The Third Wish

Living

2010-12-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Still haven't given in yet!

Alive.

ebritton.com

2008-05-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

Kevin finished work on my website a few months ago and I've posted some content there. It's well designed and easy to post, change/update etc. Looking forward to posting more content there.

Just a quick update, I'm going to be doing my PhD at McGill. This means I need to finish my masters degree on time, which is going to be interesting. This has been a good year for learning and living.

Blizzard Baked Chicken

2007-12-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago my room mate made up a really good chicken recipe. I gave the recipe this silly name because she came up with this as we staying inside to avoiding a blizzard. I was very suspecious of her when she explained what she was going to do. I even told her I was sure it wouldn't work. I ended up eating most of it myself, and being amazed the whole time.

Breaker's Blizzard Baked Chicken:

You will need:

6 chicken pieces.
2 apples, quartered then thinly sliced.
1/4 cup maple syrup.
2 onions, chopped.
1 tsp salt.
1/2 tsp pepper.

Instructions:

Put all the ingredients in a small casserole dish with a lid. Bake at 350 for 45m - 1h or until chicken is cooked.

Amazing stuff.

Out of Province

2007-12-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

I can't be a resident of Quebec until I've not been a student here for 1 full year. This means I don't get a Quebec health card. Manitoba is happy to provide me with an out of province health coverage but Quebec is the only province in Canada who doesn't accept health plans from out of province. So, this means I get treated like a second class citizen and I have to pay exorbitant prices in cash for every medical service I require.

This wouldn't be so bad if doctors charged me the same amount that they bill the Quebec government for local residents... They can charge me whatever they want, because I'm treated as an international. For example, a doctor charges 35$ to the province for every patient they see, but the minute they realize I'm "out of province" I have to pay 90$ cash. When I send the bill to Manitoba health, they say "sorry we can only pay the standard fee of 35$", so I'm out 45$ per visit.

Blood tests, scans, medication, anything like this I have to pay cash. The amounts charged by each clinic is random. Some charge 50, others 80... Doctors make up prices for things on the spot!. Also, sometimes MB health won't cover something... For example, I had to get a fancy antibiotic last year because I had a reaction to the normal one. It was synthetic so it cost more. MB health said "we don't cover that antibiotic when prescribed out of province"... So guess who was stuck with the bill...

This whole situation would be fixed if doctors did the following things.

1. Charged Canadians the same prices as they charge their Quebec patients.
2. Tell patients which medications won't be covered by their provincial health plan. In soon to be the year 2008, having access to information shouldn't be an issue.

Countdown to Codecs

2007-12-23T21:28:00.001-08:00

Left foot, right foot, keep running, don't give up.

I have had a very difficult few weeks. First off, this session of exams was pretty difficult. It felt like my life was tearing apart. I had family there to support me which was an amazing luxury.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Now that the exams/paper/finals domino has toppled, I'm onto my next Piece. Codecs.

Codecs builds on the techniques in Evolution 5x8 and adds a live electronic component. Evoluition 5x8 used a very rigid system that created very interesting results. It reminded a lot of people of Steve Reich, but more dissonant and less repetitive. Now I'm trying to loosen the system and make things more intricate and expressive. Instead I feel like I'm driving myself crazy. I know what I'm trying to do, I can hear it and see it... but it's time consuming and difficult to do. Sometimes I do it and don't like the desired result so I have to start over.

I need to get this piece done to the best of my ability. Just keep those notes coming...

I'll keep a project log in here just as I did with Scars. Even though I have more time, I'm having a harder time than I did back then. I didn't have to out do myself.

Saved the world again...

2007-12-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

This game was a lot of fun. Quite an adventure, and the perfect distraction when your brain isn't capable of any more school work. Even though this game is quite old and lame by todays standards, it was pretty intense for me. A typical testosterone flooded space opera. No apologies from me for anything quake related. I wouldn't have been accepted to McGill if it weren't for Quake. And I'm sure I'll never get tired of fantasizing about being a space marine.

Epic story, epic monsters, epic weapons, epic sounds, epic epic epic. There were moments where my jaw dropped at imagination required to put some of the scenes together. Other times I was kicking myself in frustration for having decided to play the game on hard mode. There were times where I had to memorize whole sequences of actions to clear a room without being killed. This one was fun because they surprised you right until the end. Oh... and you get to drive a tank.

20$ well spent. You can't beat video games when it comes down to bang for the buck entertainment.

Origins and The Ripple Effect

2007-11-26T21:53:00.000-08:00

I was talking to somebody the other day about my early works on the net. They mentioned The World is Beyond Square but I quickly pointed out that the internet has turned over many times since then, and that piece is ancient history. A few days later I searched it to see what If there was anything left. I found much more than I expected One of the most outrageous being from some weird interview of a forum I've never heard of.

*******

Interviewer: What's your favorite song?
Subject: Hm... kinda tough decision. For now, let's leave it at... "The World is Beyond Square". The Artist is... Elliot... something... I lost the piece, but it retains a place in my memory as one of the best musical pieces I've heard. And longest. A single piece rating at 26:52. I've seen classical music pieces come close, but none has surpassed it yet.

*******
Obviously this person doesn't know anything about music, but whatever my artistic goals were back then, they seemed to have been successful. To be honest, I don't think I really had any artist goals, I was simply doing something personal and challenging. The whole thing is like a big inside joke made of thousands of funny musical relationships.

Now I listen to it and laugh at how I now know the names for all the things I was doing. Invertible counterpoint, modal mixture, an outrageous combination of baroque and jazz figurations. Along with fond memories, I cringe at all the structural problems.... The funny thing is that I knew about them then, I just didn't know how to solve them. My harmonic tool box had serious limitations. Sometimes I wrote myself into some funny corners.

I get strange looks when I say I learned to orchestrate though videogames. Teachers/profs/students look at me like I'm crazy. It's true though, I didn't touch a real orchestral score until I got to university.... Before that it was hundreds of midi sequences and hand notated video game transcriptions.

I could never write this piece now, even if I wanted to. My brain doesn't work like that anymore. The best I can do is look back and enjoy the fond memories it continues to trigger in me and other people.

Doom, UAC, Dave and Me

2007-11-24T10:47:00.001-08:00

I was on Mars working for the United Aerospace Corporation again last night. Dave and I had some unfinished business that brought us back to the Delta Labs... The kind of business transaction that can only be done with shotguns and plasma cannons.
Yes, I was playing Doom again last night. I consider this to be an important way of maintaing our friendship at a distance. Why?

*****

For those of you who may think it's strange to meet in the virtual world, consider the fact that we live 2751 km apart and don't get to hang out much. Instead of talking on the phone or something we watch a co-operative interactive movie. The story is quite interesting, the people who put this game together at the top of their.... um.. game.

Unlike the massive multiplaayer games like Warcraft, Doom has a linear story with a carefully constructed plot filled with all the typical literary devices. The claustrophobic feeling of being on a remote research facility really comes across well. The artists over at id software did a very good job with lighting and sound design for this one. It was truly a labor of love, even if it's creepy as hell and crawling with zombies and monsters.

I love the way the real and virtual, cinematic and real time all blend together into one experience. Here [see above image] we had cleared a bathroom of threats and had some time to chat before moving on with the story. Friends, family and synchronizing our uniform colours... In a way it's almost like a 21st century equivalent of hunting. Guys often relate to each other indirectly though cooperative projects and common goals. Fishing, home improvement, music, camping, hunting, videogames... There is a very specific type of bond that occurs when people overcome obstacles together. I don't know if this behavior was built into humans though evolution or what, but in a way I think it comes down to trust and loyalty. "I trust he will shot that demon that just appeared behind me" "You trust I'll keep the flashlight on the zombie you're trying to kill". When we're in an airlock and the decompression cycle is taking a few minutes, THEN we can talk about how we're doing.

I'm not saying this stuff is a replacement for a REAL friendship in the REAL world, but when you're 2751km away, it beats the phone.

Ch 8 La Playa West Coast

2007-11-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I got to the beach after one of the most intense car ride of my life. It's like our driver thought he was in a formula 1 competition! He was going 120 in 40 zones. I've never experience anything like that before. At first I was scared but eventually I realized that this guy was just an amazing driver, better than anybody I've ever seen. By the end I was starting to enjoy his daring maneuvers.

Playa Mariposa: This was the beach right outside the hotel. It might look beautiful but the currents are very dangerous. Even only a few feet in the water you can feel the water trying to pull you out. It's hard to explain why this is. It has a lot to do with the water depth, slope and length of the beach. Instead of going swimming I chased hermit crabs and collected coconuts. I never really found any interesting shells, all the best ones were occupied.

WAVES:

Learning about big waves and the ocean was a highlight for me. Surfing was fun... well, boogie board... which is like surfing, except the board is smaller and you don't stand up. This was more than enough for me, as learning how to surf takes a lot of time. I can't begin to tell you how powerful and interesting waves are. The ones I was going for were about 1-3 meters tall (Which is considered to be very small). It's pretty funny, when catching waves you need to be close to the curl point. The only problem is that the curl point for small waves is the breaking point for bigger ones. So, it's actually safer to try and get bigger waves because you don't get swamped as many times. Being swamped is an interesting experience because you see a big wall of water coming at you and there is nothing you can do but huddle into a ball, hold your breath and be careful not to get tangled in your surf chord. The rolling motion can cause the wire to get wound around your neck and arms, which is bad.

The first time I caught wave it was after being pummeled for over an hour. When it did happen I felt myself suddenly flying towards the shore like I was being pulled by an invisible motor boat. Once you're actually riding a wave, all you need to do is stay balanced and steer! The force of the water will push you almost all the way to the shore.

Lovin' the H-Ween

2007-10-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everybody! This is the story of how the big day went down at my place.

I don't understand why but there are 10 seconds of black at the end of the video. I'm not trying to be clever or anything.... Who knows. Anyway, today I wore my demon mask as I walked home from school. I scared a lot of kids on the way and handed out a lot of candy. At the McGill metro a cute little girl was holding her moms hand and trying to look at me without drawing my attention. I walked over and opened my lunch box. She was caught between her greed for candy and her distrust of monsters. She looked to her parents for advice. Her mom gave her a "Don't ask me... kind of shrug" Needless to say, the little girl took 2 kit cat bars. We both won I suppose.

Hope you all had a safe and happy Samhain, all saints and whatever other reason you need to justify your lust for candy and fun costumes.
-

Hampton House BBQ Roast 2007

2007-10-23T23:41:00.001-07:00

Because this is exactly what my life is like. Thanks for the virtual soup Veronica. have some virtual roast beef.

