Big Lebowski Based in Part on Brian De Palma’s Body Double

So I was watching the Big Lebowski (one of the best movies ever made), and realized the central plot twist is based entirely on Body Double by Brian De Palma! The dude lays it out: “So you needed a sap to pin it on,” which is the plot twist of Body Double–including the “ringer for a ringer” part–both movies star a loser that a rich person picks for their loser qualities and sets up to witness/be part of a crime story where a wife is also set up/used as a pawn so that the husband can get money!!! In Body Double the patsy is a loser actor while in Big Lebowski it’s the Dude. Of course this is all by way of Hitchcock, but there’s a further Body Double nod in that both movies prominently feature Los Angeles Lautner houses (the circular Chemosphere House in BD and the Malibu mansion the Sheats Goldstein House in BL), both designed by the architect John Lautner!!!

Also, I will post about this later: the pawn shop basement assault scene in Pulp Fiction is entirely based on the army surplus store basement scene in the movie Falling Down!

Also see: Similarities Between David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Brian DePalma’s Body Double, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo

Jesu–Heartache (Ex-Godflesh)

Jesu–Heartache

Jesu’s a great band, with Justin Broadrick from Godflesh–somewhere between Godflesh, Swervedriver, My Bloody Valentine, and Codeine…

The Best Digital Recorder for Recording Band Practice and Live Concerts I’ve Heard–But Your Recordings Might Get Accidentally Erased–the Zoom H2

*Update– of course after writing this, I recorded a jam session, which sounded great, but it was on a 4 GB SDHC card which came with the recorder, when I hooked it up for the first time to the computer by USB it did not recognize it, then when I tried to disconnect from the computer the Zoom display read “Do you want to format the SD card” or something and of course I selected “No” so it wouldn’t erase the recorded jam session, then there was a progress bar and then the Zoom wouldn’t recognize the SD card anymore and the jam session recordings are inaccessible, no card readers will read the card, and so far none of those SD card data recovery programs have been able to recover the data! Wow. So, the sound quality is really good, but your recordings can be erased instantaneously and accidentally, the first time you try to transfer the data to your computer. Hmm. I probably should have hooked up the Zoom to the computer before recording, just to see if the USB transfer functions were working correctly, which I didn’t. Boo. I tried again with a 2GB SD card. My PC never is able to access the Zoom SD card if I have the Zoom powered on, connect it by USB, then in the Zoom menu scroll down to the USB–>Storage option. I can only access the card through a card reader, or plug my powered-down Zoom into my computer via USB. Weird. Also dumb is that if I had it powered on and chose USB->storage, if I think press Menu to exit, it displays “Please wait” forever and hangs like that, I have to unplug the power cord or take out the batteries, which seems unsafe for the data.*

I’ve been looking for a good recording device/digital recorder to record live gigs and band practices etc for a really long time. I’ve tried MiniDiscs, 4 tracks, and the Belkin Tune Talk for the iPod, but it was lacking in essential features like a gain/input meter, limiters and condensers, etc. In comparison, the Zoom H2 is just amazing. It has a gain/input meter, it has four mics so you can record in 2 track and 4 track surround sound–the stereo imaging is fantastic. It has auto gain controls with condensing and limiting settings so that you can when you record live with drums and amps etc for band practice or live concerts it will prevent clipping or distorting. You can fine-tune the input levels, etc. If you ever want to record band practices, concerts, etc, the Zoom H2 is definitely worth buying.

Mudhoney–You’re Gone

Mudhoney-You’re Gone

This is definitely one of Mudhoney’s best songs, worthy of being on Superfuzz Bigmuff, but for some reason it was only released on vinyl. Definitely needs to be released on CD/mp3!

Sound editing with Soundforge

For the record, let me just say that I have both the old Soundforge 4.5 and 5.6, and I love them, they are WAY better (intuitive, controls are accurate and work right), I tried a trial of the newest Soundforge 10, it was SO BLOATED and when using markers, selecting segments of wav files etc, the cursor kept jumping to non-intuitive places that totally made for an inefficient, painful workflow. I’m glad I still have 4.5 and 5.6!!!

Older, and better, classic!

Smooth lines and tracing in Illustrator

Here’s a quick tutorial on making smooth lines (which are helpful for tracing etc) in Illustrator, here’s a tutorial on using the Pen tool, here’s a quick post about situations in which to use the pen tool versus the pencil tool …

Dorothy Ashby–Myself When Young, Soul Vibrations–Jazz, Funk, Hip Hop, Harp & Koto!

Dorothy Ashby, Detroit-born 70s jazz funk harp and koto player and singer extraordinaire. Here’s one of her great songs, Myself When Young, replete with flute, strings, koto, bass, drums, percussion, great vocals, etc. The first part is a killer break too.

Dorothy Ashby–Myself When Young

Dorothy Ashby–Soul Vibrations

Dorothy Ashby–Windmills of Your Mind