Category: Media


Up, Down, and All Around!

Filed Under: About Me, Apple, Life, Philosophy, Whedon by Lord Andrei — Leave a comment
2013.11.08

blenderSome people ‘fire’ months, years, etc… I was very close to firing a whole lot more after a very bad week.

In a period of 6 days, my very expensive King Size Bed that we saved a lot for had the frame crack and the mattress drop. As a result, my spouse and I have been sleeping separated. She on the side of the bed that is okay with an equally expensive mattress that helps her back that was injured permanently by a careless 19 yr old driver. I on the other hand have been relegated to my office to sleep on a bed I got when I moved out to the West Coast to pursue being a software developer. About $200 from Ikea, 13 years old, survived the trip back to Pennsylvania… But it’s too soft for my dear spouse. This was strike one.

Monday, I did a very grueling presentation for work on a project I’d taken on myself. The presentation went okay, but there were chinks in it. Worn out, I came home and got hit with the flu. 102 temperature and the whole “useless as all hell” misery. I didn’t have enough energy to sit up most of the time. Water and the occasional saltine (so much for GF). This took me down for two days where I really needed to be fixing the chinks in my presentation. Make that strike two.

Today, my company and I parted company. I’m not going to go into a lot of details. There’s no need to. It was a good job, but the fit simply wasn’t right. I don’t know if I could have or would have changed enough to make it a good fit. These changes never come at a good time. It is what it is. The team/group will do what they will and I will do what I will. It just so happens that it will now be on two separate paths. But we can switch sports and call that the hat trick for the week.

So, I do what I always do at this point… Update my resume and contemplate semi-finished pieces of code projects that hit some stumbling block or another. Or at least I contemplate  contemplating it while avoiding all responsibility on my first night free by reading too much internet. (My random 80’s mix in the background has just started Rickrolling me)

One of the famous people I subscribe to on Twitter (I like to refer to this as Schizofreindia) is Producer/Writer Jane Espenson (@JaneEspenson). Apart from being a linchpin in the Buffy family, she’s also the creator of Warehouse 13, and she’s been a writer, executive producer, or contributing producer on everything from Once upon a Time, Torchwood, Dollhouse, to Tru Calling, Firefly and Angel. She is greatly respected in her arena.

A few weeks ago, I noticed she posts to twitter an occasional “writing sprint.” I’d love to blog more (and maybe I will now) but at the time, I think I noticed it in the evening as it was winding down. A writing sprint is basically an hour devoted to total focus writing on one project. It seemed like (given the chance) it would be at least motivation to try. Sadly, I just filed it away and didn’t think much of it.

Tonight, I am sitting in the living room contemplating what waste of time I will stay up too late watching on the telly. And then I see it:

Screen Shot 2013-11-08 at 10.26.02 PMNot “writing”… Any Project. I contemplated my latest block in a software project. I could go into very droll technical details but it is simply defined as “Multi-Threaded CoreData” Either of these terms can strike fear into even advanced Apple Coder Types, and here I was trying out how to get both at the same time. And honestly, I really wasn’t good at CoreData as it was without adding in the monster of trying to drag it kicking and screaming into the world of being Multi-Threaded; which I can guarantee you… It doesn’t want to be.

But, hey. I had a project, a goal, and at least an hour for bruising my head on the keyboard some more. Why not?

Why not indeed. At 50 minutes in; it worked. I didn’t simply make it work. But I understood why it worked, how it worked, and that I could make it work again. I also wrestled down a nice little steaming pile of other Apple coding technologies that I’d pretty much avoided.

In the world of coding there is a very important step. It’s called Source Control. What this is, is carefully storing your changes on a server so that you can see your work, roll back your work if you do something truly bone-headed, and have a secure way to share work with others. The act of saving your work is called checking-in. And sure enough, I hit the Check in and pushed to my save server and looked at the clock. 9:59.

I’m the type of coder (nay artist) who when I finally defeat something I will jump up, punch the air, shout “YEAH!”, etc.  (Did I mention… maybe not the best fit for my old job)

I had no choice. I had to revel in my schizofriendia just once.Screen Shot 2013-11-08 at 10.37.53 PM

You see “Schizofriendia” to define a term is not the act of following someone famous. It is the concept of writing to someone famous with (for example) nearly 100,000 followers and being the slightest deluded that your comment isn’t just fodder for the internet vacuum. I guess this instance wasn’t Schizofriendia. Because I wasn’t writing it for her, I was writing it for anyone else who might be following her tonight also trying to find their own motivation to succeed.

