Friday, July 1, 2005

Tonight's bummer... from the AP... Luther Vandross Dies at 54. He never really got better after the stroke... he will be missed. 9:05:40 PM    comment []

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Holiday Travel? Perhaps a sharp stick is available     Yup, of all the weekends to throw a flight in and out of a coupla vacation destination hot spots... you'd think we were the main attraction. We packed up the new summer production last night on the soundstage where the band rehearsed and loaded the trucks this morning, one headed for Sin City and the soccer field, the two others for KC and the start of the real tour... well, as real as a three week tour can be.     As I write from the United terminal at LAX, the lines grow, the computers slow and the heat rises in Las Vegas. We'll be there soon and will unload our gear at Sam Boyd, where we will be able to set up/protect it from the elements/ fiddle with it tomorrow, RHCP willing. Our new groovy set up is a lot like the old groovy set up, slightly streamlined in certain places and bloated in others by new toys, new looks and enough supplies to get us through the end of August and the Asian jaunt.     There have been predictions of record travelers out for the Fourth, the specter of nastiness replaced by an insatiable need to burn fossil fuel and give our hard earned money to strangers. Can disappointment be far behind? Does anyone really care about the grand sum of our defeated escape plan, the fuel dumped in the bay, the Hummer overheated on the side of a dusty arroyo, the empty wallet smelling of burning plastic, dripped on by the wheels of a bulimic ATM? Yeah, I know, flowery, I just get in a mood sometimes.     Thirty hours from now, freshly showered and ready for rest, the test of facing the sea of humanity who feels that the best way to celebrate their Americanness is to gamble, drink and wander aimlessly around a series of large buildings created for bilking rubes seems like a bad hand at the blackjack table. I need a new book to start tomorrow. 3:23:27 PM    comment []

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If you have the time to laugh... My friend Jim sent me this link to a video parody done in a Ken Burns-like documentary style. It tells the story of the non-existant Negro Space Program of the 50's and 60's. It's quite funny. There are a few different ways to view this file. A warning though; it does contain some curse words for those who would be offended by swearing by fictional characters... you have been warned. 11:10:41 AM    comment []

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That's fine, I'll just download all my Sheryl Crow into my phone.... from Boing Boing and Cory Doctorow: New version of iTunes won't run alongside ProTools. Tim sez,: The latest versions of iTunes prevents you from using Pro Tools or other peripheral-based audio apps.I downloaded the new version out of habit from the Update, then went to open iTunes and it just bounced in the dock without opening. I went to the India-based email help on the Apple webpage, and the first thing they asked was "do you have any peripherals hooked up?" I wasn't sure exactly what they were talking about, but finally unhooked the MBox (the external hardware for Pro Tools, the audio production standard software), and bingo! iTunes opened no problem. Hmmm... DRM anyone? Err... well, the culprit turns out to be a more typical one...see below. Update: Robb sez, I'm running iTunes alongside several production audio applications and not one but two professional digital audio interfaces. As a matter of fact I'm using cycling74's soundflower virtual audio driver to record iTunes audio (yes including protected AAC files) into Ableton Live. "Digidesign, the makers of ProTools (a closed, proprietary audio software package and the closed, proprietary audio hardware that they make you buy to use their software) are notoriously bad driver writers -- and their drivers for THEIR audio interfaces (one of which Tim is using) are the culprit: they are single client interfaces, which means unlike every other audio interface for the Mac, they can only support one application at a time. "Apple, btw, has made it far EASIER to use applications together. Tiger features virtual audio interfaces that aggregate the ports on all your hardware into one, the ability to send audio and midi between machines over networks and, in general OSX rocks for audio production." I jumped the gun...my bad. 5:31:10 AM    comment []

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