My wife asked me to make a printable connect four chart so the kids can play the game with pens. I countered that we should build a set out of legos, but I guess the idea was they'd be able to use it on the plane when we travel. Someone else with kids might find this useful, so, here is the PDF.
I'm still totally going to build a lego version, though.
There seem to be two groups talking about the baby-wearing Motrin ad. Group one is offended by the ad, and is made up primarily of moms. Group two is saying "what's the big deal? Can't they take a joke?" and is made up primarily of non-moms - like Loren here:
Unfortunately, the ad was targeted at group one, not group two. If you've offended your target market, the ad is a failure. A colossal failure. If a corporation wants to reach out and touch people with social media, the least that can do is to make sure that touch isn't a slap across the face. This isn't a failure of the medium, it is a failure of the message. The fact that Loren and others like him in group two don't understand why group one is offended is part of the problem. They view and judge the response of group one through their very narrow prism of experience and pretend their view is the only valid one. Loren expects mommies to forgive the offensive tone simply because A) he doesn't find it offensive and B) the company is making an effort to reach out on-line? For a guy who is supposed to 'get it', he really doesn't get it.
I've never heard Loren speak positively about anything. I worked with a guy EXACTLY like Loren. He was intelligent, but had an arrogant, superior attitude, and his conversational skills were exclusively about tearing other people down. Everyone hated him.
It is very easy to rework the ad so it sends the same message without being offensive. Let's start by looking at why the ad is offensive. The ad opens by reducing baby wearing to a fashion statement. It isn't. Baby wearing is a central tenant to the philosophy of attachment parenting, like breast feeding. In one stroke, you've completely alienated your audience by belittling their beliefs. Then, it casts doubt on the benefits of baby wearing with the words 'in theory' Then it implies baby wearing is just a trend, with the 'makes me totally look like an official mom' comment, immediately followed up with the 'crazy' comment and accompanying coo coo sound.
Somehow, I get the sense this ad wasn't written by a mom.
You could take the exact same concept, and rework it slightly by reinforcing the benefits of baby wearing and plug the product at the same time. Something like "Like a lot of moms, I believe in the benefits of baby wearing, but sometimes it gives me a sore back. That's why I choose Motrin..." See? Easy.
This ad, on the other hand, is funny.
The second episode of Visual Synthesis is on-line and viewable in HD here. In this episode, we explore hetrodyning, amplitude modulation and ring modulation.
I have to admit, I failed to understand the allure of ring tones until I got an iPhone. While there is value to assigning sounds to specific callers, I find the common real-world usage offensive. Usually this involves taking a snippet of a popular song and substituting this for a ring. Isn't it odd to have random blasts of distorted music emanating from pockets and purses? It doesn't sound good, and everyone around is thinking "WTF is that? Oh. It is some asshole's ringtone."
Even Apple's stock set is uninspired. Basically, you have a collection of sound effects drafted into use as a ring tone. A barking dog? Please. The least offensive selection is a recording of a vintage telephone. I personally feel repurposing pop songs and sound effects into ring tones is unimaginative. Seriously, is that the best we can do?
Ring tones should be ring tones. We need a set of simple, abstract sounds that are purpose-designed. Something classy, simple and sophisticated. So, I fired up my modular and created some sounds that I wanted to use as ring tones.
If you have an iPhone, you can use these too. Just download this file and uncompress, then drag the contents to iTunes. The next time you sync your phone, you'll have some new ring tones to choose from. If you don't have an iPhone, here is an archive of MP3 versions. 
These ring tones are free to download and use.
The first episode of Visual Synthesis is on-line and viewable in HD here. The idea of the Visual Synthesis series is to present basic synthesis fundamentals in a format where you can hear and see the results. Books are good. Audio is good. Demonstrations are good. Graphical analysis is good. This is all of that at the same time.
Episode one covers basic waveforms and the effects of filtering.
The daily Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter's Oct 14 2008 edition concluded that Stan Getz was partly to blame for the financial crisis now plaguing the world. The reason: An article in the New York Times called 'Taking a hard new look at a Greenspan legacy.'
The Swedish paper concluded that things might have been different had Greenspan pursued a musical career.
ALAN GREENSPAN: Then, I decided that baseball was my thing. And I was actually getting very good, but at the age of 14, I hit a plateau and I never improved.
JIM LEHRER: You were a left-hander, first baseman, right?
ALAN GREENSPAN: I was a left-handed first baseman. I hit the ball pretty well. Then, I got into music, and I became a professional musician for a couple of years.
JIM LEHRER: Played the clarinet...