In a week of what one could call major failures. In a week where one could easily discard all motivation and just slide down a whole. One success can keep a dimming light burning.

One success can do that…

Screen Shot 2013-11-08 at 10.45.07 PM

But an added word of encouragement that was unexpected can light a new path in ways it has never glowed before.

Nothing gets fired, it just finds a new course and path. A better fit

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Timey-Wimey T-Shirts

Filed Under: Hobbies, Media, Review by Lord Andrei — Leave a comment
2013.10.30

centurionThis post contains Spoilers from Doctor Who through the end of the first half of the 7th Series of the 2005 incarnation. There will be a warning when they start.

As mentioned before, I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who for a moderately long time. To give you and idea, I would run home from school to watch an episode on PBS. Typically they would run a 6 episode story over 4 days of the week and then run an entire story on Saturday afternoon. This was my joy after Saturday morning cartoons and before ABC’s Wild World of Sports. The latter I watched mostly for the opening with its “Agony of Defeat”

My first Doctor was (like most Americans over 30) Tom Baker. I went to conventions in scary hotels, dressed in sad attempts to match clothing (There was no real thing as Cosplay) and bought many Target novelisations. I also decided at a young age to colour my spellings and hunt for Jelly Babies.

The down time was especially difficult. When a Science Fiction show goes away, it’s pretty much gone forever. As I like to term it, “I was a Doctor Who fan, when there was no Doctor Who” And the one shot movie… it was there… But it wasn’t ‘My Who.’

And then in 2005, a miracle occurred. I was one of those folks who pulled down the leaked episode the day before it aired because I “HAD TO KNOW.” The press was so positive and I was absolutely in fear. I watched the torrented treasure on my computer in Snohomish, Washington. Pretty damned far from where I’d watched my first episode in Pennsylvania. The episode started with the theme… and I was young again. I was in love again. It wasn’t ‘My Who.’ It was what as a child I always thought it looked like. But now through adult eyes, it too had grown up.

The writing on the show had grown up. Oh, sure there was the occasional episode that was more groan than grown, but that was forgivable. The characters had more dimensions than the time stream had in the 70s. But above all else… I could celebrate my fandom in the way that only a geek could.

T-Shirts.

On more than one occasion, I’ve tried to cull my shirts in order to make a big graphic post about them. Knowing my penchant for dropping effort like that on the floor, I simply resisted. At this point I estimate my complete “Who Shirt” collection to be about 20. Honestly, considering what is out there now… this is paltry.

Today, I’m going to write about the exact opposite of this topic. As more an more internet venues appear for merchandise (official, unofficial, and fan created) there is a wealth of shirts available. Unfortunately, not all are worth considering. Sadly, some are downright… well…

I’m going to give my opinion… Take it or leave it as you will…

Today, I want to focus on an offering from Blue Box Tees. I’ve purchased from them in the past so I’m not trying to cast derision on their company. They offer a program where you submit art (Doctor Who for that site, other art at other sites owned by them), you receive $1.50 for each shirt they sell over 7 days at their price. And that is it. You retain full rights. Not a bad deal (but then again, I don’t make them, I buy them) Today’s art was created by Zerobriant. Zerobriant has a LARGE gallery of fan art at Red Bubble. You can also look at the Zerobriant blog and a whole slew of other references under any simple net search. I’ve also purchased shirts with Zerobriant’s work in the past. I own a copy of “The Who’s” which I think is absolutely brilliant. So no personal attack on the artist.

That being said… I’m very unhappy with the offering on Blue Box by Zerobriant of “The Last Centurion” (Pictured above.) Okay, I get it. It’s a send up of a style done many times over. Heck… It’s even got it’s own listing on TV Tropes. They call it “The Leg Cling” which honestly I think was best done for “Army of Darkness.” So, what’s the problem then? The art is good, it’s a send up of a style…

Well, the problem is it’s neither. First the artwork. Amy is Amy. Zerobriant has proven time after time very good at drawing Amy. Not just her features, but her character as seen in “Come Along Pond” But that’s about where this attempt ends. Rory is an unmitigated disaster on several levels. The face is unrecognisable. Arthur Darvill has some very striking features that stand out. The character on closer examination looks closer to Christopher Eccleston. We add to that the cloak which seems to have been manufactured by the same person who worked on several Batman films, but more specifically Alec Baldwin’s “The Shadow”

But really gets me here is how poorly chosen the style is concerning the characters. (Here be ye spoilers)

And more spoiler space

And then some

That’s your warning.