The Golden Rule

2007-10-23T14:42:00.001-07:00

I got to talk to Seymour Schulich today. For those of you who don't know, hey's the guy who donated 20 million to McGill and built the music library. In his ongoing quest to help young people he was doing An interesting character indeed. I've never met a person who was so generous with his money. Even though is book is a best seller, he is giving 100% of the profits to a charity that gives books to libraries in inner cities.

I learned a few interesting things from him today.

1. When you are young, donate time and talent but keep your money until you don't have the energy to give the first two.
2. Pay your dues and wait for opportunity.
3. Find a mentor in your field.

Good guy. Straight up and good advice.

Oh yeah, the golden rule. Schulich made his money in gold and gold shares. So the saying means a bit more coming from him. Funny.

-Eliot

ZOINK! Smells like Bacon!

2007-10-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

The torrent server OINK got taken down today. It is difficult to see the media trying to cover this story. Their language and and spin put the truth on its head. They make out like this guy was charging subscriptions to access pre-released albums and movies. Here are some of the facts as I know them to be.

1. This was a free site and a community of users, not a pay site.
2. None of the copyright materials were ever on his website. They were spread out amongst the users of the site.
3. Although this site did help people access popular music, the site also had very rare and obscure things that you would never be able to find anywhere else. Library archives of public domain music. All the completed works of all the great composers a few clicks away. An amazing resource that would make any library jealous.

One day in the future libraries will embrace torrenting. Imagine accessing any text from any author? Any music? Any Score? Any painting? I am torn between my willingness to support the livelihood of professional content producers and my desire to have access to all the information. Sadly, the police are keeping me from having access to my public domain music scores in the interests of SONY BMG and EMI and TIMEWARNER. I don't like being a conspiracy nut but it seems to me like the American ruling class would rather keep people away from all that information.

CH 7 Monteverde ZipLines!

2007-10-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to use the movie thing on my laptop. I thought it would be fun to share this crazy memory with all of you. I'm not sure if you will be able to read any of my text because I have no control over the video size and resolution.

I've done nothing like this before, I hope I get the chance to do more of the same. Not for the faint of heart of those who are afraid of heights.

CH6 Monteverde

2007-09-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

After a long ride down, the mountain (4 hours for 30 Km) we ended up in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. This place is interesting for many reasons. Mostly because of the rare and interesting plants that grow there. The forest is inside the clouds all the time so the plants can draw water right out of the air.

El Torro River

2007-09-27T21:31:00.001-07:00

This one was a big "check" on my life list. I've always liked water slides, nothing can compare to the insanity of natural ones made from volcanic rocks. Rafting on the El Toro was an amazing experience, I hope I get to go rafting many more times. Most of the rapids were class 3 with a few class 4. Very exciting. I don't think I'm going to look at rapids the same way ever again.

At one point we hit a trough and Ryan got pitched in the air, he took out me and another guy from Ireland. We all landed in the river but my leg was caught in the straps in the raft. Fun little moment like that made the experience all the more enjoyable. We stopped halfway down the river and ate some fresh fruit. Another time Ryan and I had to get out and push the raft backwards, I slipped on a rock and ended up underneath the raft. It's amazing how strong water is.

Fun quote "paddle hard if you want to see the monkeys"

Fun Facts: Machete in Costa Rica = 2000 colones or 4 USD. Pair of shorts 12 000 colones or 20$. Hamburger (with ham) yuka fries and a drink = 1000 colones or 2 USD.

CH 5: Arenal Volcano

2007-09-23T22:13:00.001-07:00

This last one is from the back door of our hotel room/house thing. It erupted a few times when we were there. It sounds like thunder and the ground shakes a bit. Chunks of lava and rock as big as my house tumbling down the mountain.

Ch 4: This time.. TTG for realz

2007-09-21T22:42:00.000-07:00

My dad shipped two suitcases with all my stuff! now I can share some of my OWN photos. Here we go: This first one is what the Tortuguero people's water side houses looked.

Ch. 3 Jesus Christ Lizard

2007-09-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.flicklife.com/df30856386753dc21c4e/Jesus_Christ_Lizard.html

Ryan and I saw one of these guys from our boat. I later saw one booking it across a gravel road by the lodge. At first I thought it was a road runner!

Chapter 2: Sea Turtles!

2007-09-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

The most interesting part of our visit to Tortuguerro was being able to see some giant sea turtles. Large portions of the cost line in this region are protected sea turtle nesting grounds. Getting to the protected area is quite an adventure:

1. Meet after sun down in dark clothes.
2. Take boat to secret turtle nesting path.
3. Pay 30$ donation to park.
4. Wait until the park warden spots a turtle.
5. Ninja your way though the back forest paths until you come out on the beach right by the turtles.
6. Use special red lights that turtles can't see.
7. Watch turtles lay 120 eggs!

We got to see many green sea turtles and a hook beaked one, which is very endangered. Seeing how many eggs get dumped out, you'd wonder why these sea turtles are having so much trouble! Only 1 in 100 make it to adulthood.

Costa Rica 1 Tortuguerro

2007-09-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Costa Rica travel story. I'll do a series of short entries with fun pictures and stories.

Chapter 1: Tortuguerro

After an interesting stay at the SanJose Tennis Club, Ryan and I were off to a national park on the north eastern tip of Costa Rica. This national park is a series of rivers, rainforests and wetlands connected by canals. There are no roads here. The canals were dredged in the 50s so the Costa Ricans could haul out the giant mahogany trees for the global lumber industry. After the virgin growth forest was cut down, secondary growth forest takes its place. Secondary growth rain forest in this area is thick (and I mean REALLY thick) jungle. Later as the trees grow, the forest canopy rises up nd blocks out the sun. In a few hundred years only 5% of the sunlight will reach the forest floor.

Funny Story 1a: On my first day in TTG I was woken up at 4:30 by terrible low howling and thrashing in the trees around my little tree house thing. I was very scared because whatever was in the trees sounded like 15 bears! I woke up Ryan and said "OMG what the hell is that noise outside the windows?" He said in a sleepy un concerned voice "it' a dog howling. Go back to bed". To which I replied "What the hell kind of dog crashes through the trees?" We found out it was two families of howler monkies that came to visit the camp and throw fruit at our cabin thing.

Funny Story 1b: Later that same day a giant palm branch broke off a tree and almost flattened me. Then even later, a monkey was throwing guava fruit at me.

Funny Story 2: At one point I saw a tiny blue crab climbing a tree. Did you guys know about tree crabs?

Jungle Adventures

2007-08-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Costa Rica soon. I'll post some pictures when I get back to Montreal.

Faceless

2007-08-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

I took the social plunge and left Facebook. I'm going to take all my money and invest it in tinfoil for future hat making. From now on my friends will have to contact me via e-mail, phone or letter. Like Google, Facebook is a company that makes money by harvests information about it's clients and showing them demographic specific ads. The funny thing is, even though I left facebook I can't completely get rid of my profile. I gave them my information and they have the right to hold onto it forever and sell it whenever they want. Scary.

Recently I found somebody on Last.fm posting my music and pretending to be me. It feels pretty strange to lose control of your stuff like that. A few of my tracks have had a life of their own for a long time now but this person has collected almost everything I've ever posted publicly.

I've been trying to shrink my digital footprint recently. Here is a list of junk that I've gotten rid of in the last few years.

1. Top 10 movies.com
2. HotOrNot Profile
3. MSN profile
4. Yahoo Groups Profile
5. MSN groups profile
6. Yahoo Mail
7. AOL instant massager (Via Trillian)
8. Myspace
9. PayPall
10. Usendit

The list goes on...

I try not to use my real name... When I was young I didn't know any better. How can I stop crappy videogame remixes from being the no.1 return when you google "Eliot Britton"? Does Google care?

Unholy tea and facebook.

2007-07-20T09:36:00.001-07:00

Wisdom teeth are an interesting thing. I often wonder if dentists are just pulling one over on all of us. Has anybody actually had a wisdom tooth infection? The only trauma I've ever seen comes AFTER the wisdom teeth are pulled out. It wasn't bad for me, I didn't even bruise. did my thing with the tea bags. The tea bags help stop the bleeding, but for the first while they did nothing but steep an unholy brew in my mouth. Spitting out tea steeped in blood was a new experience.

While sitting around recovering from teeth extractions, I started hating on facebook. Why do I want to study other people's lives in my spare time? Isn't that what conversations are for? I can't imagine meeting a person I haven't seen in years and saying. "Oh... I already know all that, I've been watching your facebook" . I'm pretty sure it's just another colossal waste of time. What happens if you quit facebook? Will I exist less? Will people stop being my friend?
They won't be looking at pictures of me anymore.

-E

24

2007-07-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

Twenty Four

XXIV
11000
18
Chromium

Cubase/Logic/ProTools Killer?

2007-06-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

So, the other day I was talking to Andrew and he showed me a new beta software called "Reaper". It's a new digital audio workstation, intended to compete in the already saturated market. (Cubase, Logic, ProTools")
I took a look at some of the features of this thing and it blew my mind fairly quickly. I couldn't' figure out how a piece of shareware could be created in so little time with so many features.

Here is the story: The guy who created winamp is a musician/genius coder. Age 28. He just sold winamp and shoutcast for 100 million dollars to AOL. He was looking for something fun to do. So he scouted jaded employees of a big audio companies and started a new project. He started creating a sequencer/audio program that has all the features he always wanted to see in once place. So, here we are. "Reaper" 45$ cdn or wait for 6 seconds each time you start.
Cubase was a sequencer that had an audio engine build onto it. ProTools is a recording program that had sequencing functions added as an after thought. "Reaper" is a ground up program that combines both of these features in new and interesting ways. (How is this possible in 2.2 megs? OMFG! It can load of a usb key!)
I've seen these "killer apps" before, and they usually turn out to be POS toys that can't handle the real demands of production. So far Reaper very impressive. It may even surpass cubase. This is interesting considering they're only getting started. I'll put this program though its paces and see if it's all it's cracked up to be. I always said, if something better came along I'd switch. It just has to be worth my time. I have zero software loyalty.

Just a few interesting features:

1. Takes advantage of multi core processors with AI processor distribution.
2. 64 bit math, right off the hop.
3. Real routing possibilities.
4. No tool sound editing.
5. VST compatible.
6. Super efficient design and architecture.
7. Mac Version in Q4 07.
8. Hardware support.

The list goes on.
We'll see.

Bedroom DJ:

2007-06-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

I already have one turn table and a great mixer. I need another turn table! If anybody knows someone who is looking to sell a tech 12, let me know. Those things are monsters.

