Reverse Recording Good Times

Reverse recording has been around as long as recording technology. There are lots of ways to accomplish this but lately it has become much easier for the average person to turn their words around at the push of a button. I recently got an iPhone. And I must say it is every bit as great as reported. The app. scene is what makes these phones so versatile. One can find app's for virtually any task needed. From tip calculators to 4 track recorders, mirrors to news aggregates to tuners and amoritization the list in varied and at times amazing.
Last night I was on the way back to the hotel after a gig at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle. I was showing some of the guys different app's and letting them play around with them. Claude was using the voice transformer recording
himself with robot voice, deep voice, static, echo, etc. One of the choices is reverse. He said when they were kids they had a few different sounds they would make which when recorded and played backwards would reveal spoken words. He tried some but none were working. I realized at this point one could say something then listen back while learning the phonetic pronunciation. I tried it saying "let me in" in a slow deliberate voice. Listening back it sounded like "may bell. " So i tried saying may bell into the recorder and then playing that back. Lo and behold it sounded as if I was saying "let me in." I tried lots of words and phrases after that and lots of them worked. I was cracking up it was so cool. This is not ground breaking information that language is built from many different sounds. But this is one of the most entertaining ways to hear and understand the way this works. I suggest you give it a try. Some things are just too unnatural sounding to repeat. But if one takes time to go over it and practice it a few times the accuracy improves.

Tehran Twitters

Not to be too cynical about the on-going revolutionary movement in Iran, but the hype around the use of Twitter is kind of nauseating. On one hand it is a way to get information out of repressive political borders. On the other hand it is a totally unreliable source of information created for the use of Americans to gossip about themselves. To lend such validity and credence to this texting format is a mistake that will eventually blow up in the face of cable news. Just because something is said over and over on the Internet does not make it true, or maybe it does. As information multiplies it seems to become less informative and more noise. How hard would it be for a government to manipulate the Twitter-sphere?

Austin's Noisey Laundry

I know lots of you think Austin Texas is the greatest thing since live music began. And, I would not argue with you on the merit of the music alone over the last 40 years or so. One could say that the live music scene and all of its feathers give this peacock its plumes. Many cities can claim similar musical histories, some more colorful, some more productive. But, none can really stand toe to toe with Austin as a brand. Once we claimed the "live music captial" moniker it was just a matter of time before we were on the lips of music fans around the world. And, now Austin more than anywhere besides maybe New Orleans has set up home right there in the middle of the chaotic musical landscape with South By Southwest, Austin City Limits Festival and its many artists and bands traversing the globe.
At the same time the city has undergone phenomenal economic growth through high tech and real estate sectors. Once it was obvious the city was booming leaders began an ambitious plan to attract residential development downtown. The intention was good. After watching their Texas cousin cities go through massive growth and unchecked development Austin seemed determined to do it a different way. All along there has been an effort among many to try and "preserve" a way of life much loved by all. The obvious challenges are myriad and complex. And as we enter the new world of downtown density cultural clashes are erupting.
A series of complaints and city legislation to appease all parties involved has lead to a group of confusing laws serving mainly the private property rights of the residential occupants over the will of the greater citizenry. For years old Austin institutions have been falling like the walls of Jericho as the march of progress takes its toll.
Taken at face value it almost seems like the drive is towards a city of enlightened affluence and lots of new things. In my opinion we have fallen prey to the developers and their easy money like every other sprawling southwestern city. I would probably have a hard time finding many that agree with this though. Life has been good here for most of us, myself included. Lately though I can sense a change in the attitudes of the city that could signal a threat to my way of life here. I am speaking of course of the recent rash of citations for sound ordinance infractions.
It was the understanding of most that the going Db level was 85. But, somehow some other zoning ordinance has been overriding this and causing out-door restaurants to be capped at 70 db. From experience I can tell you that it is impossible to satisfy a large crowd of 200 or more people with a db level of 70. And in Austin this is even more frustrating. We have a huge audience of music lovers who want to feel and hear the great music coming off the stage. This is a given at any music venue on any given night.
I read that things were in the works to change the low db level to help out our many local out-door restaurants. But, still last Thursday as my band, The Gourds played to a packed house at Shady Grove a fire marshal trotted in and cited them for a sound ordinance violation. At the same time a huge crane moved silently over head building a monstrous residential complex next door. The irony was not lost on me. It made me wanna make some noise about this issue. I think it is high time the Austin Music Community come together to flex a little political muscle just so we get respect and keep respect when we needed it most.
The city council is apparently "hard at work" trying to figure out a way certain restaurants in residential zones can eclipse the 70 db level designated for them. Normal venues/cocktail lounges have an 85 db level. Some restaurants are considering changing their zoning designation to "cocktail lounge." But. many neighborhood zoning plans will not allow cocktail lounges in their hood. The neighborhoods in Austin, it should be understood, are very powerful. City Council will rarely go against their wishes. I normally appreciate this aspect of our city government. But, there must be exceptions for long standing iconic businesses on major thoroughfares. To me it is common sense. And as Councilman Martinez says, "it's not about a db level, it's about compatibility." What this means to me is that the wants of the few do not out weigh the needs of the many, at least as far as live music goes. If all of the out door restaurants stop having live music, then it takes money out of musicians pockets. Like it or not this city has created a musical economy that must be maintained.

