Buy American? President Obama bought French game Just Dance 3 for Christmas

According to a tweet from French multinational computer gaming company Ubisoft, United States President Obama obtained their game Just Dance 3 as a family Christmas present. So much for Buy American! What's that about Do what I say, but not what I do....

The Ubisoft tweet also caught the attention of the venerable Forbes with this headline
"President Barack Obama Endorses Ubisoft's Just Dance 3 Videogame For Christmas". Forbes missed the obvious Buy American contradiction.

Zenoids contest Top 10 ready for your vote

I've made my choice among the Zenoids theme title Top 10 Finalists, so now it's your turn. The deadline for voting is January 2, 2012 and the winner will be announced January 3, 2012.

Pay with a Tweet, now there's a novel approach

Got an offer to download some music samples by paying with a tweet. That's a novel and innovative approach to drumming up business. The Pay with a Tweet site explains the philosophy and technology. The "price" also gets you a 30% voucher in the company's online store.

Here's the URL: http://www.analog-factory.com/?page_id=575

Uploaded "Autumn Elegy No. 6" excerpt to SoundCloud

I've uploaded the first minute of "Autumn Elegy No. 6" to SoundCloud. This one has a Gothic tone with bells and a mournful oboe and strings.

Congrats to the Top 40 Zenoids title theme contest semi-finalists

My congrats to the Top 40 Zenoids title theme contest semi-finalists which were announced on December 1, 2011. Sadly, for me, I'm not among them. I'll see about getting permission to post my entry on YouTube following the public voting and selection of a title theme.

I've posted an audio-only version of what I thought was my best of three entries on SoundCloud.

Uploaded "Gothchinescape" excerpt to SoundCloud

I've uploaded an excerpt from a piece I call "Gothchinescape" to my SoundCloud account. Let me know what you think of it.

"Immortals" movie (2011), imaginative and unbelievable

A couple of things struck me about the "Immortals" movie that I went to see. And it wasn't the 3D, which was pretty good though I hate wearing those glasses and being forced to pay extra money.

The first thing I noticed was that the imprisoned Titans in their box cage beneath Mount Tartarus -- another anomaly, since Tartarus was actually the ancient Greek equivalent of the Christian Hell and was not a mountain at all -- were clenching rebar (reinforcing bar), usually made out of steel. Curious choice for a movie set in ancient Greece.

The second thing that got my attention was the absolutely enormous, dam-size wall that looked far taller than any Egyptian pyramid and stood as a barrier between the army of King Hyperion and the other ancient Greek dude whose territory he was invading just to get to the inside of Mount Tartarus.

The third thing is that for someone who did not believe in the Hellenic gods, King Hyperion conveniently forgot about their essential role in the imprisonment of the Titans beneath or in Tartarus. Why he wanted to free them and why he thought they would not turn against him was not adequately explained. It's also curious that in Greek mythology Hyperion was one of the Titans, though in the movie he's been turned into the King of Crete.

Finally, as gods, would not the Olympians be able to teleport themselves instantly without the "Star Trek"-like golden beam?

Working on scoring a short animation

Ok, it's only a contest to score the 39-second title sequence of the Web animation series "The Zenoids". That's what I've been doing the past couple of weeks with my music. Contest closes November 6 and is sponsored by MyOuterSpace.com. Can't give you a preview as that's considered a no-no. The judges will pick their top 10 entries which will be posted online for the public to vote on. I'll let you all know if I make the top 10!

My hometown of Aiea in "Hawaii 5-0"

On the October 17, 2011 broadcast of the second season of "Hawaii 5-O" there were a couple of mentions of Aiea as a plot plot when one of the characters pointed out that a woman being searched for was staying at a small motel in Aiea.

So far as I know, there are no motels, small or otherwise, in Aiea. There are three "apartment hotels" that come up for Aiea in a Google Maps search. They're opposite the watercress farm on Kamehameha Highway that fronts the Pearlridge Shopping Center. I guess for TV, motel works better since it's one word instead of two.

Image-Line merchandising artwork contest for FL Studio

I submitted my first design to Image-Line's merchandising artwork contest for its flagship product FL Studio. The FL stands for Fruity Loops, the original name of this digital audio workstation software. See if you can figure out which one is mine. I'll be submitting a few others over the next several days, as many as I can come up with since the number of entries is unlimited. The contest closes October 31, 2011.

