New Sound Posted - I’m Like a Bird - loop
http://www.mts.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/like-a-bird-1-edit-6-export-1.mp3
In standard tuning, here’s a rendition of Steve Vai playing “I’m Like a Bird” with Nelly Furtado at the Grammys in 2002. This is just the intro but it’s so fun to noodle to….
The Universe?
This one gave me goosebumps!
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Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?
– Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, Bantam, NY, p 174 (1988)
Life
“If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character…Would you slow down? Or speed up?” Chuck Palahniuk
Friction
The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.—Frances Willard
Polar Opposites
I had one of the most amazing experiences today contrasting two people who have similar situations but handle them completely differently.
One person I talked to on the phone today constantly laments the past. She constantly reviews the past in her mind, relives the emotions and is completely affected by it in the present. I’d even go so far as to say that she’s paralyzed by the past. It affects her so deeply and the thought patterns are so deeply rooted in her that she has trouble escaping the gravity of the past. For those of you that know me, this is my Mom. And in talking to her about it, I have to be careful that I don’t allow her to bring me back into the past and all the garbage and all the past girlfriends and all the junk we had in the past. My stance recently has been to just tell her that there’s no future in the past. And that nothing good will come from reliving those moments and times in the past that she hasn’t already realized.
I talked to another person today. She happens to be someone that works at a store that I sometimes stop by on my way home from work. She’s about the same age as my Mom and shares some of the same physical qualities as my Mom. However this person just told me that she’s working in the family business (the store) and closed down her Escrow business to do so. Just as she closed down her business, she moved in with her sister to assist in the care of their Mother who is 89 and has Alzheimer’s. I commended her on taking care of her family like that (I did the same for my Grandfather before he passed) and what a commendable thing she’s doing. Of course (like me), she didn’t even feel like it was commendable and that it was completely natural to her and her family to take care of each other. She goes on to tell me that she had unexpectedly lost her oldest son (one of four sons) two months ago. I was shocked. I’d seen her and have always made an effort to “chat her up” whenever I stop by the store on my way home. I had no way of knowing by looking at her that she was going through such a difficult time/season in her life. She told me that she’s always believed that things happen for a reason but couldn’t find the reason in the loss of her son. However, she still firmly believes that things happen for a reason and I was just amazed at her attitude and desire to persevere over these troubling times. Come to think of it, I don’t even know her name but she still felt comfortable enough with me to share her situation with me. The only thing I could tell her was that I was so sorry to hear about her tragic loss and that she must be deeply grounded to deal with it the way she appears to be. Just being able to discuss the loss of her son with me without welling up or frowning was enough for me to know that she’s deeply connected.
So here are two people in my life that are of similar age and similar situations. One lamenting over the past and not able to enjoy the present and another who is going through probably one of the most challenging times in her life and is still able to have a postitive and an uplifting conversation with a nearly complete stranger. It was a nice contrast for me to observe today and there’s something therapeutic about writing about it.
Vai Holiday Wallpaper
Here’s something I whipped up in Photoshop this AM. Click on the image thumbnail below and then right click > set as background.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
New Sound Posted…
I spent the better part of Saturday working on a backing track to John Mayer’s tune called “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.” There are only two back tracks for John Mayer that I could find, so I thought it would be nice to contribute to the community in this area.
It was written in Propellerhead Reason 4.0 using the Redrum Computer from drums, NN-XT for bass, and NN-19 for choir (to emulate the backing vocals during the chorus).
I posted it to my Sounds page. If you like it or use it, feel free to contact me.
Enjoy!
-Brent
Lava Cable review.
I recently decided to to purchase the van den Hul Integration hybrid cable from Mark Stoddard. This cable would replace the connection to my TR mod Bassman amp to the TR 2 x 12″ cabinet. I won’t mention any other brands in this post, but I thought I had a decent cable for this connection before upgrading. I can’t believe how wrong I was on this assumption.
Let me just say that Mark Stoddard of Lava Cable has been nothing but a pleasure to deal with. He’s quick to respond to email requests, even faster in the turn-around and shipping department, and all around good guy. After doing some research, I found that he’s a 24 year Veteran in the Army and is currently stationed in Fort Bragg, NC. Not only is he a guitar player, but he can terminate one hell of a cable! I can’t believe what an improvement this cable was over my previous cable choice. I just purchased five more van den Hul cables to replace the cables I’m currently using from Mark.
I wish nothing but the best for Mark Stoddard and Lava Cable. If you’re in the market to improve your signal and tone, do your research and then give Mark at http://www.lavacable.com a call. - He’ll hook you up like no other.
-Brent
PS - Here’s a picture of the cable I’m now using to connect my amp to the cabinet.
