This one is for all you religious humorists out there!
Keep on Jammin’
Archives for August 2008
Wanna see a masterpiece up close
I’m not sure if I told you all, but I’ve been on my holidays for 2 weeks and I’ve been having a blast! I’m really doing anything and I recommend it to everyone!
One of my side interests is about the history of religion. I like to understand what the hell happened a long, long, long time ago and why is everyone so pissed off at each other? I wasn’t around way back in 75 A.D., and I’m sure I would of just tried to get everybody to sit down and have a drink and mule over the things that are making everyone mad! It’s not that hard now is it?
Anyways, I’ve just about finished this book called “The Secret History of Christianity” by Malcolm Brocklehurst. It’s basically it’s about how the church has exploited the Myth of Christ, or so that is the idea that the author is trying to convey. It kinda ties things together and fills in the holes about the bible itself and gives over views of the ancient meaning behind things that are in the bible.
Anyways, while reading the book, I came across this website that is about the Last Supper” from you know who, Leonardo buddy. The author talks about some of the hidden meanings behind some aspect of the wall painting and by using this site you can zoom into the painting like you’ve never thought possible and see for yourself. Boy, he wasn’t kidding! So I’ve been checking it out for the past … dare I say hours!
The company is called haltadefinizione and they honestly out did themselves with their super interactive HD pics on their site. If your an art lover and love to look at the finer details of master pieces that you can only get by going there and looking really close … then you may never go and see this wondrous creations in person after your significant other literally pulls your head from monitor! That’s what just happened to me!
I realize this is not what my blog is about, but the pics on this site is just out of this world. Check it out THOROUGHLY!! It’s time not well wasted!
Keep on Jammin’
How about those Yamaha audio mixing consoles
I’ve was talking to my buddy Rick from the now defunct G-Force Media, and we got to talking about Mixing equipment. He has this ancient Yamaha board and he swears by this thing! It’s very HUGE looking and kinda intimidating to sit down behind with tons of knobs everywhere on it.
As we were chatting on the phone he sent me this link that he found while searching online. He wanted to show me this company called hi-tech audio’s site. He is interested in getting one of these Yamaha Audio Mixing Consoles that was listed on the site. He says that he desperately needs a much smaller and flexible console to meet his needs of transporting it to and from gigs. I don’t blame him one bit, that puppy is heavy! The one he’s keen is the Yamaha LS9-32.
The first thing I noticed about the site was that it is very pleasing and easy on the eye as well as being quite easy to navigate. No pop ups and flashing lights to distract you from what your there to see. They specialize in Yamaha, Digidesign and Digico products, and Rick says they’re top shelf products. Who better to know that then Rick.
Hi-Tech Audio are Yamaha commercial audio/digital console/restocking and service dealers. They also seem to be a Digidesign Venue Dealer as well as dealers for the Digico D5 and D1. Doing some searching on the side, I was impressed by some of the line up that Digico has to offer. If I had a few extra bucks to throw around, then I’d make these guys rich. I’d also need a much bigger and more sound proof home to go with it.
The price for this particular board is well within his budget. I noticed that they also have in their Resource Center these digital Audio Training sections which I thought was neat! He even went as far as looking up some of this company’s clients and was impressed by what they did in terms of their products. He is one of those guys who actually reads the manuals (I must admit that I’m not one of those guys) and checks out a ton of forums online so the resource center may be of some interest to him. As he talked about the board, I decided to check out the rest of the site.
After talking with my friend about some of the pros of using Yamaha Mixing Consoles I stumbled upon one part of the site that discussed church sound systems. Oddly enough, my mother works at a church rectory and they are doing some major renovations to her church. While visiting my parents last weekend she brought up this topic and said that they are in the market for a new sound system and it just got my attention.
I know that in the case of Churches, simpler is better. The digital Audio Training will be a good selling point for the technically challenged church staff. The last time I went to see my mother at work, the video player’s screen kept on flashing “12:00” … and it’s been that way for years. Come on, some of us here must be guilty of this one! So after we got off the phone I sent the link off to mom and hopefully she can pass it off to head priest there for further viewing. Who knows, maybe they’ll get one of the Church audio systems that I came across.
Rick just sent off an e-mail to these guys and hopefully he’ll get prompt reply. Stay tuned for the results of his search and maybe I’ll get him to reply to this post for a great detailed analysis of his adventures with Hi-Tech Audio.
Keep on Jammin’
Busker Festival Toronto 2008
This past weekend was the Buskers Festival 2008 event in the big city! It is held in the St. Lawrence Market District of Toronto, and it always looks like a blast to see.
We’ve seen all the news station reports on TV and I wish that I had time to go and check it out.
There are all these way out there buskers, doing their thing, that kinda makes ya wonder, “how in the hell did they get an idea like that to pull off in public”? If I was a busker, then I’d probably be broke if that was my main form of income!
They’ve been doing this event for years and it always seems to have the best weather to hold an event like this year in and year out! Buster fest has everything for everyone of all ages!
Check out the site for more info. and hilarious videos!
So if you can, get of there and see all the funky and unique buskers out there during this annual event. If you do see it, tell us about it. It may even make me make some time to check them out! If not this year, then there is always the next one.
Keep on Jammin’ (or Busking if your not musically inclined!)
The second coming of Jon is put on hold
Well we got the old back yard, our pride and joy, finely manicured, the house is all cleaned up, the BBQ all tided up, the steaks are ready and all we need now is JON!
