Neil Fein's Blog

Photos taken by random folks, using Brushwood's camera:


Brushwood performing, and me as the Heartbreakers





Me playing the opening set to the show to an audience of tens of thousands of molecules





Grazina, Adam, Karen at Labyrinth





Bruce with yummy Old One cupcake



Click on the pictures for a larger version and more information.

Labels: music, notbike, wicked

Korea
by Simon Winchester

Korea documents the author's walk across South Korea that retraced the route of seventeenth-century explorer Hendrick Hamel. Hamel wrote a book of his travels in the land of "Corea" that brought this mysterious land to the attention of Europe.

The trick of detachment while remaining involved in the story is something that eluded the author at this point, but the stories in this book are of a more personal nature than the historical narratives in later volumes. Despite the fact that he doesn't flat-out say it, Mr. Winchester obviously loves Korea and found most of the Koreans he met fascinating.

Comparisons to other places Winchester has been are inevitable in a travel book. I was fascinated to see, however, that as the book Continues, the author is more likely to compare Korea with another facet of the country, rather than, say, Shanghai or Tokyo or Dublin.

Before writing the masterful volumes Krakatoa, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and The Professor and the Madman, geologist-writer Simon Winchester generated a series of travel books. I read this book out of a curiosity to see where one of my favorite authors started out, and was pleasantly surprised to find it quite well-written and educational.

Labels: books, notbike

It's been a while since I've posted on music. Here are some of the things I've been listening to lately:

OK Go, Oh No


OK Go's second studio album is great fun, filled with well-produced and just plain catchy songs. Their first, epynonomus album sounds a lot like The Cars and REO Speedwagon had a child, but the band is finding its own voice. Their sheer energy is comperable to that of No Doubt before they became a dance-music band. There are shades of the Joe Jackson band, particularly in "It's a Disaster" and "Good Idea at the Time".

OK Go has a very distintive "band" sound. These tracks sound like they were recorded live as a band, uncommon in this age of overdubbed studio magic. A slight distortion warms the sound, particularly on the vocals. (This may have been intentional, or may be a mastering error. Either way, it sounds great.) And the band has a great telepathic-musician thing going on.

They're best known here on Teh Net Of Tubes for their video of the band doing a heavily choreographed dance on eight rented treadmills. The music is hardly groundbreaking, but it's fun stuff, making good use of the rock toolkit.

Samples from the band's site



Apocalyptica, Cult


"Harmageddon" off their album Inquisition Symphony got my attention this past spring, but the cello metal band comes through awesomely on Cult, an album of original material (as opposed to the metal-muzac covers of previous albums). Edit: All but three of the songs on this album are originals.

The band's musicianship is superb. The cello metal sound is distinctive, and I could listen to it all day; but there is a tendency for all the songs to sound kinda the same on the first listen. Cult benefits from repeated, attentive listenings; the material is well-composed and distinctive. (Oddly enough, the iTunes store lists this album as "Explicit", even the instrumental songs which are most of the album.)

If you haven't listened to cello metal, imagine cello, viola, etc. blended seamlessly with a distorted guitar-like sound. The result is a powerful, dramatic sound mixing speed metal with a classical string trio listen-and-feel, and almost-gratuitous alternate time signatures thrown in just because they can.

Samples from the band's site



Gentle Giant, Gentle Giant

Hardly new music, but new to me: This 1970 album is a tour of where progressive rock could have gone. Smart, tight, and well-performed, but hardly opaque songs.



Dixie Dregs, What If


Billed as fusion jazz, the Dixie Dregs sound an awful lot like Kansas to me. The forceful, poppy progressive rock album What If was retreading old ground in 1978. The album is uneven, but Take It Off The Top and Travel Tunes are great songs, mediated by the mellow title track and Gina Lola Breakdown, an odd stompin' southern country hoedown.



Spock's Beard, Beware of Darkness


Flat-out prog rock, this is my first listen to Spock's Beard. Wonderfully complex and memorable songs, four out of the 7 tracks are long-form works. The material builds on progressive song staples, and even goes beyond them a little. Thoughts, my fave so far, reminds me of Kevin Gilbert's work on The Shaming of the True, which, unsurprisingly, drummer Nick D'Virgilio completed after Gilbert's death.

There are a few filler songs (Walking on the Wind springs to mind), but the album is mostly evenly good.

Labels: music, notbike

Since my bike is in the shop, I walked home from my carpool today. I put my stuff into a hiking backpack the night before, including a water bottle I dutifully filled up at work before leaving. I asked my carpool to drop me off at the intersection of Talmadge and New Durham.