Uploaded excerpt of "Drum & Skull Ear Candy" to SoundCloud

This is the first minute or so of the 3-minute piece I entered into the horror music contest at DoYouKnowWhoIAm.com. It's called "Drum & Skull Ear Candy". You can download the excerpt on SoundCloud.,

Entered horror music contest with "Drum & Skull Ear Candy"

You can listen to and perhaps vote or comment on my entry in a horror music contest at Do You Know Who I Am? The instrumental is called "Drum & Skull Ear Candy" (this link may or may not work as I'm not sure if you have to be a member of this site in order to vote). Yes, I know, the title on the artwork doesn't match the title on the piece, as I was rushing to get the artwork done and didn't read it carefully enough. Duh!

Thanks for listening, have now surpassed 1,000 plays since joining SoundCloud

A lot of those were my own plays on my SoundCloud account, but I've now surpassed 1,000 plays since I joined in December 2010.

Surf's up in Hawaiian high schools

The State of Hawaii has sanctioned a plan to offer competitive surfing (on the water, not the Web) as an extramural sport to all its public high school students (about 50,000 throughout the 46 public high schools) by the spring of 2013. The plan's being paid for by private money. It's about time I say, though I wonder how they'll handle the liability issue as when a surfer is hurt. When I attended Leeward Community College in the late 1960s I took bowling as my required physical education course and the taxpayers supported that.

Here's a Google News link to online stories about this.

Source: Times Colonist (Victoria), October 8, 2011

Government of BC says "Canada Starts Here"

The Victoria Times Colonist newspaper reported on October 8, 2011 that the Government of BC "changed the province's international brand of 'Canada's Pacific Gateway' to 'Canada Starts Here'".... The slogan seems to have been unveiled in late September 2011 as part of a jobs plan announcement by Premier Christy Clark.

I wonder how the East Coast feels about that since they have more of a claim to that slogan than BC does.

A search of Google for "Canada Starts Here" reveals some interesting other uses by other parts of the country:

Canada Starts Here: The Great Waterway, a site promoting Ontario's 1000 Islands region

A Pro-Life Canada Starts Here, the tagline and motto of the Student Life Link site for high school students against abortion.

Your Fly-in Fishing Trip to Canada Starts Here! if you're into fly-in fishing trips in Ontario

And who's going to argue with Fodor's Travel Intelligence which clearly states in its Newfoundland and Labrador Travel Guide section "Canada starts here, from the east, on the island of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic. Known as Mile One, the province's capital of St. John's is North America's most easterly point and its oldest city."

Uploaded "Autumn Elegy No. 1" excerpt to SoundCloud

Here's a one minute or so excerpt from some moody strings backed by some stormy, yowling weather.  It's called "Autumn Elegy No. 1". The whole piece is about three minutes long.

Thanks for the Apple Steve

Another genius who died too young. My first personal computer was an Apple. So thanks for the Apple Steve. You gave a lot to the world, from computers to animated cartoons and all they spun off. I was very excited by your NeXT computer and know you found a way to bring that vision back in the Apple Company you revitalized. We will miss you.

Help me win a prize in the Untz Challenge II electronic musician contest

Update for October 12, 2011:

The Untz has selected the tracks to be voted upon by the public. Mine was not among the finalists. Maybe next year ....

I've another contest for electronic musician called The Untz Challenge II. The contest closes on October 7, 2011. The winners will be chosen by voting and only Americans and Canadians are eligible to enter one original track via SoundCloud.  Funny enough, SoundCloud had come under a denial-of-service (DOS) attack on the evening of October 4. I rushed my piece and uploaded for fear another DOS attack might occur and prevent me from uploading a track. It won't be visible for downloading or listening to on SoundCloud or wherever the voting occurs until the first round of your decision making begins on October 12.

"Terra Nova", is this "Avatar" for TV?

I'm not that impressed with the new TV series that premiered on September 26, 2011 called "Terra Nova". One of the stars is none other than Stephen Lang, who plays a similar character to his role in the movie "Avatar". The compound in the world the lucky citizens of the 22nd century are sent back to 85 million years ago is somewhat reminisicent of the compound on the planet in "Avatar" that's being mined for an energy source that will help an Earth also on the verge of envrionmental collapse as is the 22nd century Earth in "Terra Nova".

