Please Don't Come Back To New Orleans

An interesting story about the current state of affairs in New Orleans, written by someone who actually lives there.


Last October, while running an errand, I made the mistake of thinking that I could walk four blocks on a sunny Saturday afternoon in New Orleans. I was in my old Bywater neighborhood and inevitably found myself stalled by spontaneous conversation with my former neighbors; this camaraderie is what I missed about the neighborhood, but it was also why I should have driven. I didn't have time for it, and in the years since Katrina I felt burned by what I now felt was a false front that we were all in this together.

My neighbors and I parted ways, and within half a block everything changed. I saw a group of kids on bikes ahead of me and turned to avoid what looked like trouble. Two stray dogs came charging toward me, but I was too slow to realize it was because someone was about to club me from behind. Because it was from behind, I never got a good look at who it was, but he probably used a two-by-four to hit me, a popular weapon in New Orleans these days. I hit the pavement and skidded across. It was the kind of impact that leaves logic knocked loose, so when the kids jumped on top of me asking "What have you got?" I lifted my head as if to respond. Fortunately, the damage from the blow kept me from saying what I was really thinking, otherwise they might have finished the job. I lay paralyzed in the middle of the street while I felt their hands in my pockets. They took my iPhone, left the cash, and then they were gone.



Read On...

The Onion Kills!

One of the more memorable articles to come out of The Onion.

"Unfortunately, the sterilization programs of a generation ago failed to prevent Miley Cyrus, Jaden Smith, and countless other second-generation stars, so we're left with no choice now," McWane said. "But rest assured, population-thinning will be quick and efficient, while primarily targeting the sick, elderly, and C-list."

Lyrics on a Thursday morning...

Just because everybody else seems to hate the guy and I don't.

Deep inside the border
Children are crying

Fighting for food
Holding their heads
Breaking their bread with a stone

All along the roadside
people are standing
watching the sun
shielding their eyes
Brushing the flies from their face

Tell me, what can you say
Tell me, who do you blame
Like a mirror you see yourself
These people each have a name

All around the township
Young men are dying
(of) hunger and thirst
The well has run dry
The tears from her eye feeds her son

Tell me, what can you say
Tell me, who do you blame
Like a mirror you see yourself
These people each have a name

You can say you're pulling back
We see the pictures everywhere
But what we don't see is what's
Going on behind the closed doors
And you don't seem to care

Do you expect me to believe you
How can you really think
You can take your horse down to the water
Hold a gun at his head
And make him drink

No matter what you say, it never gets any better
No matter what you do, we never see any change

People living without rights
Without their dignity
How loud does one man have to shout
To earn his right to be free

You can keep your toy soldiers
To segregate the black and white
But when the dust settles
And the blood stops running
How do you sleep at night?

No matter what you say, it never gets any better
No matter what you do, we never see any change
What makes you so high and mighty
What makes you so qualified
You can sit there and say
How many have their freedom
But how many more have died

You decide to sit in judgement
Trying to play God yourself
Someday soon the buck is gonna stop
Stop with you and noone else

No matter what you say, it never gets any betterNo matter what you do, we never see any change

Reading Material; The Ecstasy Of Empire

An interesting article over at Infowars.com about the future of the United States as a prosperous nation. Grim reading but eerily plausible.

"Americans have no greater enemies than Wall Street and the corporations and their prostitutes in Congress and the White House.

The neocons allied with Israel, who control both parties and much of the media, are strung out on the ecstasy of Empire. "

The Pentagon Papers

Years ago I saw 'All The President's Men' for the first time. Ever since then I wanted to get my hands on a copy of the 'Pentagon Papers', the documents about the reality of the Vietnam war as Ellsberg leaked them to the New York Times. And lo! and behold I found them. Not for people who only like spectacular plot changes...

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent1.html

Best news topic of the year so far...