Wearing a cheap rain poncho I picked up from Walgreens, I headed out. It didn't take long before I realized I wasn't bored, in fact, I was enjoying the process of searching for new shortcuts and looking at interesting plants and weird people.

I crossed the railroad tracks and took a shortcut across a soccer field to a cello metal soundtrack. The sky was oppressively grey for the three-mile walk, but I stayed almost completely dry, to my disappointment. At least the poncho kept me warm.

Labels: hike, notbike

Bruce and I been rehearsing a lot this week for our set on Saturday, and I rehearsed last weekend and tonight, for my solo set. This is for a gig where I am sound guy and play two sets during a 13-hour show. I've already started obsessing over my packing list. (Stuff like the PA, speakers, mics, duct tape, and, oh yeah, the guitar would be helpful.)

Meantime, I pulled my bike out of the shop I had it in; seems they won't get the parts in until at the earliest Thursday the 4th. I told them to keep the parts (tires and right shifter) on order and I'll bring the bike back then. I spend the drive to the bike shop seething and calming myself down. No use antagonizing one of the better bike shops in the area. But they could have called me about this.

Labels: audio, bike, music, notbike

I saw this while bicycling in Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC, when I stopped for water.

Labels: bike, notbike

Over the Hills, by David Lamb

Wanting to travel across America on a bicycle could strike many as an incomprehensible desire. Over the Hills is a memoir of a middle-aged journalist's 3000-mile afternoon ride. The book is well-written, fun to read, and strikes an excellent balance between travelogue, personal memoir, and barely disguised worship of middle America's relaxed way of life.

The author is decidedly not part of bicycling culture. He wore ordinary-looking clothing on his trip, ate in ordinary diners and truck stops, and stayed in ordinary hotel rooms, with his bike standing by the side of the bed. Mr. Lamb is very much a character in his own story.

I'm not sure whether it's that the writing got better after the first few slower chapters, or that I grew to appreciate the style as I read. The latter slow acclimation would be particularly appropriate. Highly recommended to cyclists and considerate cagers alike.

Labels: america, bike, books, journalism, notbike

Commuted home again on my bike, and also rode 1/3 of the way to work that morning, the last third. (Martha dropped me off in the car with my bike.) The ride home was a lot easier this time, I was able to pedal for longer without getting tired. Reducing the weight on my bike helped: I was carrying a godawful amount of stuff last time, including boots.

I kept a good pace, and didn't go too fast on the long straightaways no faster than, say 18mph, or I'll be in granny gears on the next hill. Since I don't know all of the route yet, I kept having to stop last time I did this to check my directions. I got smart this time and made myself a cue card holder:



Since you brake with your hands, you can't exactly hold directions while you ride a bike.

I also found a somewhat better route this time, mostly by looking more carefully at satellite views, but also with the advice of a fellow commuter from work, who I ran into on the way up. While I missed the turn for the back way he suggested, even riding nearby it was a much easier rise -- e.g., streets that have shoulders but not a lot of traffic. Shade is also nice.

---

The HP musicians' coop's first "demo clinic" was today, a free demo recording session to area musicians. It went rather well. I hope more people sign up for this. And completely unrelated to the clinic, except that it inspired me to do a demo after the musicians had left:

I recorded a demo of a song I recorded today and wrote earlier this week: Knobbies, MP3, not dialup-friendly.

---

Edit: I almost forgot; here's my commuting route:




Click on the pictures for a larger version and more information.

Labels: bike, commute, HPMC, music, notbike, work

Update: Eric has posted a better-quality version to his site. This is how it's meant to be heard. High-speed connection recommended.

Labels: notbike, sound, wordspicturesmovies

While I was bicycling in Highland Park last night, I stopped in front of a friend's house and rang the bell. (She's hard to get on the phone, and we haven't spoken for a while.)

They must have been on the way down the stairs already, because they came out of the door and were surprised I was standing there. I said what I had to say and chatted for a minute, then started on my way. "Did you ring the bell?" she said, as I was getting back on my bike. Apparently it's possible that I might have been camped out in front of her door waiting for her to leave.

Um... I know I'm intense and opinionated. But do I come across as that creepy? Is the answer is yes, I'd be better off not knowing.

Labels: bike, notbike, sciencefiction

Unless you ride, blog posts about where I rode and clouds of bugs and bike equipment are probably pretty dull. If you don't want to see the blog posts, go to http://www.neilfein.com/labels/notbike.html, and you'll get everything else I post. (You can do this with any of the keywords, actually.)

Labels: admin, bike, blog, notbike

This is turning into a boring bike blog, with all the "look where I rode!" posts. Gotta post about other stuff or I risk losing my three readers. But my life right now is all about biking, I forgot how much fun it is.

