If there’s any interest, I’ll process it at full screen resolution. As it is, the knocked-down version is over 2.5 almost 3 almost 5 megs of GIF, so it’s after the jump. … Read more
So I’ve been listening to the recently remastered, reissued and expanded version of the soundtrack of the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter The Best Of Both Worlds lately. Wonderful stuff. The original 1991 release of that soundtrack was one of the first compact discs I ever bought, even though I didn’t have a CD player at the time. What I did have was two worn-out cassettes I’d bought (because I was listening to it that much), and a job at a radio station that afforded me access to a CD player and a cassette deck that would allow me to make as many tape copies as I needed (so I could wear them out too).
In listening to the reissue, with its crisper sound, I was struck by how, if ever there was a point in ST:TNG’s normally staid musical landscape (though not by the composers’ choice) where they needed to break out of the producer-imposed box and use some blaster beam, this was it. So I tried a few subtle amendments to a few key points in the soundtrack from part one. (During the infamous cliffhanger music, however, I was a bit less than subtle. There’s nothing about that cue that’s subtle.)
Listen and enjoy!
[audio:https://www.thelogbook.com/earl/podcast/beamofbothworlds.mp3]
If you’ve been following my other music project at all, you’re in for a treat next week. Not only will the next Kasatochi release land with a resounding digitized thud on Monday, but it will be joined by a similar effort from Rhindle The Red, so you’ll be getting twice the hits-to-bits treatment that you would get on a typical Monday. (Let’s face it – Mondays suck so hard, it’s not a bad idea to call for backup.)
In both cases, both Kasatochi and Rhindle will be embarking on an interesting experiment: each release will turn an entire classic album into chiptunes, from the first track to the last, in 
the original running order. Suffice to say, if you like either of the groups in question, you’ll probably get at least a chuckle out of this. Further full-album chiptune conversions are also in the works, though how many more depends on how well these go down. Be here Monday – chances are, you already know the track listings! … Read more
Just a thought… way too late for Memorial Day, but then I spent the weekend running a megamutt lost–and-found, otherwise I would’ve jotted down much earlier the following thought that’s been coalescing into existence inside the misshapen potato I carry around atop my shoulders:
My dad and all of his brothers were in one branch of the service or another. He was a Marine; one of my uncles was in the Navy; another uncle – the one who everyone has, since I was a little kid obsessed with anything NASA was doing, assured me would’ve been the most in-tune with me of any of them – was killed in action long before I was born. Like so many others, their generation of this family made sacrifices I can barely imagine; thanks to them and everyone who’s ever put on the uniform and served, all I have to do is imagine it.
So I propose this: let us not squander the blood and sweat and deferred dreams of those who have made these sacrifices by failing to fully participate in the freedom they swore to protect. To fall in line behind pundits who are misrepresenting or manufacturing “facts” is to make a mockery of that sacrifice.
So you’ve heard something outrageous on the news that gets your blood boiling? Do the research. Delve deeper. Perhaps even – gasp! – see what the opposing side is saying about the same issue. It may not be what you think.
To be led by someone just because they can get their face on TV, their voice on the radio, or because they can put a web site on the internet, is to waste one sacrifice that should never be wasted.
And remember that government begins at a local level. There’s more to it than what’s going on in Washington. Most of what actually affects you, such as sales tax rates and other taxes, is determined locally. Ignoring this to focus on Washington is like planning to fly to the moon without having quite worked out that whole getting-away-from-Earth business.
In summary: we have freedoms. Countless people have died to preserve them. We owe these people more than thanks.
We owe it to them to make best use of what they died to protect instead of being led around on an ideological leash.
Just a thought. Everyone has a range of views all over the place. Talking things out reasonably without resorting to base emotional “scare” arguments is what has made this country great in the past – and can make it great again. Know more about the issues affecting you than a couple of carefully cherry-picked, out-of-context soundbites. Act on knowledge, rather than fear stoked by someone whose agenda isn’t much more comprehensive than “talk smack about these other guys, without pissing off my advertisers.”
