The Oracle of Apollo Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

Upgrading

After an eon of seeing the zippy wheel header and the same old Oracle for 18 months, I’ve finally decided that it was time to upgrade to WordPress 2.0. I’ve also installed K2, an AJAXy theme, which I’ll be configuring over the weekend. Change is good.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my website and this blog. I haven’t cared to update the site in quite some time (witness the large gaps and sparse posting lately). I’m considering deleting all of the back archives (because do you really want to go back and read all this to January 1, 2000, when I started doing this?).

I’ve been more and more involved in my music now than ever before and I’m awaiting yet another instrument in my growing arsenal. I’ve got several rough drafts that I’ve played for people and I’m still learning Logic, which I recently acquired.

Now, though, I’m on WordPress 2.0.4. I get Akismet, Widgets, and all this other niftiness. What do you think?

Giving Back Again

Last year around this time of year, I asked you all to donate to Seth Dillingham‘s ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge. I was having a great year last year and I already had 4,000 miles on my chart by the time July rolled around.

In July this year, I rode about 80 miles. I just haven’t been on my bike at all recently, due to staggering changes in my social life, my musical output, and the fact that I’m just not feeling it. So, I have decided that donating ten cents for every mile on my chart, when I haven’t updated my cycling statistics in a while. Last year, I put my money where my legs were.

This year, Seth is the alpha cyclist. So, I’m putting my money where his legs are. Today, I’m pledging ten cents for every mile on his chart. It’s not as big as last year, but it helps. According to his site, he has ridden 2,557.05 miles so far this year. So, I’m donating $255.71.

I am putting a call out, because it really is the zero hour. Please donate to his ride today. All of the proceeds for this magnificent event raise money for the Jimmy Fund at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Seth, I hope you reach your goal. Please accept my apology for having spaced it out this long.

Logic Pro 7.2

After a blown attempt to catch my package yesterday, today I went to the FedEx place and picked up a big heavy box with my newest studio addition in it. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have Logic. I spent some of the afternoon deleting files from my meager 60 gig harddrive (with 6 gigs of available space) to make room for the massive install of Logic Pro.

I played around with Logic for a while, failing even for a moment to get it to emit any sounds at all. I guess I’ll read the manual tomorrow.

It’s a frustrating experience, but I imagine that’s just because of the learning curve. Soon, kids, my music will come. I hope your patience holds.

Adding to the Studio

Today, I went down to Guitar Center in Santa Clara to add to my music studio. I looked around online and decided to get the Korg padKontrol to trigger events in Reason or Ableton Live. While I was nosing around, I took a gander at the M-Audio Keystation Pro 88, an 88-key controller with weighted, “hammer-action” keys that make it feel like a real piano. The KSP has 59 assignable knobs, buttons, and sliders, that can be programmed to fit a variety of needs. The sales rep told me that he’d knock $40 off the price of the big board, so I decided to get them both.

So, when I got them home and unboxed them both, I found that neither the padKontrol or the Keystation came with AC adapters. I guess the idea is that I’d use the big board (the Keystation) with a PowerMac G5 or a powered USB hub, instead of plugging it into my MIDI controller, but if I had a big studio with all that candy, I simply would not bother piddling $380 on a master controller—I’d spend several thousand and do it right. As more and more people buy M-Audio’s gear, use them with laptops, and add more MIDI-capable hardware, you’re going to run into more and more people complaining about this. And Guitar Center guy, yes, the Keystation, despite its massive size, vast numbers of assignable knobs, and heavy weight, is an entry-level MIDI controller. A professional recording studio would have spent ten times as much on a board with fewer knobs and more solid engineering.

After unboxing the Keystation and setting it up, I got it to work with Reason, but failed to figure how to assign the knobs. The action is smooth, though, and the big board is a pleasure to play. It took me a while to rearrange my studio for the KSP. I also discovered that the sustain pedal for my Roland JV-80 doesn’t work with the big board, so I’m going back to Guitar Center tomorrow for one that will.

New gear makes my heart sing.

New Grill

Just got back from the dentist. Oh, my goodness, look at that grin. Yeah. So, in the big crash in October, I broke several of my teeth, in addition to my jaw. I went to the dentist, got some exams done, and waited for my settlement.

Today, I headed back to the dentist, after making an appointment three weeks ago. We prepped the incisors on the top for crowns, installed a temporary crown that looks really nice, and made an appointment for next week at this time for additional work. Left to do in crash-related damage are recrowning the bottom middle molar on the right and the bottom right canine. Not a cent of this is covered by the piss-poor excuse for dental insurance that I have as a contractor.

It was three hours in the dentist’s chair. He swabbed my palate and I barely felt the anesthetic shot. Numbing the palate feels strange. It felt like there was something catching in the back of my throat. “Ignore that and just breathe through your nose,” he told me. It felt like much longer than three hours, but when we finished, I was astonished by what I saw in the mirror.

Wow. Thanks, doctor!

Happy Birthday, Jody

You’d be thirty years old today. Everyone in the family misses you, especially on your birthday. What kind of dazzling, shining, astonishing human being would you be today? Where would you be? Who would you love? What would you do? What would your passions be? Where would you be living now?

I braved the fierce winds to add a mile to my chart for every candle that belongs on your cake. I wish more than anything that you were here to enjoy it. Or whatever else I got you on the big three oh.

Happy Birthday, B-Wipe

My little brother turned 34 years old today. Damn, dude, can you be that old already?

At least your hair isn’t grey like mine is. Celebrate that for now.

Happy birthday, man.

Moment of Silence

This weekend, a gunman killed six people at an after party in Seattle, before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. As an aficionado of underground parties here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was shocked and appalled when I read of the tragedy. I have been to after parties just like that with people just like those, following just that kind of evening.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of those who died Saturday morning. I’m sure I speak for many of us down here in California when I offer my solidarity and condolences to my brothers and sisters in Seattle.

Salted

Despite the fact that Ernie burned out before I went out, I jumped out of my late disco nap and headed up to the city in the rain. Tonight, as usual, I headed up to Mighty for Salted, my favorite weekly ever.

My friend, Mark Johns, was ripping it up when I arrived, pounding the speakers with an astonishing set of house gems that had the whole crowd excited and begging for more. I’ve had one of his CDs in my iPods for almost five years. His mixing was great and his track selection spot on.

Rick Preston took over about 1 and continued the onslaught, throwing techno delicacies and funky tech house goodies into the air. The music was astonishing.

I got to hang out with a bunch of friends, dance my ass off, and go home exhausted. And that, my friends, is how you do that.

Supperclub

Okay, that was trippy. During the intermission of Ian’s show, I called up Ernie and the gang to see what they were up to. I headed over to the little club they were at near 13th and Duboce, but that club was closing up. Ernie had heard noise about a place called Supperclub, so we all jumped in the two cars and headed over.

I’ve never been to Supperclub before, but what a nice venue. After paying the people at the door, we went inside. R-Squared was ripping it up in the main room to a crowd of about 100 in an astonishing white room, skirted on all sides by beds and an overhead catwalk. This place is swanky. The chill room had a bluish theme to it and more cushions and beds.

The crowd was down and I ended up in a dancer’s circle fairly quickly. DJ Seven took over and played a funky set that ended with Lisa Shaw’s “Always” as a very appreciative crowd jumped all over that mix. I wasn’t even there two hours, but I left sweaty enough to appreciate the dry shirt in my back seat.