Man Caught with Pants Down and an Armless Mannequin in Public Park

Jon Stewart's segment : I Give Up

My favourite American Jon Stewart said it right the other night. Here's the clip :

Jon Stewart : I Give Up

What are you playing now?

Billy Bragg - Leroy Stubb's Tears

With the money from her accident
She bought herself a mobile home
So at least she could get some enjoyment
Out of being alone
No one could say that she was left up on the shelf
It's you and me against the World kid she mumbled to herself

When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face

She ran away from home with her mother's best coat
She was married before she was even entitled to vote
And her husband was one of those blokes
The sort that only laughs at his own jokes
The sort that war takes away
And when there wasn't a war he left her anyway

Norman Whitfield and Barratt Strong
Are here to make right everything that's wrong
Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too
Are here to make it all okay with you


One dark night he came home from the sea
And put a hole in her body where no hole should be
It hurt her more to see him walking out the door
And though they stitched her back together they left her heart in pieces on the
floor


When the world falls apart some things stay in place
She takes off the Four Tops tape and puts it back in its case
When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears...


Cat Power - Rambling Woman

Well I love you baby
But you got to understand
When the Lord made me
He made a ramblin' woman
He made me, he made me

Some folks
Some folks might say that I’m no good
That I wouldn’t settle down but if I only could
I love to see the towns go crawlin' by
There's something I’ve got to do
Before I die

I love you baby
But you got to understand
When the Lord made me
He made a ramblin' woman
He made me, He made me

Some people say
That I do just fine
Cause I hear sweet song
Moving down the line
And when that old southern train comes calling me
There's something over the hill
I just got to see

Well I love you
I love you baby
But you've got to understand
When the Lord made me
He made me
He made a ramblin' woman
He made me, He made me

Now when I'm gone
When I'm gone and at my grave you stand
Just say God called home your ramblin' woman

I love you
I love you baby
But you've got to understand
He made me, a ramblin' woman
He made me


Kenny Rankin - Haven't We Met?

I've ordered some rain for tomorrow
The sky will be sunny but wet
And out of nowhere you're suddenly there
And i say yeah pardon me haven't we met?

I've ordered some sunshine with showers
And i've got my scenery set
Right there with a thump our umbrellas gonna bump
And i say yeah yeah pardon me haven't we met?

Accidents can happen
And into one i'm gonna slide
There's a good chance to get my hands
On a little romance when two hearts collide

And i know that's just how it happened
When romeo met juliet
Somewhere i've read that old romeo said
pardon me haven't we met?

And i know that's just how it happened
When romeo met juliet
Somewhere i've read that old romeo said
pardon me oh he said pardon me
He said pardon me haven't we met?


Kenny Rankin - In The Name Of Love

What Burns And Glows Without Flame
What Is A Rose Without Any Rain
What Brings A Smile That Only Lasts A Little While
And Makes Me Cry Without Shame

Well Now How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love

Don't You Know How To Be Nice
You Leave Me Without Thinkin' Twice
You're Warm Like An Oven
Only When You Want My Lovin'
Then You Go From Fire To Ice

Well Now How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love

Am I Comin'
Am I Goin'
I Got No Way Of Knowin' Your Mine
You Make Me Rise And You Make Me Fall
You Make Me Stumble, Stumble, Stumble, Stumble And Fall
Baby Get With It
Come On Admit It
Whisper To Me If You Don't Really Love Me Anymore

How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love

You Make Me Rise And You Make Me Fall
You Make Me Stumble, Stumble, Stumble, Stumble And Crawl
Baby Get With It
Come On Admit It
Whisper To Me If You Don't Really Love Me Anymore

How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love


The late great Tommy Bolin - Gypsy Soul

We talked for hours of the travels
And all the beauty you had seen.
The south of France where the spring is beginning,
Sunset on the Thames from the village green.
We rolled on and on through the pages,
Of the books you'd taken from the shelf.
Unfamiliar faces and forgotten places,
Landscapes green and rich in wealth.

