In light of Meghan talking about wanting someone to make her a perfect mix for every week, I will (hopefully) be listing one album a week that I think fits the week. It may not fit your week, but I think it is worth giving it a true listen to.
So, to start it off, this week is In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel.
This album was written after Jeff Magnum read the diary of Anne Frank. It is a wonderful album for many reasons, but I think it fits this week because it is a very appreciative album.
I would go into more detail, but I don't want to put my interpretation over it before you listen to it. Feel free to comment about what you think, and I'll tell you what I think back. Also, if you don't have it, let me know and I'll try and get it to you somehow.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Moving your mouth to pull out all your miracles, for me.
Motivation is something I am currently lacking in, maybe not motivation but whatever that "thing" is that I am missing, I'm missing it. There is a Panda Bear song that has the lyrics "take one day at a time, anything else you can leave behind. Only one thing at a time, everything else really hurts your mind." And that is what I feel like right now, I need to start small and focus on one thing at a time. And yesterday, when I was feeling that I couldn't even do one thing at a time, I panicked. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes and I just don't know what to do.
"It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real. Well, sometimes I can do that, but I don't need an hour in front of a mirror. It happens very fast, and things start to slip away. And I just open my eyes, and I see nothing. And then I start to breathe really hard trying to see something, but I can't. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it scares me."
That's a quote from the perks of being a wallflower. I know it may not be everyone's favorite book in the world. But it's mine, and not because I'm reading it right now, but because of the connection I have with it. If you were me and you read it, it'd make sense. Yesterday was a day like in the quote, I just saw nothing. The thing is, the day was like that and then I read that passage and it all clicked and fell apart in one fell swoosh. The weight of the day and everything fell at once and I freaked out. Of course it was during Nick Champeau's guitar recital so I couldn't say anything and had to sit there and freak out on my own, but for some reason, his guitar playing was the perfect thing to panic to. I couldn't have imagined any better music or situation to panic to.
But the book has been doing this too me since I started it last week. It hits me in the heart like a train and just forces emotion out of me. A year or two ago, about the time I read it, the emotions were there, but they didn't come out. And now, it's not that I'm holding them in or forcing them or anything, they just flow so easily. I knew I loved the book when I first read it, but I don't think I knew why I did. And now I do and it is messing with me a lot. I feel like I should be used to this, things working out perfectly and all, but I have to admit I'm still surprised. This book couldn't have gotten back to me at a better time. And I couldn't have appreciated it as much at any other point in my life than I do right now. Maybe next time I read it it will connect differently, but right now, right at this point, this is what I need. And I feel like I'm lucky to have the people, the music, and the books that I need right now.
"It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real. Well, sometimes I can do that, but I don't need an hour in front of a mirror. It happens very fast, and things start to slip away. And I just open my eyes, and I see nothing. And then I start to breathe really hard trying to see something, but I can't. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it scares me."
That's a quote from the perks of being a wallflower. I know it may not be everyone's favorite book in the world. But it's mine, and not because I'm reading it right now, but because of the connection I have with it. If you were me and you read it, it'd make sense. Yesterday was a day like in the quote, I just saw nothing. The thing is, the day was like that and then I read that passage and it all clicked and fell apart in one fell swoosh. The weight of the day and everything fell at once and I freaked out. Of course it was during Nick Champeau's guitar recital so I couldn't say anything and had to sit there and freak out on my own, but for some reason, his guitar playing was the perfect thing to panic to. I couldn't have imagined any better music or situation to panic to.
But the book has been doing this too me since I started it last week. It hits me in the heart like a train and just forces emotion out of me. A year or two ago, about the time I read it, the emotions were there, but they didn't come out. And now, it's not that I'm holding them in or forcing them or anything, they just flow so easily. I knew I loved the book when I first read it, but I don't think I knew why I did. And now I do and it is messing with me a lot. I feel like I should be used to this, things working out perfectly and all, but I have to admit I'm still surprised. This book couldn't have gotten back to me at a better time. And I couldn't have appreciated it as much at any other point in my life than I do right now. Maybe next time I read it it will connect differently, but right now, right at this point, this is what I need. And I feel like I'm lucky to have the people, the music, and the books that I need right now.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Standardization
I like standards. I like things to have a format, the type that makes things easier. What I'm talking about now is music. I have a lot of music and it is all somewhat organized. I went through it all with a program called easytag that rewrites all the file names and even the folder tree to a set way. But sometimes the ID tags of the files are missing or just goofy. I got new music and some of the album names wound up as the artist, rendering it useless to me basically.
