Digital Dream Machine

This video posted over on Boing Boing made me smile:http://view.break.com/487616 - Watch more free videos

Thanks to Cory at BoingBoing.net for the link.

Some nifty tunes made by others utilizing computer operating system sounds:

Mac OS X:

You can download the original GarageBand file and .m4a file at The Cleverist.

via swissmiss.

Windows 98/XP:

Despite being a ‘Mac’ guy, I actually like the tune composed using the Microsoft Windows sounds. There’s a little more depth to the tune. As a note of interest: Brian Eno composed the ubiquitous Windows 95 startup sound.

Fans of Miami Vice will dig this smooth commercial featuring one of the greatest songs of all time.

One of my favorite films of 2007, Michael Bay’s Transformers, is coming to IMAX on September 21.

Also, much to the delight of film and music fans, Steve Jablonsky’s (The Island) fantastic score for the film is finally be released on CD. Even those who wouldn’t typically buy a musical score CD have been requesting this one. Pre-order at the links below.

Thanks to Nelson and director Michael Bay over at MichaelBay.com

One of the best things about Halloween is working your way through the candy and treats throughout the year. In addition to this year’s haul, be sure to check out my 2005 blog post for a bunch of tasty Halloween leftovers from last year!

AUDIO GOODIES:

Characters © Mike Mignola. Art © 2006 Starz Media, LLC and Revolution Studios.

An audio interview with Hellboy and The Amazing Screw-On Head creator, Mike Mignola, can be found over at Word Balloon. Mike discusses the upcoming Hellboy Animated films, working with Tad Stones, more Abe Sapien and BPRD adventures, and the big red character’s beginnings. *Contains potentially offensive language near the end. (via Hellboy Animated.)

The Nocturnals © Dan Brereton.

What’s Halloween without Dan Brereton’s The Nocturnals? The Gunwitch, Doc Horror, Halloween Girl, Polychrome. Great names. Great characters. Great stories. Great art. Check out another great Word Balloon audio interview…this time with the creator of the fascinating Halloween-style characters himself.

Note to movie and TV producers: Where’s the Nocturnals movie or animated series we’re all waiting for? These easily-translatable characters, if handled properly, could potentially be a box office tentpole film or series!

Tunes for Ghostbusting: Ghostbusters Project:Remix. Use the free Switch application to convert the WMA files to MP3 or other format. Flip4Mac (also free) is also required for conversion.

VIDEO LOOT:

The Skeleton Dance © Disney.

Tune in to Disney’s classic Silly Symphony animated short, The Skeleton Dance (1929), on YouTube.

Lonesome Ghosts © Disney.

One of my all-time favorite Disney animated shorts, Lonesome Ghosts featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, can also be found over on YouTube.

“Bustin’ makes me feel good!” - Ghostbusters by Ray Parker, Jr.

SWEET GRAPHICS:

Art © Bruce Timm.

Arglebargle has a blog post on Bruce Timm’s monster art as well as influential poster artist Reynold Brown. Some really fun images! (via The Ward-O-Matic.)

Art © Merrill Rainey.

Merrill Rainey has posted some fun icons, desktop wallpaper, and PDF coloring book at this link. (via Drawn.)

Scarloff. Art © Matt Putnam-Pouliot.

Matt Putnam-Pouliot has posted some fun wallpaper at this link. (via Drawn.) Be sure to check out his fantastic art gallery filled with fun ghouls and beasties!

Art © Mars, Incorporated.

Guess the titles of 50 Dark Movies hidden in imagery in this Hieronymus Bosch-like painting at the M&M’S Dark Chocolate website.

Art © Vera Brosgol.

“Everyone Loves Mummies” is a fun wallpaper for your desktop by Vera Brosgol. (via Boing Boing.)

TASTY TREATS:

Photo © theprojectmaker.

Hosting a Halloween gathering? Check out this fun set of instructions for creepy but consumable foods for supper! (via Boing Boing.)

Photo © Bakerama.

Mmm-mummy cupcakes.

GHOULISH CRAFTS:

Photo © Spooky Blue.

Carve your own decorative tombstones. Create fear with the wicked scarecrow!

Art © www.origami-club.com.

Use the leftover candy bags to make your own Halloween origami! (via Monsterama and Paper Forest.)