Victoria Steam Expo II, Craigdarroch Castle, Sep 24-25, 2011

The second Victoria Steam Expo will be held in and around Craigdarroch Castle on September 24 and 25, 2011. A ticket for the two-day extravaganza will set you back $40. Featured guest are San Francisco's "glam-noir siren" Jill Tracy and Vancouver Island steampunk artistic genius Kyle Miller, whose business is Thin Gypsy Thief Studios.

"Searching for the Stars" (the real ones in the heavens) through Searcher magazine

My most recent article for Searcher magazine, "Searching for the Stars: Cosmic Views and Databases", made the cover of the September 2011 issue as you can see below and is available online (just select the hyperlinked article title in this sentence).

Searcher magazine cover, September 2011

Uploaded "Shades of Asperion" excerpt to SoundCloud

You have some technological angst and consider yourself a barbarian among the automated? Have a listen to the excerpt from my "Shades of Asperion" on SoundCloud. I only discovered after I'd finished the piece that there's a hospice in the state of Georgia named Asperion, along with a hotel in England, both of which might be haunted by their own shades. Given the coincidental occurrence of the second Victoria Steam Expo, I might have been channeling some of my steampunk's muse into this piece.

BC HST Referendum success for the Yes side

The Yes side meant scrapping the HST and returning to the PST/GST system. According to Elections BC,

The final results are:

% of valid votes voting Yes	54.73%
% of valid votes voting No	45.27%

At a news conference on August 26, 2011 after Elections BC announced the referendum results, BC Finance Minister Kevin Falcon announced that the former PST permanent exemptions would return in about 18 months time when the PST is reinstated. The PST rate will also be set at 7%, which is what it was before BC's HST fiasco.

Uploaded "Mad About Strings Excerpt" to SoundCloud

I've uploaded one minute of one version of a dance tune I called "Mad About Strings" to SoundCloud. This was previously uploaded as as "Aug212011 Take1 Excerpt", which I've now deleted. You can download "Mad About Strings". Don't forget to tell yours friends and neighbors.

Uploaded "Spring Sprang Sprung Excerpt" to Soundcloud

I've uploaded "Spring Sprang Sprung Excerpt" to Soundcloud. It's a dance piece in an industrial vein with wonky clockwork sounds.

Uploaded "Pigeonholed Excerpt" to Soundcloud

I've uploaded "Pigeonholed Excerpt" to Soundcloud for your listening enjoyment.

Uploaded "Hey-Hey-Hey Yun Yun" excerpt to SoundCloud

Another dance piece, this one takes its name from a vocal refrain and what I imagine the main rhythm sounds like: "Hey-Hey-Hey Yun Yun". Fun fun fun, hey hey.

Uploaded "Now I Lay My Moog to Sleep" excerpt to SoundCloud

I uploaded the last of my entries for Spectrasonics' OMG-1 contest to SoundCloud. It's called "Now I Lay My Moog to Sleep".

Uploaded "Farewell, Atlantis" to SoundCloud and the Internet Archive

"Farewell, Atlantis" is my 3-minute chillout tribute to 30 years of the United States space shuttle program. It's composed of royalty-free music loops sourced from Prime Loops' "Babylon Beats" and Bunker 8 Digital Labs' Downtempo Darkness Trilogy from Sounds To Sample. The vocal commentary was converted from the MP4 videocast (vodcast) on NASA's site (http://www.nasa.gov/mp4/573224main_ksc_072111_sts135_landing_pod.mp4).

I've enabled downloading for the complete MP3 (encoded at 192 kbits/s) on my SoundCloud account and in the Internet Archive Community Audio section.

Uploaded excerpts from four new tracks to SoundCloud

I've uploaded excerpts, just over one minute each, from four new tracks to SoundCloud:

"The Spell" - with a hint of inspiration from Loreena McKennitt

"Whatever Moogs Yah" - another entry in Spectrasonics' OMG-1 contest

"Night and Moog" - a spaghetti western flavored piece

"Mountains and Mooghills" - some ups and downs for dancing

Uploaded excerpt of "Event Horizon Sonics" to SoundCloud

This has kind of a "Lost in Space" theme to it, you are in a starship and get pulled into the event horizon of a black hole, an event from which there is no escape. What you you do but sit back, relax, and listen to the Event Horizon Sonics.

Uploaded excerpt of "When the Moog Strikes" to SoundCloud

Here's a sample of a dance track I created for Spectrasonics' OMG-1 Contest that I call "When the Moog Strikes". You can leave me a comment on SoundCloud if you like or dislike it. No questions asked.

