Alvaro M. Rocha - Official Blog

Pierce Brosnan uses AMR's BMW 850

2007-09-05T20:09:00.000+01:00

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Blindless Justice?

2007-07-30T21:37:00.000+01:00

"
In certain extreme situations, the law is inadequate.

In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law, to pursue natural justice. This is not vengeance.

Revenge is not a valid motive, it's an emotional response.
No. Not vengeance.

Punishment.

Si vis pacem, para bellum!
"

The Punisher

© Marvel Enterprises, Lions Gates Films, Artisan Entertainment, VIP 2/3 Medienfonds, Valhalla Motion Pictures

Die Hard 3 - The Gallons Puzzle

2007-07-06T10:17:00.000+01:00

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The motivational crap uncrapped

2007-04-17T11:38:00.000+01:00

I've read everything you can think of about motivation, self-insurance, positivism and all that.

Mind you it's quite a therapy to get you a "buzz" for a few days, with a great life giving smile.

But it's fake, it's crap, it's to much effort trying to force yourself to a false state.

After many many years of practice (well, at this point, a maximum of 32), and practicing martial arts and psychological sciences along the way, I've reached quite a few conclusions I'll be posting here and there as I feel.

So you can really become totally motivated without any effort, without the "hangover" when negativity sets in again and... without the crap.

So, today's rule (I think I'll keep it to one rule per post) is:

Feel good about yourself.

It's a stupid rule right?
I've just been rumbling around about how difficult it is to keep a positive state of mind forcing it on an on and now I just take off a "Feel good about yourself" from the hat.

But it's true, and it only takes work one time and some tiny discipline you'll do because you like, not because you have too. But the rule has branches, so here goes, using me as example:

1) Bath

Every morning, full bath, no excuses.
Enjoy it. Keep clean, and keep the nails impeccable (not dirty, that is).

2) Clothes / Shoes

Choose simple but nice.

My trick is 4-to-8 full blazer+pants sets, designed by either Angelo Litrico, Hugo Boss or Giorgio Armani , in my case - some expensive, some more affordable, but in reality ther are some equally very nice and quite quite affordable (C&A "CANDA" clothes spring to mind, also cool and even cheaper, they - C&A - also sell very nice Angelo Litrico's more informal but classy urban stuff).

Just one black belt is enough, classic buckle, in absolute genuine leather, with simple but classy design. This is enough, sticking to black color dominance to keep budget controled and visual looks at top notch.

Add to that a set of 8-to-12, again anything from Angelo Litrico "minimal" T-Shirts up to Gianni Versace ones (not really that important), in several one tone color, which I wear with the above suits. Then I just "go trough" the sets combining 8 suits with 11 T-Shirts, so it always looks different.

At the moment I have all black suits, some anthracite grayish black, most with vertical stripes (well, one is gray, and one is blue, and I also have a really expensive classic tuxedo for special ocasions - I don't like to rent).

The T-Shirts are one color only, faded, some have dificult to see "prints", for style (like "Versace" or "Wild Life Care Taker". I'll add some photos when I can, if I remember.

Make sure nothing is fake, this is important, it's best to wear something affordable by CANDA or ZARA than to wear a fake "Hugo Boss" that is even cheaper - people will notice it's fake, specially those with genuine ones, and those you really have to impress.

For a great look, Angelo Litrico is the best bet, for value for money.

They look sophisticated, cool, and yet not flamboyant.
Enough to impress as it should at the office, as "formal" yet "innovative" - and you'll look young and feel great. And it's only three pieces of clothes.

9 pairs of full black socks, and 9 pairs of comfortable lower (only) underwear, branded if you want to impress your soul mate or whatever, but nothing to fancy... keep it simple and nice.

Two to seven pairs of black shoes (depends on how much you walk and so forth), with nice but discrete design (I wear Italian and Portuguese, fabulous), in full black real leather, but with rubber (black) soils. I use those with a "holes" technology underneath that let's the feet breath but no water gets in. Every time I take them off I spray them with a disinfectant designed for it (shoes), as I do spray/cream the feet when out of the bath with an anti-germs and anti-fungus lotion, but that's not at all necessary, just something I do (being a high-end sports dude in the past I took this habit).

Maintaining the black palette makes you save, and black goes with everything, as does white, but white gets dirty too fast (please read: during the time you are wearing it, very early).

Always shine the shoes before leaving, I use an "auto" brush that makes them so in a 3 seconds scrub.

So now you're all good and shiny for office, looking sophisticated, smelling great and allow, if you can afford the time, with no shame, the occasional 5 morning minutes of sport, dressed with the above, for it allows for sport too.

