Friday, June 20, 2003

Smallest Guitar The world's smallest guitar is 10 micrometers long -- about the size of a single cell - with six strings each about 50 nanometers, or 100 atoms, wide. Made by Cornell University researchers from crystalline silicon, it demonstrates a new technology for a new generation of electromechanical devices. via BoingBoing 7:01:56 PM    comment []; I was alerted to some recent comments on our guestbook regarding this quartet being different from the large bands I had in 1997, 1999 and 2001, and that we are currently lacking the high energy those bands were producing. I also noticed a comment suggesting that I should warn people about what current band I am touring with. Let me start by answering this last comment first: on our web site you can find out exactly who is playing in the band and what the instrumentation is. You might also notice that the evening is billed as Ottmar Liebert + Luna Negra, not Luna Negra XL or Luna Negra XLv2. Hey, I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee and then I'm gone like the wind... If you loved the big band, that's great: for you we currently have the first three live bootlegs from 1999 available in our listening lounge. Download the music and share it with your friends...there will be more to come during the next months. I have recordings of the 1997 Luna Negra XL as well... If you loved the smaller ensembles - that's what we are doing this year...oh, BTW I listened to a 1996 bootleg and was amazed how many slow ballads we played that year. Amazing..... 2:38:23 PM    comment []; Dan Gillmor on phonecam nation I've noted before the potential for making these cameras an integral part of tomorrow's journalism, as when everyday folks might capture breaking news or get evidence of wrongdoing. I've thought less about the evident drawbacks, which are unfortunately growing as well. Example: On a Web site I won't name, people post images they've taken -- in public places -- of other people's (clothed) behinds. Several health clubs have taken to banning camera-phones in locker rooms to prevent more serious abuse. It won't be long before we can embed cameras into our clothes or eyeglasses. What will happen then? Will we decide to be nothing but snoops? We'll all be answering these questions for some time to come. [via BoingBoing] 2:34:52 PM    comment []; To all of those people who have ever bought something from a Spammer and thus have given them a reason to continue their work....may they rot! I turned off the Earthlink anti-spam setting because it had filtered out an important email from a shop in Brooklyn that is repairing my watch...and now I get over 50 emails a day and 90% are spam. Correction: 250 emails and 95% are spam......And they jam up my precious cellphone connection... 2:33:07 PM    comment []; Read in USA Today that was lying around backstage yesterday that people who make music have a 69% smaller chance of getting Alzheimer's...I'm set....I think a big part of this may be having FUN. There, I did it - gratuitous use of bold uppercase letters... I know it is a most horrible disease, but I can't help but hope that meditation and enjoying life can be the best defense against it. 2:32:25 PM    comment []; Mountain Winery We played the whole set, except for the Solea por Buleria, usually the first piece of the second set, which I knew I couldn't do justice in the freezing cold 2:21:59 PM    comment []; Orrin Hatch: Software Pirate? Sen. Orrin Hatch caused a stir by suggesting copyright holders should have the right to remotely destroy computers of suspected pirates. It turns out the senator is using unlicensed software on his website. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News] 2:20:19 PM    comment []; Pity The Soul That Buys a G4 B4 Monday Originally I wasn't going to say anything, but Apple legal is trying to stop the word from spreading... So here she goes. If you haven't heard, Apple accidently posted details on its new G5. It's all going to be announced Monday (we'll be covering live). The new machines are 1.6GHZ, 1.8GHz and dual 2.0GHz. Read on for some other specs and a screen shot of the leak (it was at the online Apple store). [MacMerc] Hm, yummy...but wait there will be some problems surely, to make all the other gear work with the new 'puters....hm, I'll happily wait until next year.... 2:20:05 PM    comment []; Future versions of IE What do the following have in common? New versions of IE/Mac are available, so long as you pay monthly for MSN New versions of IE/Win will be available, so long as you pay for a new OS version [Backup Brain] Can't teach an old dog..... 2:18:43 PM    comment []; Naked + Integral Ken Wilber's Integral Institute has a new section called Integral Naked which contains interviews. Unfortunately it is very expensive to become a member at $10/month, but it is amazing to hear the man talk. Even though he places our greatest desire, an integral world out of our reach (maybe in a hundred years, he says) it gives me peace that so many people are already yearning for that. I imagine that was what it was like when people a few hundred years ago were dreaming of democracy and freedom of expression. Many of them never got to experience it, but their work and desires shaped the world eventually. 