Uploaded excerpt of a new piece, "Java Chiller" to SoundCloud

Just chillin' with my coffee maker .... here's an excerpt from the "Java Chiller", a six-minute piece that contains the complete sounds from beginning to end of a pot of morning coffee being brewed. The sounds are supplemented by music loops and some synthesized sounds.

Uploaded excerpt of a new piece, "Looking for Mr Good Moog" to SoundCloud

I created a kind of dance piece I call "Looking for Mr Good Moog" that I've entered in Spectrasonics' OMG-1 Contest and have uploaded an excerpt to my SoundCloud account.

After the Vancouver Great Fire photo, June 1886

Vancouver Sun journalist John Mackie published another article highlighting a couple of historical photographs he found in the newspaper's files. One is a painted version of the famous "Vancouver after fire" photo by J.A. Brock & Co. (H.T. Devine), the other photo being a vintage, original print. He quotes yours truly at the end of the article and gives a plug to my monograph Eyes of a City published by the City of Vancouver Archives in 1986, the centennial of the city.

There are obvious factual errors in the article when I looked at it on June 12, 2011 and I've alerted him to those issues in case they can be corrected in the online edition.

Bunch of new tracks on SoundCloud

I took down a bunch of old tracks on SoundCloud to make room for new ones, in particular, excerpts from the six entries I've done to date for Spectrasonics' OMG-1 Contest.

The contest entries so far are "A Night on Moog Mountain", my impression of what Modest Mussorgsky might have with "A Night on Bald Mountain" had he a Moog synthesizer, "Moogyville", "I'm in the Moog for Grunge", "I Worship at the Temple of Moog", "Adagiomoogic" and "Will Insects Inherit the Earth".

A non-contest entry called "Sound Disposal" is also new, kind of a drum & bass horror thing.

Have a listen and leave a comment.

"Carrall Street, when it was wood", about rare Bailey & Neelands photos at Vancouver Sun

"Carrall Street, when it was wood" (April 2, 2011)

This is an article by John Mackie about a couple of rare Bailey & Neelands photos he found in the Vancouver Sun's morgue. He quotes a BC historic photo expert by the name of David Mattison.

Looking for photos: Global BC Small Town Feature: Metlakatla, Sunday, June 5, 2011

In my capacity as the MemoryBC database administrator I received this e-mail from Kristi Gordon, meteorologist at Global BC soliciting photographs of Metlakatla, BC, for their small town feature on Sunday, June 5, 2011:

We are going to highlight Metlakatla in our Small Town BC feature this coming Sunday, June 5th on Global BC's Sunday Morning News. Would you mind passing the word on? I could only find a few email addresses of people and business in the area.

Anyone is welcome to send in one photo each of the Metlakatla community and area to this email address: weekendnews@globaltv.com. We will show these photos on TV during our show! (Please do not send any pictures to my personal address.)

Here is a link to for more information about the Small Town features we do: http://www.globaltvbc.com/Small+Town/3501876/story.html.

Extreme Symphony Sports, only in Victoria, BC

In what's being called a first, brave members of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra will take part in the first Victoria Extreme Symphony Sports event following the mountain bike JumpShip event on a barge in the Inner Harbour on June 10, 11 and 12, 2011. This is all in anticipation of a new program as part of Victoria Symphony Splash, details as yet to be released by organizers.

Ok, I made all that up, but to give you an idea of the possibilities I've concocted this artwork from a couple of items from the Microsoft Office clip art gallery.

Uploaded "Tell Tail Signs" to SoundCloud

I uploaded a gentle, ambient piece I called "Tell Tail Signs" (the misseplling is deliberate) to my SoundCloud account. It's just over 5 minutes long and should not give you a headache.

August 15, 2011: I deleted this track to make room for newer pieces.

Removed "This Is Out There Somewhere" from SoundCloud

May 6, 2011: You can now listen to "This Is Out There Somewhere" on SoundCloud. It's not what you think.

June 1, 2011: I removed "This Is Out There Somewhere" to make way for newer tracks.

Removed "A Duty to Behold" to SoundCloud

May 6, 2011: I like to think of this one, "A Duty to Behold", as an excerpt from a larger, symphonic piece that I will one day assemble from all my other symphonic-like tracks.

June 1, 2011: I removed "A Duty to Behold" to make way for newer tracks.

