Friday, February 29, 2008: Month End
BTS Construction
Possibly a show room for the coming condo
Where did February go?
Thursday, February 28, 2008: Stuff Going Up
BTS Construction
Another something going up
Not a job I'd like
Are THEY here?
I used the Mini Kaoss Pad with the XioSynth last night. I am amazed at how something so small can sound so great.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008: Mini Kaoss Pad
When I feel blue, for what ever reason, the most effective cure all is buying gear. Once I have the new gear I will obsess with that for however long and by the time I’m over my first love stage I have usually passed through the blue period. This method has far less side effects than drugs although it can be expensive.
With the Emu Proteus failure on the weekend I had roughly $ 200 bucks worth of emergency gear funds available for spending so after Currahee and breakfast I went to the newly renovated Central World Mall (formerly World Trade Center) to check out the music shop on the third floor where I bought my Korg Microkorg several years ago (yes, I was using it last night actually) to see what they had in stock worthy or affordable.
Walking the sky walk to the Central World Mall... Looking this way...
Looking that way...
Sandy and I used to go to World Trade (or World Tard as she would spell it in text messages) every Sunday. Then they did the renovations and we switched to the Siam Paragon so I really haven’t spend any time there in a few years. I came in directly along the new walkway from the Sky Train and waltz right up to the third floor. The store in question has moved slightly but not much. I was able to find in much easier with the new layout than before when I’d have to wander about searching for it.
Hello Kitty Guitar #1
Hello Kitty Guitar #2
There is a fair bunch of kit in the place. They carry mostly big name guitars and amps, such as Fender and Marshall. The keyboard and DJ gear is largely Korg with some Alesis stuff as well. Of interest to me was the Korg gear. As much as I may worship and desire all that is Moog I have to say the bulk of my electronic gear both old and new is Korg. They make stand up gear and innovative stuff at that and quite often its priced nicely; such as the Mini-KP Kaoss Pad device at roughly $200 bucks. Just want the Doctor ordered. Now I would love to have the full-on Kaoss Pad 3 with all its flashing lights, MIDI sync and sampling power however the Mini-KP fits my three main concerns regarding gear.
1) It’s cheap as chips. ($200 bucks for 100 effects programs)
2) Its small. Teeny weeny. Tiny. Teensey.I
3) It’s cheap.
Small is good. If I travel I like to be able to take a keyboard (the Novation XioSynth, Novation Bass Station, or the Microkorg will fit nicely into my carry on bag), my digital recorder (The Zoom MRS8 fits into my laptop bag with my laptop) and now thanks to those fine folk at Korg I can bring along a truly twisted little effects device. The Sherman Filterbank is great but it is large, heavy and bizarre enough looking to bring unwanted inspection from airport security. If I put the Kaoss Pad in with the laptop it will drawl little if any attention at all.
So I bought one Huzzah!
Afterwards I wandered about the renovated mall a bit. There are now three music shops on the third floor although the one I bought the Korg from seems to have the most of what I am interested in.
Super Ugly Guitar with wooden knobs from another shop
The view from the sky walk heading towards Siam BTS
I briefly tried it out by just running my iPod into it and playing one of my ambient demos while rolling through all the programs and running my fingers about on the touch pad. The filter effects are quite juicy and thick. I think if the signal were fed into the Electro Harmonix LPB Tube preamp the results would be so completely analog sounding you’d think I have a big old modular sitting in front of me. The echo effects are nice and can be rather goofy. There is also some nice flanging and phasing effects and with the touch pad you can control the sweep manually which sounds just amazing. There is also a decimator/bit crusher that reduces the bit rate of the incoming signal from modern digital purity to early 80’s primitive.
Again various elements of those function can be controlled my moving your finger about on the X-Y axis. There’s some DJ orientated effects such as loopers and beat slicers but these only interest me for their sound mangling applications. The last couple of programs are “synths” of a bass nature and I was actually shocked at how huge these sound. If the Korg Kaossillator contains patches the likes of these I’m buying one the second they come in to the store.