3) Hair

Washed and looking treated.
Paint it if gray makes you uncomfortable.
My advice now is to indeed paint the hair if it's gray at only a few spots, unless they are so well place it makes you look like a "glow" instead of an "aging" human.

Then do something with it before leaving: comb, gel it, whatever.
I use a cream (Loreal Elvive Liss-Perfect usually, I'm not very picky here) to treat it that takes some time to dry, and it's great to work effects on the hair, makes you look cared immediately and in 5 seconds you score 50 points in self-esteem.

3) Teeth / Lips

Well, more like "breath", and this is important: it's better to disguise it with a gum than making others endure it, but treat it as soon as you can if you have a problem. Trust me, it's just one to three appointments at the dentist that WILL change your life.

Then all you have to do is wash them at least once a day (night), though I recommend two and some thing to refresh the mouth (I use something by Colgate), try to not make them look too yellow... white makes a difference.

I use something with "Q10" enzyme creamy thing on the lips, which is not bright (that would not be very "manly") but makes them homogeneous and look "tasty" young and uniform. And it feels great too.

4) Skin

Let's not be alarmist here.
All it takes is a little to result in a lot.

I usually use "Clearasil" wipes to rub the face (talk about cheap) and neck, and then a "Loreal" revitalift for the eye's and a "double-effect revitalift" for the face, which makes you look gloomy and younger in just a few seconds... but you can go for more sophisticated labs stuff like Vichy, Lâncome or so (sometimes I do) if you want to make some sort of specific treatment... I'm just polishing enough to please a lot, here - no need to go hunting diamonds to look fresh and luminescent.

More than all that, you'll look so clean and cool, you'll be in control even if you don't want to be - instant respect. Look at that posture automatically improving! Hands cream is also a must, which I tend to moisture with the same thing I use on my face (the revita lift thing, remember, I keep it simple, I'm a (metro-sexual?) man).

During summer or outdoor days, I also use a sun screen moisture, usually also Loreal's triple action hydrant, I like the scent and feel - as I do the products from these labs for everyday use and good results.

5) Weight

This is a false problem.
It is only a problem if you look like a slob. I know many fat people that look delightful and charming, because they follow all the rules above.

Still, the easier way to make your weight work for you is pretending to try and keep it under control, at some point, you'll want to - although it's not important for you image if all above is followed. Too much is as bad as too little.

6) Scent

I rather should say: fragrances.

Only use if bathed or it will smell bad!
Be sure to use deodorants under armpits too, with no scent preferably or a weak one, not to mix with the colognes. Same for the aftershave (if you use), I use Gillette's new one "Fusion" (which smells like good cigars and leather, but discrete) after the 6 blade Power Fusion close shave.

Then go for the last touch of class... My usual sent is Jean Paul Gautier's "Le Male", discrete but very appealing. Although he has a new white one I love - inspires intimacy and independence - sex and tropicals - as the former one, but more mature and peaceful, not as restless and energetic, time to change perhaps.

Givenchy's "Very Irresistible" is a tad to obvious -a bit youngish for me - but works wonders for immediate attention IF and only IF you follow the rules above, or you'll look ridiculous.

Hugo Boss's Bottled is great for Office use, and Giorgio Armani's "Acqua di Gio" for the outside.

Still, I prefer Gautier's to every occasion, and so it's the only I use nowadays.
And follow the rule of thumb: just a little, I spray a bit on the neck and on both my wrists and that's it, I can barely feel the fragrance, others can. If you can feel it a lot you over did it and that will work against you.

It's you that needs to smell good, it's not the smell that has to announce you're somewhere near, bathing and clean clothes do 99% of the job, the fragrance (make sure it's expensive, it will last months) is a simple tiny "diamond" enough to make a huge difference.

7) One and one only prestigious accessory

Mine is a watch, an Emporio Armani Red AR series digital clock, which is... Red, and looks awesome with the black suits. And it was not expensive either, although it looks really expensive. I bought it because I really like it, I would have had payed more for it.

Do make positive sure it's genuine.

Don't ever use fake stuff - it will bounce back at you as a negative thing, and you want to feel good, right? Positive.

There you go, instant positivity...
You may now go out, go out with a big (white nice smelling beautiful) smile, and this all only took around 3 to 10 minutes depending on how fast you are.

Hang the suits and shirts as soon as you get them off, use shirts/socks/underwear only once, then wash before reusing - try to make the suits look impeccable (folded right), the shirts not that much, but don't sit on them either, before dressing, if you know what I mean.

And pronto!
Without this, it's (almost) fair to say you can forget about going further on, you need a jump start, and the above is it. Before the prestige comes rolling in, you have to make it see you, most of the times anyway.

Work on just that above for now, adjusting it to your own personal taste.
At night, moisturize the skin again, or even shave (I do, twice a day) then moisturize, you'll wake up looking like a million.