ALAN GREENSPAN: Clarinet, saxophone, flute, bass clarinet.
JIM LEHRER: Which one did you enjoy the most?
ALAN GREENSPAN: I actually enjoyed the clarinet the best, but I was a fairly good amateur, but a moderate professional. But what really did me in is I had, as an amateur, had to play next to Stan Getz. I was 16; he was 15. I decided, 'Do I really want to be in this business?'
JIM LEHRER: Why, because he was so good?
ALAN GREENSPAN: Oh, my god.
JIM LEHRER: Was he really good?
ALAN GREENSPAN: And he was one of the really historic famous sax players. And the best economic decision I ever made in my life was to decide to leave the music business and go into economics.
Stop with placing the pitch and mod wheels above the keyboard. The proper location is to the left of the keyboard, the way Bob intended. Thanks.
Derek Smith unleashes a beautifully-constructed double album entitled 'Filling Up The City Skies'. You can download it here.
The TipTop Audio Z3000 was released yesterday. I've been fortunate enough to have had one for a while. I was working on Brood XIV at the time, so it turns out the only oscillator I used on that release was the Z3000. Here is a video of a quick series of Z3000 examples spliced together.
Here are the five most beautiful synthesizers (from an aesthetic, not sound-quality standpoint) in my opinion.
Waldorf Wave
I'm a sucker for hinged panels festooned with knobs and switches and this monster just makes me want to sit in front of it and explore. It is one thing to put a bunch of stuff on a panel, but quite another to execute it with such grace and beauty.
Prophet 5
Beauty is often about ratios. The Prophet-5 is beautifully proportioned in form and function. This is an exceptionally classy synth, with a case fabricated out of wood and steel - a functional design, not simply some wood end cheeks bolted on.
Buchla 200e
I didn't expect to include a modular synth and I also didn't expect to include a Buchla which, historically, looked a little cartoony to me with the mixture of red and blue knobs, which I don't feel go well together. The brilliant folding case combined with a more mature, refined aesthetic compared to the 200 tips the 200e over the edge for me. The 200e also inspires the same 'workstation-like' focus as the Wave - drowning out all other distractions. This is a synthesizer that is dying to be touched, and I could easily lose all sense of time operating one.
Roland D-50
I'm going to get planed for the inclusion of the D-50, and I'll admit a certain amount of nostalgia-induced bias as the D-50 was my first 'full sized' synthesizer, but hear me out. The D-50 is like the digital equivalent of the Prophet-5 in terms of functional UI density. The sleek lines inspired an entire generation of synthesizers. There is the traditional left-hand paddle, but a joystick too? Want. The legending is quite interesting - there is pure white for some of the labels and the diagrams, but if you look closely, the D-50 logo is this ethereal ghostly blue color that seems to float slightly off the panel. Even if you hate the D-50 you have to admit, it is a beautifully-designed modern synth.
EMS VCS3
At first, you may mistake the VCS3 for the Harrington 1200. Some would argue for the Synthi instead of the VCS3 due to the cool James Bond synth-in-a-suitcase concept, but I prefer the console/battleship design of the VCS3. This gave the VCS3 a distinctive profile. You expect knobs on a synth, but the business section of the console housed a pin matrix and joystick. The VCS3 even had vernier knobs for oscillator tuning - which are, I think we can safely agree, the coolest knobs you could ever put on a piece of gear, ever. If I were to gaze upon a VCS3 in 1969, I'm sure I would believe it capable of creating any sound imaginable. It looks as if it came from the future. 
Honorable Mentions
Minimoog
Ah, the humble minimoog. The original synth with a hinged panel. Heck, the original synth, period. At a time when all synths were huge modular cabinets, the minimoog offered wondrous opportunities in a small footprint. But the design holds up. The legending is clear, and attractive. The design is simple and functional. A classic like Audrey Hepburn.
Roland Jupiter-8
I love my Jupiter-8, but I consider it to be competing in the same class as the Prophet-5 and the festive clown colors cost is some serious class points. The style is a nice response to the Prophet-5, though. The aluminum side cheeks are an interesting statement.
Korg M1
Sparse and minimal, the M1 was Korg's answer to the D-50. I loved the round, LED-lit buttons.
Nord Lead 3
The original Nord Lead was a striking synthesizer. Red. Swedish. The adorable pitch stick. The Nord Lead 3 brought endless rotary encoders with LED indicators to all the knobs. When you recalled a patch, all the LEDs zip to the program's position. Even better was using the morph feature where you can map a controller to modify multiple parameters. Made the whole surface look like KITT having an orgasm. 