Running my iPod through the Mini Kaoss Pad
A list of the programs:
LPF (Low Pass Filter), HPF (High Pass Filter), BPF+ (Band Pass Filter+), 72dB/oct LPF, LPF & Delay, HPF & Delay, BPF+ & Delay, LPF & Reverb, HPF & Reverb, BPF+ & Reverb, Morphing Filter, Radio Filter, Radio Isolator, Isolator, Isolator & Distortion, Isolator & Delay, Jet (Manual Flanger), Manual Phaser, Talk Filter, Digi Talk, Ring Mod & HPF, Pitch Shifter & HPF, Mid Pitch Shifter, Pitch Shifter & Delay, Broken Modulation, Fuzz Distortion, Decimator, Decimator & HPF, LFO LPF, LFO HPF, LFO BPF+, LFO HPF+ & Delay, Infinite LFO HPF+, Random LFO LPF, Random LFO HPF+, Flanger, Deep Flanger, Mid Flanger, Flanger & LPF, Flanger & Delay, Infinite LFO Flanger, Phaser, Mid Phaser, Phaser & Delay, Step Phaser, Auto Pan, Mid Auto Pan, Slicer, Mid Slicer, Slicer & LPF, Slicer & HPF, Delay, Smooth Delay, Low Cut Delay, Ping Pong Delay, LCR Delay, 3 band Delay, Multi Tap Delay, BPF Time Slide, Reverse Delay & HPF, Reverse Delay Mix, Gate Reverb & Delay, Delay & Reverb, Tape Echo, Dub Echo, Feedback Echo, Reverb, Reverb 2, Spring Reverb, Gate Reverb, Reverse Gate Reverb, 3 band Gate Reverb, Grain Shifter, Mid Grain Shifter, Mid Grain Shifter+, Grain & HPF, Grain & HPF+, Looper Forward/Reverse, Vinyl Looper, Rewind Spin Looper, Looper & LPF, Looper & HPF, Looper & Flanger, Looper & Pitch Shifter, Looper & Decimator, Looper Isolator & HPF, Looper & Isolator+, Bass Looper, Looper & Oscillator, Looper & Noise, Unison Saw Bass, Unison Squ Bass, Unison Saw Synth, Unison Squ Synth, Metalic Synth, Siren, LFO Sin, LFO Squ, Noise, Synth & Looper
Sunday, February 24, 2008: Trying the Proteus (again)
I walked over to Pantip and tried out the supposedly repaired Emu Proteus World sound module. I tried it before and it had some power issues but since which the tech-geek has supposedly dealt since then. I took my Bass Station in as a MIDI controller and attempted to give it a whirl however it would give no signal out and the thing doesn’t have a headphone jack. So clearly there are other issues with that box besides the power. The shop owner scrambled to get it to function but there was no way. I could see from one of the indicator lights that the MIDI signal from the Bass Station was going in but no sound would come out. I suspect either the connections in the back are messed up or what ever sort of sound chip is inside the thing is fried.
Oh well. What can you do?
Now here's your Sunday night sunset skyline...
Saturday, February 23, 2008: Camera Window Shopping
The Crane arrives...
My camera has been acting up. I think it might be the long term effects of getting wet and being dropped in the snow and being carried around in my pocket and being used nearly everyday since I bought it in 2004. I have started looking at possible replacements. The newest Sony Cybershots have the unfortunate feature of touch-screen LCD controls on the back. I dislike touch screens to start with and because the menu must cater to the limited space around the edges of the screen the menu structure is by no means straight forward. I have grown used to being able to push the menu button and scroll up or down to the appropriate setting. These new improved models offer no such ease of use. It’s a Nokia-like journey through sub-menus and magical setting forests where you may or may not find what you were seeking. And by then of course the moment is gone, the train has passed and Big Foot has returned to the woods; so much getting for proof of his existence and garnering any rewards or fame for digitally capturing his image.
The other problem with the newer cameras is they are bigger. I’m not sure why this is. They don’t seem heavier, in fact they seem rather flimsy in their construction yet they are thicker. This is not good. I already carry far more electronic gear on me than is probably healthy. Two phones, a camera and an iPod (plus George Costanza’s wallet). The last thing I need is for these items to become bulkier. So far the main contender for a replacement is the Olympus SW which supposedly is both shock and water proof. I have never had an Olympus camera at any time so I am not sure how good a choice it would be. It is however the right size and price range. I will attempt to have my current camera repaired first before making such mind snapping decisions.
The night shift
Friday, February 22, 2008: Observations
Part of what will be the BTS to the new Airport.
Watch your step
Putting up a fence
What will go up here?
Buying fresh fruit
Thursday, February 21, 2008: Another Building
Another building going up. This one is at the corner of Asok and Sukumvit across from the "New York Selzer" building, where once stood a whole bunch of little "bar beers" underneath a bill board. This is definately an improvement.
Bonhomme found this in his apartment. Not something you want to bite you!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008: My Bloody Shoe
Watch your step
I had a toenail malfunction today. At the end of my run and flailing about I discovered that my sock was all full of blood as was my shoe. The actual cut was tiny however 30 plus minutes of landing my massive weight upon it must have caused the red vino to squirt out each time thus soaking things right through. Of course I need to share this with you.