Say what you will about the Ponds. Like them, hate them, love them, lose them. Amy Pond is not the type to throw herself at the feet of her man when he shows off his bravado. To see Amy nigh-supplicant to the Centurion is complete disservice to not merely her, but both of them and their relationship. This is the woman who hand-cuffed the doctor, destroyed herself on multiple occasions to not live without the man she loves going so far as to not permit him to commit suicide without going with him. These are (likely) the first two humans to have sex on the Tardis in the time vortex. These two characters are equals. Regardless of which of them did what. It’s what makes their relationship so strong.

I don’t mind fan service to either of them, but this art comes off to me as degrading. Allow my nigh-feminism side to come out. (I say nigh, because to claim feminism as a man is to court derision)

Zerobriant has done better work and I expect will do so again. But this one isn’t it.

If I had a rating system, I would have to give this one “5 children gone mad staring into the untempered schism” Save your money, there will be more shirts on this and other sites and likely more from Zerobriant.

Yes. I am a fan. Yes. I am a geek. No. I didn’t have anything better to do.

bleah

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Just a little fun…

Filed Under: About Me, Family, Hobbies, Life, Media, Server by Lord Andrei — Leave a comment
2013.10.24

Anim-Gif-medFirst day of vacation and I’m taking some time to play with and update my servers at home.
One thing I’ve always wanted to do was make an animated gif of myself.
Nothing too fancy, didn’t have to be pretty. Just a nice hack-my-way-thru kind of thing.

And this is the result.

 

Comments welcomed.

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The Armchair Director – The Sing Off (Part 4)

Filed Under: Directing, Hobbies, Media by Lord Andrei — 2 Comments
2011.10.31

Well, what’s left?

As I have admitted, I watched episode 2 before episode 1. So I saw Pentatonix earlier than the others. Their first song alone had me falling out of my chair in amazement, bewilderedness, and above all, a HUNGER for more. How they do this and why they move into my first position will come after the analyses of the songs:

“E.T.” – (Signature) (iTunes, YouTube)
I was not familiar with this song. This added to the feeling that I can only define as, “I have never heard a sound like this.” A lyric tenor, a baritone with a high lift, and a woman with range hard to place. They each have their own sound and yet can get into tight harmonies in the same octave that personally I think is on par with the sound that Lennon and McCartney stamped all over the Beatles. But then you add in a very deep bass with a sense of harmony not merely rhythm and a beat box that produces sounds that you just don’t hear in Acapella that adds not just sound but dramatic character and you have an entirely new sound. More on these tight harmonies later.

“Your Love is My Drug” (Pop) (iTunes, YouTube)
A pounding rhythm and bass that sounds like an electronic track. Tight harmonies between the two high voices. Again placing a voice like Chris Colfer is not easy. And these voices just blend. You actually lose track of who’s on back up vocals because they stay the same regardless of the lead. And then the surprise. The beatbox not mearly sounds like he spins down the record, but the whole group follows in one motion. All the sound comes to a record stop. The song then goes VERY free form. Again… a sound I have NEVER heard. Now this was the song that Pentatonix has singled out for getting too far from the original. The judges didn’t take well to it. Shorter digression:

-=-=-=-

It is better that this hits Pentatonix here for two reasons: It’s earlier and it’s not as well known a song. You take Grapevine, and the later Pentatonix performed Video Killed and these are very huge classics. I think one can say that the average listener of “Your Love” has likely heard the other two songs and either loves them or hates them. The converse doesn’t hold and that works in Pentatonix’ favour. The average fan of Grapevine or Video Killed is more likely than not to have NEVER heard “Your Love is a Drug” which will afford them more leeway with audience buying them for the songs they know that do follow the three Rs.

-=-=-=-

“Piece of My Heart” (60s) (iTunes, YouTube)
This was a huge risk on the group’s part. Janice Joplin is a land mine of expectations. Not the least of which is taking a song of Feminine empowerment and giving the lead to a man. This was about as far as Pentatonix has gone from their core sound. The song works okay for them but they are at their best when they are bringing a song up a notch into a new realm.

“Video Killed the Radio Star” (Guilty) (iTunes, YouTube)
I honestly don’t know where to start with this. The magic of the backing vocals changing between people effortlessly shows here. This is the song where you really get the feeling that there are more than 3 primary voices in the group. Again the beat box brings in new sounds to an old classic while giving the utmost respect and reference to the original.

———–

So what is it about Pentatonix that puts them in first place in my eyes.
Well my battery is almost dead but when I return there will be what I call a nearly endless arsenal of weapons of music construction.

