First Sighting of #Volt on My Block
Posted: February 27, 2011 Filed under: Environment 1 Comment »I doubt I’ll ever get an electric car, seeing as I don’t have a garage (or a parking spot) and won’t for the foreseeable future. But it was a thrill to see the Volt on my block yesterday, and I snapped a few photos.
I look forward to the day when the hybrids and the electric cars are the norm, and the all internal combustion engines are the rarity.
Four Acoustic Tracks Tricked Out with GarageBand Effects
Posted: February 26, 2011 Filed under: Recording Leave a comment »In a spare moment today, I recorded this sort of awful bit of music. I played four parts on the Yamaha acoustic, which went into GarageBand through the built-in mic. Then I futzed with all manner of GB effects.
Gateway to an Incredible World
Posted: February 25, 2011 Filed under: Artists, Deep Leave a comment »Hat tip to Ohkeepahblog, for flagging this one today. At Bands That Jam, Mike Gordon gives his advice to bassists just starting out:
I would say, allow it to be a religion. That doesn’t mean you can’t have another kind of religion too. If you treat it as not just an instrument, but sort of a gateway to an incredible world of rhythm and dreams and music and all that. Even just a few notes on that bass can be an incredible tool. Allow it to be huge, that will be my advice.
Congress Spends $1 Million a Year on Bottled Water?
Posted: February 24, 2011 Filed under: Environment, Washington 1 Comment »Recently, representatives from the Office of Sustainability and AU’s Green Eagles, along with Corporate Accountability International, went to Capitol Hill to shed light on a report that shows that Congress spends almost a million dollars a year on bottled water. Their visit also helped raise awareness to the benefits of consuming tap water instead of bottled.
We drink tap water in our house, although we run it through a filter. DC has had issues with lead in tap water.
The Cleaner Your Containers
Posted: February 23, 2011 Filed under: Environment Leave a comment »Blue Marble answers a recycling question that I’ve often wondered about.
The cleaner your containers, the more they’re worth on the recyclables market. Municipal facilities first sort recycling by type (paper, several kinds of plastic, tin, etc.), and then by quality. Workers separate clean recyclables from soiled ones, into bales. “If the bale is lower quality, there is less revenue coming back into the system from the sale of recyclables, which helps pay for the program,” says Reed. The takeaway: By providing clean recyclables, you can actually save your city (and ultimately, taxpayers) money.
Joy
Posted: February 22, 2011 Filed under: Concerts Leave a comment »June 11 and 12 at Merriweather. I am so in.
This One Goes Out to Middle C Music
Posted: February 21, 2011 Filed under: Washington Leave a comment »A couple of the axes in the vast Gillies arsenal needed a bit of work, so I took them this weekend to Middle C Music, an old school neighborhood music shop here in DC. They did a good job; everything is playing nicely now.
One of the guitars getting a tune-up was my ancient Yamaha, purchased at a similar store on 81st street back in 1980s. I remember being bummed when that place folded and was replaced by a dry cleaner.
William McDonough: NASA Sustainability Base
Posted: February 20, 2011 Filed under: Environment, Videos Leave a comment »
Speaking of Big Red
Posted: February 19, 2011 Filed under: Artists, Videos Leave a comment »Here’s a nice interview with Anastasio at Hidden Track. They embedded this video of “Valentine,” which I heard for the first time (and quite enjoyed) at 930 a year ago.
