tuning issues. You are such nice people. You almost got pissed. Drive it home. Like that you really focussed on singers. A step in the right direction.
Jewel: Thought you did a great job. Song had female empowerment. Hard to make modern. Good job.
Shawn: Compliments the look first (again). I like what you do. Some of the moments: The harmonies were a little muddy/unglued. I did like it.
Additional from me: I respect Shawn Stockman for his musical acumen. But I feel that he has been highly disrespectful to the members of Element. In general, the fact that the group is referred to as girls rather than women… In general it just makes me unhappy about the respect for the groups.
Vocal Rush – “Holding Out for a Hero” – Bonnie Tyler
My comments earlier about Vocal Rush:
This is a song that once again pre-dates the singers (which I find very amusing each week.) I think this one is a challenge and will really be the one that people measure Vocal Rush by. I like them a lot but I don’t know if they have the ability to push through the whole season.
I suppose I need to out myself once and for all. I have never (Outside of High School and College Choir) sung in an a cappella group. I truly wish I could. And if any of my readers are local to Pittsburgh I’m really good at several ranges, picking out names, being a ham, but on rare occasions have issues holding a pitch. Sigh. What this means is that sometimes I can miss the errors in a harmony blend. Vocal Rush hit the ground hard and hit it in a dead sprint. The initial beat and entry vocals got my attention from the word, “Go.” The intensity and performance from the beginning had that mature intensity that makes you forget their ages. Tonight at points I doubted that they really were all under 19. I also would be more than happy to buy this single. I loved it. The rap breakout in the middle was a fresh addition to the song. Sadly I was so captivated that I missed where they fell off the beat and where their harmonies muddied. So my rankings were higher than the judges. I initially gave them a 5:1 expecting them to hit this one out of the park. This may have coloured my opinion of their performance going in. In the end, I moved them into 2nd position because I liked their performance better than I liked VoicePlay’s.
The Judges:
Ben: The bass and drums. Held it down in a way you hadn’t before. Thanks. Double force. Landed the plane very well.
Shawn: Young; Have no fear. You just go for it. You just give 100%. It’s so great about you. So musically intelligent because of you age. Double Chorus. Something happened. It fell apart a little bit. But you picked it back up. It was awesome.
Jewel: You made the song cool. Loved the rap. Didn’t expect it. Male voices are so warm and mix in well. One chink in the armour, can be the youthful exuberance makes you rush in the fun.
To recap my original odds:
And my rankings coming out of the competition
My call for the Ultimate Sing Off (which I still dislike, but have grown to appreciate a good show, better performance, and sometimes a needed kick in the butts for the groups that shouldn’t be down there): Originally, by my rankings it would be: VoicePlay vs. Element.
HOWEVER, The judges gave no ill words to either VoicePlay or Home Free; so it looks like it’ll be Vocal Rush vs. Element. Even though I like my review of VoicePlay and Vocal Rush better. So, despite how I feel:
I think Vocal Rush’s energy take Element out. I like Element a lot, but I just don’t see them showing what they need to after 3 shows in a row where they haven’t. I think the Ultimate battle will be the “Time to really grow up” call to Vocal Rush.
And then I get all conspiracy minded and try to talk myself out of it:
Granted… they keep talking about how far Vocal Rush has made it in the competition for a High School group… which may mean that they are already done before singing.
The final judging:
I’d really like to see Vocal Rush move on. I think they have a lot of potential. And I feel badly because I like Element.
Ultimate Sing off: Element and Vocal Rush – Survivor – Destiny’s Child
Both groups come out with both their groups fully energised. The “Game Face” attitude is annoying and distracting. Both groups sounds strong but each have their weaknesses. Element is showing a lack of variety while Vocal Rush is letting the emotion muddy their sound. Both groups are very good. Unless something changes for the winner, neither will make it to the final 3. Honestly it’s a coin flip from listening and watching. It’s very hard to call. In the end I let my cynicism for Reality Programming to win out and lean toward Element for having a tighter group cohesion. My wish is for Element, my belief is that they will chose Element. Element I think had the slightly better showing in the Ultimate Sing Off; but I think between the two of the groups, Vocal Rush has the better chance to grow and get better. I inevitably call this one a coin flip.
Ben Folds on behalf of the judges and without any explanation calls “Vocal Rush” as the survivor. (Which honestly and happily surprised me)
Final notes:
See you this Wednesday!
