Composition studies

As some of you know, I'm knee deep in trying to do something with my music. For this, I've been equiping myself with several bits and pieces, a new guitar, a mic with its amp, a thousand cables and some very important software pieces such as Cubase and several VST instruments.

But all that is of little use if you don't dedicate the time (of which I have precious little) and effort.

Logically, it is also useful to lean on those who know this stuff, to see how they do it and see what you can learn. Naturally, one amongst those masters (although he uses other tools) is Master Vai. Here are some things I found in youtube about how he works:

New music control

Thanks to my good pal [El Prenda] I have a new player for my music so I don't actually depend on any external site.

So, without further ado, if you look on the top of the right hand sidebar you will find a player. Just click the drop-down list, select a track and as soon as it is halfway loaded, it will start playing for you. No new necessary software needed (provided you have the flash player, of course!).

Enjoy!

The future, a little closer

Much has been spoken about environmentally friendly engines and there is meant to be much investigation, though some rumours suggest that projects of the kind have died in their labs, murdered by petrol multinational corporations.

Even so, BMW lets us peak at a hopeful near future in the subject of environmental contamination, to which we all add with our dependence on cars.

I give you the BMW Hydrogen 7, a prototype which mixes two technologies, the "traditional" gasoline and the innovative hydrogen engine. Despite its multiple problems such as storage capacity, hydrogen distribution, efficiency, power, etc. and, foremost, of course, the cost! it is a promissing advance which may mean that, in the near future, we may be able to acquire vehicles comparable to our cars with the same contamination level as a pan of boiling water.

... this, obviously, poses the question... What effect do 30 million pans of boiling water have on the atmosphere?... Anyone care to guess?

Thanks to [JVADER] for the heads up!

And in the same line, take a look at [Negroogle]

The theater of dreams

Last saturday, Madrid had the honour of featuring the spectacular concert of one of todays best progresive rock bands: Dream Theater.

Although the music style is not a commercial one, a load of people gathered in the Palacio de los deportes, where the seats were all full and the majority of the breathing space of the pit section (where I was you couldn't put your ellbows out withouth pushing someone, let alone swing a cat...).

Sons of varied influences, some of which are bands they have covered, such as Metalica, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, Marillion, Yes, Deep purple and a very long etcetera, their virtuous music is characterized by long instrumental sections where each member rises as one of the best with their "weapons". One must, however, note specially on Mike Portnoy's excellent stage skills. As the band's drummer, he has one of the biggest broadest sets I've ever seen which includes a gong (sadly he didn't touch it on the concert) and punching ball - which he, of course, plays in rythm though it makes no sound - and of course, some headslapping for the audience's entertainment (I hope). I wonder how many drumsticks landed on distracted heads...

Despite the sadly inapropriate sound setting on the hall (more than inapropriate depending on where you were standing/sitting....) the concert was spectacular and recommendable to music lovers of all kinds and styles for an appropriate mind opening.

I recomend a visit to their [OFFICIAL WEB SITE]and vewing of the youtube videos they've hanged (on their own page).

Here's a little snippet:

Photo by Ternasco:

Stage 6 videos:

Kitties seek home

A couple of days ago a friend of mine, knowing I have cats, asked me where he could get an orange tabby. I immediately called my girl's dad, a vet, to ask him. But it was my girl who came up with the solution.

There is an assotiation, right here in Madrid, dedicated to try tom improve cat's lives in the city. They have a web with a section (two actually, since they separate males from females) for cat adoption.

All cats are given out in adoption for free, vaccinated, de-wormed and, if they are a certain age, nutered. There are small kittens, adult rescued kitties and basically revived kitties.

Are you seeking a kittie? If you want one but cannor decide, take a look at [THEIR SITE] and tell me those pics don't inspire any feelings. And if you think nothing can move you, take a lookd at their Angels section...

I'll let you know how my pal gets on with his kitty as soon as he has it.