NFL 92 NFC Championship Game

I watched the '92-'93 NFC Championship tonight on NFL network. Boys and niners. My 11 year old son was beside himself actually watching Emmit Smith playing at the top of his game. Really awesome to watch. It was the game in which Jimmy Johnson coined his famous phrase, "How bout them Cowboys!" It was interesting watching that moment. Jerry Jones reaction was not jovial or happy even. I think he may have felt jilted not standing up there with Johnson. Just a weird observation filtered through the perspective of history. That is an odd tension that arises between men who share the same vision of success without the capacity to appreciate the role of others in that mission. Johnson was obviously arrogantly enthusiastic to the point of being contagious to the team. Which, was his whole intention. It was honest though. That was mixed with his own personal quest for greatness and legacy. Jones was just plain jealous I think. His tragic insecurity with his role in the building of the team was the only weakness to the franchise at that moment. Without the well known firing of Jimmy Johnson and the hiring of his Okie rival Switzer I am sure the Cowboys would have won 3 in a row and possibly 4. They were at that moment the greatest team the NFL has ever seen. Perhaps the recent Patriots are as good.

Year End Wrap Up NCAA Football

Now we see what happened. Oklahoma blew their chance at a national title. No big surprise here. The Sooners have become perennial bowl game failures, going 1-5 for their last 6 and losing 3 in a row to the likes of Boise St and West Virginia. They are great in the regular season, but somehow lose focus in what some have called, the second season. They had a month to prepare for Florida and failed to put more than 14 points on the board. Sam Bradford looked lost much of the time. The pressure sunk his accuracy to average. Stoops should be fired, ha! He can't win the big one without the great Josh Heupel. Where is he selling cars now? Barry Switzer Toyota in Norman?
Florida is a great team with great coaching all the way around. Urban Meyer is a class act in my book. I hate Florida, but not as much as I did when "Ball Coach" was there. I detest any adding of the word "nation" to the end of a team mascot name. Just want to be clear that I will not allow anyone to ever use the word in regards to Shinyribs consensus #1 , The Mighty Texas Longhorns. I am a fan, but do not consider others fans as anything resembling my socio-economic or cultural-political interests. We are not a nation. The era of nation building is over, friends. It is a brave new world order. One that apparently cannot function properly. I will not get into the fact that Texas could have whipped either one those lame ass looking teams. USC obviously could have walked away with it as well. Bama had their chance to play Florida. Utah has nothing to say, really. They played no real opponents from either the PAC-10 or Big 12. They did beat Alabama, though, which is something unexpected. And, they did get a great Carl's,Jr. endorsement along with the coveted no.2 spot in the AP. Texas at 4 and USC at 3, whatever.
As for the rest of the Big-12. Texas Tech sucked it up in the Cotton Bowl of all games. Thanks Red Raiders, you really did great things with that upset. If you ever get there again, act like you've been there. Wait until the game clock is at zero before you take the field in unwarranted, tortilla fueled hysteria. Missouri ,thanks, you are a credit to the conference. Kansas, good job, you make us all look better. Oklahoma St. y'all need a gut check. You did absolutely nothing to help us this year. You couldn't beat Tech or Oklahoma. Then you lost to Oregon. How can I even look at you. Shameful. Nebraska representin B-12, awesome job Huskers. I don't want you to get too good though, so back off a little. A rising Nebraska is like a rising Germany in my book. Scares me to see images of Crouch tossing that option. I hate red and white teams running the option. The mighty Texas Longhorns won in big styles against those Sooners of the Big-10 Ohio State. When was the last time the Sooners played Ohio State? Last time was 1983. Come on Okies, schedule some real games for a change. You gots to play somebody other than Texas. I see you are going to play the Buckeyes in 2016-17. Good luck with that.
All this legislation is tacky. I hope none of my elected officials waste time trying to bring the BCS to justice. I mean I hate it, but it ain't the place of the Government to address. Just plain stupid. Great year for college football though. My favorite moment is still Texas Longhorns beating OU. That is always great. The Texas Tech game was of course my most anguishing moment. So so close. I am still kicking myself for not catching that ball. And then not knocking Crabtree out of bounds. Oh and for not staying in bounds on the last drive to run the clock. Oh if we could have that one back we would be standing over the carcass of the Florida Gators right now hoisting the crystal ball. Next year, we'll get'em. Texas-ou is gonna be a hell of a game next year, as well as Texas vs t-tech. Revenge will be sweet as pecan pie. HOOK'EM!