Lessee... almost done with Nate's Melanie McGuire song, just need to redo makeing vocals to fit with Nate's vocals, and then do a final mix. Soon! (Hey, what's the song title for that? "Melanie McGuire song" gets old fast.)

I'm 2/3 of the way through Calde of the Long Sun, I'll review it when I'm done sometime this year.

Labels: notbike

Ben looking at terrapins in the interpretive center at Cheesequake State Park. Gotta say he was cute walking on the hiking trail. Four adults (thw two of us and his parents) were barely adequate to keep him away from poison ivy, sheer drops, and the general hazards of the great outdoors.

Labels: hike, notbike

Pasta fresh out of the cutting press. We made this last night from flour, eggs and water.

Labels: food, notbike

Lake of the Long Sun
by Gene Wolfe

If Nightside the Long Sun (here's my review) was about a moral dilemma, Lake of the Long Sun is a coming-of-age for Patera Silk. Or perhaps he's just getting better at matching the world in his head to that outside his skull.

Memory is on a par with religion and politics as a theme, as the politics of Viron are brought more to the forefront. "Silk for Calde" is the poem on the walls of the Whorl, and the good Patera is considered a bit of a rabble-rouser. While his mission to sane his manteion recedes to the background for a while (as survival takes precedence for a while), Silk's resolve is as strong as before.

What makes this more than just an adventure in church politics is the sophistication Silk is gaining with nearly every chapter. And what makes this admirable is that only a few days have passed in the first two books combined.

Better even than Nightside was, Lake of the Long Sun is possibly my favorite volume of the series so far. And I have two more to go!

Labels: books, notbike

Nightside the Long Sun
by Gene Wolfe

If what you hold dear is a thing that helps people by its nature, is it morally correct to steal and perhaps murder evil men to protect it? I'd think not, but it's a dilemma that Patera Silk, the protagonist of the first volume of Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun.

While many of the same themes that Mr. Wolfe explores in The Book of the New Sun are present here - transformation, religion, government - yet are given new twists. The author's trademarked unreliable narrator is here more self-deluding than a liar. Silk nearly always tells the truth, but it's tinted by his desire for happy endings. While he is a priest of sorts, he has a remarkable loss of remorse at descending into criminal acts, even to save his parish.

Religion is here portrayed as both noble and worthy or ridicule, depending on the point of view. Or perhaps both. The gods of the Whorl, the miles-long generation ship the story is set in, are kind, or perhaps cruel.

To summarize the plot is to do it a disservice. But here goes: To save his manteion, as a god has instructed him to do, Patera Silk must accomplish the impossible task or convincing a criminal to show charity. That's pretty trite, actually, and it leaves out the grand society that's grown up (or perhaps not) in the Whorl. It leaves out the characters of Auk, professional thief and Silk's mentor; the semi-respectable criminal Blood; Maytera Marble, 300 year old sibyl of the manteion.

Not to be missed. Nightside the Long Sun is a continuation to the New Sun books. But you can start here, I think, since the characters and events are very different. However, having read the earlier books will enrich the experience.

Labels: books, notbike

I sincerely hope this is a joke.

Crow calls for limit on loo paper
Singer Sheryl Crow has said a ban on using too much toilet paper should be introduced to help the environment...

Labels: notbike, stupidity

Kevin Gilbert, Thud

An amazing collection of songs by multi-instrumentalist and composer Kevin Gilbert, who sadly died after completing this. Think rock tinged by pop with a little prog thrown in and you're in the ballpark, but Gilbert's style was all his own. Most of the production on Thud is pretty sparse, but there are moments of appropriate complexity in almost every track.

It's worth buying the albumn for All Fall Down or Shadow Self alone, but When You Give Your Love To Me, The Tears of Audrey, and Goodness Gracious (my personal favorite) are all excellent, and there's not a bad song here.

Edit: I was thinking about this last night, and I think the best way to describe Thud would be "post-progressive" rock. No longer experimentation for the sake of being radical, it's applying the best bits that came out of the lab. (Also check out King Crimson's work after the Projekct tour discs, it shows the benefit of an "R&D" period.)

Brian Wilson, Smile

I've written about this before, so I'll be short. Smile is a legendary "lost" album project that Brian Wilson abandoned, although the Beach Boys recorded some of the songs here and there.

It's a bloody shame this didn't get finished by the Beach Boys. As amazing as this album is, I can only imagine what they'd have done with this material in their heyday. That said, this disc is a masterpiece.

The orchestration is far ahead of anything else done in the 60's - and most of what's being done today. And the album sounds amazing enough to make me thing that it was worth waiting for modern studio recording to do justice to the material.