Well as luck would have it, Murphy’s Law is alive and at work again in my life there guys and gals! Jon has graciously bowed out! Big Jon has some unforeseen moving to do. This was truly a last minute thing that kinda fell into his llap and I do hope he has fun at it! He had tons of help to work with, and that is why I did not go and help him. BTW, I have helped him move around, oh around 10 times now, and he still owes me one … not that I’m counting there Jon! 😉
So we are trying to get another date set up for another meeting of the Mensa minds later on this September so I’ll keep ya’ll in the loop!
Keep on Movin’ Jonnie!
The summer of 2008
Well, the weather in Toronto has been more or less shitty this past year, and it doesn’t seem to be over quite yet!
We’ve smashed the total amount of rain for a summer ever since recorded weather history. Our past winter was the second most accumulation of snow in the past 130 years! Now they say that we’re gonna have an early winter, in the words of Charlie Brown, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”! How long can this go on for! We didn’t get hit with as much snow as Halifax, but it certainly felt like it!
So, howz it going weather wise in your neck of the world?
Keep on Jammin’
Who Killed the Electric Car
Has anyone out there seen this fabulous documentary called Who Killed th Electric Car? My wife and I have just finished watching this doc for the second time, and it just keeps boggling the mind.
I realize that this is quite the off topic subject for a guitar blog, but I just honestly want to gauge where everyone sits on this one. I’ve just started off my summer holidays, with the worst stomach virus that I ever have had and taking a number of days off from work to boot, and I stumbled upon this PBS doc while being a zombie on the old couch.
I realize that you should always take everything you see/hear with a grain of salt, but what if only a fraction of the info. about this story is true? Only a fraction … it would make all of us part of the biggest scandal/scam in the history of man! I don’t know about you, but this one really makes me think about it.
Can this thing really be bad/unhealthy for us? Could this thing really bring down the economy? Has anyone ever driven in electric car and lived to tell the tale? What terrible thing can come out of this new technology? Are they protecting us from something? Well here’s a story on experiences with the thing we call the EV(electric vehicle)!
I vividly remember at dinner at my in-laws house one day, many years ago, that flashed into my mind during the first time we saw this documentary.
For many months there was this odd looking red car, it looked like the front part of some B movie futuristic air plane, sitting in my in-laws neighbours driveway. The owner of the house, a long time family friend, was out of the country for an extended period of time and I was anxiously awaiting him to return so I could inquire about this futuristic car thing. Then, the moment that I had been waiting for!
I saw the neighbour and his buddy pull up into his driveway and started to go into this car. I told them, just before serving dinner that I’d be back soon, meaning I’ll be back … well much later. To make a very long story short, they told me that it was a HOME MADE electric car! Yes a home made one! I got to sit in this thing and said, “you gotta take me for a ride in this thing, PLEASE!”
It got up to around 100 kilometers an hour, you could go about 80 km. and to recharge it you just had to charge it into any 120V outlet. They ran a chord from the dryer in the basement to do this, really I saw it. It had not bad pick up and the best was when the car stopped … you didn’t hear a thing! And yes, I lived to tell the tale!
I understand this post is not the equivalent to the protester’s in the documentaries site has on line for you that is in favor of the EV1, but it’s all I have to personally share with you!
I apologize for the rambling on and on about this, but I think my meds have a little something to do with this post as well!
Keep on Jammin’ (and always be healthy before all of your vacations)
Max Webster coming off the moon
Just in case you have not heard of these guys, here is a little ditty and my old band Pylis played way back in the day.
It has everything you want in a tune to play live! It’s fun, difficult to play and most of all IT’S A CANADIAN BAND!!!!!
Enjoy!
Keep on Jammin’
Max Webster R.I.P.
The Performer tuning system by Transperformance
The Transperformance tuning system called the Performer, will make tuning your guitar on the fly very simple. It is an interesting dream of many guitarists, whose idea’s have finally become a reality.
I’ve been recently researching modern day guitar tuning technology and I have found some very different approaches in how to achieve this.
On my other blog, Guitar Licks and Tips, I have introduced some of you to the tuning system called Powertune technology from a German company called Tronical on Gibson’s Robot Guitar. This type of tuning system that I talk about there, can be added and removed later if desired. The Transperformance system cannot brag of such luxuries.
There are 4 components to this system. They are the 1 touch tuning, the LCD readout, the tuner assembly and finally a foot switch. It has the mind boggling ability to hold up to 144 pre-set types of tunings, wow! It has the range of up to Tens of thousands of distinct tunings possible. But how many does one really need? Better way too many then not enough I guess?
The Performer does not manipulate the actual sound of your guitar. It works separately from the pick ups. It does require a 12 volt battery that lasts around 120 minutes though. I can not find the total weight of the product, but I am investigating further.
The testimonials are top notch don’t get me wrong but this thing sure looks heavy to me. If you’ve ever picked up a Les Paul then you may understand my train of thought. It can be used on Fenders, thank God, as they have shown on their site. I’ve never seen this product at all, so wish me luck in finding one here in town.
In later posts, I will break each individual component of this system to the best of my ability, so stay TUNED, ha!
Keep on Jammin’
HUGE propane explosion in Toronto part II
Here is a good video from the CBC and City Pulse24 so check it out and keep informed about this tragic event!
Here is the affected area in Toronto.
