Pamparo in Toronto

I just bought Ambrosia’s album “Ambrosia: Anthology” from iTunes tonight. I have to be honest that I didn’t really know how good this band was since I only heard a couple of their “soft-rock” on the radio when I was growing up. Beside the regular hits like “You’re the Only Woman”, “Biggest Part of Me”, “How Much I Feel” and “I Just Can’t Let Go”, this album is filled with great progressive-rock tracks that I am really enjoying.

I am sure that I am going to have this on my regular rotation of subway-listening playlist! How about you, what have you been listening to lately?

Today, November 11, we commemorate Remembrance Day in Canada to remember those who have given their lives in the forefront of the battle fields and to all those who have and are still serving for the benefit of us all.

In Flanders Fields
by: Lt.-Col. John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Please take a moment of silence and continue to pray for them. God has dominion over everything, including the conflicts that are happening in our world today.

This is a story of a company that is all about customer satisfaction, emphasis on purchase value & increased product life-cycle. Buckle up, it does not happen very often.

Shortly after the Line6 POD XT Live was released in 2004, I immediately jumped on it to replace my combination of digital guitar chain. At the time, I was using a Yamaha DG-stomp & Behringer Vamp2 controlled simultaneously by Behringer FCBC1010 on a Midiman 1×4 MIDI-thru.That was one truly complicated setup!

Comes the XTL which does a better job tone-wise than the two combined (except for clean tones) and was an easier setup — 1 device, guitar in, line-out, PA.

While the XTL base configuration + the 3 model packs (FX, Classic and Metal) is sufficient for most needs, Line 6 extended its life-cycle and its value by providing a free firmware update that includes freebies such as new Wah models, new amps/cabs and few FX. Did I say free?

After that, Line 6 offered another upgrade to make the XTL usable for bass guitarist without buying new hardware. Since I started getting my analog amp/pedals, I hardly use my XTL for live electric guitar work. But because of this upgrade, I still very much use it for bass amplification. This upgrade was really really valuable.

Currently, Line 6 also is extending the PODs life-cycle even more. Now as a software plugin via Gearbox (now as POD Farm, as a continuation of their Amp Farm line). For a minimal fee, you can now use your POD as plugin to a recording software such as Garageband or Logic Express. Wait a minute, I happen to be a frequent Garageband user and recently upgraded to Logic Express! Of course, I did jump in and bought the license last night

All that is left for me to say is this: Thank you, Line 6! I wish more company will follow your business model!

People are inherently stubborn. We still do things even though we already know that it is not good for us. Just the other day, I went to Popeye’s Fried Chicken to grab lunch. Though I know and can clearly see how greasy the deep-fried chickens are, I easily ate 3 pieces. Talk about cholesterol! And there is no difference when it comes to our spiritual life. Even from the beginning, God has made himself known to us, yet we ignore it.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … ” — Romans 3:23

We have failed to measure up to God, my friends. All of us, including me and you. But the good news is that it does not end there. God is gracious and have provided a way for us to be acceptable to Him.

“… and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” — Romans 3:24

You see my friends, God is good. All it takes is for us to believe and have faith in Christ. It has been given freely and nothing else needs to be done. Jesus said these words during his time here on earth:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16

If you feel you need take that step of faith, please feel free to contact me here. It will be a blessing!

Barely one month into the Fall season of 2008, there is something else coming down beside the leaves of the trees. I refuse to call it snow, so I will refer to it as “snow-like substance”. Look at this weather conditions right now.

It’s inevitable, I supposed. I am still thankful that we had Thanksgiving with a temperature in the mid-20’s Celsius (68 Fahrenheit for our American friends). However, we have been breaking records season after season — total amount of snow on winter & total amount of precipitation/rain on summer. I think this fall, we are about to break 2 other records — the least amount of rain and the most amount of snow!

Oh well, what else can we do but just try to find something else to enjoy! Think, think, think …

Double 3’s that is! Yes, today is my birthday and I turned 33 years of age. And let me tell you, I am having one heck of journey so far!

Shout-outs to my family & friends who have greeted me in various ways like email, SMS, facebook/friendster, phone calls & in-person.

Of course, to my wife Tin & son Gabby who are always there bringing joy in my day-to-day life. Thanks for the cake in the morning, and, oh yeah, for the new guitar!

Praise God for His provisions and His blessings!

A thanksgiving note to everyone …

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

After using Garage Band, the built-in audio editing software from Apple, I felt the need to do so much more. For me, it was only logical to move up to the next level (pun intended). So I bought Logic Express 8 two days ago and I am not disappointed. There are a lot of different things that I still need to learn but I am starting to like it.

Here’s a rough take which I hope will improve in time: Logical

Have fun, cause I know I will!

*** UPDATE ***

Here’s another track, a little cleaner than the previous track: fsharpm

*************

Here’s another track that I recorded that you can jam along. I got the inspiration from a D Dorian lick that I was playing while watching football last Sunday. I played 3 tracks, 2 electric guitar rhythm parts and the bass line. Nothing too fancy

I have left a lot of space for another lead instrument such as a guitar or keyboards to add some melodic lines.

D Dorian Jam

Let me know if you can come up with something tasty! Have fun & God bless!

I was working on an idea for some string-skipping exercise that goes like the one below. Please pardon the “text-based” tab, I should find a better way of representing this!

Guitar Tab Idea:

———12——————————– e
—————-15sl17———–15—- B
——————————————– G
–sl14——————–17————– D
——————————————— A
——————————————— E

I wanted to practice it with a metronome so I plugged in to my Garageband software to just jam along a drum track. And just like that, I had a musical idea. It just snow-balled from there and I am liking the groove on this thing. Hopefully, I get the chance to finish this idea and make it into a full-blown 3-minute track. We shall see …

For now, enjoy this short version of it. The progression is Em-G-C-D and it just loops for about 8 bars.

E Aeolian Vamp

Enjoy and God bless!