And I had a conversation with Colin about quality difference and I started thinking about what format I want my music in. Right now it's all organized in mp3s because that's what easytag can read. So I went through with a script that finds all the m4a files and converts them to mp3. But this loses a lot of quality. Like, a lot.
The best option for quality and functionality is basically FLAC. It's a free codec that is lossless, so it's super high quality. Higher than you can probably hear. Problem is, file sizes are also large, and can be 3 times as large as their mp3 counterparts. This means 3 times less music when putting them on a portable device, which is sad. On my computer I don't notice because storage is so cheap, but on my 2gb mp3 player I definitely notice.
I also don't remember what quality I have been using for years to rip Cds, probably the fastest as it takes about 15-20 minutes to rip a CD in FLAC. That's just a long time to rip a CD I feel and I get most of my music from the KUMM station and time is limited to about 1.5 hours of ripping. That means I can only get about 4-5 Cds ripped during a show. But that is the only place I can get CDs of a lot of music for free. The internet is another option, as a lot of music torrents are in FLAC, but then I run into file name issues again and I get frusterated again.
So, the plan as of right now is just to rip the music I own into FLAC and try and get my favorites into FLAC and enjoy them.
And I had a conversation with Colin about quality difference and I started thinking about what format I want my music in. Right now it's all organized in mp3s because that's what easytag can read. So I went through with a script that finds all the m4a files and converts them to mp3. But this loses a lot of quality. Like, a lot.
The best option for quality and functionality is basically FLAC. It's a free codec that is lossless, so it's super high quality. Higher than you can probably hear. Problem is, file sizes are also large, and can be 3 times as large as their mp3 counterparts. This means 3 times less music when putting them on a portable device, which is sad. On my computer I don't notice because storage is so cheap, but on my 2gb mp3 player I definitely notice.
I also don't remember what quality I have been using for years to rip Cds, probably the fastest as it takes about 15-20 minutes to rip a CD in FLAC. That's just a long time to rip a CD I feel and I get most of my music from the KUMM station and time is limited to about 1.5 hours of ripping. That means I can only get about 4-5 Cds ripped during a show. But that is the only place I can get CDs of a lot of music for free. The internet is another option, as a lot of music torrents are in FLAC, but then I run into file name issues again and I get frusterated again.
So, the plan as of right now is just to rip the music I own into FLAC and try and get my favorites into FLAC and enjoy them.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sitting here wishing on service pack 2...
So, it is complete. My new computer is done being put together. Now the hard part: software. Although the actual build hit the usual snags that I think are inherent to building something. Putting the CPU's heatsink on was interesting as it looks like it could fit somewhere on a car its so big. I only have installed XP so far as I wanted to install ubuntu afterwards, and am still debating what operating systems I will want on it.
I don't really know why I'm still awake either. I finished building it at about 8:30 and had XP on it running after open mic night at about 1. But it is now 5:30 and I am two offices up to date, lots of software updates, drivers and youtube videos later and it's 5:30. Wow.
Right now I'm listening to the decemberists and downloading service pack 2.
Open mic was great tonight. It didn't start off too strong, but picked up after about 3 acts. Then it got really good with a cover of MGMT's kids and a solo cover of Radiohead's fake plastic trees. Mixed with Gil's amazing crazy sax antics and the use of a children's size drumset it was just great.
I don't really know why I'm still awake either. I finished building it at about 8:30 and had XP on it running after open mic night at about 1. But it is now 5:30 and I am two offices up to date, lots of software updates, drivers and youtube videos later and it's 5:30. Wow.
Right now I'm listening to the decemberists and downloading service pack 2.
Open mic was great tonight. It didn't start off too strong, but picked up after about 3 acts. Then it got really good with a cover of MGMT's kids and a solo cover of Radiohead's fake plastic trees. Mixed with Gil's amazing crazy sax antics and the use of a children's size drumset it was just great.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Bathroom wall
Okay, so I just went to the bathroom and the wall above the urinal was tiled in a way that you could stare at one intersection of grout and all the others turned a darker shade of gray (grey?). So, when I get a house, I will totally make my bathroom walls in some sort of very subtle optical illusion. Just to let you know.