Making Good Time

2007-06-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

I've got some interesting projects looming. I'm working on ideas for a Musical, my thesis, a new CD with Chris, a video art project with James... There seems to be no shortage of cool things to work on. However, after watching DJ Champion and Mike Realm I have a different sort of cloud floating above my head. A few years ago, Kevin told me something that bothered me a lot. "Eliot, you'd better release a CD soon... Because you'll be to old to be a young and cool electronic producer". I keep collaborating with people and producing stand alone tracks... And after many years of producing, no album. (other than the 2 TenTooMany albums, but those aren’t fully mine)

I've always managed to hide behind my academic work as a reason not to commit myself to a CD. I also hide behind the fact that despite my technical skills, I'm not sure what direction I'd go for my own Project. I don't like doing things half assed, but I also don't like stalling. I've seen people so critical of themselves that they criticize themselves into artistic oblivion. Thats not me.

I've collected many pieces to the production/performance puzzle. I've got a few more left and I'll be ready. When I look at guys the same age as me playing cool electronica shows, I have to keep reminding myself that although I'm not there yet, I'm taking a longer road less traveled that leaves more options open. However, sometimes I wonder if I’ll end up so far in the outback that I’ll break my ankle and starve to death.

Then I check myself and remember that I'm making good time, even if it IS a long road.

Here is a glimpse of the immediate future.

Artist Website
Electronica Website
Thesis Proejct with the McGill DCS and CME.
GroundsWell Projects
Album with Chris

0 to iJerk in no time

2007-06-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

I got a Mac... A fancy silver one. I never thought I'd see the day.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/03/03

Linux Audio

2007-05-26T09:42:00.001-07:00

I am very interested in Linux Audio and want nothing more than a set of powerful, customizable tools that reflect my needs as a composer. But, being interested in the creative end of things instead of the developing end of things there are problems that need to be fixed before I'll even give it a serous look. ( most of these arguments have been spelled out to the linux community by average users, but they seem to fall on deaf ears, or disinterested ears, or ears that are more interested in creating competing linux distributions that confuse normal users)

Current problems with Linux Audio =

1. Productive Time vs Fiddle Time ratio: (PTVFTR)
Staying on top of this ratio is key to staying productive when using digtial production tools. Digital music can be a trap if you're not ever vigilant of your PTVFTR!

I am willing to pay big money for software that works right away. Every minute spent pissing around with drivers and libraries is time spent not doing what I want to be doing. I'm curious about this stuff, but fiddle time isn't productive time. I could spend months on this and never have anything that is even close to what I already have in Windows. The big question on a linux developer's mind (if they want real world users to use their software) should be... Can it be installed with a double click? Will it work the first time?

2. No Love for VST:
Yeah, you can blame Stienberg for not developing linux stuff, but the fact of the matter is, they aren't the ones who develop the pluggins. 3rd party companies like Native Instruments and Waves are the ones who aren't making Linux things. It costs NI a lot of money to port its stoff to VST/RTAS/DirectX/MAC, all of these are closed but represent a large userbase. Does Linux even have a music standard? I've heard of LADSPA... But without a proper sequencer to run them or supported hardware there is no market.

3. Show me the Software:
Unlike Mozilla, Open Office and Gimp, the audio end of the open source pool is shallow. There are cool toys like PD. Rosegarden and Audacity... But nothing comparable to the functionality/stability/usability of even a semi professional audio suite. It's not like I expect music software to be easy, it often isn't. mostly I expect it to work, 100% of the time. That being said, not many artists are interested in creating a score with lines of code. "LillyPond". PTVFTR!

4. Hardware Support Nightmares:
Musicians have lots of complicated demands. Fancy keyboards, interfaces and sound cards. External Midi Cocks, DA converters, sample rates, bit rates... I have yet to get sound from my computer via linux, never mind tapping my AISO and low latency processors... Or even the multi channel stuff. Are the drivers there? It's hard enough to keep my shit running when it is fully supported by Steinberg! I can't imagine how shitty it would be to troll nerdy message boards having linux people give me shit about not knowing how to put the numbers into my internts. Do I double click on them and they install? If not, come talk to me when they do. PTVFTR!

5. Why Change?
Some people have been using Cuabse since 1989. Finale Since 1988. ProTools since whenever...
It takes years to become a power user of one of the big digital audio workstations, the interface, support and feature set will have to be mind blowing if it will convince power users to abandon their powers. Even a switch from Cubase to Logic is crippling for weeks.
For some music people, the jump away from analog and real instruments is a compromise enough. Having a linux craproximation of a virtual representation of an analog mixing board is just a bit too much.

6 Hope for the Open future:
The Windows exodus might not be as cut and dry as the open source software Community might expect. Like Open Office, Gimp and FireFox, SunBird... I hope to see Native Linux pluggins ported to windows to entice me into the open source world. After a slow transition fraught with emulation and WNE and vitalization... I might just find myself running Ubuntu Studio in 10 years.

Welcome Home

2007-05-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

My ICMC paper went in today, I'm officially finished school for the year. All things considered, McGill was a great experience. I managed to do tick a lot of things off my life list while in Montreal.

This summer looks like it's going to be full of new projects. New commissions, new people, new habits. Living away from home has changed some of my habits quite a bit. I'll try not to sink into my old routine.

Almost there!

2007-04-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

Last week of school. Marking, Exams, Papers, presentations, Presentations... I leave on the 26th. Gotta figure out how to pack my life up and bring it back to Winnipeg. I am going to miss Montreal. Perhps next summer I'll be able to stay.

Break Zero Hue

2007-04-03T21:16:00.002-07:00

Things went very well last night. My first piece using live performers and Max/MSP!

I had to fix a problem in the code a few hours before the performance. Nothing like last minute problems to freak you out. I Justine did an amazing job with the piece despite all the technical issues that we had over the course of the last few weeks.

Diggita DCS!

2007-03-31T02:48:00.000-07:00

It's 5:48 in the sleep time. I'm about to head home from yet another all nighter in the DCS (Digital Composition Studios). Getting lab time can be difficult sometimes, especialy around concert time.

I'm going to go home, sleep, fix up some 6 channel wave files... Come back for 11:00.

Phew...

Rough week. After monday's concert I'm going to get drunk. And I have a few promises I need to keep. 1. Flowers for Helene, 2. a bottle of scotch for Prof Ferguson.

tired... can't even spell checkkkkkk.. ..aldfjk;a

2007-03-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'm doing posters again...

Taste the Dragon Rainbow!

2007-03-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

After passing it every week for the past two months, I finally gave in. I bought a dragon fruit. I thought to myself, "when am I going to get the excuse to eat one of these things? NEVER!". So, for the price of a movie...
Amazing!

Things Change

2007-03-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

I had a great time at my brother's wedding last weekend. I can't believe one of us got married! He looked great in his tux, Michelle looked fantastic in her big poofy dress. I wrote them a love song as a wedding gift. The only real love song I have ever composed. Chris helped me with the recording/mixing and turned out to be a great vocal coach!

It was very nice to see all the family. I got a fiddle from my father's side of the family, my great uncle carved it. I tuned it up the other day, it has a bright and clear tone. I now have an amazing hand crafted folk instrument from both sides of the family! I few years ago I recieved an amazing dulcimer from my gandmother. It was made by a very nice old instrument maker in a retirement home. He only had one piece of wood left, and my grandmother asked him to use it to make me a traditional instrument.

A great way to spend a weekend back home.

Music Technology

2007-02-26T22:55:00.000-08:00

Today was a fun day to be at McGill. I participated in an experiment over at music tech. As a byproduct of that, I got to have my hearing tested!

My hearing is great! Which is amazing considering the concerts I ve been to and the drummers I ve played with. I have above average hearing range and sensitivity, which was surprising because I m not usually the first to complain about loud noises. The test itself was fun and I got 20$ for my trouble!

McGill is growing on me but I'll never become a McGill snob. Or a montreal snob for that matter.

Sometimes they come back...

2007-02-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

An interesting thing happened a few days ago. Something that uncovered a forgotten collection of treasured experiences. A long story I know... I said short entries but I lied.

When I was young, I didn't collect comics. People around me collected comics and quickly forgot about them. Sometimes I'd inherit a forgotten collection from some friend of the family. (That's how I got my nearly complete Conan series). Most of my stuff came from my brother who was interested in drawing before he got into hip hop culture.

Sometimes when I was on a long road trip my dad would let me pick out a few, not realizing that gas stations didn't usually stock first issues of anything. I would find myself peeking into a tiny sliver of an artists vision, reading it over 20 times in a vain attempt to understand the characters and plots. For those of you who have never read a comic. Imagine having only episode 25 of Six Feet Under to keep you busy for a 15 hour car ride.

Looking back, it's funny how I adapted to my strange 1 shot collection. I learned to fill in the back story of the characters, letting my imagination run wild and justify all their actions. I'd then project a future scenario and figure out how the story would end. This turned into a habit that I still carry with me.

Somehow The Maxx #8 made its way into the Britton household in the mid 90s. I must have read that 25 page comic 100 times. Nothing made any sense, it was well written, clever and amazingly well illustrated. At that point in my life, the fact that Maxx was big, yellow, purple was was good enough for me.
A few days ago The Maxx entered my life again, this time as a complete series. I had wondered about this guy for 14 years and now was my chance to see what he was about. As I started reading I realized why I had so much trouble with this one when I was a kid. The surreal and complex narrative was far deeper than my little kid brain could have imagined. Serial rapists, social workers, mental patients, vagrants and drop outs... I had no idea the story would be this gritty. The best part was seeing where my projected back stories differed from the real deal.

Don't let the yellow claws and blood smears fool you. The Maxx is one hell of an interesting examination of the human condition. Very little violence, mostly surreal and introspective. Maxx is one of the most tragic and bizarre heroes I've ever encountered. It joins the list of comics I actually like. (Far shorter than most people would expect)

Maus
Hellboy
The Maxx

Maxx was animated at some point. They dropped out the really messed up stuff and cut a lot of corners with the story. The animation is fun to watch.
...

But it's not as good as interesting.

Do Youtube?

2007-02-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

TenTooMany is on youtube!

Big thanks to Joel for putting together the crazy TenTooMany DVD. When I heard about this project I had no idea what to expect. I think it looks great!

Joel's TTM DVD clip

This clip is a little slice of the big DVD that has our entire CD releae. What a nice thing to do! Princess toadstool looks pretty funny with that crazy umbrella and hooker makup. I can see why Nick had a crush on her all those years ago. Look at those sweet pool balls stuck to her ears and those sexy gloves/shoes!

The media scares me!

As America gets excited about Britney Spears and her new haircut, the Bush administration's 2008 budget is revealed to little fanfare. Perhaps people deserve to get their tax dollars wasted. Not that I want to get branded as some sort of leftist alarmist but... It seems to me that this budget is all about tax breaks for big corporations and cuts to social programs. *nice* I wonder if people weren't addicted to celebrity bull shit, would they care more about where their money is going? Is Canada any different?