Monome 40h
OK, not technically a synthesizer, but this is my list, and I feel the 40h needs to be included. A study in minimalism, this is the only product in the list that has no legending whatsoever. Not even a logo. The edge of the hefty aluminum face plate is exposed, flush to the silicone body. Pictures don't do it justice. Simply holding one in your hands is an enjoyable experience. Only 400 of these were made. 
Memorymoog
I need to mention the memorymoog, at least in the context of why it didn't make the top 5. I like the memorymoog, and the vernier knobs should certainly secure a top seat. It is just that I feel the memorymoog is slightly unbalanced. It is really heavy. In operation, it feels strained in every respect, as if pushed to the edge of operational tolerances. The user interface reflects this. A bit too crowded, too hefty. Again, lovely synth, but a step or two too far. Manufacturers take note: the headphone jack is on the FRONT.
So, in summary, it seems that if you made a synth with a hinged panel, joysticks and vernier knobs, you could fill it with fish entrails and I'd still think it was the coolest thing ever. Anyone have any suggestions for the most beautiful synth ever? Any egregious oversights?
I've been a serious tea drinker for a long, long time now. I started out with Chinese semi-blacks and then experienced 'green drift' to the point where I was only drinking various greens. A general dislike for gunpowder, combined with the difficulty of obtaining high-quality non-gunpowder Chinese greens pushed me into the comfortable reliability of Japanese Senchas. I've been drinking Japanese greens exclusively for more than a decade. I have yet to tire of this monogamy.
Caffeine is present in coffee. Caffeine is present in tea. However, caffeine does not exist in isolation. There are other psychoactive compounds in both that affect the stimulant properties. Coffee makes me awake and jittery. Tea makes me alert and calm. Some people drink tea for the well-documented health benefits. I don't. I drink tea because I enjoy it. 
(photo from Another Tea Blog)
The preparation of tea is a simple one. A pot of tea can usually be infused three times. This repetition encourages a ritual. There are a small handful of variables; ratios of tea to water, infusion time, water temperature. Over time, these parameters naturally become optimized. For this reason, I like to stick to a bag of tea once it is opened. You develop a relationship with the tea.
Green tea usually comes in 100g bags. This roughly translates to 1/4lb and sometimes you'll find 1/4lb bags from US importers. A 100g bag usually lasts around a month. An average price for a reasonable Japanese Sencha is around $30 not including shipping. Freshness matters, so once a bag is opened, it is best to work your way through it.
Each tea brews differently and the better tea importers usually provide some hint for a starting point on how to brew the tea. Sometimes they don't and you're on your own. After a while, you'll be able to tell from the density and color of the leaf what that starting point should be. In general, 4g of tea per 50ml water at 160 degrees for 90 seconds is a good place to start for greens.
Greens like lower temperatures. I've never seen a green that responds favorably to temperatures over 185 degrees, so never pour boiling water on your leaves. The tea will tell you the water is too hot with a characteristic edge that I lack the vocabulary to describe. The flavor needs to be coaxed, not scared out with heat. Over time, you will learn to feel with your finger water that is too hot.
Tea isn't something you can enjoy on the go. Not the way I drink tea, anyway. Brewing infusions takes time, and is repeated. Tea is sipped, not chugged. You drink while sitting, not walking. A set of infusions can take the entire morning to consume. I'd prefer a cup of coffee to drinking tea out of a paper cup. I can't give you a good reason for most of this. However, if you sit at a desk, or use a computer, I've found this to be an ideal environment for tea consumption. If your company has a water cooler that also dispenses hot water, double bonus. I fill up a thermos with hot water in the morning so I don't have to go back multiple times to fill up my pot.
If you're interested in drinking Japanese greens, here is what I recommend to get started.
A Fukugata
The idea is to give the tea room to expand, so anything that constricts this action (like tea bags or infusion baskets) are to be avoided. This model features a clay mesh screen which I prefer to a metal screen. You'll also need something to pour the tea into after the infusion is complete.
A Timer
There are timers built-in to the iPhone/iPod, and applications that you can run on your computer, so this is your best first option. If you find yourself drinking tea daily, you'll prefer dedicated hardware. Most models have hours, minutes, seconds buttons. Avoid. Get something with a numeric keypad.
A dispensing pot
Not necessary at work if you have a water cooler, but indispensable at home. Most Asian markets sell them, but it can be difficult to find a plain one without pictures of flowers or what-not. Generic brands are just as good as well-known names like Zojirushi.