Happy 25th anniversary Expo 86

May 2, 2011 marks the 25th opening day anniversary of Expo 86, the little-big international exposition that changed the face of Vancouver. I have fond memories of wandering the grounds, not in a daze except for the time I came down with food poisoning, visiting every pavilion I could and filling my Expo 86 Passport with as many pavilion stamps as I could.

What memories do you have of Expo 86?

Will any public body be commemorating the 25th anniversary of Expo 86? People I used to work with may recall that I unsuccessfully tried promoting a virtual exhibit for the 20th anniversary. All the surviving archival records of the Expo 86 Corporation are preserved by the BC Archive at the Royal BC Museum. You can view the description of those records.

Removed "I Funked My Music Class" from SoundCloud

April 18, 2011: I created this one, "I Funked My Music Class", in honor of a former work colleague who retired recently. The ending skips a beat for some reason. I'll fix it another time.

June 1, 2011: I removed "I Funked My Music Class" to make way for newer tracks.

Uploaded "We're In For Worse Weather"

This is a dance-oriented piece I call "We're In For Worse Weather" after one of the software synthesizer sounds I used ("The Fog"). This one would be part of my projected album "The Apocalypse Sessions."

Happy 125th City of Vancouver!

The City of Vancouver celebrates its 125th anniversary today, April 6, 2011. I'd like to wish all Vancouverites a very happy celebration.

Have you tried the new Gmail Motion?

That was a great April Fool's gag from Google: Gmail Motion (http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html). I was intrigued when I saw the "New! Gamil Motion Beta". That exclamation mark gets me every time. And if it's from Google, it must be true. Well, it was truly an April Fool's experience, especially the part about Google Docs Motion, the next breakthrough in collaborative document management.

Has The Bieb (Justin Bieber) lost his voice?

Did anyone else hear (pardon the pun) that The Bieb (Justin Bieber) lost his voice today (April 1, 2011)?

Removed "In the Gardens of Love" from SoundCloud

March 31, 2011: I've uploaded an anniversary piece of music to SoundCloud called "In the Gardens of Love".

June 1, 2011: I removed "In the Gardens of Love" to make way for newer tracks.

FL Studio 10 has been launched

FL Studio 10 has been launched by Image-Line. This is a pattern-based DAWS with lots of neat tools. Pricing structure makes it a steep investment, so I hope I win one of the cash prizes being given away to help make it more affordable. One of the nice things about this DAWS, however, is that once you buy the base product Image-Line gives you lifetime updates.

Just for spring, "Meadowlark Madness" uploaded to SoundCloud

I only realized after the fact that my little six-minute ambient piece I call "Meadowlark Madness" was inspired by Frederick Delius' "On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring". That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You can enjoy this rousing paen to spring for free on SoundCloud.

Uploaded "Massive Is As Massive Does" to SoundCloud

This a short and moody piece in which I was testing a couple of software synths, Native Instruments' Massive and AAS' Acoustic Strum Guitar. The drums are from a music loop. Since it started out as a test of Massive's sound, I called it "Massive Is As Massive Does". Not a very revealing title, I know.

Submitted entry to CBC Book Club March Music Mash-up Contest

Sent in my submission to the CBC Book Club March Music Mash-up Contest. Rewrote the lyrics to a popular traditional children's song so it's about books and reading. Contest closes on March 27, 2011.

Uploaded the chillout sounds of "Amblience" to SoundCloud

This one's a meditative, mellow, reflective piece I call "Amblience". You'll find it on SoundCloud. Prepare to be chilled to the bone.

Uploaded "Trancedination" to SoundCloud

Update for July 24, 2011: I deleted this track to make way for newer material.

Clear your head and ears, get out your dancing shoes and feel da groove, it's time for "Trancedination" on SoundCloud. Wait for about 35 seconds for the main wall of sound to kick in.

Thanks for the music boost Tim Willis!

Tim Willis, Director of Exhibitions and Visitor Experience at the Royal BC Museum, mentioned in his blog post on March 8, 2011 about the piece of music I created after being inspired by a new, travelling exhibit on invasive alien species. Thanks very much for the music boost Tim!

Uploaded "Ambient Winds" to SoundCloud

This is a long-winded piece, just over nine minutes. I called it "Ambient Winds", as the sound is supposed to gently carry you along. In order to make room for it on my free SoundCloud account, I had to delete a few other tracks.

"Trance Pacific Storms" removed from SoundCloud

March 10, 2011: Can't get to the beach? Try this synthesized beach backed by several other weird sounds all rolled together for your aural pleasure into a seven-minute extravaganza I call "Trance Pacifc Storms". And it ain't your momma's usual trance either.