Shwartz

2007-02-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

This was the best sandwich i've EVER had and it was only 4,50$

Montreal is supposed to be famous for smoked meat. I tried some a month after I got here and it was gross. As it turns out, you can't just go anywhere for smoked meat, only certain places have the genuine article. It is the same with bagels and bread. If you are in Montreal, you have to check out Shwartz Deli, you'll be glad you did. The people there are very nice and the prices are amazing.

Têtes à claques!

2007-02-19T09:16:00.000-08:00

Têtes à claques is a crazy series of internet shorts. Mostly they involve strange dolls with ugly faces in awkward situations. Could there be anything more enjoyable than that? Quebec is a strange place... That being said, I'm starting to understand and enjoy Quebec humor a bit more thanks to this site! My profound apologies for people who can't speak French... Your best bet is to check out the Willie waller 2006 clip. The rest of you, enjoy this insanity!

Full site:

http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/

My Favorite:
http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/video.php?vid=15

and the most famous one for english speakers, Willie Waller 2006:
http://www.tetesaclaques.tv/video.php?vid=30

Têtes à claques translates to something like... "An ugly face you want to slap"

3B Concert Evolution 5x8

2007-02-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

Things went very well. Thanks to all who came. I am very impressed with the level of commitment McGill gives to composition students.

Tristan Murail, Hellboy and others

2007-02-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

First of all: http://www.ingernet.de/rs/_grau_robertseidel.mov

Now that that is out of the way, I've got a busy week ahead of me. I've got a premiere on Thursday. I hope I remember to take a picture. Also, there is some sort of external review of the composition program at McGill. I'll get to meet Tristan Murail, one of the most famous composers living today! Apparently as part of some sort of external review, he wants to hear what I think about McGill's composition program (along with the other comp grad students).

Rajat and I saw Hellboy Sword of Storms the other day. It was fun, but it wasn't as good as the comics. I think it was made for TV so they had to scale some of the weird stuff back. HB looks cool as a cartoon but they took away all the gritty dark stuff that his character relies on. Instead it was very bright and Hollywood. Hellboy never really works as a normal hero, that's why I like him. Strange to see the writers try and make him seem like something he isn't.

The villains in the cartoon were much weaker than they could have been. Instead of the tragic, twisted and desperate villains from the comics, we got shallow cannon fodder. The majority of the monsters in this one were drawn from Japanese mythology. Fun to see Hollywood versions of some very old demons.

Also, part of what makes the HB comic cool, is the fact that the characters don't look like models. The woman are very normal looking and middle aged. Somehow in the cartoon they all turned 15 and, lost weight and got a bunch of eye makeup.

Montreal Smoked Beef

2007-02-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

Rajat was in the city this weekend. I got to explore the city as part of my role as tour guide. Here is a list of some of the trouble we got into.

1. Laval and the Space Science Museum.
2. Chinatown and The Jade Garden Buffet
3. The Montrel Planatarium
4. Climbing Mt Royal.
5. Tour of McGill and the New Music Building.
6. Akavan
7. Montreal Smoked Meat
8. Chateau Super Sex
9. The Village and Priappe.
10. Rue St Cathrines
11. New Hellboy Movie

TTM Postlude

2007-02-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

This has been a difficult week for many reasons. Most interestingly, ghosts of TenTooMany have been haunting me. I got our CDs to the Planet smashers, people keep asking about my band. We were offered a show this summer. Also, I was going through some old pictures.

And... I made an emo realization through a dream.

There are so many TenTooMany songs that you will never get to hear. (Other than the few that didn't make it onto the CDs) Most people don't know this... but I wrote a lot of songs that never really made it to the band for whatever reason. Chord progressions, lyrics, song ideas that I put away, waiting for another time. Sometimes I can hear them. I'll play a few notes on the piano, and imagine how the band will treat the track. It's a fun way to remember.

***

In my dream I was walking in CJS. I walked into the gym. The lights were off and things were decorated in a shitty high school kind of way. There was a stage in the corner, all of TTM's equipment was set up like it was on sun fest back in the day.

I sat down at the piano and started to play one of the tracks that never made it. Suddenly I was playing bass with the band, a track we've never done before. Everyone else knew it some how. It was super loud and tight. The audience was crammed in the CJS gym, except things were blurring together from all our old shows and venues. The band was the same, but things were blurring and shifting all around us. West End, Pyramid, CJS, Big Breakfast, Flat Bed Truck etc.. For some reason I was scared this was going to be my last time playing with TTM, so I enjoyed it as much as I could. When the track was done everything was back to the normal gym, leaving me standing there, alone. Except this time, the gear wasn't there, and the gym was normal. No tin foil stars...

***

Quite the memory to have I suppose. To bad about all those songs that would never be.

In other news, I had to abandon boot camp and narrowly avoided the shame hat. Luckly I was so sick I got off on a technicality. Kevin had it right when he said "Wow Eliot, you don't get sick often, but when you do... You do it like a man". So here I am... after having gone though a cold/flu things have moved into a sinus infection. I hope this is the last thing in this delightful parade of mucus, viral infection and bacteria.

Worst 50$ EVER!

2007-01-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

After much advice, I went to a doctor to find out about this green goo coming out of my lungs for the last month. According to the doctor at Vendome Walk-In Clinic I have a cold and should get some rest. That's what I though... That's why I didn't want to go! That's why I hate doctors. They charge you 50$ for a 2 minute visit, offer no real advice or peace of mind.

I would have been just as happy to see a nurse or any other health professional, because they have the same skills. The only difference is that they're not fleecing the government, or in this case, ME. One day enough people are going to be angry at those bastard doctors to actually do something about our system.

Doctors will do anything to keep the cash flowing. They want their skills to be in short supply even though they don't have to be. What if everybody was trained in simple triage and diagnosis techniques and only needed specialists in serious cases?

What if the first step to the health system was to see a trained nurse?

I'm gonna look at some other health care systems around the world and see what other countries have come up with.

Floor

2007-01-28T14:32:00.000-08:00

This is the tile floor at Place Des Arts. I got to look at it for about 20 minutes the other night when the metro went down.

Villa Maria 2

2007-01-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Every day I pass these big circles and wonder what happens when all the notches align. I bet it opens some sort of portal to another dimension. Or.. it might signal the end of the world, or both.

Those bastard taggers don't know that though, that's why the deface this amazing art with their shitty artless vandalism. "Hey taggers! Go create something artistic like large notched circles!"

Wouldn't it be strange to find a giant piece of modern minimalist sculpture welded to the outside of your building by rogue artists? That's the next big thing, you heard if from me first.

Villa Maria (more fun with my new camera)

2007-01-25T21:06:00.000-08:00

These things are about 2 m in diamater.

Contrary to popular belief, the Villa Maria Station in NDG is by far the best Metro station in Montreal. (I've visited almost all of them) I'll try and upload one image a day until you've seen the amazing features of Villa Maria Metro.

Mahler 7 and the CME

2007-01-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

I just got back from OSM's performance of Mahler 7. Performances of Mahler symphonies are rare so it's always exciting to tick one off the list. I've got 7 more to go. Some of them are almost never played, that's why I went on a road trip to the US last year.

I had my first rehearsal with the Contemporary Music Ensemble. They are working on my new work Evolution 5 x 8. It went quite well, I think they are going to do a good job. Possibly the best performance I've ever had, the players are incredible. As usual, I wish I had more time to work on the piece, in order to take advantage of how good the group is. Next time I will.

Being a resident composer (and a masters student) at McGill is interesting because I'm respected more than I'm used to. The students at the U of M were always nice to me but I don't think very many of them understood why composition majors were there.

Last Friday there was a crazy party in the lounge of the school of music. Very cheap bear, a jazz combo, lots of drunk girls, it was great. By the end they were giving me free beer. I met some new people which was very nice. I felt a little old because most of the kids there were undergrads. Then I remembered that I'm one of the youngest masters students in the school.

Boot camp is going well. Lung goo is still there but I'm not coughing as much and my fever is going down.

That thing on the right is me in the shame hat. I haven't had to wear it for real but that's what it looks like. Now you know why I go to the gym at 7:00 in the morning. Day 4 is getting better. Perhaps one day every day will be boot camp. Until next time.

Enjoy a random picture of my apartment. (yes it is that clean all the time!)

Boot Camp day 3 of 14

2007-01-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

Dawne has introduced me to the terrible world of girly abdominal exorcizes. There is nothing more humiliating and painfull than lying on your back and having to lift up and touch your toes. When I sneeze my stomac hurts for 2 minutes.

11 days left. I'm not gonna be the one wearing the shame hat. I'll post a picture of it soon.

Welcome to Boot Camp!

2007-01-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the first day of Boot Camp. Dawne and I have decided to go all out for the next 2 weeks to get ourselves back to our post Christmas training regime. We are going hard every day, and if either one of us misses an appointment there are strict penalties.

A day missed for any reason is immediately met by the following.

1. Loss of (Internet for me and coffee for Dawne) for one day.
2. Forced to war the shame hat to school or the next shopping trip, accompanied by goth makup.
3. 10 minute wall squat.
4. Push ups with the shame hat.
5. inherit the other persons cleaning chores for that week.

I hope I can make it through this. I'm still suffering from green goo in the lungs, I'm hoping that this constant physical activity will blast this disease out of my system.

Staying Alive

2007-01-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Been using Photoshop to make my pictures look a little more fun. I think i've been looking at Adam's portraits a bit too much.

To late for most but still good!

2007-01-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

Everything you need is right here!

http://www.degreetutor.com/library/online-assignments/termpaper-writing

Click

2007-01-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

I got a camera for christmas. I"ll be able to take pictures of the people and places I see in montreal. Here are some of my friends here, Dawne and Erika.

The night I took this picture the entire city was covered in thick fog. I could barely see across the street. The weather here is very different.

More pictures to follow.

2006 and and the frozen sea.

2006-12-30T19:33:00.000-08:00

2005 - 2006 was an important year for me. My little chunk of the universe changed a great deal. I always knew the instant I turned away from the flow of events in my home town it would never be the same. Not like it could ever be any other way. We've all heard the story a hundred times.

Beginnings, endings... They always get you when you're not looking. It's like they're the same person or something. I think I may have seen him when I was sleeping.

TACO BULL and the end of term.

2006-12-10T19:43:00.000-08:00

This quite possibly the best solution for late night drunkenness EVER! Look at this bad ass Bull! He's so bad, he's eating his own species! Weird... Anyway, this place serves up some amazing cheap psudomexican food!