Get the ritual and pieces as perfect as it/they can be, and then will move on to more complicated stuff, like making money, getting babes and looking real hot... getting more money, more expensive stuff, but keeping the "simple" philosophy.

© Alvaro M. Rocha - All rights reserved.

[Driving] The weight factor is... heavy

2007-03-12T17:41:00.000Z

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[Audio] Things I am really sick of hearing of... (Musicians Ego, Dreams and... Dolby Digital Production)

2007-03-12T17:38:00.000Z

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[Driving] The art of piloting... a car

2007-03-12T17:36:00.000Z

This post has moved to http://www.alvaromrocha.com/en/2007/10/dont-drive-do-drive.html.

[Audio] Music in 5.1, sells?

2007-03-08T15:57:00.000Z

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Jean Michel Jarre - AERO

2007-03-08T15:17:00.000Z

My thoughts on Jean Michel Jarre AERO surround music DVD and stereo CD. I'd grade it a six out of ten, and I'm being benevolent for the extra effort in surround hyper activity.

May please depending on the angle. Read on if interested in MY and mine only personal opinion...

The audio quality is absolutely flawless and detailed, enough to make AERO standout on this alone.

1 - Intro

Nice intro, brilliant sound detail altough space locations are somewhat artificial it works well in its own surreal way. Cutting to the chase, all the scenes are brilliant in their own surrealistic way, and sound so detailed it will blow you out of your socks.

2 - Oxygene 2

Great atmosphere, with Jarre typical pads and sound effects, sampled from the original Oxygene. Sounds a bit like a slow diferent Oxygene 1 giving in to what is Oxygene 2, very magical, atractive and mind-blowing... a must intro.

The square wave arpeggio lost a lot of life since now it's mono and locked in the center, hence removing a lot of the magic the filtered arpegio brought in all its wideness.

The strings groove is slightly changed in the first verse to provide more "speed" and straight to the point as the chorus aproaches, I like this fast aproach.

The bass is more interesting a new flanged metalic pop-corn sound waves from left to right and to left and actually ads the life the music lost with the remix, and I have to say I love them, though they tend to sound a bit "un-organic" over time. It's Oxygene 2 in a new perspective, more "close", informal, dancy and less "spatial" and sci-fi.

The percussion is quite well engineered in audio terms, stronger, though the same, and up to date. The strings are a bit low in volume, nonetheless they provide enough warmth.

The end "hollow" solo has re-done delay, more "clinical" and the back "flute" stands out more, but lifeless in context and timbre.

In conlusion? It sounds great while I drive, it's a diferent aproach, but I think I still may prefer the classical one, though the metalic grooves, bass and strong soundind percussion add an edge to this one, it lost more than it gained in the context I loved, the "sci-fi" one.

3 - AERO

May sound like bit dated "Robert Miles" like dream-house, but it's actually up to date and still works real fine. It's "Je me Souviens" with new clothes, better ones, much better ones.

The piano could use with some dinamic variation in volume/timbre so it would not sound so artificial, then again, it may be the purpose anyway.

The backing synths are as cold and thin as you can get, though it fits here, and the 4/4 techno beat and some passing effects keep it interesting more than enough.

Cello stabs dont make to much sense but add power altough they do throw all the sound into the middle, quite a contrast after exagerated 180 degrees restless panning on everything, it ain't a bad thing, but a puzzling one, provides some organic movement, but I'm not sure if it works that well.

The music is easily heared to end and pleasant, it does not bother but it does not makes you jump of your chair wanting to know what it is either...

The drum rolls are panned in a bothering way but it grows on you.

4 - Band in the Rain

Amazing detail on the thunders and rain, though the pan is again surreal but highly interesting... pity that the melody lacks total acoustic realism, no reverb to blend it into the paisage... sounds like a strange dry thing passing by the soundscape...

The new arrangements on some notes harmonies are nice... convolution reverb would have had worked wonders here.

5 - Oxygene 4

New groove, with a bit more shuffle. The restless pan removes the analog "virginity" magic of the original arpegio, which is the original still, repanned and with higher definition.

The percussion also gets a boost, as in Oxygene 2, and it sounds dazzling.

The lead sound seems mixed with the original one.

This new lead is a bit more agressive and digital sounding to the obvious, it's delay is out of tempo which distracts a bit from the overall sci-fi soundscape, but also adds an edge.

The "sfi-fi" soundscape is quite complete and flawless in original Oxygene, this one is a bit more down to Earth.

The new bass groove ads another edge, but sound balancing mainly works, as in Oxygene 2, to bring to music closer rather than making it super wide and imaginative as the original "spacey" Oxygene.

