My trip to Europe was great. I love Europe, I must go back and spend more time. I was very busy this time and hardly had time to see the sites. It was great to be back with the band Toto. Those guys are so much fun to hang out with. I don't think you stop laughing when you're with them. I must admit it was hard to try and not laugh while shooting video. You have to hold the camera still. I really enjoy working with video and I'm looking forward to edit all the footage I took. Another way I can be creative.
The travel day wasn't bad at all on the way over. I was happy to get a window seat. I get really unhappy if I don't get a window seat. (I've been like that since I was like 5 or something.) So this time, I ended up getting a window and an isle seat to my self so I could stretch out! I was thrilled, and to make things even better, I had just picked up a fresh copy of Casino Royal at the Atlanta airport. It had just come out that day and I was worried that I might not be able to get it before leaving. I had a great time having a few mini bottles of wine and watching the movie on my iBook. My favorite movie of the year, can't stop watching it. I'm in love with that Aston Martin DBS. What a beautiful car.
The band will be going back to Europe two more times before the end of August. They are very popular there and play arenas everywhere. There are 3 tour buses out with their own catering. Everyone was great to work with and I hope to seem them all again soon.
Mar 30, 2007
Mar 9, 2007
Mar 8, 2007
Music
Working on a second song yesterday and today. I'm going through one of those creative periods. I love it when the creativity flows like this. Sometimes I've gone through dry spells for long periods of time. I'm taking advantage of this and writing everything down, taking notes. (no pun intended!) I have another one ready to work on after this.
Wont get to that till I get back from the upcoming tour dates. It will be good to get away and listen to the new ideas and live with them for a few weeks.
Wont get to that till I get back from the upcoming tour dates. It will be good to get away and listen to the new ideas and live with them for a few weeks.
Mar 6, 2007
Listening Lounge - Canton
I had my iTunes on random this morning and a song came on from the Listening Lounge that I haven't heard in a while, and thought, wow this is great! So I had to look and see what it was. It was Canton's song Solstice from his album Trip Electronic. Killer tune!! If you like trance, you'll dig it for sure.
Mar 4, 2007
Mar 2, 2007
The Midnight Snack - Veggi Quesadilla
Yes, it's all about the midnight snack!
Not saying that it's the healthiest thing to do all the time, but once and a while it's ok. For some reason I was seriously starving, maybe it had something to do with not having dinner earlier? Not really sure but I knew that crackers just wouldn't do. Since I can't stop eating Mexican and New Mexican food, I fixed my self a veggi quesadilla (didn't have any chicken around). The last time I had New Mexican food was at lunch so I was definitely over due for some more.
I used a large flower tortilla,
Jack cheese (Oaxaca cheese preferably if you have)
1/2 onion chopped
1/3 green pepper chopped
1 serrano chile chopped
A pinch of ground cumin.
Fresh cilantro chopped
And fresh hot chili powder from the Santa Fe Chile shop. (highly recommended over the store brands where they usually still have the seeds and stem ground up in there too. The stuff from the Chile shop is fresh powder only)
The trick is to not only saute the veggies, but to also fry the tortilla up with olive oil in a pan. This is important because it gets the tortilla golden and crispy. Then add all the ingredients, fold over the tortilla and bake it in the oven on 400 until the cheese melts. Take out, cut it into thirds and serve at once!!
Please note: with the serrano chile in there ,it does have a small kick to it, if you like things more on the mild side, you may want not want to add as much in there or any at all.
Not saying that it's the healthiest thing to do all the time, but once and a while it's ok. For some reason I was seriously starving, maybe it had something to do with not having dinner earlier? Not really sure but I knew that crackers just wouldn't do. Since I can't stop eating Mexican and New Mexican food, I fixed my self a veggi quesadilla (didn't have any chicken around). The last time I had New Mexican food was at lunch so I was definitely over due for some more.
I used a large flower tortilla,
Jack cheese (Oaxaca cheese preferably if you have)
1/2 onion chopped
1/3 green pepper chopped
1 serrano chile chopped
A pinch of ground cumin.