The folks on TV and the radio aren’t running for office, and they’re not running the country, no matter how much they think they should be. Our elected representatives are not answerable to a media entity. They are answerable to us – the voters who put them in office in the first place.
Think. Reason. Debate without resorting to lowest common denominators. Do the research and put the pundits out of work.
Look who the cats dragged in.
None the worse for wear, though they seemed exhausted and dehydrated and very muddy. No idea where the hell they’ve been for two days.… Read more
As flip as the title sounds, it’s no laughing matter – both of the dogs have been missing for over 36 hours. The last time I saw them was before taking their late meal out to them on Saturday night; they evidently showed up at some point after that to eat, because their bowls were empty by morning, but I have no idea when that was – or where they went after that.
We’ve driven around, I’ve walked the property (and got eaten alive and followed around by a friendly brown horse while I was out there), I’ve walked up and down the street looking for any sign of them – even any sign that maybe they were both hit by the same vehicle or something like that. All trace of them has simply vanished. Their food from Sunday morning is still in their dog food bowls, untouched.
I can think of a lot of scenarios that would keep both of them from coming home. Very few of those scenarios end well for them. I’m worried sick to the point that I’ve unintentionally skipped meals (while cooking for everyone else in the house, no less – that’s quite a trick).
Come home soon, megamutts… we need to talk about curfew.… Read more
When I embarked on my little musical joke a little over a month ago, I wasn’t anticipating that it’d gain the kind of traction that it has. And here’s the proof: between Facebook, Twitter and e-mails I’ve received, you have here in your little virtual hands an entire EP of listener requests. And believe me when I tell you that I had no idea how this was going to turn out. 😆
Right-click to download kasatochi-req1.zip (76mb) … Read more
I made a rather vague announcement a while back about an updated edition of my reasonably popular Doctor Who guidebook, VWORP!1, a few weeks ago. I thought I’d let you know what that entails – and how you can help! … Read more
The bacon craze has gone too far. You could now do Monty Python’s spam sketch, swapping out spam for bacon, with a straight face. I don’t mind a bit of bacon, but c’mon, people.… Read more
Monday is looking, at least here at theLogBook.com’s World Domination Headquarters, like a dreary, stormy, rainy and occasionally tornadic mess. Yuck. Only one thing for it: covers of some of the most ridiculously hummable, sunny tunes out there from a master of the craft of songwriting, reduced to bleeps and bloops by Kasatochi!
Some time back, I wrote and recorded and only partially edited a longer intro for the daily Escape Pod podcast that gave a better explanation as to what the heck the thing is about; my thinking when I wrote it was that, what with the usual progression from space missions and science milestones to celebrity birthdays and obits with a geeky bias to moments in TV, movie and video game history… it might seem unfocused to somebody. (It doesn’t seem that way to me, but I still have to pitch it to an audience that isn’t me. Damned inconvenient sometimes.)
I had the crazy, sleep-deprived thought recently that maybe I should finish that out. I started from scratch on the sound effects mix, and came up with nearly 40 seconds of mechanical futuristic beauty, only to realize why I’d given up on it the first time:
But just for giggles, I’ve posted the intro on its own – if nothing else, it’s on the RSS feed if anyone needs an “explainer” of what the Escape Pod covers and why it’s there. You can hear it here:
[audio:https://www.thelogbook.com/podcast/escape/pod/escapepod0000.mp3]
The background sound mix is a multitrack monster 22 tracks deep, with about eight of those tracks being layers of the ascending power-up/engine-start sound, which I thought should be deep and whooshy if you’re hearing them from inside the pod. There’s a lot going on here, including lots of little audio Easter eggs as homages to some old favorites. See if you can spot them all in the complete Escape Pod intro sound mix:
[audio:https://www.thelogbook.com/podcast/escape/pod/escapepod-fx.mp3]
The mental picture I had during all of this is that you’d want a real escape pod on a real spaceship to have the cold-start-to-ready-to-go time of a horny dog. Therefore, you go from opening the hatch to hitting space in under a minute.
The Pod is still looking for a sponsor or two to justify the not-inconsiderable time that I sink into it every month, if anyone’s interested. … Read more
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