Again, although I dont mind listening to this version as I drive - I actually love it - the original one has a diferent aproach that I fancy more, an angle a bit more "sci-fi" than this one which is more "homey" and more danceable as is the new Oxygene 2.

6 - Souvenir of China

In my opinion the best track in AERO, an amazing remake that probably super-seeds the original one in my optic.

It's the only music where 3D actually makes sense and impresses. The percussion is amazing and interesting, filled with spatial effects enough to dazzle even the most skeptic.

The bass drum is a bit dry in this quite rich ambience but I have nothing else to point out.

The pads get the power they deserve and add sadness to the whole thing as a cello groove develops underneath brilliantly mixed in. Added horn counter-point also works fabulously, though a bit coldy...

The music grows and grows in emotional strenght, and rivals the original head to head... diferent but both quite powerfull.

I tend to prefer this one, but I might change my mind according to mood, which goes to proove AERO achieved into giving a new "edge" to the old musics., But now not only do I prefer this Souvenir of China to the original one, but also its my favourite in this album.

7 - Aerology

This track seems very virgin and unfinished, probably ment for remixing.

Faint guitar groove, un-worked resonant bass, space-restless snare, out-of-context bell and to standard pads...

The guitar lead goes nice as do the effects, the melody blends in well, but all is to weak, thin, faint, plastic and cold when compared to the rest of AERO. Poor choice as a first single IMHO altough a very good territory for remixes.

8 - Equinoxe 3

When I first heard original Equinoxe 3 my jaws dropped on the floor, they still do today and it's one of my favourites as a "whole" in the perspective of electronic sounds.

This version distortes it all, under that perspective.
I dont feel the same magic I felt when I first heard the original one.

Here, even keeping the original lead under the velocity-sensitivity lacking piano it does not work for me.

The lead lacks the amazing softness blend the original had, the effects got muffled and the new ones dont seem in context, the lead in the chorus are plastic and MIDI "bontempi"... not to mention the static piano again... might work for some, but not for me.

In fact, I think Equinoxe 3 got butchered! It does not work at all, thi is the track that got so worst it should have had been erradicated.

Please show the original one the whoever listens to this version!

Here, blending analog and digital simply does not work right, it has too much clashes and all is way to diferent and contrasting.

It adds new elements, enough to keep you interested, but you'll soon want to get back to the original one that can sound more modern. (!)

Removing the delay to add mono-aural-surround was IMHO a mistake that removed "wideness" as it was on Oxygene 2's arpeggio.

But even so, this Equinoxe 3 does not even fit under a new "aproach" which works with Oxygene 2 quite well,

It's neither more groovy, dancy or anything... it got assassinated! Great melody, great chords, but production is not adequate to original mood... IMHO.

9 - Equinoxe 4

Confusing total drums panning rotation, though a nice twist... the sub-bass bass drum component keeps restless, and the drums loose "force" as they travel trough speaker by speaker.

The strings are somewhat relatively low in volume not making its "pad" feeling felt. The bass arpeggio seems to loud... mostly due to the percussion going away now and then to some side. The new sub-bass is nice,

The chorus part totally looses a lot by the lack of delay (echo), it's dry and lacks the impact of the slapback echo groove - it works nice in the 360 degrees soundfield but it's not as spacey and jaw dropping as the original when the chorus rushes in.

The music also looses in dinamics as this part sounds as loud as does all the rest.. no emotional build up and release.

I thought this one would be great for a remake, specially after so great remixes done by others, and would suggest it as a first single, but now I say: dont even think about it.

It got weaker, not necessarily worst since audio definition is impressive... but a little delay on the chorus would have had made a huge diference, as would more volume on the analog strings and a solid percussion on its place.

The effects dont stand still, they rotate without logic, and not in perspective, the brain gets confused and stressed... this along all the album, it may impress at first but stresses shortly after.

The "break" part is actually more interesting.

Actually the brek part is way much more interesting than the original one, awsome prodution in this tidy bit and shows the direction Jarre could have had taken on all the album... but that's all, a few seconds...

Equinoxe 4 deprived of the original wide magic with a new "dry" high-resolution twist and an unimaginative drum loop that keeps rotating... thus it should sound awfull in a disco! Jarre/Joachim what were you thinking of?

The ending effects that sounded marvellous in the original now sound dry and out of context... and cold! But impressive audio quality.

10 - Rendez-Vous 6

It's a nice remake, it actually sounds more romantic, but not better nor worse, you also may come to note some multiband-compression artifacts (or is it just me?).

Truth be said, it was not dificult to perform better than the original minimal one. Although this one sounds more poetic, the fact the heartbeat keeps rotating as does the sax stresses the listener to much...

