breadcrumb chatillion Blog

Resident experts...

I have to remind myself that CS has a double handful of resident experts, versed on all subjects regardless of their careers and education. It doesn't matter whether they are retired shoe salesmen, goat herders, philanthropists, or computer gurus. They always have the reasons why something (usually political) doesn't work, but rarely, I mean rarely have the solution to the subject(s) they speak about.
Post Comment

Horrible cover songs...

Words aren't enough to describe this bands version of Paranoid.

Post Comment

Body Type: Slim/Slender

There is a profile selection for body type and I clearly see it's being misused. Slim/Slender gets used often. Much too often. Maybe women aren't perceptive to their body size... or maybe they are using the wrong photos.
If your body photo engulfs the entire photo, there is a really good chance you're not Slim/Slender or the camera needs to be moved back a few feet.
You say you are Five feet, five inches in height. Weight isn't asked but you are 165 pounds... please make a different selection as Slim/Slender is someone else.

I haven't done a PSA (public service announcement) in a while, consider this one for July.

The reason it's important for choosing the correct body type is, searches will bring up the wrong results. That means a guy looking for a woman who has a few extra pounds won't find you if you incorrectly list yourself as Slim/Slender.

Czinger 21C...

Czinger 21C is a 950 horse power hybrid sports car built with many 3D printed parts. Only 80 are planned for Q1, 2023.

Post Comment

Cowboy Chords...

I was listening to a YouTube video from a studio/session guitarist who was explaining about absolute perfection in playing. If you are a professional, you must play the part.
Twanging a few wrong notes or messed up a timing is costly to the rest of the recording session if the engineer stops the recording take and makes everyone start again. Retakes get to be expensive. Some studio engineers will allow the song to continue and only retake the guitar part and not involve the rest of the session players.

Let's say you flubbed a solo note... one stinkin' note.
Years ago, everything was done on analog tape. They play the song again and the guitarist plays along repeating the part. At the very second where the mistake occurred, they 'punch-in' the new part to over write the mistake. It's only a second and not re-recording the entire solo.

Session players who aren't the best don't get called back for more work.

Now, nearly every studio is digital. No tapes. Everything goes directly to a computer.
The leading software workstation specially designed for recording studios is Pro Tools.
The beauty of that is doing a recording session in New York and sending the raw data to a studio in California to add vocals or other instruments.

Cowboy Chords are the most basic chords played in the first position, usually with a steel string acoustic guitar. Reminiscent of the early days of Western and Swing music, Cowboy Chords have lots of sustain due to the open strings. Guitars are tuned to E. If the song needs to be in a different pitch... let's say in the key of G, The guitarist would need to transpose and lose the sound of the Cowboy Chords.

Enter the capo. A capo is a device that straps around the guitar neck and placed in different locations to easily transpose music. The guitarist can still play like he was in E and strap a capo getting Cowboy Chords starting in the key of G.

For all the years of playing and listening to music, Cowboy Chords is a new term for me


cowboy
Post Comment

Today's annoyance: Drop Down Menus...

I went to the Home Depot site, typed in a selection and before I could choose from the options, the drop-down menu got in the way and I had to back arrow and start again.

Local weather channel has a hair-trigger drop down menu that takes a few seconds to release to let you make a selection from the main page.

One of the helicopter retailers has a series of 'land mines' that drop down with pop-ups that force the user to wait before making selections. Crossing your mouse over a menu opens other (unwanted) menus that lock waiting for graphics to generate. Sometimes it's quicker to close the page and open a new one bypassing the delay in the system.


Today's annoyance: Drop Down Menus...
Post Comment

Shark attack...

I read a story last week about a 17 year old girl who was attacked by a shark while scalloping in shallow waters off the coast of Keaton Beach, not far from Tallahassee, Florida. That area is called the panhandle and faces the Gulf of Mexico.
The girl's brother a firefighter, managed to fend off the shark and provide emergency medical support after pulling her to safety. There were no reports about the extent of damage to her upper leg and her condition... only a photo of her in a hospital bed with her brother by her side.
I'm think how bad was it? reconstructive surgery? chance of infection?
The news report was very weak and gave no additional information.