It's been a long time now.
I'm sorry bout the drought.
I'm all for writing more.
But I will try to satisfy
all the requests and your interests.
For you know I will show
you mean a lot and of you, forget I will not.
I'm all for writing more.
But I will try to satisfy
all the requests and your interests.
For you know I will show
you mean a lot and of you, forget I will not.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
ibrick
My ipod's right channel audio has gone. It was a sad day when it happened as it gave out over the span of a week. I felt it going as I knew the symptoms from my first mp3 player, my creative zen usb2.0. What I had to do was eventually re solder the connectors for the headphones. But I don't know how that will do with an iPod. I will be dissecting it this week though.
In leu of having my ipod, I am using my 2gb sansa clip, which is a surprisingly good for how small it is. But I am also in need of a large mp3 player for bringing all my music everywhere. So naturally I considered the ipod touches and although i am impressed with the functionality of being able to get the internet, I plan on buying a palm pre when it comes out and that would fill my wifi needs. So the next option is the newest generation of ipods, the classics. I like these a lot, as they have coverflow and a generally smarter interface, such as the ability to turn on shuffle with out going to the settings menu. Major downside to ipods are the branding. It's apple, and I don't like paying so much more for the brand. I get that with computers, your buying a lot more than the physical hardware, but for an mp3 player they have really all started to become similar and decently built. Other downside is lack of a radio. i still don't get the lack of the radio.
Then, on saturday i saw jake and chris at the common cup and sat down with them and talked about getting new tech and mp3 players and now I want something that doesn't exist. What it is is a music player that gets the music through a stream from a large music source.
----kay so I stopped here and it sat as a draft for a while------
Okay, so I just found this of digg: http://digg.com/d1oRSs
It's a (possibly) new zune that I'm guessing competes with the ipod touch. This is very exciting, because if microsoft doesn't screw this up, this could be great. If they really want to one up the touch, they would make it with everything apple doesn't like users to have, like more control. Figuring that more app stores are parting from apple and allowing in functions that users want, I can easily see microsoft taking this route to steal apple's users.
but if they have a functional music player that has wifi and the capability to have apps that have a good amount of control, wireless syncing to a server would be possible. Sandisk had a device that was paired with yahoo's old music service. It had the capability to connect to the yahoo servers and you could choose what you wanted to have on your device. you also could listen to radio and tag things and download them later. the current zune has this, but you have to buy the songs though the zune's marketplace. I'm just really excited for it and i will feel less bad about buying something later on when it might be released.
In leu of having my ipod, I am using my 2gb sansa clip, which is a surprisingly good for how small it is. But I am also in need of a large mp3 player for bringing all my music everywhere. So naturally I considered the ipod touches and although i am impressed with the functionality of being able to get the internet, I plan on buying a palm pre when it comes out and that would fill my wifi needs. So the next option is the newest generation of ipods, the classics. I like these a lot, as they have coverflow and a generally smarter interface, such as the ability to turn on shuffle with out going to the settings menu. Major downside to ipods are the branding. It's apple, and I don't like paying so much more for the brand. I get that with computers, your buying a lot more than the physical hardware, but for an mp3 player they have really all started to become similar and decently built. Other downside is lack of a radio. i still don't get the lack of the radio.
Then, on saturday i saw jake and chris at the common cup and sat down with them and talked about getting new tech and mp3 players and now I want something that doesn't exist. What it is is a music player that gets the music through a stream from a large music source.
----kay so I stopped here and it sat as a draft for a while------
Okay, so I just found this of digg: http://digg.com/d1oRSs
It's a (possibly) new zune that I'm guessing competes with the ipod touch. This is very exciting, because if microsoft doesn't screw this up, this could be great. If they really want to one up the touch, they would make it with everything apple doesn't like users to have, like more control. Figuring that more app stores are parting from apple and allowing in functions that users want, I can easily see microsoft taking this route to steal apple's users.
but if they have a functional music player that has wifi and the capability to have apps that have a good amount of control, wireless syncing to a server would be possible. Sandisk had a device that was paired with yahoo's old music service. It had the capability to connect to the yahoo servers and you could choose what you wanted to have on your device. you also could listen to radio and tag things and download them later. the current zune has this, but you have to buy the songs though the zune's marketplace. I'm just really excited for it and i will feel less bad about buying something later on when it might be released.
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