More even because the sax does not rotate around, but aparently "trough" your head... one could try to imagine rotating around the sax player but not in this way... the panning sounds artificial and out of framing with the remaing acoustic space.

The music remained untouched, mainly the audio production changed, and it's quality is much higher.

New effects add interest but are very scarse.

The sax got a bit muffled (is it me of the bass/treble went bananas?), pitty since the performance is brilliant.

When the sax passes in the center it gets way louder... very stressing indeed, specially when the pan rotation spoils such great speed rifs as they get far and lower in volume.

The bass arpeggio is less strong but more in yer face than the original, still felt, but in a new diferent way.

This ends nicely... the water paddle finally returns the brain to real non-stressing acoustics. A perfect soundscape in physical terms, scarse they are, but when they are, they are... brilliant. Amazing detail and HiFi quality.

11 - Zoolookologie

Danceable like the original but still lacking something... the audio is superb, the production is interesting. Nostalgic to say the least.

The pans once again stress the listener too much and the lead has too much reverb getting out of perspective... seems like listening to two diferent songs at the same time.

The mix balance is overall really stressing but in spite it does the brilliant music justice enough but could do more.

It can sound colder and thinner than it's "8 bit" 1984 already cold couterpart, but at the same time its kept very interesting and powerfull. Its just not my cup of tea, but its still filled with nutrients.

This had potencial the get pushed over the edge, as dis Equinoxe 4, but was not. It's quite similar to the original, with a more active panning, some sound surprises feel good... and the audio, though confusing, is way better.

Zoolookologie never apealled to me that much so, I really dont fancy one over the other, both sound cold but this one, much colder yet cirurgicaly filtered, sounds in a much higher definition... it is coldness but in better resolution, in fact, so much better it sets apart the music components into seeming all out of diferent places and contexts.

12 - Aerozone

Nice strings and sound effects.
A relaxing chill-out bleep pseudo-lead.

Groove percussion, with nice pan for a change, though still very hyper-active.

This music really makes you travel.
It is the only that does JMJ justice with in this AERO so much obvious digital only direct aproach or hybrid with pre-recorded analog versions.

Nothing seems out of context, it's digital but nicely balanced and makes you travel and does it sounds great in definition... flawless and perfect, in fact, perhaps to perfect... like a rendered landscape.

Reminiscences of Globe-Trotter and Arpegiateur. Cold, computer music but it makes sense. Getting it trough some top-gear Valve equipment would warm it up enough not to sound so perfect nor thin in such aparent high-resolution.

This one will probably grow on me once I get over the "static plastic" digital feeling that only a bit of LFO tweaking would solve... ah well...

13 -Magnetic Fields 1

Again some multi-band compression artifacts seem evident specially in the non-compensated pans (no 3db atenuation on center).

The theremin sounds cool in the intro string sequence but the panning of it all removes emotion power it had in Aalborg for example.

The hyper-famous mind blowing Magnetic Fields 1 opening trademark arpegio got weaker due to extreme rotation, though it sounds good in 5.1m which delay did so well in the original. Pitty for it was a great hook, goes to show how important production is...

The percussion is stronger but the fact it also rotates (more in the stereo version) spoils it a bit since I get bass waves bluring from diferent directions.

The effects also got muffled when I feel they should be the main thing... the resolution and detail are amazing (but also are in the remaster of Magnetic Fields). Killing the effects may kill the music's organic since they brought so much life.

The music seems very lost and the listener does not know where to focus attention since all is moving out of place before the brain recognizes it...

Interesting sound placements but it's like a lamborghini passing by at 330 km/h, you know it must be beatifull but you cant really apreciate it because it passes by so quickly... or it's like a lack of paralax, like going in the car at 330 km/h and having no horizon to fix the eyes on, only things close passing by...

Hard to explain...
Two sides our brain has, one hear is more sensitive to somethings the other to others, constant rotating is confusing and stressing.

This Magnetic Fields sounds even more dated than the original one, but dated in high-definition glory... even at 16/44.1 or 48k surround.

It gained nothing in AERO, quite "au contraire", it lost a few emotional bits for the gain in audio quality.

It lost not as much as Equinoxe 3 - it has enough to keep interest but no new angle aproach, just a very good polish.

I prefer the original one or more even the China Concerts one anyday.

This one sounds awsome, bu it is cold, thin, restless, unbalanced and not even the theremin keeps it solid... as I said, sounded cool on stage in Aalborg, but not in a studio release with a girl staring...

The amazing last part is also sadly missing.

14 - Chronologie 6

Nice bell groove and a new sub-bass. The "Francis Rimbert" sequenced bass lost a lot of personality from what I loved in the original due again to mono-exagerated-panning. It lacks the original punch but it does not lack interest.