Jason Webley, Against the Night

I first met Jason Webley when I did sound for him at a concert in Raritan Center. His music impressed me enough that I bought one of his CDs, Against the Night. I had heard a lot of new music that day (a 12-hour live event will do that) but this was the only CD I came home with.

It's all about the lyrics and Jason's voice, I think. Goth accordionist meets Tom Waits, maybe?

A word of warning: If you buy this, you'll end up getting all of his albums (4 and counting) and they're all excellent. You can check him out on Youtube I'm in the audience for a Redbank performance, the guy to the left of the idiot guy checking his cellphone. All his work is great, but If I had to pick one (which I don't) it's Against the Night because I love that 2AM credits vocals to a particular pub. See this guy live if you possibly can.

Tori Amos, Under the Pink

Pretty Good Year, The Wrong Band, Cornflake Girl... a perfect album. Sophisticated piano/vocal music, with a flair for the dramatic. (Tori Amos fits somewhere in between emo, folk, and a broadway musical revue.)

Her amazing voice is pretty much taken for granted, but it shouldn't be. Fortunately she writes her material even better than she sings.

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

This album is not exactly new, but it's new to me. Amazing emotional jazz from one of the biggest innovators in the field. There are standout tracks, but you need to hear the whole disc. If you're not into jazz (I wasn't), this is a great place to start.

Labels: music, notbike

Last night's HPMC open mic wasn't as bust as the last one, but a great time was had by all! Performers included myself, Bruce, David Slade, Artistic Differences (including Grazina Strolia for the Bile song), and a guy who played very good spanish guitar (whose name I can't recall, sorry). Pics to be posted soon.

Songs I played solo:
When I Was a Monkey
Eyes Up Front
Woke Up On the Fourth
Welcome Home

...and with Bruce:
Hold on Loosely
There's That Song
Ouch
Bugs

...with ArtDiff:
Bile
Baby Driver

...and more solo songs (I think this is all of them):
Time in a Bottle
Flowers on the Wall
Never Had a Brother

The next HPMC open mic is on May 17th at PJs.

Labels: HPMC, music, notbike

Folks have been asking: The Highland Park Musicians Coop open mic at PJs is now the third thursday of each month. (Will post updates to my calendar.)

More info, directions

Labels: HPMC, music, notbike

Not my photo (click on the photo to find out more about it) but it's extremely cool. Photo by Miss Soul.

Labels: notbike

I Don't Get It - 3:46
Sunday - 2:30
Old Post - 1:48
Mitch & Emerson - 2:25
Tacks - 1:48
Hoyland - 2:14
Of - 0:44
UV Black Velvet - 1:40
Choose This - 1:30
Swamp Gas - 1:15
Notch - 2:32
Ride - 2:04
Roto-Tiller - 3:29
The Sidewalk and the Sunflower - 2:44
Total - 30:29

Ride is one of the first things I ever recorded on a computer, with a wordless vocal run through an amp simulator. Roto-Tiller is a straight-ahead prog-rock instrumental. The Sidewalk and the Sunflower is a theme-driven piano/strings/brass piece.

Tags: music, R+D, recording

Labels: music, notbike, R+D, recording

More pics of the first 5767 seder here.

Labels: family, judaism, notbike

Bruce and I just got back from seeing Jason Webley perform at the Internet Cafe in Redbank, NJ. This is the best local show I've seen since... well, the last time I saw him play.


Photo by Bruce Meyers

Bruce took some pictures, I'll post a link when they go up and here they are.

Technorati tags: music

Labels: music, notbike

I want one of these.

Technorati tags: link

Labels: link, notbike

Have significantly simplified my home studio setup, mostly in an effore to keep the signal digital as much as possible. If you're not an audio gearhead, dull techie stuff ahead. Here are pictures of the studio setup..

This is an update to the studio rig I posted last year. (This is mostly for studio central folks.) Some of this stuff is old and doesn't have product pages any longer. Some of the software links to a later version than what I'm using.

• Apple iMac G5 1.8 (gen.1), 1gb of RAM


• M-Audio studiophile SPB5 monitors. Good but one has a problem with the power indicator LED.


• M-Audio Firewire 410 audio interface. Just got this. It's much faster and cleaner than the PowerMate I was using before.


• M-audio iControl (GarageBand control surface)


• LaCie Porsche FW drive


• Apple GarageBand 2 3. Seems a little more unstable and less responsive than version 2.