FREAKY LINKS:

The League of Robots and Monsters
BlueSky Studios Challenges - Halloween!
BlueSky Studios Challenges - Classic Movie Monsters
Smooky Ghost Story. (via Cold, Hard Flash.)
Flickr photos: Jack O’ Lanterns, Halloween, Pumpkin, Pumpkins, Ghosts, Monsters, Monster, Spooky, Costume
Monstrous.com - “The largest site about monsters.”

Photo: Copenhagen, Denmark. © Warren Leonhardt.

Warren Leonhardt’s ”abra macabre!” Flickr photoset. Be sure to view his fun blog with other spooky postings!

Happy Halloween Boils & Ghouls!!

A Muppet classic found over on YouTube…

“Mahna Mahna:”

More Muppet goodies at YouTube.

To lighten the mood, check out this fun QuickTime Video link where a group of University students perform ‘Redefined: A Cappella Nintendo Medley.’

Fans of the original 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System games will especially get a ‘kick‘ out of the…’Link.’

Thanks to Dean for the link!

On July 2nd, my wife and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary. It’s hard to believe 5 years have already passed but it’s been an enjoyable journey in life so far. To mark the occasion, we enjoyed a unifying music performance from Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

A few weeks back I heard that the group would be visiting Edmonton in support of their Grammy Award winning album Raise Your Spirit Higher [Wenyukela]. I’ve wanted to see them live for a while now, and the tour performance provided an excellent opportunity to listen to them in person. Since we couldn’t be in Hawai’i, where we had our wedding and honeymoon, the Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert was a fitting way to celebrate our union and appreciation of global cultures. I had also wanted to take my grandmother as she really enjoys their soothing rhythms, but because of her age, she tires quickly and declined the invite.

My mother had secured 4 tickets earlier in the day that were nearly perfect. She had tried for a few days already to purchase tickets online but delayed in hopes of locating possibly closer seats. Even though Edmonton’s Winspear Centre was designed so that every seat has an outstanding view and above-average sound reception, the ones we originally found in the Gallery section still weren’t the best. After a few phone calls mom ended up with 4 amazing seats just released by the box office that afternoon. Row F (6) on the floor. Incredible.

Before the show, we stopped by a few of the Sir Winston Churchill Square food stalls to pick up a donair and some homemade french fries. We enjoyed the beautiful weather while we sat outside and ate our ‘fine vendor cuisine.’ Fully nourished, we headed inside the hall to enjoy the sold-out Mambazo performance. With nothing more than microphones and stage lighting, the musicians had the audience riveted to their enchanting music. At less than $40 (Canadian) per ticket, we definitely received our money’s worth. Despite race, age, religion, or sexual preference, the audience was unified through the rhythms of Africa. An amazing feat and a true gift.

Most people will recognize Ladysmith Black Mambazo for their collaboration with Paul Simon on his Graceland album or the Life Savers candy commercials, but they’ve also provided music for The Lion King II, Coming to America, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Notably, the South African Zulu music group has performed for numerous world leaders including Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Mr. Nelson Mandela. For more on the group led by Mr. Joeseph Shabalala, check out their biography.

In summary, the evening was a simple, but memorable way to spend our 5th Anniversary together. Happy Anniversary to my supportive wife April and a big thank you to the family for the great gift!

More great record covers found in the ‘Lost Archive’…

The Adventures of Pinocchio needed quite a bit of image retouching. To see the original scan I did, click here.

The Adventures of Pinocchio © United Artists Records, Inc.

The Sword in the Stone © 1972 Walt Disney Productions

Winnie the Pooh and the honey tree © 1965 Walt Disney Productions

Check out more great covers at the Vol. 1 posting I did a few weeks back.

Along with my love of movies comes my passion for soundtracks and film scores. From Jerry Goldsmith’s moody Alien, to Max Steiner’s adventurous King Kong, to John Barry’s epic Zulu, easily half of my music collection is music from the movies and television shows. There’s certainly a long list of composers who rank high on my list of favorites, including Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard.

Both have produced some outstanding work. Howard’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire spotlights rousing adventure themes while his Peter Pan score conjures fantastic imagery to compliment P.J. Hogan’s film. Unbreakable grounded super heroes in reality and Howard’s music made us believe in a caped crusader named David Dunn.