Let’s go with the obvious ones First:

1) Avi Kaplan – Not merely a bass but one who has melodic control. The Bass is often relegated to the background. A strong bass is the foundation. An unbelievable bass is one that adds character.

2) Kevin “K.O.” Olusola – A beatbox that produces sound that add character and compliment to the music. Rhythm is more than just adding drum sounds. It’s adding the right drum sound or not-a-drum sound at the right time. K.O. finds sounds that compliment the songs to provide not just the rhythm, but the tone of the piece.


1&2 together) Often the bass does one thing; the beat does one thing, and sometimes they go into unison. Avi and K.O. have a penchant for creating and performing collaborations. Bass and Beat worked together to create a specific sound that would be “Wrong” if not done that way together.

1 & 2 – Did I mention they both sing on occasion to fill in parts?

3) The remaining 12 vocalists, all three of them.

In the early eighties a three sister a capella group called “The Roches” did a rendition of “The Hallelujah Chorus.” This wasn’t the best performance in the world or the cleanest voices. But the three voices were so matched in their harmonies that the lead changes would disguise the backing vocals flipping parts. You were never quite sure who was on which backing harmony and as a result you mentally heard more voices than there were.

Listening to “Video Killed” you really lose track of who is doing the backing harmonies.

4) Scott Hoying – A strong Baritone with a controlled tenor lift, bass drop, and soft falsetto. More often than not Scott is the front man on melodies. Hoying’s ability to move between ranges lets him instantly mesh with either of the other two vocalists on backing vocals.

5) Mitch Grassi – A high lyric tenor with an almost Chris Colfer sound can be a curse. In this case while it can be; it isn’t. Pentatonix makes very wise choices as to what will fit Mitch’s voice both in backing and in lead. Again, like Scott, his range makes his blends in the back effortless.

6) Kirstie Maldonado – Experienced with complex harmonies, a soothing alto and a powerful soprano prove as always that the biggest things can come in very small packages.

4&5&6 together) Bouncing off each other’s range, they effectively create harmonies that truly weave their voices. You’re never really sure who’s doing the backing vocals. I mentioned earlier concerning Lennon and McCartney. One of the strongest things they gave the Beatles were those intertwined vocals. They were unmistakably one and only one band. I think these three do this for Pentatonix.

Did I mention that they also sometimes fill in on the beatbox and the bass?

There truly is no sense of ego here. Everyone does all the heavy lifting, everyone will back away from the spotlight. Everyone has a job and knows it’s a team effort.

And then there’s the sound they create. It is not evolutionary it is revolutionary. Pentatonix takes the genre of A capella to a new realm. The judges describe them as ‘delivered from the future’ to ‘teach us how it should be done’

Pentatonix for me is the clear winner, because they are ALREADY working at a level that I’d expect from a group with a recording contract.

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The Armchair Director – The Sing Off (Part 3)

Filed Under: Directing, Hobbies, Media by Lord Andrei — Leave a comment
2011.10.28

By this point episode 6 has run and I was clearly wrong. This post will continue on the previous ones and take apart my #3 and #2 groups. The following post will be an examination of my pick for the winner. In a few days I’ll have the Post episode 6 evaluation. What I got right, wrong, and where I think the judges fouled out. My notes for the next two posts do not take episode 6 into consideration.

On the record: Of the remaining three groups; I would buy albums from any of them. I would love to see ANY of them perform live. That being said, I have to take them down one at a time.

Urban Method. I feel bad taking them down in third because they are just so damned good. They really haven’t done anything wrong. And it is so refreshing to hear a rapper brought into Acapella where they really belong anyway. Urban Method has a great mix that doesn’t rely on any one of their parts. One of this hidden weapons of this group is Vocalist Troy who can pull the spot light as easily as Myk on Rap. A very tight group.

 

The songs so far on a one by one:

“Love the Way you Lie” (Signature)
This duet was amazing. I think the female vocal could have had a little more strength. Not so much in power but in confidence. The Rap was so powerful against it that it almost felt overwhelming. The backing vocals in this are amazing. Great buzz to the bass. The blend in the background just lets the piece ride.

“Just Can’t Get Enough” (Pop)
At first I truly thought there were going to be NO rap vocals in this. The Bass literally shook me. The secondary male vocals are outstanding.Much better blend between these two. Musically very tight. Hard tradition to the funk. The backing gets a bit muddy here. This is still a stunning song.

“Dance to the Music” (60’s)
This is a complicated song. With a great deal of syncopated vocals. This one has minimal rap. Urban Method did a stunning job of making this song sound like the original but still stamped with their own sound. This was about as far from their base that I heard them travel. This was a show of stunning diversity.

