[np: Dead Can Dance - Into The Labyrinth"

I was flipping through Keyboard magazine last night and ran across a rather sad advertisement. BT had taken out a full-page advert looking for information on his recent studio break-in. Apparently over $150k of equipment was stolen, and he's offered $20k reward for information that leads to finding his gear. The real killer is that they stole his Mac that had his live show on it... Ouch. Even sadder was the rant BT goes on after that -- it's barely coherent thing that talks about thumbprint IDs and grants for underprivledged youths... The guy is obviously devastated by his loss.

Knock on wood, I've never had any of my gear stolen. I know several musicians that have, though, including Karma Sutra and Gooding. It's one of those ultimate violations, as any musician will tell you that their instruments are very, very personal items. I've had my main guitar (named "Liz") for nearly 13 years now, pretty close to my entire musical career. I've played that guitar in every Endless Blue show I've ever done, as well as every STATE4 show before that. If I were to lose it, yes, I could replace it, but I could never replace the emotional attachment. It would be like the death of a friend.

That's it. I'm buying a security system pronto-stat.

[np: Stoic Frame - Stoic Frame]

Last week found me in Minneapolis at IPR, across the street from Deja Vu and down the street from Sex World. I was sitting in on the mixing of Six Bullets in the cherry 5.1 Mix Studio A. It was a damn long day/night but was oodles of fun. Nice to see professionals work -- I was able to walk away with a lot of new ideas of how to mix. At the same time, It was funny to see how bizarre and unconventionally I work... Also, it was crazy to hear what it is like to mix in a good room. I want one of those when I make my first million...

At any rate, I've been taking a break on the soundtrack CD for the last week and have been working on the new Endless Blue stuff. It's coming together quite nicely, and definitely has a "sound". I'd put it squarely between our first and second albums -- it's more minimalistic than Smoke Through It, but is more "mature" than the self-titled. It's less rock than Smoke Through It, but more organic than the self-titled.

The track "Her" has turned out to be a pleasant surprise and a testament to the approach to the writing for this album. It's gone through several reworkings, first replacing an ugly synth with an electric piano, then replacing a synth bass with a live bass. Then it's just been the addition of tiny flourishes that really give the song it's sound -- Laura's addition of a "la-la-la" track and the variation of a vocal synth on the choruses just make it a different song. Very nice.

In the past week I've become something of a reverb Nazi. I figured out that I could use an impulse response reverb unit while mixing... This kind of reverb allows you to import the characteristics of existing places and extremely expensive hardware reverbs. Me being me, I promptly downloaded every reverb model I could get my hands on, and all I can say is *wow*, all reverbs are *not* created equal. Some of the really old vintage "plate" reverbs are just amazing. They give that retro sound I happen to be looking for on the vocals...

Anyway, enough geekery.

So - i just totally saw the guys' "chick flick" the other day. It was that Mark Wahlberg (he's always going to be Marky Mark to me, though). It's Invincible - - it was pretty enjoyable. Sappy, but enjoyable. I watched it on the flight back from LA. I have been traveling so much for work lately. It's insane. I went to Oklahoma City twice, New Mexico, and California in January! YOWZA.

In the next few months, I head to Florida and I may end up in Phoenix and California again before March is over.

So, last night I stayed in bed and watched "An Inconvenient Truth". It was a bit heavy-handed, I must say, but deeply moving. I really felt influenced by the film. Al Gore was never too good at anything else, he might as well do films! :) Just kidding. I think he's a swell cat - - not swell enough to be president. Well, let me rescind that statement saying that he certainly is way better than what we have now. And the fact that he did win and didn't get the white house spot, really killed me. However, I don't think in comparison to other good democrats, he is the best pick. Anyhoo - the movie was great. I highly recommend it to all you global warming skeptics out there.

Can I just take this moment to let everyone know that while I am absolutely against global warming and think it's a huge problem, it's hard to stick with my guns because it's damn cold here in Wisconsin. Record lows, in fact, since 11 years ago. Our schools were closed last week 2 days in a row, because the temperature was not only way below zero, but the windchill factor was -34 degrees. Um...what the f&ck.

Anyhoo - back to global warming...I do think the film kind of celebrates/glorifies the problem, which is kind of annoying. However, after seeing it, I don't get how people can not think that global warming is a problem.

Here's where the agreement lies:

Most people do agree with the facts and statistics. Global warming is a problem. The earth is getting warmer. Something needs to be done.

Here's where the opposition lies:

Some people say that it is due to human beings that the problem is so significant. Others claim that while humans contribute to the problem, the majority is caused by other forces.

The question is, how can we really prove it either way? We can't go back in time to do a study to disprove this theory. We can only use data and guess why it is the way it is.

Sometimes I think that the sun has just gotten warmer over the years. Each year it gets hotter and hotter. After all, it is just a star.

The question is, why has it gotten hotter? Are humans to blame?

I still would like to stick with the thought that no matter whom is to blame, we can take measures to gain control. If we can do something to help stop global warming - - hell yeah, let's do it.

Drive hybrid cars, bike to work, walk to the store, share rides, recycle, stop buying plastic products, re-use glass and plastic, ask for paper over plastic bags, turn your thermostat down one degree, buy compact fluorescent bulbs, support non-petroleum alternatives, buy energy efficient appliances, etc. There are an infinite amount of things we can do...

Ready...let's go!

[np: The Beatles - White Album]

:P

I just read on CNN about a father who beat his two-year-old daughter unconscious, wrapped her in a blanket, then left her in the woods. Where she woke up and wandered around until she died of hypothermia.

Jesus. I just don't know sometimes.

Anyway, gotta just shake it off. If I were to dwell upon all the tragedy and corruption of innocence in the world, I would wither away to nothing in moments. But stories like this do weigh on me...

On the music front, I'm heading up to Minneapolis in a week to help mix the audio for Six Bullets. Should make for a fun time. In the time being, I've been mixing for the soundtrack CD, which has been going quite well. I've found that soundtrack mixing is considerably easier than mixing for pop music... (Or maybe I'm just getting better at mixing?) At any rate, I think it all revolves around the vocals, or rather the lack thereof. With pop music you're building mixes around the vocal, with the soundtrack your building a soundscape, which is decidedly easier. Should be done in the next week or two, and then it's behind me.

On to the EB album proper... Laura and I had a good recording session the other night for two of the new tracks. I think we nailed lead vocals for both of them, with plenty of coverage, so we should be able to check them off the list. This would probably be a first in that the vocals are actually done before I consider the production to be done... I'm being really picky about that aspect now, running things through several iterations of rewrite in order to get that "right" sound. For example, the track "Her" has excellent drums and nice electric piano melody, but the bass line is, well, "lacking". Doesn't jive to me right now, so I'll be trying some different things, like playing it live.

Well, best get back to work, hope this day ends soon.