Stupid Healthy Habits
It was 58 (F, obvs) on Saturday so I went for a ride. Not too long, just 22 miles. Only now I have a killer sore throat.

Makes Perfect Sense to Me

The Things You Said, Were They True? Cuz I Haven't Got a Clue
1. OK, the archives thing is sorta my fault, for using a stupid webhost. (You know who you are, Globat!)
2. Instead of writing about serious things, I'll mention that I watched the New Order 511 DVD, in which Barney and Hooky are old men with potbellies, who have lyrics scroll on a video monitor next to the monitors, which isn't to say I didn't enjoy it. And they're doing a Manc Passion Play this year.

Welcome to my Lair!
A few things:
1. All my archives are now only code, no pages with pictures and nice text show up. As usual, I blame Blogger. I should probably blame me, but I have enough other problems to worry about.
2. As you may know, I am doing a little project this year where I make a recording of 1 cover song a month. In all actuality, I have recorded several songs and will decide as the year goes on what gets to be each Song of the Month. At first I thought I would plan it all out meticulously, but now I think I'll just record whatever suits my fancy and then sort it all out later.
3. I made a little movie with a sort of inside view of Lair, the project and the place. It's about 67MB, so maybe a good old "ctrl-click, save as" would be the best way to watch it, if you are so inclined in the first place.

4. Remember, I never claimed to be any good at any of this music stuff, but I do enjoy it.
5. We have rules for this sort of thing: even though Garageband has hours of loops, everything I record has to be a real instrument, played my me. Guitar effects, amp simulations, doubling and sound effects are fine, though. I try (as much as possible) to sing with my own voice. Even though all the songs are covers, there's no need to impersonate. Along that line of thinking, it's not necessary to recreate the originals note-for-note. So, it's kind of a game. And a saving grace. (Don't worry, cycling fans, I'm still riding, only it's January, so it's all on the trainer. I did send away for a cycling DVD that's just roads out in front of you--sorta like the log on TV at Xmas. This one's cool cuz it's Alpe d'Huez and it's got recommended cadences in the corner so you think you're actually climbing the beast.)

Thinking Too Much
I am excited about going to London in March. I have even given thought to what I'll wear. I am currently debating footwear. I really like my hipster shoes, they're flat and thin, perfect for my feet, but ever so not waterproof. Plus the soles are pretty worn down.

The other day my Google Ad thingy made me laugh. Is it still there?

I am working too hard (obsessively) on my song of the month project. I think I'll call it Lair, since that's where all my cool gear is and it's my little recording studio, too, though I usually do the vocals in the garage, mostly so no one can hear me. I am utterly fascinated with the whole process--getting the levels all right, the right things plugged into each other, and the music part. Now, I have never claimed to be especially good at any of this. I'm just enjoying it. It's a ton to fun to go from a few chord changes to building up all the different tracks with their diffferent settings and sounds.

So, there's a clip of the first one in the post from the other day. It's not the final mix, but it'll do. I wasn't quite sure what the most efficient way to make a clip was, so I reimported the whole song, then chopped it up. I added a Master Track to fade in and out but that added some compression and reverb to the whole song. Oh well...better start working on next month.
When it's all over I'll make a very limited edition of CDs.

And Your Dad Would Throw the Garbage All Across The Floor
Saving pennies to go to England in March, so no Colin solo shows, plus stupid Belle & Sebastian aren't coming anywhere near here. Not Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus or Cincinnati. I still love them all, even Richard, who seems grouchy in Fans Only, but I am disappointed.

There's a Reference to the City of Shapes, Which Is, Of Course, Manhatten
Had to get a blood test the other day as part of my physical. I can handle needles OK these days, but right then I was really not into the whole "needle stuck into my skin" thing for some reason.

Still working on the Song of the Month project. Here's a clip of City of Shame.

And some "art."

Music Man
Spending a lot of time in my Lair the last few days. This little cell of a room makes a nice little recording booth.
One thing I can't figure out (besides, actually playing listenable music) is why the recordings I make as AIFFs sound fine, but when I convert them to mp3s they get all clippy. (Yes, I know how mp3s are made, but can that encoding process really take a fine recording and make it sound like crap?) I still haven't decided if and how I'm going to post these things.

In my hour of need the patron saints of pop look over me:


Maybe they're crap in the first place.

Ha! Beat you to it, commenters!

(insert appropriate emoticon...here)

Lego My Rockstars!
These are hilarious. I love the internet.

J,P,G,R

Moz

U2

Good work!

The Year of Art
I declare 2006 "THE YEAR OF ART."

Blah!
So far I've attempted to record 3 covers. I won't reveal them quite yet...
...the only person to hear them so far is Gabe, on the way to piano lessons tonight.

He wasn't impressed. "Poppa, is that you?" Somehow, it wasn't an expression of awe. More like disdain.

Ho hum.

It is kinda fun to try and get things just so. And the all-Christopher choir on one is an amazing thing to hear, I think. Off-key, yes, but still amazing.

In a fun house mirror sort of way.