The "harmonic" sound also now jumps in out of audio context, perhaps it's the audio that has really to much detail, which is not bad... but then again...

The pads are not as "swishing strong" as the originals and are kept mono here, I dont like mono pads... (but they sound wide in 5.1), still this "mono" sounds muffled in stereo, specially in such active multi-directional sound field.

The voices are somewhat claustrophobic, not so much in 5.1, but none providing the drama power of the original amazingly mastered Chronologie, but actually work fine in the hyper-active sound field, keeping you alerted (but also stressed).

The synth pad doing the acordion sound at first sounds better but extremely panned to here and there. The arpegio backing it sounds very loud and extremely plastic - placing it to the middle (the stereo version) when it should be rotating instead of the accordion both rotate in 5.1), sounds really unconfortable in stereo, yet it does not kill the groove nor the energy.

The accordion sounds a bit artificial, with more help from the strange rotation... one thing is the sound coming from one place, another is sweeping it along the field... But rotating a static sound with no doppler thing and doing a solo?

Huge stress, good luck trying to listen to it. It might sound interesting in the 360 degrees audio field at first, but that's it... it will sound confusing when you start to try to explore it. Nonetheless if you abstract from it, the music is kept very interesting and the groove actually may super-seed the original one... but just the groove.

Overwhelming bass drum too, BTW.

15 - Rendez-Vous 4 Live at Aalborg

A track that works great live, but not in a studio version, even if done from the live one... well, make that an "it actually works".

The chopter intro has what the album lacks - impressive panning (uses all effected channels, not just plain mono-panning).

Rendez-Vous 4 is quite cluby and danceable, with powerfull bass! Grows nicely and could do without the melody, or is it the melody that coud do without the new arrangements?

Still, no matter how loud the lead sound is, it will work for dancing and uplifting. I miss the effects (that are there but muffled by the super loud lead - specially in the stereo version) and the overall audio picture the original provided.

The chorus sounds anedotic compared to the original but the new arrangments keep it dancy and interesting enough - more in 5.1 - if you are into that kind of sound, which I only am live... still, a very nice choice for a bonus track.

Conclusion

Is it worth a buying?

Yes.
In spite of what may appear to be a negative critic by me -it is not, the album is great if looked at as a "per se" album and not a remake - it is only "less positive" under a personal context, one that compares the original themes.

The 5.1 surround is impressive, and mind you the .1 is really a dedicated nice picked .1 bass, making use of all the dinamics it allows!

AERO is very intersting, I'm still excited with it, especially Oxygene 2 which in itself is worth the price,

It's a new aproach many will find interesting under many diferent paradigmas, I know I did.

What do I like?

Oxygene 2, Souvenir of China, the rest I wont listen that much (but now I am doing it non stop). But I have the previous versions. The magic is still present in AERO but more of a lesson for the future which seems bright.

What dont I like?

The mix, is not realistic, impressive at first, but stressing at further, Jarre still needs to get a bit more mature at this surround thing and figuring out the brain and ears also like peace and predictibility. In fact, a "better" mix would make me grade the album a good 8 out of 10.

What would I improve?

The mix and audio design, the marketing, I would also rewrite Jarre's own speeches to make him look better,..

What makes me more sad?

Ridiculous and arrogant lies in the marketing aproach: it's not a first 5.1 in the world "note per note"mix, it's not Jarre the only one who can do it and the lack of previously announced DVD-A data, namely, top-notch reference 24bit/96khz 5.1 advanced resolution lossless MLP.

What makes me happy?

Jarre's back on his feet and I hope this kind of review makes him improve by leveraging his past and future and combine all in the best way... but my opinion is just that... an opinion... and one, I'm sure many will love AERO much, I love it, but not in the context I prefer.

My advice would be to get a next album ready as soon as possible, fixing these issues and working with those who may help them getting fixed, instead of bragging that no one can do it... yeah... right.

Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Oil...

2006-07-22T15:30:00.000+01:00

The problem with the world is not seeing the whole picture nor caring to understand the "why" and judging what they think are the "what's". First let me start by saying that what is below is not only my opinion, it's an "opinion" based on some of the most brilliant minds whose texts I read and voice I listen to (critically, of course).

If Israel was not heavily armed, and if it would ignore the attacks that are made, Israel would be long gone (what does Iran currently says about this again?) - and further more, if Israel did not defend itself, no one would do it for them.

Israel decided on it's own and alone to retreat from Gaza all their troops and citizens, and not even this had a positive response from the palestilians - or did it?

Israel tried several times to find moderate moderators (if you will) to talk with the other side for peace - (with no success).

And then what do the Palestinian do? They vote for Hamas.
(Pardon the use of "standard" here, some voted against, what matters is democracy is starting to get going, and Israel is, don't forget, a pure democracy that fights corruption and injustice).