2:18:15 PM    comment []; Hanford: the town of the purple coffee! There is something in the water here that colors and flavors everything (sulfur?) and when you add cream to your coffee it turns purple instead of mocha....this morning we hear that there may be a tiff between one owner of the place in front of which we are to play tonight and the city. Always nice to be in the middle of a political situation. We can't always know what's going on in a town when we get an offer to play there! And the promoter, sensing a less than perfect day, is conspicuously absent. 2:13:45 PM    comment []; The Mountain Winery in Saratoga: The weather in the afternoon was beautiful. We showed Canton's laptop DJ set-up (the Tap Lights are really battery-powered closet lights that are hooked up to a wall wart - that's an AC adaptor in normal English.... - and connected to an old modified ADB keyboard the signal of which is turned into USB and plugged into the laptop) to a couple of guys from Apple and told them about the PSR idea I mentioned a couple of days ago. Then it started getting cold and people started telling us the weather was very unusual for the season. The wind should die down when the sun sets and it will be warmer, they said. By showtime it was freezing!!! I looked like I had gained 20 pounds because I wore a short sleeve t-shirts, a long-sleeve t-shirt and a button down shirt...and I kept one of our warm hats handy...the audience was wrapped in blankets and warm jackets....and somehow we all had fun and we played a good show. It is cool when playing very fast is not an option - because you have to play less and infuse it with that much more meaning. Lester DeVoe drove up from the coast and enjoyed the show and we talked about guitars for while. 2:12:40 PM    comment []; what orrin doesn't get Senator Hatch has been swallowed by the extremists. (Though this might not be such a bad idea. Can we bomb the offices of stock brokers thought to be violating SEC regulations? Or bulldoze houses of citizens with unregistered guns? Or -- yes, this is good -- short the telephones of people who use indecent language?) [Lessig Blog] 2:12:14 PM    comment []; Guitar Sound: This year I am using only microphones on my flamenco guitar. I didn't not want to drill any holes in my new DeVoe instrument. No pick up at all. A Shure KSM 44 and a KSM 141. In my monitors I only listen to the KSM 44, but the the 141 sometimes helps our soundman because with its narrower pattern it picks up less of the surrounding percussion... 2:11:11 PM    comment []; Have you heard the solution Orrin Hatch proposed to solve the current problem in the music business? He asked technology executives about ways to remotely destroy the computers of those downloading music. The word clueless comes to mind, and fear that many of our politicians are overwhelmed by the task of leading America forward in these rapidly changing times. Does anyone show the type of vision and foresight Ben Franklin and the others showed when they wrote the constitution? 2:11:00 PM    comment []; Regarding Seattle: As I have already mentioned the show has been cancelled. House of Blues, which owns not just all of the HOB clubs, but is also one of the largest promoters in the USA and Canada (where they bought MCA), was promoting the show at a brand new venue. And something went wrong. We thought everything was going to be fine since HOB also promoted our shows at the St. Michelle Winery and we did very very well there. But it didn't work out. HoB is refunding all tickets, but it is a shame we didn't get to play for you Seattleites (like Satellites?) this year!!! 2:10:37 PM    comment []; Tonight we played at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. While I think it was the best show we have done at the HOB since 1997, I do long to play at the Wiltern Theater again, where we performed between 1993 and 1996. In the afternoon, after the soundcheck I went to see my friend GG in Hollywood and on his roof patio overlooking L.A. we drank a bottle of very nice French Bordeaux that was recently given to him by Elton. Ah, Hollywood speak...if you have to use last names you don't know...It was great to see my friend as I hadn't seen him since last year. In between sets at the HOB about a dozen agents from three different agencies came to see me, because our last contract ran out a while ago.....Nice to know that we are still sought after.... 2:09:50 PM    comment []; Sometimes it is necessary to get the full effect of the music. Pink Floyd & Roger Waters come to mind. I've seen both and there are sounds effects integral to the music that are impossible to reproduce live. dave • 6/11/03; 12:09:03 PM Agreed, I think that's fine and we have done that as well in the past. It's when people have prepared a whole backing track that starts here and ends 4 minutes and 37 seconds from now that I have a problem with it. To me it takes all of the surprise out of it. I like to have open sections in songs where I can play longer if stuff keeps rushing to mind, or shorter if it doesn't.... 2:08:32 PM    comment []; Since I am not agreeing to an extension of my distribution and marketing deal with Higher Octave, they have cut the marketing funds for The Santa Fe Sessions. That means I don't expect to see a lot of advertising - I haven't seen any yet anyway...Hm, these are the same bright minds who suggested putting a Flamingo bird on the cover of Nouveau Flamenco , Nouveau Flamingo - do you get it? C'est la vie. It'll all work out somehow. I feel good about selling only at concerts and from our web site and it is the right move for me right now. 2:08:04 PM    comment [];

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