You've got a gypsy soul, and you love to wander.
Coast to coast to the Canadian border.
In the summer sun, yeah, yeah.

From my window you saw the ocean,
And all the changes that has been.
The south of France where the spring is beginning,
Sunset on the Thames from the village green.


Martha Wainwright - Bloody Motherfucking Asshole

Poetry is no place for a heart that's a whore
And I'm young & I'm strong
But I feel old & tired
Overfired

And I've been poked & stoked
It's all smoke, there's no more fire
Only desire
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are

You say my time here has been some sort of joke
That I've been messing around
Some sort of incubating period
For when I really come around
I'm cracking up
And you have no idea

No idea how it feels to be on your own
In your own home
with the fucking phone
And the mother of gloom
In your bedroom
Standing over your head
With her hand in your head
With her hand in your head

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

Oh I wish I wish I wish I was born a man
So I could learn how to stand up for myself
Like those guys with guitars
I've been watching in bars
Who've been stamping their feet to a different beat
To a different beat
To a different beat

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

You bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody...

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are


Randy Newman - It's Money That I Love

I don't love the mountains
And I don't love the sea
And I don't love Jesus
He never done a thing for me
I ain't pretty like my sister
Or smart like my dad
Or good like my mama

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

They say that's money
Can't buy love in this world
But it'll get you a half-pound of cocaine
And a sixteen-year old girl
And a great big long limousine
On a hot September night
Now that may not be love
But it is all right

One, two
It's Money That I Love
Wanna kiss you Three, four
It's Money That I Love
Used to worry about the poor

But I don't worry anymore
Used to worry about the black man
Now I don't worry about the black man
Used to worry about the starving children of India
You know what I say about the starving children of India ?
I say, "Oh mama"

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

Politics in The Netherlands 2010

I just sometimes wish that HAFMO was still alive.

WikiLeaks and the multi faceted truth

I suppose most people have heard of WikiLeaks and all the muck they dredge up. This time they have started their own sub-website called http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/
                  
I don't know what to think of it. On the one hand it's good that this kind of information becomes public. On the other hand I would really like to know why the people behind WikiLeaks do not also publish the same information about other non-American conflicts(and believe me; as far as their war-record is concerned I am not exactly a fan of the United States).
            
If you're tired of being called 'lop-sided', 'prejudiced' and 'partial', why don't you all start documenting the wars, conflicts and massacres in Africa? I'm sure there's enough material there for another complete website.

Rebuilding My PC - Sound systems, Audio- and Midi-recording and Latency...

Background

After the operation as described here my PC has now operated under WindowsXP for a couple of weeks and it is a very satisfying experience(you see Alfred? I CAN be nice about Windows!). No bugs, no hangups, nothing that I would norrmally expect from the older Windows-versions. How on Earth Microsoft could ever follow up this Windows-version with Vista will always be beyond me. Must have been a marketing thing or something.


Showing off for a minute

My goal for this Fall is to have a working studio in my house. The studio should be centered around my PC and will consist of many components. To name a few(and as an excuse to put up some pictures!) :

Yamaha DX7

I would not know what to write about the DX7 that has not been written thousands of times already. It's an absolute work horse, it's incredibly difficult to program, but once you do you will never look back. This machine is almost 30 years old and still performs on stage as well as in the studio every day. It's up there on the podium with the MiniMoog and the Prophet 5.

