February 5th, 2010
Lindsey singing into the Blue Mikey on an iPhone
If It’s Rainin.mp3by L. Sandella, R. Ripperger
Written/Recorded 02.04.2010
When I discovered the iPhone/iPod Touch has an app that does 16 track recording, I immediately set out to find a good microphone for the iPhone. Blue came through with the Mikey, which I picked up at Guitar Center for $75. Blue is one of my all-time favorite microphone companies and has made multiple microphones I’ve used, including the Baby Bottle, Blueberry, and Blue Ball. The Mikey is a stereo microphone designed for the iPhone/iPod. A stereo microphone/16 track recorder in my pocket? Yes. It sounds incredible too. Here is the result of Lindsey and I giving the new Blue Mikey a shot on the Multitrack app made by Harmonicdog (available in the App Store for $14.99, and well worth it). I must say, anyone with an iPhone, a beautiful sounding Taylor guitar, and a girlfriend with some pipes and songwriting skills, has no excuse not to record anymore.
Lindsey Mixing Vocals On the Multitrack App
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January 27th, 2010
For a few months now I’ve been pondering the phrase, “People only evolve at the precipice”. It gives me a positive approach to life’s challenges… almost makes me look forward to them.
Part of me wishes I didn’t have to stretch myself… wishes I had some powerful overlord who simply took care of me and paid my bills and I would just maintain life as it always was known to me. I wouldn’t have to see pain outside my world, or ever force myself to learn anything new. The difficult lessons of responsibility, trust, forgiveness, and all those things that are no fun, I could simply surpass because my powerful overlord would protect me from them.
However, every task I have taken on and failed, but tried over and over until I got it right, has evolved me… into something better, stronger, wiser, and ultimately more capable of living life to the full. So I don’t want a powerful overlord… I don’t want to be sheltered from pain, or love, or all the difficult issues I could so easily avoid in the comfort of peaceful middle America. I want to evolve… so bring me to the precipice, and show me something I can’t do… yet.
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January 7th, 2010
Meals I Cook at Home (pt 1)
Note: The “Meals I Cook at Home” series will have these notes. I must be honest, I eat like a king when I’m at home – healthier and tastier than most anything you can buy to eat, and the people in my life beg me to cook for them. Since I started using fresh ingredients from the whole food store and cooking them, my life has changed, and believe it or not it’s cheaper than buying fast food or frozen dinners, less stressful than traffic, and has physical and mental benefits to boot.
Location: My Apartment
Breakfast Omelet (1/3)
Ingredients: Fresh Greens (I used spinach & arugula), Fine Cheeses (I used an aged gouda and parmesean), Eggs, Butter
Note: Feel free to substitute for different greens and cheeses, such as mint leaves and ricotta cheese, or just try whatever you have on hand. The important part is that the greens are fresh and the cheese is real, not some bagged imitation of cheese and dried up leaves. The same people who make cigarettes make Kraft… taste and nutrition are not their priority. You can also add fresh chopped onions, shallots, scallions, mushrooms… anything you would like in an omelet.
Note 2: Buying organic salad mixes is a great practical way to have multiple kinds of greens on hand at all times, and fresh ones will keep in the fridge a month or longer.
Ingredients
Breakfast Omelet (2/3)
How to cook: Get your ingredients like above. Beat eggs. Melt butter over medium heat until frothy, then add beaten eggs. When the base is cooked, pick it up and swirl the runny part around the sides of the pan. Put it down and add everything else. Fold over (a fork works), turn off heat, and let it self-cook a few minutes while you get your plate ready.
Note: I use about a 1/2 tbs of real unsalted butter for every two eggs, but you could use up to twice that. You don’t need a measuring cup, there are rulers on the butter.
Note 2. Having a good omelet sized pan is a must for so many dishes, and cheap pans in cheap sets burn food. If you don’t have one, go buy one. A $20 pan from Walmart or Target will last you forever.