"Is it because of my shoe? My bloody shoe?"
Tuesday, February 19, 2008: Song to the Siren
Something I've been listening to lately.
This Mortal Coil - Song to the Siren
Monday, February 18, 2008: Monday Buffoon
The last of the C G's were breaking down things this morning when I got in to Currahee. They were gone by the time I was done. Instead of one of them running beside me this morning I had this belching buffoon who looked like a cross between the fat Burton Cummings, John Bonham and Ron Jeremy. He as walking not so vigorously on the treadmill next to me wearing an awful crushed velvet zip up "track suit" jacket and mismatching Adidas track trousers with the appropriate stripes on the legs. It was like 1978 I had just vomited this guy up beside me. Truly horrible.
I find people who walk on the treadmill quite annoying to start with. If you wish to walk you can do that elsewhere and the sidewalks around here will add a further workout and challenge due to their menacing state. This burgundy wearing half wit didn’t just “walk”, he had that self-assured strut of compete and total arrogance. He was clearly in his mind the king of all the cheeseburgers and don’t suggest otherwise.
In any event I abandon the room to him and returned to finish my run when he had left.
Saturday, February 16, 2008: The Orchid Farm
My friend school chum Strider, his wife Mrs. Strider and her Dad (Elrond? No. Bob.) were in town this weekend so Sandy and I took them to the Floating Market and the Orchid Farm. Sandy had bought Pluk a new back-pack to help else his adjustment to pre-school so we went to her sister Dang's first. She dropped off the back pack then we took The Striders to the Restaurant beside the Khlong. I walked them over first and Sandy joined us with Pluk later.
Pluk crosses the bridge - photo by Sandy
After we'd had some outstanding food we took a taxi over to the weekend market and took the 1:45 pm tour boat along the khlongs to a temple, then on to the Orchid farm.
Yoda!
Big Motors
The Khlong
Khlong life
Somewhere more upscale
Temple
Buddha
Temple
The lime green house
A shrine to King Rama 4
Wires
Selling fried bananas
The banana boat comes along side
Another Temple
The Orchid Farm
Walking through the Orchid Farm
Someone Rowing along
A sign
Khlong life
Building a house
Old style
Back to the Floating Market
Tuesday, February 12, 2008: The Future of Music
CD Warehouse in The Emporium. Their sign proclaims they are "The Future of Music". To demostrate this fact they are now going out of business. The store is practically empty and they are conducting a buy one at half price get another one free everything must go sale.
Sum num na.
Monday, February 11, 2008: Monday Demolition
The C G Boys are all over Currahee now. Security is heavy because of this. Despite the new anti-smoking laws the few who smoke are tolerated by the pool. I did my usual run and flailing about for the usual amount of time then stumbled to the Swan for poached eggies and outstanding pork sausages and some proper tea.
They've torn down a block near the SOL which included the pub/restaurant where Nice Guy Dave had a cockroach fall off the ceiling and land on his head back in the day. Now it's just an empty lot. Another condo will be going up there I am told.
Saturday, February 9, 2008: Ahead
In keeping with the 1988 journal here is music from the time.
Wire - "Ahead".
Friday, February 8, 2008: Typical Friday
Friday Morning Construction...
A typical Friday. Up early. Watched "Yes" on DVD while having my morning tea. Mark's & Spencers no longer seems to carry the "Extra Strong" or (or any other) tea now. So our tea choices are some what limited. It's either crappy Lipton or the just barely acceptable Twinnings English Breakfast Tea. Such hard times.
BTS'd it to Currahee. The Cobra Gold boys are back in town so it was busy. Afterwards I did the walk of happiness over to Black Swan. I always stop along the way and buy 2 things of freshly squeezed orange juice for 20 Baht a jug. It goes down good. (Gator Aid is also suddenly unavailable in the Kingdom)
Breakfast was good per usual.
Sandy was out this evening. I stayed in and continued to work on a song which I hope to finish this weekend.
Thursday, February 7, 2008: Thursday Pool
Looking this way...
Looking at the Pool...
Looking that way...
Wednesday, February 6, 2008: Orpheus
The transcribing of the 1988 journal has put me in the mood for the music I listened to then. Such as this.
David Sylvian - Orpheus
Such strong memories of the winter of 1988 invoked by this song. Delivering stock certificates to transfer agents in the time before electronic transfers. Looking out at the snow on Bathurst from the 3rd floor of 880. Walking to Victoria's. The last days of Maria.
