Useless Tip #1

Being a guitarist/musician....I am constantly listening to music. I am often trying to figure out guitar parts, etc, which are often buried deep in a mix...obscuring exactly what notes are being played, etc.

So, boys and girls, here is today's useless tip. Next time you are listening to your iPod or Sony Walkman (you know, the waterproof yellow one...with the Fresh Prince tape in it...) do this:

While listening to something, pull the headphone cable slightly out until you hear a separation of sorts in the audio tracks. It's a bit of a sweet spot...too little and it won't make a difference and too much and it will obviously come all the way out.

Anyway, this works better on some songs more than others and can often yield pretty interesting results...giving you a sense of what one or more of the tracks would have sounded on their own when recorded. For example, you might suddenly hear the sound of drums being recorded live off the floor, or the sound of the guitar isolated to one ear...complete with squeaking of fingers on the frets or the hum of the amp, or the track with only a hint of the vocals.

Try it. Good times.

Hell's Kitchen

OK. Guilty pleasure over the last few months has been watching Gordon Ramsey's culinary explosions on Kitchen Nightmare's and more recently, Hell's Kitchen.



Now, on Hell's Kitchen, there is a guy named Matt...who has some seriously bold eyebrows, which furrow like nobody's business. When he throws down a sour look, those bad boys square off at 45 degree angles like two black caterpillars. Anyway...the moment I first saw this guy, I could not help but notice the striking resemblance to a very obscure Simpsons character. I had to do some research to find out his actual name, but I knew he was the guy who occasionally comes into Springfield Elementary to lay down the law. Turns out his name is Leopold and he is the assistant to Superintendent Chalmers (or SuperNintendo Chalmers if you are Ralph).



Anyway...the pic of Matt doesn't entirely do the comparison justice, but here goes:















Of course, this all goes to show:

1. I have too much time on my hands.
2. I have watched too many Simpsons episodes.
3. The Simpsons play a very important role in our society.