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You are here: Home / 2010 / Archives for May 2010

Archives for May 2010

We just bought a Kindle 2 eBook Reader

May 11, 2010 by Chris

Wow, my wife just bought a Kindle 2 eBook Reader! She bought it on line through Amazon. It’s a 6 inch screen and comes with some really neat stuff. I never really thought that we’d pick up something like this, but we did.

kindle 2 eBook reader

It comes with dictionary, text only web browser (this is in the US only damn it!), and a wireless 3G device. Our new Kindle 2 is slim at just over 1/3 of an inch, which is as thin as most magazines. The device is light weighting in at 10.2 ounces, lighter than your average paperback.

The Kindle looks quite paper like in it’s display without the glare that you sometimes get in some devices, even in bright sunlight. I wonder if you can adjust the brightness of the screen itself. Our notebook screen is not all that bright in the sunlight which pisses me off when I’m in the backyard trying to do some work. They claim the battery life on the Kindle is very long, up to 1 week on a single charge. It carries up to 1,500 books. You can find a fair amount of free books at Amazon and other book stores online. We’ve already downloaded some onto our notebook to be uploaded to our new Kindle when it arrives.

Read-to-Me is a neat feature my wife told me about. With it’s experimental Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder/owner made this feature unavailable. Perfect for after more then a few light refreshing liquid beverages, ha!

She bought a electrical wall mount charger, car charger, ear phones and last, but not least the Amazon leather cover. I’m forever scratching electronic screens, I should take a pic of my phone so you can see what I mean, so this will come in very handy.

The only bad thing about buying it here in Canada is the custom and duty taxes $33 (CAN) that comes with it, but hey, no use complaining too much. We should be getting out little hands on it this Wednesday, so sometime after that expect another post about our new addition to our home!

Do you have a Kindle? How do you like it?

Keep on Kindlin’!




Filed Under: Electronics, Entertainment, Home and Lifestyle, Recreation, Technology, Web and Technology Tagged With: Amazon, books, download books, ebook, internet, kindle, kindle 2, mp3, read, reader, Shopping, text to speech

The Rockin’ Roll Bagpipes

May 9, 2010 by Chris

Today’s bagpipe’s are a perfect pitch for the aggressive rock scene. Think about it, they were played during war time to help charge solders into battle with their heart thumping electrifying tone. The emotional effect that the bagpipe has on most of us seems like it would work well in the aggressive music world. Have you ever heard bagpipes played live? For me, it elevates my blood pressure to the point that, it is forewarning me that something special is about to take place.

“Celtic punk and folk-tinged hardcore band from the South Side of Chicago.” Fans, Bawinkel says, are “stoked”: “As soon as the bagpiper walks out on stage, the crowd just flips out.” Tobin Bawinkel, Professional Piper

Yes, bagpipes are back, albeit somewhat changed from it’s original inception. The bagpipe renaissance came from Scotland, where acts began to spice up their sound. Lately creative new bands like the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have incorporated them into their tunes. The modern pipers have brought us their unique interpretation of classic tunes on YouTube with a real neat spin in unexpected musical settings. For example putting them into everything from traditional carols to songs like Thunderstruck from AC/DC.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiil6xW9Lb0The Swiss Death Metal Group Eluveitie

When exploring this latest evolution in the bagpipes, I realize that alternative piping is not a huge scene yet but one that should be investigated a little further. A band called Real McKenzie’s helps in the push for the new Celtic punk sound. They take the familiar Scottish chant and elevates the experience many notches.

Then there are acts out there that even consider the bagpipes everything from, dare I say, bluesy all the way to progressive bagpipe-jazz-aboriginal-fusion?

Now the last thing that I want to bring up is, do you know that someone has invented an electronic bagpipe? I know that this would be a fabulous addition for a favorite local band called Wilton Said to look into. What do you think Wilton?

No matter what your perception of the bagpipes, there certainly has been a bit of a resurgence in this classic instrument as of late that will eventually pass by you in some musical form in the near future. I’m not sure if this means that Lady Gaga might take a shine to this instrument but hey, never say never!

So are there any pipers out there that want to put their two cents in here? If you think that your style on piping is great then send us a link to your site to further investigate and open us up to the new world of piping to all.

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: General Tagged With: aggressive music, bagpipes, band, Canadian, celtic punk, Real McKenzies, white stripes, yeah yeah yeahs

Pie in the Sky Studios

May 5, 2010 by Chris

I ran into the owners of the Pie in the Sky Studios and I must say their good people. I told them that I drive by their studio all the time and have always wondered what it is that they do there. I wrote down the website but of coarse I lost it or never got around to going there. After seeing it, I was very amazed at what they produce there, right down the street from our home!

Pie in the Sky has two locations. Their Main Studio is Studio One that is an old converted movie theatre house at 397 Donlands Ave. at O’Connor Dr. in Toronto(East York) that they broke into two separate studios. Studio One is 50′ by 50 while Studio Two is 65′ x 30′, descent sizes I’d say. Studio Two is located at 43 Laird Dr. north of Moore Ave.

The main studio is custom built and is run by people with on-set experience. The staff are pack rats (I’ve never met a pack rat that I didn’t like!) and have lots of stuff in the basement you may need. The Studio rental rates appear reasonable and they also have some great professional gear that you can rent at what seems like decent prices. I think this would be a fantastic venue to video tape any music video.

So has anyone out there used Pie in the sky Studios? I’d love to hear about it! If you do try out this company, tell them Chris sent ya!

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Entertainment, General, Toronto Tagged With: 397 Donlands Ave., band video, Main Studio, making, Pie in the Sky Studios, recording, sound stage, Video

Neil Young’s younger brother Bob

May 2, 2010 by Chris

I was talking to this really nice down to earth guy who was delivering out flyers to homes in the neighborhood and we gotta talking while my little puppy Midnight was out for one of her many daily constitutions. During the conversation we brought up Neil Young’s name because I told him that he looked a lot like Mr Young.

He tells me that sometimes he goes up on stage and plays his harmonica with bands that play some Neil Young tunes. He said that tons of people come up to him after he plays and thinks that he is either Neil himself or maybe he is a brother or relative. He tells them no but says that his brother Bob Young hangs out in a bar called Captain Jack in the Beach area of Toronto at a 2 Wheeler Ave at Queen St. E.

Captain Jack’s comes with 4-stars, but a warning as well. If you can’t handle places that are on the tougher side, read no further. However, if you’re looking for one of the best dive bars in Toronto, you’d be hard-pressed to find a place that beats Captain Jack and has windows. The Beaches has its fill of posh, stylish, trendy spots. This is the unabashed opposite, gritty, warts and all. The tap list includes 50, and in the beer cooler you can find Molson Stock Ale to give a sense of the range. The only high-tech items found are the jukebox, the bowling video game, and the flat screen TV that carries most-to-all available sports. The perfect spot for the last one (and you may drink a few before finding that last one) of the night.

I’ve never heard of this bar before but you can bet the farm that when I’m in the area, I will go and experience it for myself. Wouldn’t it be neat to meet Neil Young’s brother and chat with him over a beer and get a picture with the guy? Hell ya!

keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Culture, Entertainment, Music, Toronto Tagged With: bands, bar, beer, bob young, captain jack, harmonica, local, neil young, queen street east, restaurant, the sadies, Toronto, toronto bar

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