I see she's scheduled to undergo amputation today.
Post Comment

Naming your child for a month of the year...

I've always wondered what parents were thinking when they name their children after a month. I did hear of one girl named June who was born in August.

Probably an overdue pregnancy laugh
Post Comment

Naming your child for a gemstone...

Ruby...




I have a niece named Crystal and her daughter is Diamond.
Post Comment

Duane Allman and Coricidin cold tablets...

Over the years, there have been several stories about guitarist Duane Allman and a bottle of Coricidin brand of cold tablets. There is a style playing where blues guitarists have used cutoff necks of wine bottles as a slide. It's different from a Hawaiian guitar or Western steel guitar as those instruments use a heavy bar of steel (often chromed steel) to create clear ringing tones. The glass slide has a totally different sound. It's not as bright as steel and often brings harmonics for a different texture or more colorful sound.
In the old days, they literally cut the necks of bottles using a file to score the glass and heat to temper the glass.
Worn on a finger, the 'Bottleneck' slide is a mainstay with blues-style guitarists.
Drawbacks to this are it's fragile. When dropped, you can be sure of it shattering... so keep a few handy when gigging. Or... buy one made of metal. It won't have the same sound as glass, but you won't be buying them every time you get careless and have one roll off your amplifier and break.
As legend has it, Duane found the empty bottle of Coricidin to be a perfect match for his style of playing.

Embedded image from another site


This photo shows the original design and years later the bottle was changed to support child-proof caps. Coricidin is now sold in boxes of blister packs... no more glass.

The amazing thing is original Coricidin bottles fetch prices upwards of $150.
Replica bottles were also available.

Embedded image from another site



Photos of Duane playing slide show he wears it on his ring finger.

Here's a short video of Jeff Massey explaining some of the techniques used by Duane. He's using a slide made from porcelain used on his pinky finger.



The trick wasn't the pills... it was the bottle they came it!
Post Comment

Gifted musicians...

I'm back to watching musically oriented YouTube videos (among other things) and came across a few musicians who were said to be 'gifted' and after hearing their stories, I see that at an early age of 5 or 6 most (if not all) were enrolled in music training, usually classical.
Many of the 'gifted' adult guitarists, started in their teens and fit guitar lessons into a life full of other things. The turning point was 6 hours of practice daily. Eddie VanHalen dedicated hours upon hours of practice to get to the level he achieved. Hard work of 40 hours or more each week practicing guitar is what did it... not being gifted.

I'm rethinking the word 'gifted' when it applies to famous musicians.

Hard work?
John Petrucci of Dream Theater discusses his background and going to Berklee College of Music.
Accomplished, yes. Gifted... no.

Post Comment

Drive-out tags...

When you buy a vehicle at a dealer, they often issue a temporary tag until they can get the permanent tag issued. For years, I've heard people reference this as a 'paper tag'
The paper tag is usually good for 2-3 weeks giving enough time for the dealership to process the official tag or sticker to validate the new or existing tag.
Today, I found there is an official name for the paper tag... it's called a DRIVE-OUT TAG.

In the news, a man and woman in Memphis, Tennessee were arrested for creating fake drive-out tags. Police found 236 of them!

Memphis Police Department found printers, tags, plastic laminator machine, a rifle, handgun, bag of marijuana, digital scales.

Each were charged with 236 counts of forging evidence of title assignments.
Among that, a list of other charges ranging to drug paraphernalia and possession of a weapon.

The Shelby County Fugitive Task Force passed the tip to the Memphis Police Department who made the search and arrests.

Fraudulent drive-out tags...
Post Comment

This is a list of chatillion's Blogs. Click here for chatillion's Blog List

We use cookies to ensure that you have the best experience possible on our website. Read Our Privacy Policy Here