With some help from James and Danny, I got to put my 7D to good use and test out some of its video capabilities. I shot some footage above the Americana in Glendale (HD, 24fps) and attempted some tilt shift effects in post (After Effects). I also ran some of my melody maker's melodies through VST samplers for nicer sounds, and put it all together to make these little scenelets.

I'm super pleased with the results! It doesn't compare to a real tilt-shift lens, and these are definitely inspired by the master of all of this, Keith Loutit, but I'm already excited about hunting down some new spots. And hard drive space. 3 minutes of HD video is a little over a gig.

I've been made a juggernaut and I've been broken down to my core. I've been on cloud nine, and I've retreated to my shell. I've been lucky to learn the secret to magic and for this, I promise to try and see the best in people.

Danny recommended this quality podcast and I'm hooked. After listening to the latest few episodes, I'm now starting from the beginning and catching up on the (non-) adventures of Commander Major Alastair Q. Bastidious and First Lieutenant Rutuger G. Phooneybaum. Their improv and timing is excellent and I love the subtle use of sound effects... your imagination fills in the gaps and you can visualize everything. Here's a description from their site:

"The Mustache Rangers are a podcast and improv comedy team from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their performances and podcasts are best described as a cross between Buck Rogers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Samuel Beckett."

I've been experimenting with running MIDI files generated by my melody maker into 8-bit plugins in Ableton Live. After a tiny bit of arranging, effects, and envelopes, I'm loving the results! Here's some fun for your ears:

On a related note (pun intended), here's a Japanese ensemble rehearsing Tool's Lateralus. I think it's pretty wonderful. Even if you don't like Tool, the timbre of this is pretty much on the other side of the spectrum, so give it a whirl.

He's here to keep me company while M isn't.