• Jam Pack 4 (Symphony Orchestra), also numerous freeware instruments


• Peak LE4


• Kawai ES-X 88 key weighted


• Mesa/Boogie Subway Rocket


• Line6 Pod 2.0


• Shure SM58, SM57


• MXL 2001 condenser mic


• Studio Projects C1
  condenser mic.


• Furman PL-8 power conditioner


• Various percussion, too many guitars

Aaaand... stuff I no longer use for recording:

• Behringer UB1204FX. Decent board with lousy on-board mic preamps. Putting this in the closet.


• 2 Alesis Nanoverbs Haven't used these in some time, keeping processing in the digital domain.


• Samson S-com plus stereo compressor/limiter Using plug-ins to do this in software.


• Griffin PowerWaveReplaced with a FW 410


• Griffin PowerMate (for triggering) replaced by an iControl


• Rolls HA43 headphone amp
  The FW410 has 2 independent headphone controls, I guess I'd pull this out if I had more than two people recording at once.

Technorati tags: music

Labels: music, notbike

Bruce (camera dude) watching playback on the studio monitor. The floor is part of the greenscreen.

Labels: notbike, wordspicturesmovies

I Don't Get It - 3:46
Sunday - 2:30
Old Post - 1:48
Mitch & Emerson - 2:25
Tacks - 1:48
Hoyland - 2:14
Of - 0:44
UV Black Velvet - 1:40
Choose This - 1:30
Swamp Gas - 1:15
Notch - 2:32
Total - 22:12

Downloaded some faux analog synth modules, and I seem to be in a synth mode. I'm also playing with accordion sounds. Added Swamp Gas and Notch, and added some buts to other songs.

Tags: music, R+D, recording

Labels: music, notbike, R+D, recording

posted by Neil  # Thursday, March 08, 2007 0 Comments

I Don't Get It - 3:43
Sunday - 2:30
Old Post - 1:48
Mitch & Emerson - 2:25
Tacks - 1:48
Hoyland - 2:14
Of - 0:44
UV Black Velvet - 1:40
Choose This - 0:36

Total - 14:28

Being at the halfway point is kinda cool, but I should be a little past that to allow time for mixing. I'm running anothe rsongwriting circle next week, so I probably should write something non-R&D over this weekend! Tags: music, R+D, recording

Labels: music, notbike, R+D, recording

The Big Time, by Fritz Lieber

The Change War has been going on for along time now, an eternal conflict of altering history on many planets between two groups called the Spiders and the Snakes. Greta is an "entertainer" for the Spiders, a hostess of sorts at an R&D station for change war soldiers. When the entire station is threatened with destruction... well, you'd think a lot of character would be revealed, but actually, you'd be wrong.

Perhaps this style of writing was revolutionary in the 60s (or the 50s), but Mr. Lieber's characters are cliches and not particularly sympathetic, if that's what they're meant to be. And attitudes towards women are very difficult to overlook.

It's never made clear what, exactly it is that Great does for the Spiders. Is she a warm fuzzy therapist/ friendly figure? A prostitute? One might argue that this ambiguity allows the character not to distract from the plot, but the plot isn't interesting enough to warrant this. The temporal war -- a radical concept in its day -- is kept distant, the plot revolving around the mystery of who planted a bomb in the station, and cut the station loose into the void outside of the universe. Making this dull is quite the accomplishment.

Fritz Lieber has a lot of fans, but based on this book, I'm not one of them. I finished The Big time because it was short and I did want to find out what happened -- parts of it are gripping, but the ending disappoints.

books

Labels: books, notbike

R&D

Tracks completed: 5/10
Completed (time) 34.95% (of 35 minutes)

I wrote and recorded Tacks, 1:48. Percussion-based industrial with flutes and clarinet. I started with a free-tempo kettle drum beat and layered on top of it.

At this rate, if I keep up with tracks of this length, it'll take a little over 14 tracks to get me to 35 minutes. I'm aiming for maybe 15 tracks if the average length stays more or less the same. I'll try to do some longer pieces as well.

Technorati tags: music, R+D, recording

Labels: music, notbike, R+D, recording

R&D

Tracks completed: 4/10
Completed (time) 29.81% (of 35 minutes)

Did Old Post, 1:48, an old piano piece I wrote years ago in the old MIDIGraphy program. Slowed it down some, used some stuff from an older mix, added a few instruments and removed others. Also did Mitch & Emerson, which is essentially a piano riff with a jazz band backing it up, mostly.

Technorati tags: music, R+D, recording

Labels: music, notbike, R+D, recording

R&D

Tracks completed: 2/10
Completed (time) 5.63%

Did Sunday, 2:30, piano, trance bass, bassoon, tuba, timpani, hip-hop fake percussion. It sounds kinda soundtracky and atmospheric, mellow but ominous.

