//blog/the archives
Soooo Much Going On...
posted on: 2008-10-04 at 10:42:00 AM
Before I go into this -- I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED THIS SITE (well, the back-end coding part at least). It's probably going to be my last entirely home-brewed personal web site *sigh* Facebook and MySpace, you win (now I just need to start updating THOSE)...
Well first on my mind is the presidential race. Wait -- don't stop reading now, it'll get better soon, I promise .. I just needed to get this out:For those of you who watched any of the debates -- please realize there is a massive difference between policy and wishful thinking. I want to break it down for you like this: The McCain / Palin ticket is offering to lower taxes and also give tax cuts to the middle-class, continue our war and concentrate our finding energy solutions domestically. The Obama / Biden ticket is offering to raise taxes (yet also cut taxes for the middle class), end the war, and concentrate on investing in cleaner, more sustainable energy resources and then exporting our technology across the globe.
To spell it out a little bit more detailed, under McCain / Palin's lower taxes, we will have less money to provide help to America's failing infrastructures (public schools, health care, transportation, etc.) -- and considering they want to keep the war going indefinitely, there will be even LESS money than before (by the scope of $300,000,000 per day).
With their current tax proposal, how much do they plan on saving the average $50,000 / year income families? About $250 a year.
O.k. -- seems fair enough. The Republican ticket wants to keep our energy domestic, continue the war, lower taxes...
Under Obama / Biden's higher taxes, we'll have more money to help with the broad-scoped future-sustaining programs that they have proposed (most of which address the real problems that exist TODAY -- some of which will even turn a profit on the global market). They want to pull out of Iraq and hand military power back their government and concentrate our war on terror against actual threats: the extremists master-minds (like Bin Laden), which is a much more strategic and less expensive route to fighting terror than we are currently doing. In ending the war and turning to diplomacy, Obama and Biden want to make America a global ally and try to remove the "world police" stigma we have acquired while keeping our military strong and ready to deploy against real threats.
But wait -- with all this money being spent on programs, research and future endeavors, how do they cut taxes on the middle-class? Well, easy -- they stop letting huge corporations and the most wealthy Americans get away with not paying taxes (yes, over 40% of American's income is not taxed because of legal loopholes that only rich people have access to). In other words, they TAX THE GREEDY ASSHOLES THAT HAVE BEEN GETTING AWAY WITH NOT PAYING TAXES FOR DECADES. Is that o.k. with you?
How much do they propose to save the average $50,000 / year income family? About $1200 per year.
DONE.
I FREAKING SOLD MY TURNTABLES!! I cannot believe I have parted with my babies -- but I had two very good reasons: Firstly, Oliver is getting old enough now that he likes to be a part of all the things that I do musically (and I encourage that). I do not like to play with my gear and not let him have his hands on them in some way. It became obvious very quickly that turntables are extremely NON-baby-proof (and babies are not necessarily turntable-proof, either). Secondly, being that I never really became more than a hobbiest DJ, I was tired of lugging 20 metric tons of equipment whenever there was a party or event for me to DJ. Don't get me wrong, I adore my record collection -- but it's time to move forward.So, I cashed in my 'tables on Craigslist and after about three weeks of posting and re-posting, I found the right buyer (I wasn't going to sell them for cheap because they were practically brand-new and came in expensive gig crates). He was super rad, and even let me take a picture! GOODBYE SKRITCHY AND SKRATCHY. **sniff**
With the money I made from the turntables, I got a Pioneer CDJ-400.
Holy fuck is this thing the freaking BOMB. It's basically a compact CD-player unit with variable pitch and an extremely precise touch-sensitive platter which behaves (like previous CDJ units) like the platter of a real turntable. For example, if you "drag" the edge of the platter, and give it slight pressure forwards or backwards, you "drag" the digital audio being played, slowing it down or speeding it up. Also, as you depress the top of the platter (or the "scratch pad"), it mimics the actual depressing of a real record on a turntable. Needless to say, you can scratch digital audio like it is pressed on wax -- and what's more, it SOUNDS FANTASTIC. No digital artifacting, no MP3 compression "fried chicken-y" sounds. No wishy-washy "smearing" audio. They up-sample the audio signal so much you can still hear the nuances of the sounds as if it were real vinyl, even at ridiculously slow speeds. Amazing.
Here's a little video I made showing the unit in action. Unfortunately, I'm not really showing off everything it can do -- but at least you get an idea. This video was shot at my friend Todd's house (he's got the MONSTER set-up). I'm working on a mini show-off set which I will post some on my studio page once I update it.
I put the CDJ next to the mixer and both atop my old Stanton CD decks (which are also variable-pitch), so basically, I am riding on 3 professional CD-decks, one of which is scratch-able and capable of some SICK EFFECTS. Also, I put some of my effect units at waist-level so Oliver can stand on my feet and help out. He loves to push the blinking buttons and turn the knobs -- and it's pretty fun to know he's helping daddy DJ. He has a blast too -- and when the beat is fresh, he gets "DANCE IN THE PANTS."
**Gleaming proud dad face**
So, not only is the CDJ-400 capable of playing audio CDs and MP3 CDs -- it can play virtually any USB device, be it an iPod, flash drive, external hard drive, or any number of MP3 playing machines. The really cool thing about using flash drives is that you can set loop points and "bookmarks" directly in the folder of the music you're playing -- so as you create a set, you can immediately cue up your next song complete with beat-looping and drops. HOW COOL IS THAT? Once I have some more space to practice, I will be throwing out some dope shiznit.
Oliver has a blast with this thing because he can beat on it all he wants (hey, I have a one year warranty). I set it all up with an extra long chord so he can sit on the floor and scratch away. It's sooo cute (again, pics and videos soon to come).
Speaking of Oliver, he's doing great! He had a bit of a cold last week, so he's been a little snotty -- but overall, he took it like a champ. He's walking, talking, running around, answering questions with his shoulders shrugged and arms raised (most of which are in the affirmative, which is awesome when you ask him questions like "are you a girl?") and opening doors and looking at flowers and laughing and winking at the cute toddler girls he passes by in the grocery store and burrowing his head in my lap as we play "GONNA GET'YA." He's so freaking awesome. I love him dearly.
With all of the good, however, comes the VERY BAD.
He has learned that he can scream and cry and flail about if he doesn't like something. This is grating on Angie and I, but it's the "terrible two's--" and we saw it coming. The worst is when he is let outside and then has to come in prematurely -- you see our neighbors are day sleepers, and they do not appreciate noises during the morning hours (especially noises emitted from giddy toddlers, apparently). If he had enough muscles in his face, he'd ball it up and turn it inside-out with nothing exposed except his gaping and screaming mouth!
Overall, he's pretty good, though. His new favorite show is "Yo Gabba Gabba!" I think it is my new all-time favorite show too. All I gotta say is: "Biz's Beat of the Day." What an awesome show. I know he's a little too young for it -- but I'm getting a little tired of the Nu-Nu.
I didn't mention work in this blog because as they taught you in middle-school: "When you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all." *sigh*
posted by Carl
3 Comments: [ Post a comment ]
Danae said...
i need meth to finish this. but thumbs up.
Posted: October 4, 2008 1:41 PM
Sweets654 said...
I'm still for McCain.
I just don't dig Obama.
I'm glad Oli is feeling better, and that you got something good out of selling your turntables.
Keep making beautiful music!
<3
Mar
Posted: October 5, 2008 11:50 AM
phykia said...
I need some meth too.
Posted: October 5, 2008 10:45 PM
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