Along with the great John Williams, Hans Zimmer has contributed to the rise in the popularity of film scores with the listening public. Imagine Gladiator (on which he collaborated with Lisa Gerrard) without Zimmer’s waltz-inspired battle themes and the film easily loses half of its impact. African-blended music in his soundtrack to The Lion King helped the film roar worldwide and segments of Zimmer’s scores for The Rock, Backdraft, and Crimson Tide have been used in nearly as many movie trailers as Enya’s works.

When I saw the Batman Begins movie standee last month, the first thing I looked for was who composed the music. Seeing both Zimmer’s and Howard’s names as collaborators on a film featuring The Dark Knight Detective had me excited at what could become a great audio treasure.

Billboard.com features this great story about the pairing and what we have to look forward to…

Zimmer and Howard repaired to Air Studios in London, where they began work last year. They buckled down for 12 weeks of serious writing in February. The pair often would work from 10 a.m.-3 a.m. Zimmer says with a chuckle, “As soon as it was time to go home, I’d get an idea.”

Zimmer says of their collaborative method, “We started pecking away on the same keyboard for a while.” Howard adds, “As stuff started sticking to the movie, we intentionally started working on each other’s material.”

The pairing has resulted in a splendidly dramatic score in which each writer’s hallmarks — Zimmer’s percussive rhythms and keyboard flourishes, Howard’s ravishing strings and horns — are immediately recognizable.

Pre-order the Batman Begins Original Motion Picture Soundtrack at Amazon.com. Thanks to SuperheroHype.com for the great link!

Occasionally, I’ll venture into thrift shops, visit garage sales, and browse flea markets. Not to seek out discarded fortunes, but to discover great treasures in illustration, photography, and design. These come in many forms, but mostly materialize as books, toys, and even records.

LPs or albums, as records were also known, had a major plus over all other forms of music media, which was the size of area available for cover imagery. Even though a large majority featured lackluster photography, gaudy colors, impossible-to-read fonts, and forgettable titles, some great gems were produced during the vinyl years.

Scanned and retouched for your viewing enjoyment, I present the first 3 finds…

Produced by Peter Rabbit Records / Arc Sound Ltd.

Walt Disney’s Pinocchio © 1963 Walt Disney Productions

The Music Man © 1962 Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

In case you weren’t aware, the Apple iTunes Music Store for Canada opened for business as of yesterday. Not as large of a collection as the US or UK counterparts, but if you’re looking for music you can’t find through Peer-To-Peer networks, or if you’re looking to support the artists, head on over and start using your credit card to enhance your music collection.

According to some audiophiles and reviewers, the format you’ll be able to download is not as good as what you would find on a standard music CD because of the compression used for online file distribution. AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) is the standard on Music CD’s and are large in size, whereas the Apple iTunes Music Store-produced files and MP3 files are relatively low in size, with comparable quality. This allows for reasonable download times. However, most people will not recognize the difference and should be happy with their purchase.

When MP3 players started appearing on the market, I looked at many and didn’t find one that met all the requirements I had in mind. If Apple made one, I knew they would do it right. It’s been 3 years since the introduction of the Apple iPod and if you’ve got one, you know how wonderful they are. My wife purchased one for me as a Christmas gift and I’ve used it almost every day. It feels great to hang on to, not awkwardly shaped like others. It possesses a clean interface - reminiscent of Apple’s early Mac experience, and most importantly, it holds A LOT of songs.

I’m on my third one now, and though the iPod isn’t perfect (darn close though), any flaws they’ve had have been addressed promptly and Apple has only kept making it better. Along with the U2 Special Edition iPod, today Apple introduced the iPod Photo. For those who can afford to purchase the color iPod, you’ll not only have a great portable digital jukebox, but also a vivid portable digital photo album. Canadians can drool here.

Amazon.com purchase link (shipped to US only):
Buy an iPod Photo
Buy an iPod or iPod Mini

It’s a ‘beautiful day’ for Apple and U2 junkies! Today Apple released the U2 Special Edition iPod. Americans can check it out here.

Apple also announced that the iTunes Music Store will be open for business to Canadians in November and that a version for European Union members launches today.

If you’re not a U2 fan, but you’re looking for a more colorful iPod, a company called ColorWare has been offering a service in which they will paint your iPod from a pre-chosen list of unique colors. They also offer custom coloring and can paint PowerBooks, iBooks, and other laptops. The quality of their work looks fantastic!

Amazon.com purchase link (shipped to US only):
Buy an iPod U2 Special Edition
Buy an iPod or iPod Mini