Gruber linked to an excellent post today written by John August on his blog (a ton of useful information about screenwriting), which was a response to a question asked of him by a reader of his site who is a working screenwriter who felt like he was running into a wall with his sense of story, and was worried about continuing to "get better" at his craft. I'm not keen on this post for the screenwriting related reason necessarily... I'm keen on it because of the answer that John gives him, and how the technique offered can apply to EVERY craft - especially in media and art, where there are thousands of other good examples out there of people doing stuff well, and stuff that we like (and don't like - just as valuable!). Break it down, take it apart, learn from what you see there.

As an electric bass player (will record for gourmet food and good company), I hate to put myself out of a job, but MAN, this refill from Propellerhead Software sounds hawt! This is a 16-bit and 24-bit library (which allows you to go easy on your CPU while writing, and the switch over to the 24-bit versions for final mixdown) and a wide variety of tones, where is seems only the very best mics and amps were used to create this thing. I love having access to REAL bass sounds however, when working on writing projects and I'm not actually recording real bass at the moment... nothing worse than a wimpy MIDI bass sound to get the blood NOT pumping!

Check out the samples at the propellerhead Reason Electric Bass page, and see what I mean. Mmm Hmm! I heard about this from emusician's email list and their site, so I've got to give them props, but here's the link straight on through to the main Reason Electric Bass refill page.

The basses they used to create this set are as follows, I got this list from the prop-heads site:

Since last year, Memorial Day has taken on new meaning for me. A dear friend of mine passed away in February 2007, and his birthday was May 25. So every Memorial Day will be spent with thoughts of Jim, and in honor of him and his excellent and deep knowledge of music, I thought I'd share a mix he made a few years before his death. A mix that, upon first listen, I considered amazing, in that it was filled with weird and wonderful songs, half of which I had never heard.

So I've kind of been MIA lately because I've been face-to-screen for a month and a half writing my graduate thesis. Now that I've lovingly placed that mess into the hands of my advisors, I feel a sense of relief mixed with exhaustion, a dash of nostalgia, and side of blinding fear. (From what I hear, this sounds about right.) Now it's time for the rituals: thesis readings, something called a "hooding ceremony," the graduation itself.

I had been hearing advance descriptions of the new DCFC record, Narrow Stairs, for the past couple of months, and I must say, I had very high hopes for it being everything I already love about Death Cab with a new layer added: an edgy, raw, darker quality that promised - for me - to elevate this record to "new favorite" in their ten-year discography. I picked up my copy on Wednesday from our local independent record store, Toonerville Trolley Records in Williamstown, (props to Hal!), and listened to it in the car that afternoon on a drive to my brother's place. By the end of the second track I was ecstatic.

Time to kick back, and actually laugh out loud. It's lunch time on a Friday, and what better way to enjoy the moment than by sending just the littlest bit of your sandwich out your left nostril. Try it, I did... it's fun. Oh, here's your fuel for launch. The Sun-Sentinel has put up a "vote for worst album cover of all time" feature, and well... let's just say, picking one's least favorite is not an easy task. Enjoy, and don't say I didn't warn you!

Ok, full disclosure. Total self-plug here. Spent a lot of time working on something really fun - a gift to fans of Indiana Jones, actually - and I want to share it with you all here. If you want to crank our Indy tribute song while you read the blog, pop this Flash player window up, or download the free MP3 here. I give you 'The Ballad of Indiana'.

After the thrill of having our way geeked-out Star Wars-themed tribute song"Farm Boy" (not only a Star Wars homage, but also a loving nod to our proggy, synth-laden youth) featured on the October 13, 2006 episode of "The Force-Cast" with Jason and Pete, my childhood friend and bandmate, Glen Nelson (he's an elementary school music teacher and co-founder/vocalist/keyboardist of CT-based family-friendly rock band Spaghetti Cake and northeastern regional jam-band fave Flipper Dave) and I felt a calling to return to the genre and write a follow-up tribute song in honor of the new Indy film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", hitting theaters on May 22nd, 2008. Australia-based Ed Dolista's fantastic podcast "The Indy-Cast," focusing on all things 'Jones,' seemed like the perfect place to world premiere our up-tempo rock-pop number written in honor of the good Doctor, and Ed was more than happy to oblidge. The new High Adventure single called "The Ballad of Indiana" was featured in Episode 24 of the Indy-Cast, which came out Sunday April 27th. Dolista did a 15 minute audio interview with Glen and I for the show. If you're an Indy fan and you haven't heard of the show yet, you may want to hit the RSS feed. The Ballad of Indiana is also being featured tomorrow, state-side, on another hugely popular podcast. Adam Christianson'sThe MacCast will be playing the track as its finale for the May 7, 2008 episode. Following is the story of how the song was created.

Engadget posted something beautiful today. Showcased in the 2008 Yamaha design exhibition at the Milano Salone trade fair in Italy, this gem of a lyrics notebook (that's what I'd use it for), looks like something that would be really enjoyed by artists who need to have the keyboard nearby to work out ideas... only this one works on the Moon too.

I've been steering clear of MTV's new reality show Rock the Cradle, which is odd, because I usually eat reality TV up with a shovel. Who Wants to Marry My Dad? Check. Groomer Has It? Check. And the list goes on.

Recently, founding member and bassist for Jane's Addiction joined us in the Zoom In studios for an exclusive Rehearsal Space interview. In it we discussed many things, including his reluctance to re-form Jane's Addiction despite many offers from Perry Ferrell and crew.