Clavia Nord Lead II

What do you do when you can't afford an old PolyMoog or an Oberheim OB-X? You buy a Nord Lead! This synthesizer was the first to get rid of the artificial sound of a analog virtual synth. Until this instrument came along all virtual analog synths could be made to distort just by turning up the values of a lot of functions(the filter usually did the trick immediately). Not so with the Nord Lead; whatever you try to do with it you can't make it clip, just like you can't make an analog synth produce digital distortion.
One other extremely important feature of this instrument is that it stores the complete sound(the patch) in every location that it is used. In the old times(well, not so long ago actually) a synth would have sounds which could be combined into combinations. What happened was that the synth would store the patch-/sound-numbers used in a combination but not the actual parameter-values of the sounds themselves! This meant that if you had a combination that consisted of sound A and sound B, and you altered sound A, the sound of the combination would be altered too. It was cumbersome and the instruments only worked that way to use less memory. Not so anymore! The Nord Lead(and many other synths to come after it) stores the actual parameters of every sound used in a combination. So once you have stored the combination you can fiddle about with the separate sounds again without destroying or altering the combination. If only for this I absolutely love this synth. It is a pure pleasure to work with.

Kawai K4

Aaaah.... the Kawai K4. The K4 is a well kept secret. Not too many of them were produced so it is very rare to see a second hand one being put up for sale. The sounds are based on pre-digitized samples so there are no real sine waves etcetera. Instead, some of the basic wave forms are piano-like, strings-like or percussion-like etcetera. This means that a lot of the 'waveforming' has already been done and the basic sounds therefore sound much more complex then the standard synthesizer. This instrument is exceptionally fit to play industrial and New Wave sounds. In this respect it is the absolute opposite of an analog synthesizer(or a Virtual Analog like the Nord Lead II).

Roland JV30

My little beauty. This synth is so rare it is hard to find a proper picture on the Web. A JV30 is not such a big deal but I use it for one reason ; It saves me from having to play standard Roland sounds like the strings on another synth. This little preset-beastie contains all the standard sounds you need in the studio.

I do have some more synthesizers but they are so obscure that I could't even find a picture of them on the Web! So nevermind...

All of the above and more will be in a configuration with a Behringer 20 channels mixing console and lots and lots of outboard gear(delays, reverbs, flangers, multi-effects, etcetera). All of this is amplified by two 125 watts Hughes and Kettner Power Monitors. All in all you can say I'm good when it comes to the non-PC gear.

Back to the PC

So here comes the next phase : getting some kind of Audio- and especially Midi-recording working on said PC. Normally this would be no problem as I've done this many times before. My first computer for Midi-recording was an Atari 1040STF with Steinberg Pro-24. This was back in the damp and musky mid-eighties. That stuff was brilliant for its time. Pro-24  looked like this :

Pro-24 for the Atari

Since then I've had many a computer running Cubase, Cakewalk and even Logic Audio, although I must say that the latter product was way beyond my requirements and cost me way too much time to figure out. I'd rather spend that time writing and recording music, nerdiness only goes so far.

So... here I am; A nice 2.4Ghz Pentium IV with lots of memory, enough harddisk to store a thousand+ songs, and one standard on-board AC97 soundchip... Mind you : in the future I do not plan on using said on-board chip much. After all; I do have a lot of synthesizers in the house, as well as a very nice 24-channel mixing console and two 19" flightcases full of outboard gear(delays, reverbs, compressors, multi-effects, etcetera). So the external hardware will not be the problem but I want to start using all that once I have the PC up and running satisfactorily. After all; I shall have to re-arrange my hobby room to make all the shit fit and I don't want to do it haphazardly only to find out that it's not what I want.

So...I started out by going through my software. This software was all legally purchased because I do believe that for really complex software you'd better have support. I found an old version of Cakewalk that I put back on the shelf immediately; too simple, too limited, too much 'toy-like'. Then I found my original software box  of Cubase VST! Now that would be exactly what I need. Unfortunately this version was made for Windows95 and does not run on XP. Rats... Look what I missed out on... :

Cubase VST

My third and last option was Cubase 3.0 Go, which I purchased some years ago and runs perfectly on WindowsXP. I checked the requirements and the specs and then dedided to take the chance.

CuBase SX for the PC 

First I had to get the Midisport midi-interface going. This is very simple as I did not only have the drivers on a CD, but I found the latest version of said drivers online within a minute. Installation was a breeze and the midi-interface worked in one go.