Ready to fold over & turn off heat
Breakfast Omelet (3/3)
Slide it out of the pan onto the plate you prepared. I used a few leaves of the spinach and arugula in the omelet, some California garlic salt, and fresh cracked pepper (the only kind of pepper you should use).
Note: Treat yourself well – think about how to decorate your plate while you cook, every time you cook. You would present it well to a guest of honor, so treat yourself equally well and take some time to garnish your dishes. You’ll be surprised how much aesthetics effect taste; our senses are actually tied to each other very strongly.
Finished Breakfast Omelet
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December 31st, 2009
I found this via a Stephen Speaks RSS feed (Google’s amazing service that sends me news about myself) – happy to be on this list, especially sandwiched in between Alecia Keys and Taylor Swift, with Out Of My League at #87.
http://jecoup9587.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-hot-100-of-decade.html
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December 19th, 2009
Waiting in line for the big event. I’ll write a review to let you know if its as impressive as the line to get in.
Review (post blog followup)
When I went to see Avatar, it was actually the second night of it’s showing, and I expected a line. I didn’t expect the line to rival the opening night of Star Wars Episode 1. The line was so long that it had to wrap around the building, a couple times, and given the lack of distinction of where it began and ended, I’m pretty sure a few fistfights almost broke out. Waiting in the same mass of human bodies to get out of the theatre, no one complained at all, for I’m pretty sure we would have gladly waited again to see the movie again, immediately. All showings were sold out however.
It’s hard to just call it a movie. It was more like a 3D journey through a world beyond anything I could have imagined… or if I did imagine it, it would have taken me fifteen years and a team of the most cutting edge designers our world has ever known. The problem with animated films is simple: designers can make fancy looking creatures, but the complexity of the human face, namely the emotional responses it portrays, are impossible to re-create digitally. That was until the makers of Avatar figured out how. (I won’t go into the technical aspect, but face recognition software combined with fancy cameras enabled James Cameron to capture actual actors movements, and see the Avatar equivalent on his fancy little cutting-edge camera)
The story is a simple one – civilization seeking money vs. a native civilization who has learned to co-exist with the planet, rather than re-arranging it. There is never much detail about the specifics, although Cameron did write a language for the native people, but the story is solid, universal and the imagry in 3D at a good theatre is one that will absolutely pique your senses. Basically, if you’re the kind of person that enjoys stimulating the senses, you must see Avatar in 3D, in a good theatre with a booming surround system.
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December 19th, 2009
Though I’ve had some sort of bug the last few days and been mostly bed ridden, I ventured out last night to catch the PDA show at Bob’s (the sideroom at Cain’s), with a bit of persuasion by @WesternHeritage, which I am very grateful for now. The show had a whopping four openers, which I am normally very opposed to – I like to see who I came to see and get out. However, the lineup was diverse and very entertaining, and the time passed quickly. Starting with an alt-rock band, it led into a death metal band in Santa hats who jumped around the entire stage like monkeys with wireless guitars, to a rap group from OKC who was surprisingly cool, and even a pop-punk band reminiscent of Panic At The Disco.
PDA hit the stage at 11:15PM and played a slightly longer set than the last time I saw him at D-Fest. I was fading quickly, with my coughing and fever a blazing, but it was seconds after he took the stage when I forgot about my ailments. His energy and stage presence took control of my feet, and I found myself up and dancing (with the rest of the building I might add, which had been somewhat calm up until this point). I would say his stage presence is very reminiscent of Prince, his movements precise and unique, without one ounce of timidness in his whole being. His vocals are spot on, his rhythm is impeccable, and his lyrics are even rock-solid. One line that made me laugh and stuck in my head was, “I don’t know you but I know what hos do”. Now that’s funny.
It was somewhat bittersweet when he announced that it would be his last local show, as he is moving to LA to “try and get famous”. Well, in my opinion, he should be. Best of luck man. I certainly hope our paths will cross again.
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