I was inspired to get back to work on the album after going to a discussion hosted at Drexel University with engineer Kevin Killen (U2, Peter Gabriel, Paula Cole, Elvis Costello).  It was a great presentation.  He brought along his computer with a Pro Tools HD rig, and opened up actual sessions to demonstrate what he’s doing.  His approach is so simple but so effective – get good sounds on the way in and you won’t need to be so heavy handed with plugin processing at mix time.  While he tracks through a nice console, he mixes entirely in the box, which is part of the reason the discussion was so enjoyable.  He’s an extremely successful engineer who’s embraced digital audio instead of being stuck on tape for the cool factor, or whatever else causes people to love tape so much.  I’ll take the Massey Tape Head over a tape machine any day.

We’re working on a project that required an interview with Mr. David Montgomery, who is quite possibly the nicest owner of any sports franchise you’ll ever meet. We shot the interview in the media room at Citizen’s Bank Park, and I snapped a few quick photos with my phone, because hey, who knows when I’ll be in there again.

The one thing I didn’t get a picture of – and really wish I did – was Mr. Montgomery carrying one of our tripods and his assistant with the audio gear. I’ll explain.

After the interview, we left had some things in the lobby while we ran the first load of gear out to the trucks. As we started back to get the remaining equipment, Mr. Montgomery and his assistant were apparently on their way out and decided to carry it out for us. Just incredible.

On a side note, it was interesting to see that they plowed the CBP parking lots when I can’t imagine they’ll actually need them for anything. Needless to say, they’re more on the ball than the city of Philadelphia.

The Colbert Report: We’re Off To See The Blizzard

Welcome to the States, Mr. Chan – you can stay as long as you’d like as far as I’m concerned.

I think the best part is the plastic bags inside his shoes to keep his feet dry.

This little app turns your iPhone into a touchpad mouse. It has three buttons (Left, Center, Right), and even supports multi-touch so you don’t lose the brilliant two-finger scroll you’ve most certainly become accustomed to if you use a MacBook/Pro.

Setup is simple (at least on OSX – I haven’t actually tried it on Windows). After installing the app on your iPhone, download and run the server application on your computer, connect both to the same wifi network, open the app and you should see your computer in the list. Tap the computer name and presto! instant wireless touchpad. The server has an option to launch at every boot if you think you’ll be using it often.

The iPhone app also features a slide out on-screen keyboard in case you’re not sitting directly in front of your computer. I could definitely see this being useful in a classroom or business presentation setting when you only need a keyboard very briefly. One warning – it doesn’t “know” when you’re entering a password, so anything you type is shown clearly on the iPhone screen. This could be a bit of a security problem as anyone in your vicinity can sneak a peek at your screen.

All in all, it’s a nice little gem of an app, and free to boot.

#1. I don’t like the New Orleans Saints.
#2. I like Drew Brees.
#3. I don’t like any version of the liquid Budweiser describes as beer.

That being said, it was a good game. NOLA came back from a particularly Eagles-esque first quarter and really pulled it off. It all came down to that on-sides kick and the interception.

The commercials were OK -- the notable highlights for me being the Snickers commercial featuring Betty White/Abe Vigoda, and the Budweiser spot below (feat. T-Pain).

Why do I like it? It’s somewhat inherently funny, but mostly because it makes it dreadfully obvious that anyone can sound like T-Pain with Autotune.  Oh wait, the I Am T-Pain iPhone app already did that.

From the Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien 1/21/2010

Join the Movement on Facebook

Friend #1: Holy wow. Avatar. Just… … … Just go see it. Like, as soon as possible.

Friend #2: saw Avatar 3D last nite. Highly, highly suggest seeing it! Seriously, and I was one of those people who said I had no interest in seeing this movie. It was phenomenal!

Friend #3: I think we’re all in agreement that it was awesome. The 3D was very well done, sound effects work was amazing, and overall, great.

So, I can clearly relate more to friend #2 as I had very little interest in the movie itself.  I was only really interested in seeing it since it is, after all, the first huge Hollywood extravaganza meant to showcase the 3D platform.  So when I say that it comes as no surprise that there was very little story driving the movie, I’m not exaggerating in the least.  To be fair, I can’t sit here and say that it was a direct copy of any one movie (as has already been hilariously described), but instead it pulled from so many.  Now, again, I understand that this is generally how things are done in Hollywood…but Avatar pulled so unsubtly that it was disturbing.  It was Pocahontas meets Dances With Wolves meets The Lion King (which of course itself is a rip off of Kimba the White Lion), meets Fern Gully, meets James Cameron’s own Aliens.  Heck- even the epic battle had what I’d most certainly describe as a Final Fantasy moment [see: YouTube video ~0:30].

Yes, that’s it.  I think, in the end, the main reason I will remember Avatar as a lack-luster movie is because it felt like a video game cut-scene gone on for far too long.  Sure it looks beautiful, but wouldn’t you rather just play the game even if it means putting up with crappier graphics?

As for the good point(s).  The whole 3D thing looks pretty great.  I personally found it to be much cooler when used in the slower scenes versus the action sequences.  It wasn’t that it made me queasy, it just didn’t look as good.  I will say this, too: I had an absolutely pounding headache by the end of the movie, which I will feel free to blame on the 3D glasses.

A few questions that remain:

• What was with Jake Sulley’s accent? Was he from the Bronx or London?
• Was Sigourney Weaver smoking Sector 6s a-la Thank You for Smoking?
• Did they seriously mate in what basically boiled down to their church?
• Papyrus subtitles?  Textured?  Seriously?
• Why did they have to cast Michelle Rodriguez?

In conclusion: it was OK–far from incredible–and mainly a waste of my fourth dimension.  When it’s all said and done, it’s not the pretty pictures I’ll remember, but rather the flaws that fractured the movie and kept it from being amazing.  My main consolation is knowing that I didn’t give James Cameron a dime.