***

Last year during exam time I got all emo when everybody else was getting busy.

I'm on the other side again. Feels good to be worried about small things.

Chris Johns and I had some fun adventures looking at various Montreal Music stores today. There is a lot of great equipment here.

Virtual Memory Allocation

2006-11-30T19:40:00.000-08:00

I love it when smells and tastes trigger memories long buried in my brain. Sometimes these relationships can be pretty random.

The taste of chokecherry jelly = flashbacks of me of playing in the work room in my old house.

Burning plastic = flashbacks of sitting on shag carpet playing Link.

Running outside in the fall = flashbacks of Skyway City (From City of Heroes)

That last one is different because it is a memory of a virtual place. You'd think that somehow my brain would treat it differently. But no... Memories of the digital world are treated exactly like any other. For some reason this only started happening when games switched to 3d. Perhaps something about our brains is wired to memorize 3d spatial information in a different way, even if it is virtual. How easily fooled we are!

As videogames become more immerse they will require the use of more subconscious skills that have been handed down to us by evolution. It started with basic hand eye coordination and basic competition. (Pong) Then came memory, intuition, logic, problem solving. Soon after came RPGs with character development thus tapping into our emotions. Things went 3d and started tapping into our brain's ability to visualize, memorize and interpret 3d environments. Sound designers began tapping into our brain's ability unconsciously model 3D directionality.

With the invention of MMORPGs the complexities of interpersonal relationships, and group dynamic were added to the equation.

Games are tapping into some pretty fundamental elements of the human mind. I used to laugh when a videogame caused my body to release an adrenaline boost, like somehow it will help my virtual avatar dodge the next attack. Now I wonder why my mind is so easily fooled by flashing lights and sounds...

What other evolutionary gifts are left for game designers to tap into?

Taste?
Spacial Orientation and the Inner ear?
Smell?
Force Feedback (Although this is currently being worked on)

These questions bring me to the next section of this article.

****

All this Richard Dawkin's stuff has been very interesting. The Internet chugs along as the religious right and the liberal left do battle via forum, news site, podcast and youtube video. Following the debate has been great for me because it allows me to see the state of the art in Science vs Religion.

Yesterday night I was listening to another Dawkin's lecture and he started talking about his Middle World argument. (Not Middle Earth!) The middle world argument comes into play when discussing the ability of humans to grasp things beyond their current sensors. What is beyond our senses usually stuff that is fast, big, small or complicated. Middle World is the world we can see where things are slow, simple and medium sized.

I was excited when he started talking about this argument because I came up with exactly the same thing while writing a philosophy paper in the last year of my undergrad. Coming up with something on your own and finding out that somebody famous has already done it can be disappointing. However, I take comfort in the fact that if I keep learning and working things out on my own, perhaps I'll come up with something new.

Reality: 1 Fantasy: 0

2006-11-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

Enter Richard Dawkins

I recently saw a lecture by Richard Dawkins. He was talking about his book The God Delusion.
Watching this champion of science and evolutionary theory answer difficult questions about the existence of god was remarkable.

He politely tore apart and disposed of complex philosophical arguments that have been touted by theologians for centuries.

Origin of the universe,
Morality,
Intelligent Design,
Meaning of Life,
Role of religion in society,

Seeing him destroy the professors from Liberty University (A Baptist University) was very interesting. I felt bad for the Biology student from Liberty... People barely took him seriously.
He told all the students of Liberty University to leave the school and find a proper university. Pretty harsh. Hard for me to see that type of thing, even if I believe he is right.

The first part of the lecture can be found here:

Freeze Transorm

2006-11-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

Something interesting fell out of my head a few weeks ago. I came up with a new method of organizing pitch material that produces interesting results. It came as a result of my thinking about the dissconect between some types of internal sctuctures and what can be interpreted by the listener.

I took it to my thesis adviser Sean Ferguson and he saw the same potential I did for what my idea is capable of. He said he hadn't seen anything like it but not being his area of specialization he encouraged me to talk to an expert on post tonal theory. Yesterday I organized my new method and took it to the post tonal analysis expert at McGill. Professor Niedhofer.

He hadn't seen anything like it before and encouraged me to develop and refine my idea further. "You know what this is... Perfect material for a thesis" he said. Which was exactly what I thought. Who knows where this idea will take me. For now I have a piece to finish. We'll see if these ideas work.

His stern warning will stay with me my entire life I'm sure. More on that next update.

Towards an uncharted performance

2006-11-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

Already I am being pulled towards new performance opportunities. I had to figure out what I'm looking for in a musical experience... a way of keeping myself from getting bogged down by things to which I'm not fully committed. There is nothing more tragic than losing time.

Here is an excerpt from a letter:

*****

I'm all for jamming and being creative as long as the group is moving towards something real. For example, when I used to play jazz I was always frustrated because all my teachers wanted me to recreate some old ideal that was old before THEY started chasing after it. I liked playing jazz and I still do but somewhere in my undergrad I just asked myself "What is the point of this? People far more dedicated than I have worked their entire lives and died in obscurity chasing something that died long ago. There must be away to define my own tradition and get even greater enjoyment!"

There are many ways of creating the musical "zone". The head space where time slows down and your mind moves into another plane where only you and the sound exisit. I've had it explained to me by famous jazz clinicians, teachers, performers, virtuosos, athletes, artists, priests ... That state that comes when the energy you produce adds to an ensemble and starts to swell beyond the sum of its parts.

Jazz combos, Orchestra, Big Band, folk ensembles, chamber groups, Ska, Punk and Rock Bands, Klesmer, turntables, Live electronics, piano,DDR... The list goes on. All these performance experiences have taken me to varying degrees of "the zone" in one way or another.

But now... After all that, I want to create a new experience to call my own. Something that can take me to that other world and hold me there. The kind of thing that I can dedicate my time and not feel a tinge of guilt, knowing every day that I am moving into uncharted territory.

By brain is packed with ideas on how to make this happen. It drives me to keep working, keep looking. It won't be easy, nothing worth while is. One day I hope to tear it out of the either and do something truly unique.

*****

Pretty crazy I know but that's the kind of stuff rattling around in my head most of the time.

Zombie Friends

2006-11-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

Another October come and gone.

Awwww... Look how good they look! All rotting and covered with blood. One thing that sucks about being away from home is I don't get to be involved in this kind of stuff. Bloodirific? Blood-o-rama? Brain mania? Brainalicious!

1) Decide that brainalicious is the correct way to describe the evening.
2) Head over to Osbourne where we pick up a couple extra zombies
(origin unknown)
3) Freak out some kids who are busy hot boxing a bus shack.
4) Shamble towards the fire station where the firemen manage to thwart
us with sweet sweet candy.
5) Hobble across the street and bang on the windows of Baked
Expectation's, Buccacino's, Spicy noodle house, Music Trader (where we
get more candy), Papa George's, and Starbucks (where a coffee artist
asks us to "move along", incidentally she is dating the guy whose
blood recipe I'm using).
6) Attack car # 2 of the evening, which, as it turns out, is occupied
by people I know; they didn't recognize me, and their brains were,
unfortunately, not eaten.
7) Mosey on down to Safeway, scare the staff and the customers. They
call a 1015 on us (zombie attack) but they don't kick us out!
8) Zombie up movie village where we are, again, driven away by fist
fulls of candy
9) Head to the toad for Brrrrains....I mean Beeeeer. The bartender
wasn't amused and politely asked me to specify a brand. "Moosehead" I
answered sheepishly then as his back was turned I grabbed more candy.
Muahahahaha.

Cooking from scratch. (Eliot's Cooking Story)

2006-11-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

I made chicken soup from scratch yesterday and it turned out great. Both of my room mates were suffering from a cold that I brought into the house so I felt it was the least I could do. As I was eating the soup I started to wonder how it is that I learned how to cook so many things from scratch.

MOM: The obvious candidate is my mum. Even since I was a little kid she has always let me help her cook. I used to pull up a chair beside her in the kitchen and watch watch her cook. As I got older she started to give me more challenging tasks. At a very young age (like 6) I can remember being in charge of dessert which usually involved pre packaged pudding mix. If any of you reading this blog have kids one day, do them a favor and teach them to cook. Everybody has to eat right? Why not be able to cook cheap good and nutritious food?

DAD: I inherited a bunch of amazing recipes from my dad. These treasured family favorites have been selected for taste, cost effectiveness and ease of preparation.

Grandma: All Things Ukrainian.
Gran: All manner of English food. Mostly roasted meat.

TV: Growing up I always watched cooking shows. Before food TV, one had to be at home by 4:00 to catch the best shows. For the most part food TV is far to stylized and has little to do with teaching people how to cook at home. Those slick producers from food network Canada could take a lesson from Biba.

The Early Years: 1983 - 2000
Frugle Gourmet: Cancelled because of sexual harassment lawsuits with his male staff
Urban Peseant: Because he always messed up his stuff, through him I learned how to recover a seemingly lost recipe.
Biba's Italian Kitchen: Every time I cook pasta I hear Biba's voice in my head. "you cook the pasta with the sauce, not the sauce with the pasta!"
Yan Can Cook: I don't think I could ever really do anything this guy did because he went to fast. Mostly I learned how to use asian ingredients. Also, I picked up my cleaver skills from this guy.
We Cook You Smile: The Best Chinese cooking show EVER! This was a cable access show filmed in Winnipeg at the river mandarin. The lady spoke almost no English, she just did her thing, almost always looking at the wrong camera.

The Food Network: Post 2000
Iron Chef: Not that I really cook with unisex salmon... I just liked to watch them do their thing.
Two Fat Ladies: Again... These two were fun to watch but I was horrified at a lot of the food they made. They were always using wierd brittish food and cheese I couldn't afford.
Alton Brown: Very funny, very though rough. I can only imagine what his books are like.
Ming Tsy: His mixture of east west was very helpful. A little more up to date than Yan.
Rachel Ray: Can't say enough good stuff about his girl. Her 30 minute meals are exactly what a student needs. Some people don’t like her but usually it's because she's too fun and nice.

So, the point of all this is... It's not like I have some sort of magical cooking power. It seems that I have managed to acquire a decent knowledge of cooking from a variety of places. I’m glad I watched cooking TV instead of Full House… Not much you can do with that now is there.

There they go...

2006-10-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

TenTooMany is going to be doing Skalloween again this year. I feel bad about not being there. I hear they are going as pirates vs ninjas I think I would have made a better pirate. I don't like the idea of sneaking around when you can just smash something. I worry about dressing up as a pirate considering what happened last time. My knee is better than ever now and Brent and I made up.

I'm happy to see all the interesting new stuff the band has been upto.
New Music Canada Myspace

New Shirts...