The installation of Cubase 3.0 also went without a hitch and getting the sound to actually work didn't take too much time either. I was amazed once again at the amount of detail that this software can display. Of course, when you work with very expensive Audio-/Midi-recording software(like Logic Audio etcetera) this is normal, but Cubase 3.0 Go was really Steinberg's low-budget version!

I tried out Cubase 3.0 for a little while and then decided to try and record a sequence or two using my Nord Lead II. And that is where the problem started...


Latency

As you could have guessed from the title of this entry I experience way to much audio-latency when using my Clavia to play a PC-instrument. So much that it would be virtually impossible to record anything decent. If there is one thing a keyboard player expects it is immediate response from his keyboard.

So what to do now ? Two options : 1) Either I buy a better soundcard or 2) Try to reduce the latency.

For me the challenge is to use the latter option. After all; I can always buy a new soundcard but where is the fun in that? Also; in the future I will not be using any on-board instruments but use the real thing instead. It would be a waste of money to buy a soundcard with super specifications, only to abandon it in a little while.

So I am trying to reduce the latency of an AC97 on-board soundchip. I have googled around a bit and so far I found one very promising website/piece of software. Apparently there's a guy who designed an ASIO-driver specifically to reduce the latency of an AC97. I will try out that software tonight and continue my blog-entry.

This is all great fun. Contrary to some years ago, when you had to really work hard to get this sort of audio-processing to work, it is now much easier to get it up and running.


Update : ASIO4ALL to the rescue!

I'll write more about it later but ASIO4ALL is an amazing piece of software. It comes completely free, it's easy to install, and in no-time my latency was reduced to near to nothing. Michael Tippach(the guy who wrote this stuff) should get his own statue. Unbelievable! Recording in Cubase 3.0 using a midi-keyboard and playing it all back over an onboard AC97 standard soundchip and No Latency!


Update II : Using VST instruments.

First of all; the latency reduction also works for NI Reaktor. The software synthesizers have the same mimimal latency as Cubase has. So that's good news, especially because Reaktor is one Hell of a software package. The sounds are unbelievably good(again; for an AC97 soundchip. I can only image what this stuff will sound like on a really high quality card).

Not so good news is that Cubase 3.0 Go only allows for one VST-plugin/instrument. So.... I'm going back to look at that beautiful box with CubaseVST that I have on the shelf. I've come way too far to stop now. If I can get CubaseVST up and running I would possibly not even have to connect my hardware-synths for quite a while.

It's not like I have tons of space in that room...


Update III : VST Plugins.

Ok, so I managed to install CubaseVST instead of Cubase 3.0. This especially so I can use VST-plugins(e.g. soft synths).
Next stop; getting the VST plugins to work correctly. The latency has stayed the same as under Cubase 3.0, a good sign! Now if I can just get the rest to work I'll be done for a long time to come.

Let's get this done! Onward to the rescue my friends...!!


To be continued...

Duke Forever!

Some talented guy improved on what was a beautiful cover anyway.

Philip K. Dick was right.

He just underestimated the speed with which this crap would be developed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1294037/Taranis-The-143million-unmanned-stealth-jet-hit-targets-continent.html

"Autonomous Artificial Intelligence"? "The Matrix" meets "Terminator" meets "Type III".

Those Yanks will NEVER understand the game of football...

If they start by giving everybody the wrong result...

The Netherlands Win World Cup

Update : Ah, they've woken up...

United States Cyber Command

I don't know what I find scarier; that this organization actually exists or that they seem to be necessary.

Of course they are still bloody nerds, as one can conclude from this quote :

"The text '9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a', which is located in the command's emblem, is the MD5 hash of their mission statement."

l'Histoire se répète

This is a pretty good summer so far. And even some people in the U.S.A. have woken up.

Understanding Rap lyrics

Finally! A way to understand Rap lyrics from Bill Maher.