Do you notice a strange pattern here?
And one could go on forever on how the world is seeing the wrong picture, but here's a short version coming up next... Mind you, to make it clear, I don't think anyone should get killed and people should talk, the Middle East seemed to think to same, until... Something (as usual) happens.

It was an armed faction of Hamas (Gaza, Palestine) that kidnapped the soldiers, and problem with confusion begins here. So what was "Hamas", the government, doing kidnapping the soldiers?

Or was it perhaps an manipulated rebel "armed faction" of the "Hamas" that then was
distorted into "it was the Palestinian" (their government)?

Now, let's check the chess table...

Clearly Iran is moving the pawns - Israel is one of the most smart states on Earth and Palestine has nothing to do with this, they know it, we should know it too.

It's about Syria and, most specially, if not only in the end, Iran.
Or why would Hezbollah's radicals (Lebanon-Syria) interfere trough southern Lebanon with affairs in Gaza that targeted the "Hamas" if it is not their concern?

This has Iran diverting attention written all over the place, and Syria taking advantage to regain Lebanon - if you read between the lines. More, Iran gets time to get the nukes they want and a visual excuse to pick on Israel.

Lebanon does not control (and never did) most of it's own territory (the most important part, at least) which is partially occupied by Syrian troops or by armed militias controlled by Syria and Iran.

So Lebanon's government is completely powerless to control these group's military actions against Israel in the southern border - Israel is not, hence the military action to compensate for what Lebanon's government can't do - so it's *not* an attack against Lebanon nor their people.

The thing is that the fact Hezbollah is in Lebanon's government, as in Palestinians "Hamas" case, makes the "government" responsible to the world. So is Lebanon under attack? It does has room for reasonable doubt, but mind the chess game please.

It's just another piece in the puzzle, because it's not Lebanon that is under attack, it's the Hezbollah's radicals, as I write, at least (and it's what I think, of course).

Civilians become casualties either by mistake/collateral damage or because it's very usual for terrorists to use civilians as protection and human shields, and let's assume we're talking about terrorists here (again, not the Lebanon people).

Who in fact "attacks" civilians for the kick of it are bombers that explode buses, discos, pubs, restaurants and so on, in Israel and now in Iraq (minding of a few other) - which "some" dare call "resistance", so you may imagine the kind of psychological manipulation and suffering going on.

Hezbollah has no roads, offices or whatever - nor keeps safe distance from civilians. It's almost impossible to target this terrorist group faction without creating unfortunate collateral damage. Thus, unfortunately may ripple-spread to the whole world if not contained with cool minded measures and observing who/what really is behind this and what the real intentions are.

But the method of "defense" is a fact, common to terror, and probably the Hezbollah's radicals idea too: to bring down one terrorist you need at least to bring down a civilian too, to bring down a battery of missiles, you need to bring down a bridge with it too, or a road and so on - it's of no surprise if they would hide in hospitals or schools or residential areas, or shielded by crowds in markets and the likes.

So, the only solution, to avoid further destruction is dialog.

The thing is the only purpose Hezbollah's radicals have is the destruction of the State of Israel - I wonder why - so, this kind of dialog would only end with Hezbollah radicals giving themselves up on a golden (or oily) platter, which, they will not.

The problem is that, due to cultural reasons, Lebanon's people (civilians) probably prefer to die than to (what they think is) bow to Israel. But Israel wants no bows, nor does it want conflict with Lebanese people, it just wants territorial security. This is a conflict as old as the Bible.

But this religious and way of being of Lebanese/Arabs is also explored and manipulated by the lords of war to further augment the hate, rage, confusion and resistance - they (the people that fight back) can't see they're being used, most specially the young (hence, strong).

And they (the people of Lebanon) really do not fear risking death - they are a very strong and united people, as all Arabs, with very strong values, and one should never underestimate (like the Soviets did in Afghanistan) their ability to resist for ever and ever, - even if mistaken - , because it's NOT the people at stake here, and it's *not* the people Israel is targeting.

All know Israel has to have tactical nukes (whatever they say) and if the people were the target... I leave you to guess.

So don't be fooled, and hope the Lebanon people don't get fooled either and rest assured the West won't do a thing (oil, oil, oil).

Iran is the one diverting attention from itself (it was getting a lot of heat from the international community) so with this "kidnapping" diversion, Iran gains time (and oil prices go up and down), Syria gets a chance at trying to regain the influence they lost when they retreated from Lebanon (and also in diverting attention from the Lebanon ex-prime-minister's "wipe out" circumstances) and Israel provides a motif to get under fire...