Tea
Thankfully the internet has made obtaining good tea easy. Many places that sell tea seem to have rather skimpy green offerings. Special Teas has a good selection of greens. I particularly like the 700 Gyokuro Asahina Extra Fine. Recently I've been going to O-Cha.com who sell Japanese greens exclusively and ship direct from Japan. O-cha's Fukamush Sencha Supreme is outstanding.
There is a lot of information on the web, and, thanks to blogs, you can read opinions about teas. This is important as tea is like wine and varies from flush to flush. It isn't like you can stick to a certain label and be done with it. I love the photography at Another Tea Blog. And, of course, I like Green Tea Review for obvious reasons.
Here is the new limited edition (thank goodness) Novation SL37 controller. The green stuff glows in the dark.
Presenting the pink CME U-Key.
What the hell is wrong with me? For real. Have I finally gotten too old and crumegeony™ to appreciate this? I can not for the life of me find a deccent 76 key weighted synth action controller with polyphonic aftertouch and release velocity. Nobody makes 'em. I'm using a 16-year-old Roland A-50. After all those years, it still looks classy. But, the market is glutted with 37 note keyboards whose primary distinguishing characteristic is how ugly they are.
Korg knows how to make a distinctive product. I'm really into the new Nano Controllers and they're available now at $50 each. That is an amazing price. I'm tempted to pick up all three - they'd be a blast with Max. And they're not fugly. I'd like MIDI output and a secondary power source, so you don't have to rely on bus power, but you can't have everything.
Like most people, my time is oddly fragmented. Parenthood has increased that fragmentation a considerable amount. I've come up with some techniques that help me make use of small shards of time.
Visualization
One thing I do is visualize the process. This means thinking through each step of the project in my head. If I have to go downstairs and get a microphone stand, I do that in my head. Then I start connecting things. At this point, I'll discover I left a cable I needed in the basement. So, when the time comes to actually do the thing I visualized, I can make one trip downstairs for the mic stand AND the cable. This is an example, but I can tell you the overall process is sped up significantly if I visualize it before hand. Visualization results in less flailing and uncertainty. The process simply becomes a physical manifestation of what I've already completed in my mind.
At this point, you should be thinking, "If you have the time to visualize it, why not just actually do it?" One reason is visualization is a faster than real time process. Another reason is visualization can occur when you're unable to work on the project. I get a good chunk of visualization time when I'm walking to work, or when I'm putting my daughter to sleep at night. Even when I didn't have a surplus of this odd time to dedicate to visualization, I still found the technique useful. It helps to prune dead ends before I spent time pursuing that course of action. Sorry if this sounds a little new-agey. It isn't. It simply boils down to thinking through what you're going to do before you actually it. Nothing magical.
Take notes
I use docs.google.com to keep a journal of project ideas. Musical inspiration isn't always about notes on a staff. Frequently, I can describe an abstraction of the idea in a few sentences. A lot of time, the idea is based on an existing work, but changed in a few ways. So, referencing the work and noting the key points is enough information to recall the full musical idea.
I like google docs because my ideas document is accessible from anywhere - I don't have to worry about maintaining a 'master' copy and synchronizing changes. Also, I can access the document via my iPod touch. There are lots of different systems to use. I've heard really good things about Evernote. Watch their video. It is really cool.
I use my iPod touch for quick notes, as I always have it on me, but I also keep a moleskin close at hand as well. At some point, I'll transfer this information to my google docs file.
Success leads to success
My notes file is actually depressing in the way it grows far quicker than it shrinks. Sometimes, this can be overwhelming which leads to an artistic paralysis. The insidious thing about this is the negative feedback it generates. Overwhelmed by too much to do results in paralysis in which nothing gets done, making matters worse, repeat repeat repeat...
The best way to break out of this cycle is to enjoy a succession of quick successes. That is why I like to keep on hand a list of short projects: install this, fix that. If I have a moment to be productive, I can produce something beneficial without being overwhelmed by a multitude of crushing options.
Quick start
A modular synth is not the most effective way to execute a compositional idea. This is one reason why I've designed my workspace to power on with one switch. With a default template on my DAW that loads a nice piano patch, I'm a few seconds away from compositional satisfaction.
I use these sketches to remind me of what I'm trying to accomplish, but I've never had any luck mapping notes recorded using one patch to another patch, or synthesizer. The result sounds like a standard MIDI file. When I play a sound, there is feedback that occurs that affects how I play. So, I never expect the performance I entered using a piano patch to sound reasonable on anything other than that piano patch.
I'd appreciate hearing some of your techniques.