June 1, 2011: I removed "Trance Pacific Storms" to make way for newer tracks.

Uploaded "Young and Funked Forever Take1" to SoundCloud

Felt the need for drumming and percussion this morning so strung together these royalty-free REX loops with a slow temp and strange time signature. REX loops will follow whatever pitch, tempo and time signature you throw at them so a loop of 125 beats per minute (bpm) played in 4/4 time might sound just as good if not better at 70bpm in 6/2 time.

I titled this one "Young and Funked Forever Take1". I'll probably add some guitar and maybe some horn riffs.

Sir Elton John and me

Back when Sir Elton John was in Victoria I was cycling around downtown and went past the Parkside Victoria Resort and Spa on Humboldt Street. I noticed a couple of TV cameras and some other people standing around outside by the back entrance. There was also a black SUV with tinted windows parked there. Ah ha, said I, that's where Sir Elton is staying. I stopped by my former place of work and mentioned that I knew where Sir Elton was staying, at the Parkside Victoria on Humboldt. I don't think anyone believed me.

I was happy therefore to read in the Victoria Times-Colonist on February 26 or 11 days after his second concert performance here that he had indeed been staying there. The Parkside Victoria's blog has more stories about his stay including a link to a CHEK TV News story.

Uploaded "Malahat Snows" to SoundCloud

Greater Victoria's first big snowstorm of 2010-2011 on February 23, 2011 led me to lay down this track I call "Malahat Snows" that you can listen to on SoundCloud.

August 15, 2011: I deleted this track to make room for newer pieces.

Critique of unread novel and seen movie "I Am Number Four"

Though the premise and ideas behind the novel and its movie version are ones that highly interest me, I've not read the novel but have now seen the movie. In looking over the official site for movie I was immediately struck by what I think is a huge plot hole. Read on if you dare.

Allegedly penned by an alien, Pittacus Lore, the novel I Am Number Four is the basis for the 2011 movie of the same title starring Alex Pettyfer as alien teen John Smith (that is, Pittacus Lore). Geeze, wouldn't he be suspected immediately of extraterrestrial or non-USA origins with a name like that?

What bugged me about the premise of this novel and movie are the ruthless aliens that destroyed the population of his home planet Lorien. Come on people, if the "evil Mogadorian" (their name even sounds evil) wiped out the population of one planet, what's to stop them from doing the same in one fell swoop to poor, defenseless Earth. I hate to say it, but these 18 Lorienites who came here for refuge are not that enlightened if they're using Earth and its population as a planetary shield against the Mogadorian, hoping, I think, that whatever "humanity" their enemy possesses might be swayed by the beauty of our world. Well, folks, in the real world, an implacable enemy simply is not going to hunt its prey one by one, it will choose the shock and awe option every time. Humans of course learned this lesson long ago.

But then the novel series Lorien Legacies (the second installment is called The Power of Six) and the movie's sequel would not exist and Pittacus Lore would not be laughing all the way to his or her alien bank.

As far as the movie itself goes, I don't think an adequate explanation was given about the war between the two alien species, both of whom of course are humanoid in appearance, the Lorienites enough so that they can pass as humans while the Mogadorians, who comically dress like the good guys (and girls) in The Matrix movies have gills on either side of their noses and tiny sharp teeth. All males, they're bald and with intricate tattoos.We're told by Henri (Timothy Olyphant), John Smith's Lorienite guardian/warrior, that the Mogadorians don't colonize, they decimate planets and then move on. So my question is: why such a small force of Mogadorians to hunt 18, if the bad aliens know there's a nice defeneseless planet ripe for decimating, why not commit all their resources? As it was, they kind of skulked around secretly until the final showdown. It also puzzled me why no one seemed to think to call the National Guard out once the firefight broke out at the high school and where were all the gun-toting militiamen. I mean we were in the heartland of America.

The movie and the relationship between the hero and his high school sweetie reminded me a lot of the Twilight films.

Overall, the film was well acted, well paced and despite my dissatisfaction with the bad and the good aliens' psychology, I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction films. The film has a lot of echoes of many other movies including Jumper, Push The X-Files and even Star Wars.

When the weather's bad, make some music, like "Stormy Memories"

February 18, 2011: This piece, "Stormy Memories", is almost back to the basics. There's very little going on musically, yet I like to think it's filled with drama and tension. Have a listen, it's only 3 minutes and 45 seconds out of your day or night.

