THE CAT'S PAWS

Movie Soundtrack: ‘Philadelphia’ (1993)

phil — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:59:05 +0000

More often than not, soundtracks tend not to pair well with their films because of the rascals in the music industry conspire with the rascals in the film industry to promote their signed acts. Rarer, MUCH more rare,is when a film project’s production makes a concerted effort to integrate the mood and tenor of the music compatible with sequenced events that appear on the screen. Most rare are those that succeed entirely in this, and it’s nearly impossible to prevail on artists who are commissioned to write their compositions in a manner to accentuate the same flow and gist of the film at the very moments the tracks run behind what the viewers feel as their absorption in the power of what’s up on the screen. (more…)

Bob Dylan Weighs In: ‘New Morning’ (1970)

phil — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:36:58 +0000

Bob knocked out this record amidst other project and collaborations. He, Charlie Daniels (bass) and Russ Kunkel (drums–aka Jackson Browne’s drummer a decade later) laid down some tracks, whereupon Bob scrubbed a few of them. The record was stil swiftly recorded, and it’s but another subtle hint as to why this guy’s so damn good. (more…)

The Beatles Weigh In, Sort Of: ‘Let it Be: Naked” (2003)

phil — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:00:31 +0000

This is one of a slew of manipulated mono recordings of the original ‘Let it Be’ sessions of 1970, stripped of co-producer Phil Spectre’s augmentations. Spectre was big on adding tracks of dishes falling, seagulls crying, ocean shore sounds, et al. All of these and more can be found to the most astute listener on the original record. In ‘Naked’, nothing like that appears and has been painstekingly extracted. (more…)

The Clarksville Lock and Dam #24, mile marker 273.4 on Upper Mississippi River…

phil — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:28:54 +0000

…is a favorite of mine to fish. Bank fishing is different that angling from a boat and its gizmos. Basically, the way I fish anyway, is I make up lures and cast and retrieve over the rocks in prime fish habitat. This is the place where I’ve taken my boys, and they’ll someday take their boys. (more…)

The Greatest Opposition (and loser) to Gay Rights/Marriage…

phil — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:44:57 +0000

…isn’t really you, adament as you may be. Nope, there’s big money involved here that’ll be coughed up by one of America’s top money making industries. This industry also piles on immense political ’soft money’ that we’ve heard so much about, and sends battalion-size legions of lobbyists to the Hill every session of our US Congress. (more…)

Quiet

phil — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:21:48 +0000

I don’t want people to mistake me for somebody who knows much about PC’s, or at least sound/audio controllers.

Let’s admit it. We’ve all been in this boat at one time or another. Many of us have sought counseling for its tramatic effect on us.

There’s only one thing I could be talking about: the most feared issue of them all with a Windows PC: the sound goes out in your computer. (more…)

Adobe Photoshop 6/Photoshop CS4: Feedback By Semi-Serious Photo Management User:

phil — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:19:58 +0000

I mentioned this photo management application a few months ago when I loaded it up on my (Mac) G4. I revisited it this morning; I opened it and tried, just for the heck of it, if I could retrieve the three thousand-or-so photos I copied from my iPhoto picture file to it. Presumably I could horse around with it and experiment with what looks to be advanced image enhancements. I wanted then (and now) to begin artistic edits and manipulation of a few of my pictures, with an end goal of posting a more variety of picture files on my blog’s headings.
(more…)

From Apple Corporation: The Mighty Mac Pro Laptop

phil — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:47:50 +0000

I stopped in the Apple Store while Renae browsed the mall. Apple Stores are where you lose yourself and hear very bright young people tell you great things about products in words that you often can’t understand.

I got a kick out of how a very commited and excited young man talk about the World’s most powerful and sleek laptop. I’ll spare you techincal feature details, but I won’t shy away from proclaiming this item that (and this cracked me up when I heard it) ‘is fully recyclable’. (more…)

Recipe: Deliver ‘New’ Protien — Without Animal Fat

phil — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:59:41 +0000

Most Anglo-Americans shun legumes in spite of their food value and low caloric intake. They impact the digestive system far less than the hard work of our bodies’ processing of meats. The best feature of beans–I work with Pintos the most–is their property to combine with small portions of shredded cheese or soy-based product (firm tofu, for instance) in our stomachs to make and occasional break-from-routine, protien-rich side, or even main, dish. I married into a Spanish family (my first time around) and learned a trick or two. Here’s what I find works: (more…)

A New Haiku Just For You, Mi Amour’

phil — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:33:31 +0000

Traditional Japanese poetry is metered entirely unlike Old English iambic pentameter. It’s strictly constrained to three lines, the first line followed by a comma, the second (in English, anyway) by a semicolin, and the final line in enclosed by a period. The meter of Occidental poetry, origininating apparently in about Occidental 8th century BC..

(QUITE prior to Western consensus of standard anything resembling any standards in language, let alone writing–my memory better be right as I skipped my standard ‘lookup’ on the Internet–I think this is correct, though)

…is a smidgen more confining than mere rigidity in punctuation rules of order. Each line’s required to be a designated number of syllables: The first line contains five, the second seven, and the third ’squares off’ the metrical.

(more…)

A Quick Evening In Forest Park

phil — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:54:41 +0000

I’m from here, Renae didn’t come down to the park very often growing up. We generally do something in the city of StL a couple of times a week, and we spend ’slack time’ (if such exists) walking in the park. The other day, we only had time for a quick stroll. (more…)

I’m Lucky

phil — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:37:12 +0000

I’m a lot luckier than most people. I grew up in a ‘normal’ nuclear family. Years before it was standard in America, both my parents worked full-time. In days when home economics meant saving more money than folks do today, my parents held down a pretty wonderful house.

Storms raged through it from time to time, and I sure ignited my share to share around.

Years after other families got away from it, we had a black-and-white set to watch The Stooges, Mission Impossible, Mannix, and Columbo on. Commercials came and plowed through our brains, but then again, so did network programming. In hindsight, it’s hard to decide which harmed us more. (more…)