I hope they play a good show and sell a bunch of CD's to the kids.
There they go... All epic with their swords and stuff.

Good job guys!

The Fear...

2006-10-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Things are going well for me so far. I'm checking out great concerts and studying all sorts of interesting stuff. I've managed to continue working out every day and make some new friends.
Last night I drank a pitcher of beer and explored the Vieux-port.

Despite all this and the things I've done I sometimes get the fear. Those moments of weakness when you're looking down at your blurred reflection in the dark water thinking "what am I even doing with my life?" Where is all this leading? Am I missing something more important?

But then I remember why I'm here and what I want.

Self...

2006-10-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's hard to feel good about yourself. Ever wonder why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXf8fr0Kp3Q&mode=related&search=

Girodet

2006-10-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal to see the opening of the Girodet exhibit. Lucky for me, this is a 2 minute walk from the school of music.

I have never been into the romantic painters but Girodet's work is impressive, clear and exact. This guy is most famous for doing portraits of the napoleonic family but I could tell his heart was in his more fantastic paintings.

After looking at a few dozen gigantic paintings of nekid figures from antiquity, I had one of my long standing artistic theories confirmed. The flattering idealism of the romantic painters didn't disappear. ( I often hear people lament the fact that artists today can't paint like the great masters of the 19th century) This style lives on in fantasy illustrations. I know it does because Anybody who has ever seen a fantasy comic book cover will tell you, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell could have won the prix de Rome had they lived in the the first half of the 19th century.

After looking at all those Greek gods pouring water out of shells I am happier than ever that the masses don't dictate the progression of art history. For all of you who can't get enough people pouring water on stuff and hugging dead people, there will always be the U of M poster sale.

Not a Kitty...

2006-10-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

I was walking down my street today and a skunk jumped out of the bushes and made like he was going to spray me. I ran across the street to safety.

I've never been worried about getting jumped by thieves, but I'm worried about getting jumped by wildlife.

PLAY!

2006-10-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

“And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart, till the Devil whispered behind the leaves "It's pretty, but is it Art?"”

-Kipling

Kenley flew down to Toronto so check out PLAY! The touring videogame concert. It was sold out, full of cheering fans, as always a standing ovation. Considering the fact that I cut my musical teeth on the 8bit sounds of FinalFantasy I wish I could have been there. I am willing to say I know that repertoire better than almost everybody in that concert hall, videogame nerds included. Ever since I was 14 I've been able to transcribe the majority of the music from the Final Fantasy series from memory.

There was a time where I thought I wanted to be a game composer. Now I find myself questioning the artistic merit of the genre all together. Granted it brings a lot of joy to people, but I get worried about how disposible the music becomes. Being tied to a technology format is dangerous. After our generation is gone, and with it all the nostalgic ties that keep mario brothers alive, how will videogame music stand up against the cannon of great orchestral repertoire? Last time I checked, Nobuo's greatest works were derived from Stravinsky and Brahms, sometimes quoted directly. (Not to slight my musical hero... I'm just saying)

I'm not sure yet... I'm not saying I've closed this door as a possible creative outlet, I'm just saying that in a saturated market filled with experienced videogame composers who show no signs of retiring any time soon, the next generation should be using this time to become great composers. Videogame music might be fun, but if it's going to be on the program with a Mahler Symphony, those videogame composers have some catching up to do.

you can hear the difference

2006-10-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

I came into the library and noticed something that wasn't there the day before. A solid gold violin in a display case. Each year the Violin' d'or will be awarded to an outstanding violinist. You know your institution is well funded when golden violins mysteriously appear in your library...

I don't mean to highlight differences between the U of M and McGill but damn! I'd have been impressed if a half decent computer appeared at the U of M school of music.

Train Set and Others

2006-09-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Having lived down town for the last few years I am no stranger to the sounds of a train pulling into a station. At least twice a day during the summer I walked under the train bridge at The Forks. It's not hard to see why I have train sounds on the brain.

If you stand under a train bridge and listen carefully, you can pick out all the different points of contact between the train and the tracks. Each one has a unique pitch and tone colour. If you add the sounds of the brakes regulating the trains speed as well as the cars banging together you've got some great techno. Except... The spacing of the wheels and the track connections usually put trains in 6/8. If the train is going REAL slow it becomes a dubby 4/4 groove. Always with the random lead elements provided by the breaks and the cars.

I pay attention to this stuff. I know a lot of you do as well. Who hasn't listented to their windshield wipers go in and out of phase? Found themselves humming along with the photocopier as it goes through its various cycles? How about Veronica's famous regge microwave? "doon ka chinka"

I know people read my blog... But nobody posts anything. Here is a great opertunity to end the terrible silence.

TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE SOUNDS!

Science makes it go!

2006-09-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

The DAFx 2006 conference is being held at McGill. You might think I'd be all over the world's Digital Audio effects conference but no... The people who are involved in this conference are from Music Technology. They are the scientists that are pushing the boundary of what is possible in signal processing.

My Fourier theorem isn't what is has to be if I want to understand what these guys are talking about.

The composition majors are excited about the concert that is part of the conference. For all their science they can't do much with the technology they produce. They pass the tourch over to composers and instrumentalists who specialize in the "art" side of things.

I got to help McGill's eletroacoustics guys set up an insane load of equipment. A 9 channel audio diffusion setup, 2x 70 inch plasma displays, 5 computers...

Montreal is angry

2006-09-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

"Life is like a video game, you gotta die sometime"

A sad state of affairs. The media will feast on this for weeks. They gave him his wish. His face is plastered all over the news. Here's a pic you won't see on TV:

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/7365/douchebagax2.jpg

It's gonna be hard for me to wear my trench after this one. I hope the next shooter wears a Hawaiian shirt.

Montreal is Crazy

2006-09-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

I was walking down my street the other day and I saw a HUGE battle axe for sale in the window! (It even had an end pike and blood grooves!) It took every shred of my faltering grasp on reality not to go in there and ask how much gold it would set me back. I wonder if it has any bonuses...

So.... I noticed that there are a lot of medieval stories in Montreal. Helmets, Ninja stars, chain mail, huge broad swords, all more available than you might expect in a 21st century metropolis. These stores make Montreal a Mecca for the most terrifying of all nerds... The fantasy book reading, DnD playing, Epic Metal listening LARPer! (larp = Live Action Role Play) I had to learn more. I did some research and discovered one of the most beautiful stories I've heard in a long time.

***

Every weekend 200+ larpers fight each other with medieval weapons at the top of Mont Royal. Apparently this has been going on for quite some time and people come out to watch the nerds in full plate mail thump each other with ductaped swords. One day, a bunch of emo/punk kids, trendoid synth pop and goth kids secretly organized themselves (via message boards) into a massive army of rotting zombies. After putting the final touches on their makeup and costumes they climbed the mountain, to confront the army of medieval warriors. What do warring knights do when an undead army begins shambling out of the forest across the field? They put aside their petty differences and form lines to confront a greater evil. These nerdy warriors quickly integrated the zombies into their fantasy world. The battle raged, many brains were consumed; there were heroes, victims... Many of the knights became zombies themselves, seeking the blood of their former comrades. Anyway, it sounded like a lot of fun. Could you imagine what was going through the heads of some of those fantasy crazed lunatics? "I've been training my whole life for this!"

Hahaha. Montreal is crazy.

Montreal is different...

2006-09-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

I was walking down Sherbrooke today and a man rode by on a bicycle, he had nothing on below the waist. I imagine his naked butt creates a radius of wierdedoutness that keeps him safe from aggressive motorists. If you drive too close you could see right up his ass!

The Future Smells Like Hamburgers

2006-09-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Winnipeg effect isn't limited to those who spend their lives there. As we move around the continent we pull a swirling ball of increased probability of meeting someone we know. The more time one spends in the Peg, the more charge will carry with you as you explore the world. When needed, the Winnipeg effect releases a charge and will cause you to meet someone you know in a random place. Here is an example.

Yesterday I met Chris Jhons during my connection to the Honore Baugard line. Just as I was feeling like I didn't know anybody on the city, there he was. Kyle (Another friend) just happened to be stopping in Montreal before going to do his masters in Scotland. The three of us went out and had Montreal Smoked Meat. (It tastes like soft meaty cloves)

Afterwards, Kyle and I climbed Mont Royal to see what everybody was getting on about. We found a strange hard fruit the size of an orange. They were growing in the trees up there. The fruit smelled like my grandmothers flower arrangements and had a big pit in the middle. We also found a 1960 pavilion, ducks, fish, and picnic tables.

When we climbed down we drank 2 liters of Gatorade each. We then watched the final gathering of frosh week. Looking across the beautiful centre campus, I couldn't help but wonder if there were some future leaders of our country down there. McGill has a tradition of producing some of Canada's leading political figures. Then I noticed that the BBQ smelled great.

I looked over at Kyle, sitting there on the curb with his skater shoes and backpack... "The future smells like hamburgers". He agreed.

Welcome to NDG Montreal

2006-09-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

I made it to Montreal,

My first impressions experiences of the city have been positive. I practiced my French on my cab driver on my way to my new place and he was impressed. For some reason French people here don't seem to be aware of the number of French speaking people in Manitoba, let alone the Francophiles like me. When he found out I was here to study music he got very excited. He said.. "I like music" and he rattled around in his glove box for a CD and popped it into the CD player. I was thinking "Oh god.. here we go..." And the taxi was filled with the most beautiful black spiritual choir music I have heard since my listening to Ladysmith Mambazo as a kid. Beaming with pride, he told me about this music and how much it meant to him. Then he blew me away by telling me that he was a member of the choir that did the recording! After that we talked about separatism a bit and how his family came to Canada. Very interesting, like most refugee stories.

I live in NDG or Notre Dame de Grace. It's a well off area of Montreal, kind of like a mix between MiddleGate River Heights and the cooler parts of Wolsley. My place is very nice and I have two great room mates. Dawne the Aboriginal, Behai french horn performance major from Winnipeg and Macha the Russian Jew violinist law student from Montreal.

We are quite a team. Already we're getting along well and sharing various duties and costs. Unlike out here in NDG, the prices in the McGill Ghetto are insane. A tiny one bedroom in a sketchy smoke filled building goes for about 650, including utilities. I pay less than half of that and my place is way nicer.

I went to Ikea. It almost killed me. I hope to never go there again. A manager at the store said it was the busiest day he'd seen in his 10 years working there. Where else can you get 20$ wooden chairs? Thousands of zombie consumers shuffling around shitty (but stylish) home

furnishings.

For now, I lement my lack of home computing, as well as my skateboard. Montreal is all hills. Skateboards are quite common here. (I see people long boarding down town, right along side the cars. Not that I'll do that, I'm just saying.)