June 1, 2011: I removed "Stormy Memories" to make way for newer tracks.

Uploaded "In the Hall of the Mountain Robots" to SoundCloud

I call this one a piece of ambient grunge: "In the Hall of the Mountain Robots". It's built entirely from royalty-free music loops. Can you hear those mechanoids clanking and buzzing away? It's only six minutes and twenty seconds of your time.

Update for April 9, 2011:

Not having received many plays, I've deleted this track to make room for another.

CRTC will re-examine its Internet usage billing decision & Shaw suspends it usage caps

OpenMedia.ca announced on February 8, 2011 that the CRTC will re-examine its Internet usage billing decision. You can join this campaign by sending a Web letter (already filled out) from the OpenMedia.ca site. I added some comments to my letter from my blog post about this situation.

The Vancouver Sun published an article online that Shaw has announced it will suspend its usage caps for two months during a public consultation.

I still fail to understand how the big telecomms like Shaw can sell bandwidth to smaller companies that then turn around and offer "unlimited" bandwidth to their customers. I'm on one of those "unlimited" plans myself and I'd really hate to give it up since it is so cheap.

Internet usage billing in Canada: who watches the watchers?

I, along with many others, are deeply troubled by the CRTC's decision on Internet usage billing. Here are some of my thoughts collected over the past two or three weeks on this subject. Some of these were intended for a letter I plan on sending to Shaw, my home Internet Service Provider (ISP).

First and foremost is the problem of the CRTC itself. The Victoria Times-Colonist in a February 4, 2011 article called the regulatory agency a "watchdog". This is a watchdog that appears to have the run of the yard with no restraints. Who watches the watchdog? What is the court of appeal for CRTC decisions? Is the appeal process something that is affordable for the ordinary Canadian? Is the CRTC public input process simple enough that the ordinary Canadian can understand the issue? If I understand the Internet usage billing decision sequence of events, it came about due to a submission by Bell Canada in October 2010 which wanted to charge its smaller customers who provided "unlimited" bandwidth Internet service plans more money based on actual bandwidth usage. Could anyone have predicted this outcome, a public backlash by individuals, organizations, corporate Canada and the government?

Second, while CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein rationalized that "Internet services are no different than other public utilities," I don't think the CRTC has ever reviewed bandwidth capacity and the caps set by the large providers such Bell, Rogers, Shaw, and Telus. If the CRTC is equating itself to the provincial regulatory bodies that oversee, for example, the amount of money charged to consumers for electrical consumption, then should the CRTC also not ensure that bandwidth usage caps for various Internet subscription plans are also reviewed and regulated. The fact that various large ISPs have different bandwidth caps partly demonstrates to me that the caps should be much higher than they currently are given that the large providers are also selling excess capacity to smaller providers in much the same way Canadian electrical utilities export excess power.

Third, the idea that there's some super-class of Internet consumers identified by von Finckenstein who use it "heavily" and are engaged in "excess use" (the words quoted by the Times-Colonist in its February 4 article) and are being subsidized by "the vast majority of Internet users" (Times-Colonist, February 4) sounds fair on the surface, except for the fact that all the ISPs already and have always billed "heavy users".

Fourth, who are these heavy users? If you are not one now, you likely will be in the future.

I, along with others, believe the CRTC's decision will have unintended negative consequences for the Canadian economy. The most immediate consequence will be, given that the "unlimited" bandwidth option provided by the smaller providers that lease bandwidth from the large ISPs appears to be doomed, more Canadians, myself included, who run their own Web servers will be looking for unlimited bandwidth services outside of Canada, thereby taking dollars out of Canada that really should be spent here.

As people worry about their bandwidth consumption, they will likely spend less time, money and thought online. It's the last that's particularly frightening because unlike any other telecommunications medium, the Internet allows for real-time collaboration in a synthetic environment that the stuff of science fiction a couple of decades ago.

Federal court ruling on Cabinet authority may dampen Internet usage billing reversal

According to this Globe & Mail report, a Federal Court ruling around a Cabinet decision from 2009 that saw it reverse a CRTC decision involving a wireless carrier may dampen the same and current government's enthusiasm for reversing the CRTC's decision on Internet usage billing.

Groundhog Day music: "Wail on Jellybeans" uploaded to SoundCloud

Not that the title has anything to do with Groundhog Day, but I kind of like the sound of "Wail on Jellybeans" which I've uploaded to SoundCloud.