Technorati tags: music, R+D, recording

Labels: music, notbike, R+D, recording

R&D

Tracks completed: 1/10
Completed (time) 9.42%

The RPM 2007 challenge is a web thingy where you register to write and record an album in a month. Similar to National Novel Writing Month, but with music. I registered on the site in a fit of idealism.

Later, I thought that rather than do a finished album, (at least 10 songs and 35 minutes long), since I already have half of my album recorded it would be cool if I did an album of "sketchbook" music bits. A few songs of mine have later grown out of the snippets I leave on my hard drive. The trick is, they have to be brand-new extrusions of sound. So I cancelled the contest, and I'm doing this on my own, since it won't be a finidhes album by any stretch of logic. I want to concentrate on getting the basic tracks down, even if they are rough. It's easy for me to spend time editing, not so easy to spend the time laying the music down in the first place.

A couple of years ago, I hadn't come up with a new song in some time. So I called up a friend, and asked her what I should wrote a song about. She suggested cheese, and I wrote a song immortalizing swiss cheese. It was pretty abysmal, but it got me thinking creatively again. Similarly, I'm thinking that working fast on R&D might rub off on the "real" recordings. In other words, R&D is my swiss cheese album.

I wrote and roughed out the first song in the R&D project tonight, in a little over an hour. (I came up with the title and went from there.) I Don't Get It clocks in at 3:43, piano, guitar, flute and string trio. I managed to do tempo changes in GarageBand. Oddly enough, the tempo is 4/4 throughout.

It's pretty exhilarating to write a song and specifically not follow "the rules". I'll have to do a running tally of the R&D songs at some point, and post MP3s, but it's more important to finish the songs first. Speed, then polish, then post.

At some later point, I suppose I can mine these ideas for songs or scoring or whatever. Or nothing at all. But hopefully I'll look at the work I have left the "Neil Fein" album and say to myself, "That doesn't look as tough as I thought."

Technorati tags: music, R+D, recording

Labels: music, notbike, R+D, recording

The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, by Ray Kurzweil

[The singularity] is not a certainty but in my opinion is a plausibility in the working lifetimes of most people here, that there will be perhaps something superhuman come along. We will either create or become something superhuman, in various ways.
Vernor Vinge

Change is the process by which the future invades our lives.
Alvin Toffler

You can't write this story. Neither can anyone else.
John W. Campbell

This is a difficult book to review. It's a futurist treatise on how ever-accelerating changes will change society. And it's a love letter to technology, Mr. Kurzweil is obviously enamored of computers. It's also very well written, particularly for such a dense topic. The Singularity is Near reads like a cross between an academic paper and an Isaac Asimov science popularization.

The basic premise is that technology is progressing at an ever-increasing rate, and at a certain point, change will continue so rapidly that it's difficult to predict anything beyond that point, the singularity. It's a fascinating concept, and one I've been introduced to in the fiction of Charles Stross. The future will not look like the present with better tech, it's going to be pretty unrecognizable. Possible technologies such as genetic engineering, nanotech manufacturing, and robotics and artificial intelligence (the author's "GNR" triumvirate), will transform not only how we live but what we think of as a human being. Artificial intelligences, critical to the theory of the singularity, are by definition capable of expanding their own capabilities, and will drive much change.

It's an ambitious work, and not the first book the author has written on this topic. It does have weak spots, namely the tendency to assume that technology will progress according to plan, not accounting for technological setbacks very well. All we've seen in the last few centuries is progress, so of course that's all we ever will see.

To the book's credit, it does include a chapter on the dangers of these technologies. The "grey goo" scenario, where out of control self-replicating nanobots consume our biosphere for raw materials, is particularly chilling, but there are other equally deadly ways for hostile "strong" AI or perhaps genetically engineered plague vectors to wipe out the human race. Responses to the critics of the arguments presented in the book tends to be dismissive, however.

The Singularity is Near is hardly a book to be read during a lazy afternoon on the beach, but it's very rewarding and thought-provoking if you stick with it.

books

Labels: books, notbike

Numbers Don't Lie, by Terry Bisson

Math is apparently makes outlandish goings-on believable. Numbers Don't Lie, a collection of linked stories, Wilson Wu walks his friend Irv through a trip to a dumping ground on the moon, the universe rewinding, and the horror of not having to wait for New York City public transportation.

Irv is pretty much a foil character, but a strong one. A longtime Volvo driver, Irv loves city life but likes to slow down. He's certainly difficult to rattle, but the real fun in these stories is his best friend.