If only Bush was this foreseeing... Because Iran and North Korea outperform by very far the strategic think-ahead abilities of the USA (but not those of the Israelis).

So, on one side you have Hamas radicals, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah's radicals, on the other, Israel, and that's about it.

I can sum it even more, one side Iran (and probably North Korea - which is leaded by one of the most intelligent strategic minds on Earth), on the other, probably the rest of the world (we all have a rough idea on Bush's IQ)- so you want to really think well, think better and think again - carefully.

Israel can't afford to risk their homeland security for, as we all know, there's "someone" (president of Iran) who said several times that he would like to see Israel wiped off the map... So you still wonder why Israel has taken this kind of response? (and the precision warfare care not to provide a motive to get under heat as well?)

Who will win?
No one, it's a matter of who will lose more and how fast.

On whose side am I?
Mine.

Do I care? If there is suffering, yes, of course I care, but I don't take sides (none of those, at least) until knowing the all facts, which I don't, I'd just take measures to prevent suffering and to stop terror.

So who is right? As Einstein used to say, sort of, it depends on which side you are at. And as he also putted quite right, to know the right answer, you need to move apart from your current universe (side) to the whole one, which, given the situation, is exactly the problem (seeing the other side, and the third one making the moves), maybe all are trying to get the best solution with the worst methods...

And again... It's all about religion and oil, but it would take to much time to explain why.

No one believes me but I say again:

Religious leaders from a long gone lost past are still the ones that do - in fact - rule the world... And oil is but the current currency.

The world should not underestimate Iran, no matter how oil dependent we are, and do remember Nazi Germany signed peace deals just before invading those they signed it with, I'm not comparing though, the only coincidence is the diversion time-gaining in favor factor.

Also remember the more oil price goes up and our need for it, the more arrogance Iran can afford to show.

© Alvaro M. Rocha - All rights reserved.

Google's Calendar Agenda

2006-04-14T01:04:00.000+01:00

Well, what can I say?
Google Calendar Released - and it's steaming up GMail too.

I'm already a fan of GMail, which I use, alongside with GoogleTalk and... As you can see, Blogger too.

I'm even migrating, along with this blog, which uses Google's bought Blogger platform technology, my own site to Google's Platform GooglePages (with proper adjustments and compromises). I'm also using Google's Adsense and now even the fresh new "related search" box to enhance the user experience (it's here on this page, on the right side, below the vertical google ads box).

Now... I'm also using Calendar!
Still just for fun until I figure out how to sync it to the PDA.. hum... I wonder... er... I'll do it, no matter how many hacks I have to come up with.

I may finally be lifting my middle finger to Outlook's elitist calendar, which should have had made it into Express from start (and not to mention it's Exchange dependency).

Well, it would be just a minor finger insult, a friendly one, since I won't be abandoning Outlook just yet (it costed money - it syncs with the PDA/Phone - remember? - works in my company calendars.. and oh... Those note/tasks do come in handy. So hold on to your horses, get a grip, take a deep breath and don't let the enthusiasm carry you away).

Having said that, let me see how did Google's Calendar import did.
(It did well, and I am already updating it).

Is Google taking the lead?
No, it's just racing with more style.

Mind you I also use Yahoo for the groups (although my own official one will be at Google Groups) and Flickr pics thing, it rocks, it's more intuitive than Picasa, which I also use - although I don't like Yahoo's Flickr monthly bandwidth limit policy, as I don't like not being able to delete pics I upload trough Picasa's "Helo", but the hosting and bandwidth in both cases, comes in really handy.

I also like and use (less and less) MSN Messenger but I have to admit I love Windows (XP Pro and 2000/2003) over Linux or MacOS.

As far as Instant Messaging I'm now practically only using GTalk because it's lighter and I love logs stored "elsewhere", immune to my ever changing machines (and hopefully stable for many centuries in Google's servers, online and fast), so forget what I said about MSN Messenger above.

The G-Dudes have done it again.
MSN Spaces don't come close because they miss the concept, they do shoot in the right direction, but with the wrong gun. That has not stopped me of also giving my MSN space a spin though.

So Google, what else can I ask?
You wouldn't believe how much, but I'm sure Google is set in the right way to answer that...

... Is GPay taking long? And what about an iTunes like service?
Being a musician and all, I'd say my favorite services to date are, in the following order, CD Baby, Mediapal and PayLoadz.

Well, I'm now off to buy some more stocks then...

© Alvaro M. Rocha - All rights reserved.

[Audio] Sample rate: 96 khz vs 44.1 khz

2006-04-09T02:41:00.000+01:00

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Hydrogen fuel cells - clean energy?

2006-04-04T13:00:00.000+01:00

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The big lie about online piracy

2006-03-31T13:46:00.000+01:00

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