CRTC ordered to rescind Internet billing decision or federal government will overturn it

Update for February 3, 2011: This is a good news story for everyone, except maybe shareholders of the Big Three Canadian ISPs, but the federal government has ordered the CRTC to either rescind its Internet usage billing decision or the government will quash it. For details see this Globe & Mail report.

This decision has affected me as I have an "unlimited" bandwidth account through a small Canadian ISP as well as one through an off-shore company. One of the unintended outcomes of the CRTC's ill-thought decision of course is that it will drive Canadians to off-shore providers and take Canadian dollars out of the country when those dollars should be supporting Canadian businesses.

February 1, 2011: According to this Globe & Mail Update on the Internet Billing Crisis, Prime Minister Harper has intervened by asking for a review of the CRTC's decision.

Mind the Cap, stop Canadian Internet usage billing

According to OpenMedia.ca, the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) affirmed the ability of Canadian Internet Service Providers such as Shaw, Rogers and Bell, the Big Three in Canada, to charge customers for usage over their allotted monthly bandwidth quota.

If you want to help Stop the Meter On Your Internet Use, you can do so through an online petition (below) as well as by writing to the Hon. Tony Clement, Canada's Industry Minister who indicated on February 1, 02011 that he will review the CRTC's decision. You can also use Facebook and Twitter to support this campaign.

Two new tracks on SoundCloud: "By Jove I've Got It" and "One Day You'll Dance to This"

I put up two new tracks on SoundCloud: "By Jove I've Got It" (3 minutes, 58 seconds) on January 27, 2011 and "One Day You'll Dance to This" (5 minutes, 3 seconds) on January 28, 2011. What an optimist I am on the latter.

"Big Dave's Rave" live on SoundCloud

Part of my projected CD "The Apocalypse Sessions," this is a kind of techno-industrial-ambient dance beat thing I call "Big Dave's Rave" that's now live on SoundCloud. No drugs were consumed during the making of this 9 minute, 4 second track.

Uploaded "Sea Spans: Eastern Ports of Call" to SoundCloud

I've been working on and off on a piece I call "Sea Spans" to commemorate to life and work of a friend in the maritime industry. This five-minute percussion-flavored track from it I call "Sea Spans: Eastern Ports of Call".

New dance track in progress, "Don't Swallow Your Mobile"

I'm working on another dance track called "Do Not Swallow the Mobile" or "Don't Swallow Your Mobile" inspired by the media story of a crocodile in a Ukrainian aquarium that swallowed a visitor's cellphone when she tried to take phone. Luckily, the croc did not take her arm as well though I imagine it was probably far enough away not to be a threat.

Here are some Google News stories about this incident.

Uploaded "DubTech Dance No. 1" to SoundCloud

Here's a piece I call "DubTech Dance No. 1", clocking in at a mere 3 minutes, and I have no idea if it's in fact in the Dub Techno genre, but I sure like it. It's made entirely of music loops sourced from Prime Loops in England.

Uploaded "Make Mine Bass Please" to SoundCloud

I've uploaded a new 3 minute, 52 second track to SoundCloud I've called "Make Mine Bass Please". Let me know what you think. You can comment directly on any of my tracks on SoundCloud.

Uploaded "Solitudinial" to SoundCloud

Here is a short melanchoic track with a bit of percussion kick that I worked up last night. Then the computer crashed. Got it all back and called it "Solitudinial". You can have a listen to all 2 minutes, 52 seconds on my SoundCloud account.

Uploaded "Long Count Calendar Blues Take 2 Excerpt" to Internet Archive and SoundCloud

The "Long Count Calendar Blues" is part of a concept CD I'm working on, yeah, why not, I call "The Apocalypse Sessions: Dances for Dark Days" that celebrates 2012. The title's a reference to the Mayan Long Count Calendar that allegedly places doomsday on December 21, 2012 (in case you hadn't heard). I uploaded an excerpt on the Internet Archive (2 minutes, 27 seconds) and the full version (8 minutes, 28 seconds) is on my SoundCloud account. It's not as dreary or heavy as it sounds!

Uploaded excerpt from "Apocalypse Delayed" to SoundCloud

I've uploaded to SoundCloud an excerpt, the beginning first couple of minutes, from an ambient piece nearly eight minutes long I call "Apocaypse Delayed." Let me know what you think.