A veritable Buckaroo Banzai, Wu is a multi-talented man: A mathematician, entomological meteorologist, an engineer (on the side, mind you), and a phone phreaker who ends most conversations with an open-ended question. He also has a penchant for explaining things to Irv whether Irv's following along or not.

Mr. Bisson (is that Biss-on or Bye-son?) has crafter three wonderful, readable, stories in this volume. Recommended.

books

Labels: books, notbike

I'm guest-hosting an open mic:

VALENTINES DAY AT P.J.'s
Date: Wednesday, February 14th

6:30 p.m. - sign up
7:00 - 9 p.m. - open mic

Place: PJs Cafe, 315 Raritan Avenue, Highland Park

PJs is currently my favorite cafe in Highland Park. And the owner is a musician himself, they have a lot of good music.

This is put on by the Highland Park Musicians Cooperative, the same group that held the one I went to in December.

So come and listen! Cheer us on, or throw rotten fruit, as suits you.

Technorati tags: music

Labels: music, notbike

Glasshouse, by Charles Stross

Where Accelerando was a study in Singularity futurist theory, Glasshouse, while taking place in the same society, concentrates more on getting you into the head of the protagonist, Robin, a veteran of the Censorship Wars. The reader gets to know Robin far more intimately than we did Manfred Maxc, even though Robin's memory has been severely redacted for much of for much of Glasshouse.

The themes of the universe as information and intellectual property are as strong as in the rest of Mr. Stross's work, but he works them into this novel with more subtlety. Although this isn't as gripping a story as The Atrocity Archives or Iron Sunrise, it's a worthwhile, enjoyable read and lives up to the author's deserved reputation.

books

Labels: books, notbike

Quickie reviews of books by Spider Robinson (read from July through August 2006)

Short stories about Callahan's Place, a bar somewhere in Suffolk County, Long Island. In some ways, the series is another series of (mostly) science-fiction stories that take place (for the most part) in a bar.

The lead character, Jake, is at once a flimsily disguised pastiche of the author and a perfect viewpoint character.

The series (and indeed most of Mr. Robinson's writing) is summed up by the trademark phrase "Shared pain islessened, shared joy is increased". Much of the suthor's style is reminiscent of Robert Heinlein's work. The series ranges from good to excellent, and the earlier books in particular are amongst the best.

* * *

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

Excellent introduction to the Callahan series. Introduces all the characters, and has the excellent "Two Heads are Better than One" and "The Guy with the eyes" (the first Callahan's story, and Spider Robinson's first sale of any kind).

Time Travellers Strictly Cash

Includes some of the best stories heavy in SF elements, in particular "Mirror Mirror" and "Fivesight". Unique among the series, this book has a fw non-Callahan stories. "God is an Iron" is my favorite among these, and one of my all-time favorite of his stories.

Callahan's Secret

The last of the books in Callahan's Place, we finally learn who Callahan actually is. Important to the overall arc, but not the best in the series.

Callahan's Legacy

The first of the books in Mary's Place, Jake's bar.

Callahan's Lady

The first of two books about Mary's Place, a bordello of sorts in Brooklyn with much of the same tone as Callahan's place.

Lady Slings the Booze

Sequel to Callahan's Lady and in some ways the better of the two books, although the villian, Tony Donuts, is a dissappointing Big Stupid Gangster cliche of a character.

The Callahan Touch

Jake comes into his own. This is the first of the Callahan books that's a proper novel.

Antimony

Not part of Callahan's or Mary's place, this book of short stories is excellent, nearly as good as the later collection By Any Other Name.

Technorati tags: books

Labels: books, notbike

Today I recorded Eyes Up Front, the "kinder, gentler" version (or call it the slow fingerstyle version, I guess). This is basically the version I played at the last open mic I was at (21 Dec 2006), with strings and a few other instruments. The vocal is a dummy, those are always hardest for me to lay down. Although it's heartening that even a dummy vocal of mine is this good.

Studio version ("Kinder Gentler" version), 3:34, 4.9mb


Still learning to use my new microphone, which I used for the acoustic guitar track. The levels came out very well, and the sound of the guitar is very clear and full, although a bit hollow. And it picks up the fan of my iMac far too well. I don't want to make an isolation area, but I may have to.

Technorati tags: music, recording, microphone

Labels: microphone, music, notbike, recording

Arecibo On the Air - In progress version, bars 1 through 33 (out of 419).

The Arecebo interstellar message of 1974 was part of the SETI program, and the first (and so far the only) radio message intentionally sent to interstellar space. (Here's an the Wikipedia article about the message. Carl Sagan also has accounts in the books Cosmos and Murmurs of Earth.)