More stories to follow. I'll update more often because school has started and I'm around computers. If you have questions, ask in the comments and I'll answer. Also, send me your mailing addresses. I'll respond to any letter I recieve.

Stories I'd like to tell:

-The Metro
-Milk in a bag
-Retro YMCA c.1920
-McGill School of Music (Harvard of the North) acording to Americains.
-Downtown Montreal

Lose ends to tie up

2006-08-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

I saw the movie "Strings" yesterday. Nothing could have been more fitting for this transitional phase of my life. I've been tying up lose ends for months. Cutting myself loose from my life here. Nothing left but an empty room, a piano and my childhood belongings.

The images of marionette strings trailing up into the sky were very interesting to me. Typically a marionette production tries to hide the strings through the use of clear wires. Not the case here. These strings hold all sorts of interesting symbolism. Fate, connection to god, life...

The movie was a little over dramatic, which in itself is remarkable. If one can accuse a piece of wood for being too expressive, I suppose the marionettes are doing an amazing job. The subtle body language of these wooden avatars was incredible.

Just a few strings left. As I am in this state of limbo, I feel a little vulnerable. Can't wait to settle into my new life.

Published

2006-08-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

The Fall/Winter edition of The Journal of Acoustic Ecology finally made its way to my mailbox. "Soundscape" is published out of Simon Fraser University. As my first academic publication, this journal means a lot to me. Having other people read about my ideas and experiences is very exciting.

My article focuses on my generations love of artifical audio experience. I explore this issue through the story about how "Ziggurat Vertigo" came. I never would have imagined that people would have been interested in the internal musings of a 22 year old.

I hope I can beat the success of Ziggurat Vertigo... I'd hate to have peaked in the second year of my undergrad.

My friends and family have been asking to read my article. I don't feel comfortable letting them read it yet. I'm not as confident in my writing skills as I am in my music skills. As soon as I get over my insecurity I'm sure I'll let people read it. Until then... The graphics they used in the article are pretty cool...

Multiplayer Madness

2006-07-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a long road but I'm finally finished. A lot of hard work, late nights and help from friends has yielded something that we should be proud of. Our little army has proven itself once again. It's easy to forget how crazy this project has been. I'll remind you.

At the start of this little adventure I envisioned a 4 channel off the floor recording that would keep a record of the material we wrote after our first album. Now we have a professional sounding album that sounds like a million bucks but cost much less. What happened there? I don't think we'll ever really know.

Thanks so much for the support during this crazy time. Your notes, advice and moral support were very helpful in making this project sound the way it does.

Skateboard

2006-07-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

I like to be busy. Some people don't like the stress that comes with an unending stream of projects, goals and deadlines, but I love it. This summer is no exception. Currently finishing the TenTooMany album is taking up a lot of time. Also, my percussion commission has to be finished on August 1st (The same date as the TenTooMany CD). *wipes sweat*

Also, this summer I've been teaching myself how to skateboard. After a few brutal wipe outs in the alley behind my apartment, I started to get the hang of things. (Bleeding all over my clothes and picking gravel out of my palms brought back memories) Now, I can skateboard on streets and sidewalks. I tend to skate very late at night because I'm not very good at avoiding obstacles yet. Obstacles in my neighbourhood include: Children, Cars, Bikes, Old People, Rocks, Immigrants and Gay Prostitutes. (As Brent and I discovered the other day)

The feeling you have while skateboarding is kind of like that feeling you learn a new mode of transportation. When you're a little kid and you're learning how to ride a 2 wheeler, the constant fear of falling makes things more exciting. When you first get your licence, the constant fear of crashing makes driving more of a rush.

Skateboarding is always a risk so always a rush. If you're Tony Hawk or Eliot Britton, a pebble can send you sprawling.

Strangely, I've been told that you shouldn't wear wrist guards unless you are using ramps. Instead, you have to learn to roll as you fall. Breaking your fall with your hands is a fast track to cast town.

23 "The Enigma"

2006-07-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

23 is supposed to be an interesting year in a life. An unstable number, 23 represents change and chaos. This number suits how I feel right now. I'm poised on the biggest change I've ever endured.

I am leaving my old life to start something new. It doesn’t feel very strange yet, mostly It has made me think about portable my life is. I am almost ready to go. All my important stuff is already boxed up with the exception of my computer and speakers. Those will have to follow later.

I am trying hard to tie up as many loose ends as possible. Some ends are very large and difficult to tie off. One of these being TenTooMany. I can try and make out like I don't care but leaving my band is gonna hurt. ( a lot) The only thing I can do is enjoy all the time I spend with them before the CD release. The other day some of us went out for dinner and that was a lot of fun. It seems like we've changed the title of the albuum. "Multiplayer Madness" is what we're going with now. I think it has a better ring to it, and when you see the grapihc design it will all fall into place.

Sometimes I feel like I'm dying, and trying to enjoy my life as much as possible before it's gone. But then I remember that I'm chasing after something important to me, and I always knew I would have to "leave the rest behind"

R.I.P Graham "Epidose" Marsh

2006-06-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

Graham Marsh commited suicide the other day. Being one of my early musical heroes, it was more than a little difficult for me to take. I heard rumours that he had shut himself away and was playing a LOT of WOW. Apearntly he was was suffereing from a mental ilneses, losing his grip on reality and couldn't deal with it anymore.

Here is the letter I sent his brother.

****

Hi David,

I was devastated when I learned of Graham's Death. Even though I have never met him, I feel like I know him in a unique way. I have an interesting story I always meant to tell Graham but I never had the chance.

When I was in grade 9 (~1998), I was passed a CD by an older student who knew I was interested in composition wanted me to hear electronic music. She briefly showed sketch and said she was working on a flyer for a show. She was to graduate a few weeks later and I never saw her again.

I didn't know who's music was but I loved it. For the next few years the "Mystery" CD would be a personal favorite. It inspired me to begin producing. I set to work reconstructing his music and figure out how it worked, the rhythms, the common patterns, production techniques etc. With nothing other than some un-released tracks and the memory of a sketch, I had little hope of figuring out who's music I so enjoyed.

A few years later I was accepted into the Composition faculty at the University of Manitoba specializing in electronic music. I walking through a record store and I saw an old poster on the wall close to the floor. The graphic style of the poster caught my eye. The character on the poster reminded me of the sketch I had seen 5 years earlier. I had a word to go on now... "Epidose"

From there, I managed to track down Graham's e-mail after a long Internet search. I briefly contacted him and he was happy to hear from me. He gave me some production advice and some of his newer stuff. He also gave me a bunch of the rough material he used in the creation of his older material.

For the last 2 years I've been playing his music on my show "Samplitude" on UMFM.

Now i'm heading off to do my Masters in Composition at McGill. I always wanted to thank Graham for inspiring me. A lot of my sucess grew out of the hard work in those early years trying to figure out his music. Meeting him in person was on my list of things to do before I moved to Montreal. His music was instrumental in my early development as a producer. His sense of "fun" and clever use of atmosphere will always stick with me.

As someone who has spent a fair amount of time thinking about aesthetics and analyzing music of all types, I can tell you Graham's work is very special. Even after 10 years, I'm still hearing new and interesting things on that first CD.

-Eliot Britton

Bush, Genus George W

2006-06-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

After spending a good portion of last Tuesday on the lookout for an evil that would usher in the end of the world, some may think I was disappointed by a fairly unvengeful day. No angels or demons, floods or fire, meteors or holy wars... Just the Hollywood Remake of "The Omen". (Which I hear is bad, but not bad enough to trigger the last judgement)

But I DID find what I was looking for. Not in the form of a burning bush, but in an altogether more annoying and hateful kind of bush of the genus George W. In my view he represents the closest thing to a personification of evil I can imagine. Violence, arrogance, greed, ignorance, hatred and intolerance swirl around that guy like a Texas twister. But I refuse to give him credit for the mess he created. He is far to stupid. I think George is just another leaf trapped in the latest storm of people who are blinded by greed, ignorance and fear. They frantically search for anybody or anything that can justify their terrible deeds, hopeing to keep the fire burning for just a little longer. Just a few more billion, just a few more years. And so the scapegoats continue.

The Monsters and Demons of which I am so fond have always been the scapegoats for the evils of our world. Historical archetypes onto whom we dump our fear and weakness, these cosmological garbage men quietly take out the trash behind the scenes, bearing the weight of our sins, asking for little in return. A beautiful notion but it doesn’t work that way. We are responsible.

You won't find evil lurking in the shadows with wings and a pointy tail. "Evil comes from the hearts of men" and unless Bush and the NeoCons are stopped, we'll have hell to pay. And considering the current US dept of 8.3 trillion, the devil's due isn't cheap.

The Beast is yet to come!

2006-06-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

05/06/06

As part of my daily morning routine I was hurriedly cramming my face with apples, toast, milk and chicken. I flipped my TV to the VISION network to get my daily dose of Christian insanity. Today was particularly fun because it was about how good the American army is and how God stands behind them and their "work" in Iraq. They also talked about how good the army experience is for all those 18 year old kids. If this wasn't enough, they began quoting scripture and using it to convince people not to question the police or the military. If I had a pen I would have taken down those verses.

I wonder if anything is going to happen on 06/06/06? I hear NeoCon mothers are inducing child birth because they don't want to give birth to the antichrist! :)

Last time we had a date this evil was the year of the London fires "1666"

If the Dies Irae isn't tomorrow, I don't know WHEN it's gonna get here! All those tv evangelists will be disappointed.

The Drink of Champions!

2006-05-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

Ghettonaide

15 ml lemon juice
15 ml honey
1 l filtered water

Liquid Perfection!

The album why?

2006-05-23T13:18:00.000-07:00

As I sit here trying to mix "digital life" I can't help but stop and laugh at myself. Why did I write such a crazy song? Will people get any of this? Or did I waste my time? Mullets, Videogames, Demons and dead friends.... What else is there to write about? People say artists should stick with what they know and what they see around them. By that logic I must be in a strange time and place. I'm happy with the mixing is going. It will sound much more polished than our last CD. Perhaps a bit too polished. The only thing I'm afraid of is that we've been away for so long that people might not care anymore. We have always played for ourselves, people just kinda liked what we did. Now that I think we've really become something unique I worry that nobody will notice. There are more bands playing more shows, working harder to maintain large groups of fans... We haven't really done those things. Not that we ever really could (with our jobs and school). My only hope is that TenTooMany's next album will be "unique" enough to be remembered.

Our new album just might be crazy enough to become a sucess on the internet. What mullet site wouldn't want a copy of our track? What self respecting videogame nerd wouldn't want to hear an epic ska anthem about their tragic addictions? I'm happy to cling to my fantasy.