Fresh cilantro chopped
And fresh hot chili powder from the Santa Fe Chile shop. (highly recommended over the store brands where they usually still have the seeds and stem ground up in there too. The stuff from the Chile shop is fresh powder only)
The trick is to not only saute the veggies, but to also fry the tortilla up with olive oil in a pan. This is important because it gets the tortilla golden and crispy. Then add all the ingredients, fold over the tortilla and bake it in the oven on 400 until the cheese melts. Take out, cut it into thirds and serve at once!!
Please note: with the serrano chile in there ,it does have a small kick to it, if you like things more on the mild side, you may want not want to add as much in there or any at all.
Today
Had a great lunch at Maria's with Ottmar today. I can't get enough of the New Mexican food out here! We both had chili rellenos. They make them with the New Mexican green chiles, deep fried and covered with green chili. Or you can get it the way Ottmar had it which is a combination of red and green called "Christmas" Very tasty!
Mar 1, 2007
March
14 Wednesday - Manchester - Apollo - UK
17 Saturday - Stuttgart - Porsche Arena - Germany
18 Sunday - Düsseldorf - Philipshalle - Germany
19 Monday - Amsterdam - HMH - Netherlands
21 Wednesday - Munich - Olympiahalle - Germany
22 Thursday - Innsbruck - Olympiahalle - Austria
24 Saturday - Metz - Galaxie - France
26 Monday - Paris - Zenith - France
This month I'll be traveling to Europe to meet up with my friends in the band TOTO. I'm going to help shoot behind the scenes video and draw cartoons for their up coming DVD. For those of you who don't know, I've been their lighting designer since 1999 and the band cartoonist. You can see the cartoons and pictures of my light shows HERE. I'll be taking plenty of pictures and writing a journal.
I'm sure this trip will be good inspiration for writing music when I come back.
17 Saturday - Stuttgart - Porsche Arena - Germany
18 Sunday - Düsseldorf - Philipshalle - Germany
19 Monday - Amsterdam - HMH - Netherlands
21 Wednesday - Munich - Olympiahalle - Germany
22 Thursday - Innsbruck - Olympiahalle - Austria
24 Saturday - Metz - Galaxie - France
26 Monday - Paris - Zenith - France
This month I'll be traveling to Europe to meet up with my friends in the band TOTO. I'm going to help shoot behind the scenes video and draw cartoons for their up coming DVD. For those of you who don't know, I've been their lighting designer since 1999 and the band cartoonist. You can see the cartoons and pictures of my light shows HERE. I'll be taking plenty of pictures and writing a journal.
I'm sure this trip will be good inspiration for writing music when I come back.
Pro Tools 003
Would love to take the 003 for a test drive!! Always something new to get I suppose... I recorded Thira on the 002 and really enjoyed working with it, very user friendly. I'm holding out for the 005, I hear it's going to be silver with two dvd trays. (just kidding)
Feb 28, 2007
The Music Lesson of the day - Metronome
When practicing this morning while having a tasty cup of coffee I got to thinking. I started practicing seriously with a metronome about 12 years ago. I remember it wasn't very much fun in the beginning (not that it's a party now) but as time moved on and I heard the results in my playing, I found it can be addicting after a while. I think it's very important to try to get used to practicing with one. Having good rhythm and timing is key!
You might want to try using a timer to practice a technique for 5 min. at a time. That way you can practice each technique consistently, otherwise, you may not know when to stop an exercise and you might just keep playing it for hours, days, months, etc.. That could possibly create a negative feeling towards the metronome.
Please note: If you have a cat you may not want to get one of those old school metronomes with the pendulum like I have because they will tend to run over and use their paws to stop the pendulum from swinging. This could be anti-productive and make you frustrated while trying to get some serious practice time in.
Good luck!
You might want to try using a timer to practice a technique for 5 min. at a time. That way you can practice each technique consistently, otherwise, you may not know when to stop an exercise and you might just keep playing it for hours, days, months, etc.. That could possibly create a negative feeling towards the metronome.
Please note: If you have a cat you may not want to get one of those old school metronomes with the pendulum like I have because they will tend to run over and use their paws to stop the pendulum from swinging. This could be anti-productive and make you frustrated while trying to get some serious practice time in.
Good luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)