Rebuilding My PC - Back To Basics

I ran Ubuntu Linux on my desktop for quite a while and I noticed that for Multimedia purposes it still really cannot beat the more recent Windows-versions. It's not criticism, it's just a fact. Microsoft's been at it for at least 20+ years so one may expect them to get it right eventually...

So I decided to revert the desktop back to Windows. For the record; I still have a dual boot laptop that runs Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.4 so I can still investigate and use Linux.

I scratch-installed Windows XP Professional on my desktop and gave the hardware a proper check-up. This took the better part of the Friday night. Late that evening I also installed the drivers, the WindowsXP updates as well as AntiVir, Firefox, Thunderbird and Chrome.

Installing Thunderbird turned out to be a bit of a mistake, as there is a know bug in the latest version that prevents you from sending email under certain circumstances. There is a workaround but as an ICT-man myself I don't like workarounds at all.

'Fortunately' (and I use the word loosely here) the next morning I rebooted the PC and immediately got a disk error message. After a lot of work I decided to switch the master and the slave disk(they are both identical and could both be formatted) and then try again. The disk I used for this second install however, was older and much much slower, so the new installation seemed to take forever. After the installation had completed the system was still much much slower than before. To solve this problem I downloaded a freeware software package called Easeus Todo Backup and cloned my C:-disk to the faster D:-disk(including a format to get rid of the disk-errors I mentioned before). Obviously I let this run at night as it is as much fun to watch a clone-operation as it is to watch paint dry...

The next morning I swapped the two disks back again, so the new and faster(cloned) hard disk became the C:-disk again and Lo and Behold! Speed!! I then disconnected the D:-drive because it may interfere with the operation of my PC and make it slow down, and I will only use that drive if my C:-drive fails to recover the system. As I have external USB-disks I am not short for disk space anyway. My C:-disk NEVER holds user-data.

As a part of the rebuild of the PC I also removed everything that was/is not completely necessary for the PC to work properly. I now have my sound back. The SoundBlaster Live! turned out to be defective so I'm now running the audio over the on-board sound chip(a standard Realtek AC97). To my big surprise I have absolutely no complaints about the audio-quality. I installed the Realtek driver-suite though, instead of just the driver, and that makes all the difference. For such a simple on-board chip it has very extensive settings, including an effects section and most importantly; a 16-band equalizer.

I can also play video properly again, something that I could not do for about one and a half years when it ran Ubuntu 10.4. And yes, to all you Linux-lovers out there; I did install ALL the codecs I could find.

On top of that I found that one of the disks was getting really old and therefore terribly slow. This may have cause sluggishness in the old configuration because I suspect that Linux checks all disks frequently and writes a control record to each disk. As the write operations on the slow/old disk really took a long time to complete, I experienced 'hick-ups' when using the system. Especially Firefox would just 'hang' for 5 to 10 seconds and then continue as if nothing had happened.

My PC is now really really fast. As a properly tuned 2.4Ghz PC should be...


Configuration :

Hardware :

• Processor        : 2.4Ghz Intel
• Memory          : 1024MB
• Motherboard   : Intel PB4GL(82845G chipset)
• Internal disks   : 1x 40GB(I do not keep data on my internal disks)
• External disks  : 1 x 160GB USB and 1 x 460GB USB
• Audio/Video     : Onboard chips, no additional cards.
• Sound system  : Soundblaster 5x Sensurround Set with subwoofer

Software :

• OS                  : WindowsXP Professional
• Virus checker  : AntiVir
• Browsers        : Firefox 3.x, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8.x
• Email               : Outlook 2007
• Office software: Microsoft Office 2007
• Audio Software : Virtual DJ 6.0
• Utilities             : ToDo Backup-/cloning-software, WinRAR, uTorrent
  

Music of the sun

The sun has been the inspiration for hundreds of songs, but now scientists have discovered that the star at the centre of our solar system produces its own music.

Source.

I'm going slightly mad...

Laptop has been in for repairs for about five weeks now. And I am slowly but surely going around the bend.