I came up with this idea in 1990 or 1991, but could never make it work. I even contacted Frank Drake (I think I heard back from his assistant).

The general idea is to take the message and turn it into music. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this. I'd like to send a copy to Frank Drake when it's done.

Technorati tags: music, astronomy, SETI

Labels: astronomy, music, notbike, SETI

At the open mic tonight at PJs in Highland Park, the Mens room has a speaker where there's either recorded music playing or you cvan hear the performers. Today, you heard both simultaneously. Dylan with a techno beat, dude.

Set list:

There's That Song
Eyes Up Front (slow fingerstyle)
When I Was a Monkey

Some feedback issues, and I think I had a half-dead battery. (Rassafrassa Peavey PA speaker...)

Tags: music

Labels: music, notbike

Playing at PJs open mic tonight. I'll be on stage at 8:30.

Tags: music

Labels: music, notbike

Progress on Audio Drama:

• Script:
  • Pursue an original script idea, until the end of November
  • If no original script is forthcoming by 30 Nov, adapt an out-of-copyright story.
  
  
  • Have written first draft of "Morning: The First Day". Halfway through second draft. Targetting finished second draft by 17 Dec 2006.


• Director:
  • Still unknown.


• Actors:
  • A great, big, unknown. Casting after there's a script. (2w Dec2006?) 17 Dec 2006
  
  
  • Nest step: Start sending out feelers for casting.


• Hardware:
  • The proof-of-concept is direct-to-hard-drive location recording. Need to use an older G3 Mac. Are any available for use? No. Would involve upgrading Bruce's G3 iMac.
  • BTF has a G3 iMac, but it needs more RAM.
  • Would Audacity work with the current RAM on the G3 iMac?
  • If no Macs are available, use my G5 iMac, although it's not exactly portable. Now that's it's the only option, the G5 iMac seems amazingly portable.


• Mics:
  • Use the C1 if it shows up on time (on order)
    The C1 has arrived, but may be a little too sensitive. Will try using the C1, with the MXL2001 as a backup mic.

Tags: audio

Labels: audio, music, notbike

After being attacked by a bread knife, I have a nasty cut on my left hand, so playing guitar has been tough. I can play piano fairly well, if a little clumsily.

I've got a few songs in the hopper, one new one that I'm still playing with -- Midtown, the newer of them, is mostly done, I think. I played it live the other week, and I think it needs a little practice.

There are also two older songs I've resurrected -- The Art of the Pause, and Let's Pretend.

The Art of the Pause is difficult lyrically. It's about someone I used to know who tended to get lost in social overcomplications, so the words are appropriately convoluted. But this has the tendency to lose the listener, so I need to mitigate that.

It used to be a slow song, but I seem to be headed towards a livelier implementation. It sounds good on electric guitar with 60's fuzz-box sound. (I was able to play electric guitar a little on Sunday night, so my finger is healing.)

Let's Pretend is another story. The song is very good, I think, but the chorus is too much of a cliche. Unfortunately, I don't know what to replace it with!

I like the music -- a slow, insistent tango -- but I need to bring the key down to G. Which sucks, because I recorded a trumpet track version a few years back by Steve Fineman. Unfortunately, that's in A. Grumble grumble. I suppose I could always pitch-shift the track, but that on top that I'd need to transfer it from minidisc (via analog)... well, I might as well have Steve re-record it. Will start on the new basic tracks as soon as I finish the lyrics, since I'm not certain how long the chorus is going to be.

Tags: music

Labels: music, notbike

How to play "Infinite" or "Wraparoud" style Scrabble.

I like it beause there's more of a tendency to build longer words, and the board fills up more evenly. Like the regular rules, but if you build a word up to one edge of the board you can continue it on the other side. The corners end up being contiguous.

It's an odd way to play, and the scores tend to be somewhat higher. But all players have the same opportunities and frustrations.





Tags: music

Labels: games, notbike

Progress on Audio Drama:

• Script:
  • Pursue an original script idea, until the end of November
  • If no original script is forthcoming by 30 Nov, adapt an out-of-copyright story.


• Director:
  • Unknown.


• Actors:
  • A great, big, unknown. Casting after there's a script. (2w Dec2006?)


• Hardware:
  • The proof-of-concept is direct-to-hard-drive location recording. Need to use an older G3 Mac. Are any available for use?
  • BTF has a G3 iMac, but it needs more RAM.
  • Would Audacity work with the current RAM on the G3 iMac?
  • If no Macs are available, use my G5 iMac, although it's not exactly portable.


• Mics:
  • Use the MXL2001 if all else fails
  • C1 if it shows up on time (on order)

Tags: audio

Labels: audio, notbike