But hey, who am I kidding. I still have mixing and mastering to do. These questions can wait.

Thank You Charles Dickens!

2006-05-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

"There is a drowsy state, between sleeping and waking, when you dream more in five minutes with your eyes half open, and yourself half conscious of everything that is passing around you, than you would in five nights with your eyes fast closed, and your senses wrapt in perfect unconsciousness. At such times, a mortal knows just enough of what his mind is doing, to form some glimmering conception of its mighty powers, its bounding from earth and spurning time and space, when freed from the restrain of its corporeal associate."

Climbing Silent Hill "Mind the Gap on that 2nd step"

2006-04-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

I finally got to go see Silent Hill. I have a lot to say about it but I won't talk about the plot until all my friends have seen it. For now, it was an interesting display of plot acrobatics that got a A for technique but didn't stick the landing. That being said, I was disappointed at the inability of most people to figure out the point of the movie. Critics and friends alike. The slope between lowest common denominator cash grab and the vision of the director/writers was pretty steep.

The questions and comments I heard after the movie deflated me a bit, I don't know of many horror movies that deliver subtle performances and brilliant dialog. How the hell is somebody supposed to subtlety talk about zombies and run down a crowded street? As Sybil says "What the fuck is wrong with you people?" Haha.

"The story didn't make sense"
"Bad Acting"
"Those dead guys were so dumb"

As formentioned, Silent Hill's plot has a damn steep sudden death learning curve. Lets explore the climb to the summit shall we?

Level 1: Cool CG Monsters, Bad acting, illogical story progression. (Most people get off the bus here)

Level 2: Can you follow a challenging plot that doesn't give second chances?

Level 3: Do you understand historical and visual references to Amercain and world events?

-Holocaust -Christian Myghology
-Spain (Auto de fe)

-Great Mining disasters of the early 2oth century
-World war 2

- Art History.
-Latin

-History of early American Christianity
-Gnostic Gospels

Level 4: Are you able to read between the lines and synthesize the story using subtle clues?

Level 5 (The Summit of Silent Hill): What is the real story here? What is this movie saying about people, past and present? Why did they chose this format?

When a movie forces you to ask all these questions, before you can "get it". I'd say it's not long for this world. All those plebeians stuck toiling away at level 1 will drag it down with them.

Don't Look At Me Like That!

2006-04-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

***

Glyph put down his axe for the last time yesterday night. After one last battle it was time to go. With a heavy heart he knelt down surrounded by his friends and faded into digital oblivion.

***

As Glyph's story ends, somewhere far away from the humming servers that carry the digital dreams of many, somebody got their life back.

Sleep Talking

2006-04-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Anybody who has spent a long time around me can tell you that I talk in my sleep. I can't say I've ever experienced it (being asleep) but, I've always wished I could record myself and hear what I am saying at night.

When Kevin was living here, I'm not sure if he ever got the chance to hear me talking. Perhaps it's better that he didn't. From what I understand, it can be pretty creepy.

Last night I was talking and laughing so much that my dad was convinced there was somebody else in my room. He came to check on my and was surprised to see me alone and fast asleep.

My dream involved starfish burrowing into sand and somehow creating lava flows. The said flows of lava bubbled up and created crescent shaped dens in which the starfish lived. From what I understand about starfish this is not common behavior.

The Saturday After Lent

2006-04-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

for the last five years I've found myself in exactly the same situation on easter weekend.
I sit in my apartment getting ready for the final push on my composition jury, outside the entire Osborne area is filled with young people recently freed from the crushing stress and pressure of exams.

I love the way the sound carries around, bounces up to my apartment window and makes me smile.
I like those sounds much better than the early mourning garbage truck or the late night poster guy. More than the sounds of people going through the trash, or drunk people fighting on the street.

I love it here.

Somewhere on Azeroth

2006-03-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

Last night around 3:00 in the morning, my character in World of Warcraft “Glyph” hit level 60. (the highest possible level) You might wonder why this event is worth sharing.

I'm a student, I don't have much money or time. Neither to my friends. Imagine a game you can play with your friends in that special time after homework is done, before you crash and get up for school. It's the cheapest, most effective way we can do something fun together a few times a week.

To most people, relaxing time involves watching reality TV and other stupid shows where you silently observe other people's adventures unfold. My vegging out time involves an interactive epic high fantasy adventure with computerized representations of my school and music friends. It's like living your own cartoon movie.

Dave, Rajat, Kevin and I went and killed some real tough monsters in a hazy hellish zone. When I hit level 60 they set off fireworks and we all got drunk. (virtually of course) Because, after Friday night's Kegger, I think some virtual drinking is better suited to the recoevery of our real bodies.

I've got very good friends that I can always count on to be there for me. It dosetn't matter if it's anxiety over my future as a young composer or a 20 foot winged demon trying to smash my face through a wall, they are always there for me.

Dave sent me this picture with a caption the day after my little victory celebration. We both started new characters at level 1. While we were playing, we were talking about how interesting the virtual sky looks, wondering about the artist who drew it for us. Here is the pic and caption, it made me smile.

"While one chapter in the life of a seasoned warrior ends, somewhere else in azeroth two friends stop to admire the night sky and contemplate where their adventures will take them..."

Thanks again, to all my friends.

COMPLEXIFICATION

2006-03-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.complexification.net/

Soup Party 2!

2006-03-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

Friday night I went to a soup party. I can't begin to explain how fun it was to go to a house where every table is covered in pots of soup. Not just half assed soups either, these were treasured family recepies or international delights created by great cooks.

Upon entry, we handed over our pot of soup, a little card with:

MEATY, VEGETERIAN, VEGAN:

NAME:

The whole thing went over very well. I got to talk to Professor Dedrich from CMU about 20th century organ rep, as well as his thoughts on the Horton Ritchey method. From what I understand, I'll be having some trouble in McGill.

SOUP PARTY!

2006-03-17T17:41:00.000-08:00

Split Green Pea Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

* split Green peas.

* Water to cover peas

* chopped onion

* chopped celery

* diced carrots

* 2 bay leaves

* 1 smoked ham hock (ask the people at the store for this odd item)

* 1 teaspoon thyme (optional)

* water

* salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

I have never used a recipe while making this soup. I watched my mom make it when I was a kid, now I can do it. There are no precise measurements. This soup is VERY forgiving. Provided you don't burn anything and it involves carrots, water, ham, peas and salt, chances are, it'll be awesome. The rest comes from trying it, and seeing what you like.

1. Wash and drain the peas. Make sure they aren't yellow peas. That will take you down the road to French Canadian pea soup, which is infinitely inferior. As far as the amount of peas, some people like thick soup, others not. I like thick soup so I really giver' with the peas. At least ¼ of the pot you plan to use should be filled with dry peas.

2. Put the peas in a big pot and let them soak. You don't have to do this, but it seems to help the cooking later on. Turn the pot to high, start boiling, skim the foam, and stir occasionally.

3. Next, Cut up all your celery, carrots and onions. As many as you'd like. (Personally I like it heavy on onions and carrots, light on the celery)

4. Add the smoked ham hock to the boiling peas. Boil the peas and ham. Add the vegetables, bay leaf and spices. Keep boiling until all the stuff gets soft.

5. Pull out the ham hoc and let it cool. Grab one of those hand blenders and have at that soup until it's smooth. If you don't have a hand blender, go buy one, they are cheap and come in handy while making soup. Try to keep some orange carrot lumps. They are fun for unexplained reasons. Texture maybe?

6. Cut all the meat off the bone, dice it, and put it in the soup.

7. Balance out your flavors with salt, pepper and anything else you'd like.

If it's thick enough to spread on toast, after cooling, you did a good job.

University Roulette

2006-03-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

The little white marble that represents many of my future activities was bouncing around quite a bit this year. It rattled around the UK, bounced through the southerns states, up through middle America and ping ponged between eastern and western Canada. finally the ball stopped.

And the Winner is!!!

McGill: Montreal

It was a very difficult choice. But, when I received the letter from McGill I was very happy. It's supposed to be the best school in Canada for music. Also, the city is rumored to be very interesting musically. One of the Three Canadian Schools with a truly international reputation.

The choice was hard. I'm giving up a lot of good offers. But, when I took everything into consideration, McGill was the best. I was fortunate enough to be in the position to factor scholarships offers, TA positions and reputation into my choice. Some of the hardest things I had to give up one were: a full scholarship to U of A and an offer from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Who cares about what I am passing up. I'm gonna focus on what I stand to gain from this incredible opportunity!

When everybody knows you are applying for masters schools, a lot of pressure builds up. I'm glad I dont' have to worry about that anymore. I am also VERY glad that I can focus on other things.

Robocop Good

2006-02-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

For the last few days I've been in the studio with my Band TenTooMany. I've been having a lot of fun. Despite a lot of crazy unforeseen issues, we've been doing quite well. As of las night, we finished the brass (not Trumpet... He is out of town or something), Drums, Bass, Keys and Guitar. We also managed to get a good chunk of the vocals done.

Chris and Craig were a huge help putting this project together. TTM is indebted to these two musicians. Chris for the use of some of his sweet equipment as well as advice during the setup. Craig for help with drums, as well as good advice in general.

I can't wait to finish the album and show it to all of you! I think this one is gonna be very cool! I think my song writing is much stronger now.

-Eliot

Part Two: The Wings of Nike

2006-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

A specific electroacoustic composition that reflects what I believe to be significant in the 21^st century would have to be The Wings of Nike by the composer Barry Truax. Not only does his successful development of real time granular synthesis reflect some of the current issues facing music technologies today, but his motives for creating this technology reflect the current interests in “getting inside” sounds, and gaining more accurate and versatile means of expression.

The challenges Barry Truax faced before the creation of The Wings of Nike reflect in some ways, the situation that many composers and electroacoustic researchers face today. Truax was researching and developing in a time when technology was far behind people's abilities to theorize. Granular synthesis requires a multitude of short enveloped “grains” of sound to be played back at various attack densities, hundreds, or even thousands per second. These types of operations were beyond the power of readily available computer technology in the early 80s. So, he had to follow technology closely, and when technology caught up with his ideas, he used the PODX system to create the first real time Granular Synthesis composition. The Wings of Nike.

Today, we can learn a lot from the patience and dedication of Truax during the comparatively slow technological progress of the 70s and 80s. Currently, the gap between theory and computing capability is closing fast. We are quickly approaching a world where the problems of an electroacoustic composer are not expressed in terms of inadequate processor speed or the price of computers. Our problems can be expressed in terms of a need for creative imagination and the human resources needed to create complex software programs and hardware interfaces.