“Poison” (Guilty)
Flawless cover of the song. Poison rap fit in perfectly. Voices were perfect for this song. Didn’t depart too far from the original. Female backing vocals really blend well on this one. This is a single to buy. Fantastic all around. Their best showing.

There really isn’t one bad song in this lot of 4. So how do they wind up in third on my list. Again, Urban Method is FANTASTIC. But there is almost nothing truly new to what they are doing. They are just doing it better than anyone else who is recapturing a sound. They have chosen a sound that’s been lost to Acapella. Funk, Rap, Urban… this was the sound of South Philly outside the doowop sound that would birth groups like Bel Biv Devoe who Urban Method is paying tribute to.

Urban Method is an amazing rebirth tribute to an Acapella sound that does not get enough airplay or groups in the industry and I do hope they turn out many albums. However, as I’ve said… they haven’t given me the something “New” that I think can come this season from the other two groups.

Deciding between Afro Blue and Pentatonix is in its own way a nightmare. Both groups are so amazingly different that there has to be a reason one will stand in the long run over the other. I watched the first two weeks and called my #1 group on the first performance and so far am staying with them. Both groups were singled out for one song going “Too far” from its base and being too complicated and over thought. Both groups pulled it in the following week by raising the bar to the next level.

My number two is going to have to be Afro Blue. I really love this group. Honestly they have made some complex jazz very accessible. The blends are effortless. They use scat, jazz, samba, and a whole array of mixed styles. And as I was recently reminded. They are a college group. They don’t sound like it. But they are. And Howard should be VERY proud.

The songs so far one a one by one:

“Put Your Records On” (Signature)
A sultry lead voice with a fantastic female backup blend. The bass and rhythm sounds like something out of an after hours jazz mixer. The simple breakouts just make you want to lay back with quadrophonic headphones by a pool or in some exotic location and drift along for the ride.Even when this could get a bit spread out, the group keeps the blend together. This is very nice.

“American Boy” (Pop)
Scat… And two people together followed by everyone else. This is a “Wow”. And it just keeps going. Even as backing. A different lead singer giving the group a very different tone. The Andrews Sisters would be excited with a touch of Boogie-Woogie here. Again, blends that just happen naturally. A touch of Beat record scratch to modernise and you are hooked.

“Heard it Through the Grapevine” (60s)
This was the song singled out for getting too complicated. I will agree, about halfway through AfroBlue tries to take the song in a new direction. We lose the original driving nearly heart beat bass line that makes many folks remember animated dancing raisins. This requires a digression.

A cover of a song is different from a reworking of a song which is different from a new interpretation of a song. The more classic the original the more eggshells you are inevitably walking on the further you move from base. A one hit wonder is much like a cult classic film. The important thing is that you must approach the original with “Three R’s”: reverence, respect, and reference. This is why ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic has been able to continue to churn out satire after satire since the 1970s. Reverence is needed because the original has its position in history. Respect is because the listener has a personal attachment to it. Reference because the listener has specific hooks that give that attachment. An example would be like singing “Take On Me” shifted down 3-5 keys so that the singer didn’t have to hit as high a note. That note is the expectation and challenge to every self-styled Karaoke guru. Removing it is changing the song.

This specific issue is what I think killed Sonos in Round 3. Their reworking of the Jackson 5 lost everything that made that song enjoyable and at the same time gave it a sultriness that when compared to the “kids” that sang it made it feel not merely dirty, but full on into uncomfortably awkward.

This can be a double edged sword. The Deltones did an almost exact cover of “You Can’t Hurry Love.” As much as it did the honour; the danger is that this competition is not for a Cover group. There has to be some responsibility in taking ownership of the work with a signature.

In this competition every song is a cover. So the stakes are high in picking the right song, giving it a signature, a twist, but not twisting so far it breaks.

In the case of Grapevine, Afro Blue was given the warning of going too far into their jazz complexities that the song might be lost. Afro Blue took this advice and brought the whole competition up a notch.

“I Wanna Dance With Someone” (Guilty)
I always felt this song was inane. Giving it a slight samba beat almost seemed to give the song a sense of understanding. Back from Grapevine was the driving rhythm that makes this a very infectious song. This time, all the women got a few bars of solo. And the blends were stunning. There were still dips into Jazz, but now it was more metered into the style of the song. The interpretation gives this song an entirely new life. This is what sells old songs in new records. This is one of their best pieces to date.

 

Up next. My number one group. I picked them in their first week and I’m sticking with them all the way. Pentatonix

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