BCS/USC as if it matters rant

TEXAS-As if it matters, indeed. The year was 2003, I believe. LSU beat the Oklahoma Sooners for the BCS National Title. USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Suddenly a flood of media questions about whether the Trojans were actually the best team in the land swept the analysis booth. Next thing we knew the AP Writers had given their title to the Trojans, as if it mattered. By the time they were matched against Texas in the 2005 Rose Bowl nat'l championship game, the same media were talking openly about USC playing for their 3rd national championship. The revisionist historians had effectively stripped The Tigers of their rightful crystal from 2003 and acted as if the BCS had just not existed that year. It was a disgusting display of the media's power of shaping public perception. At that moment only people in Austin and Baton Rouge were immune to such illusion. And, let us just thank the great Vince Young and his mighty Texas Longhorns for vanquishing the Disney-like smoke and mirrors hoisted up around L.A.'s football franchise. No retractions or apologies to LSU were ever said or printed anywhere. None of those jack asses on ESPN or sports talk radio ever corrected their over zealous suggestive remarks.
One thing we learned about that moment is that in the absence of an NFL franchise, L.A. claims the Trojans as their pro team. Every major media outlet in the world has at least operations their, if not headquarters. It is arguably the largest market in America. Covering their teams brings more viewers from that market, which brings higher ratings and more Ad dollars, which keeps the fake snowball growing.
I was still shocked Friday morning as I turned on what is increasingly becoming ESPN's version of "Good Morning America." I was greeted with images of USC victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl. No surprise that the number 5 team had beaten the number 8 team, really. But, you'd have thought you were in Lubbock when Texas Tech beat then number 1 Texas. Pete Carrol in all his class actually suggested his team should have been in the National Championship game. He actually said that USC could beat OK or FL, not to mention Texas or Alabama. Of course Mr. Carrol is savvy at the sound bite and spin game. Over and over they played his little bit. Over and over they had some post-steroidal rock head saying in his honest opinion USC belongs in the debate, as if their is some debate included in the BCS formula. With Utah's victory over Alabama, the unanimous number 1 team for most of the year and with their(Utah's) 13-0 record should we include them in that nebulous debate? If USC had played and beat Alabama, it is possible they might just cancel the rest of the games and crown them on the spot. Could USC beat Utah? You see where I am going with all of this. PLAYOFFS!
As long as the BCS is the target I am OK with any and all doubts cast on those results. But when the automatic recipient is USC when sitting in the top 5, I take serious issue. Either we need playoffs or more inter-conference play as we had with Texas vs Ohio State in the 2005-2006 seasons or USC should play Texas, Oklahoma or Texas Tech every year. And they should play one of the top SEC teams from the previous year. SEC is still the toughest conference. Big 12 is now a close second. PAC-10 and Big-10 are third passengers for sure. And when you lose an early season game to the Oregon State Beavers because you cannot stop their undersized running back, you have no room to get up at the Rose Bowl and suggest you have the best team in the land. I would like to see them play Oregon St. again. That was fun to watch. GO BEAVERS! And somebody tell them to take that back to back bullshit down, it is a bold face lie.

Brokaw Calls For New Gas Tax

On 'Meet The Press' this morning, in his last appearance as the interim host, Tom Brokaw suggested his guest, President-elect Obama, take advantage of surprisingly low gasoline prices nation wide by taxing the price back up to 4 dollars a gallon, since, as Brokaw said,"the American people were prepared to pay that."

I don't know anyone who was prepared to pay 4 dollars a gallon. In all my years of standing at those god forsaken pumps at thousands of different crappy stores filled with beer and soda refrigerators and junk food I have never had so many conversations with so many fellow Americans about the price of the juice we were pouring in our tanks. No one was understanding or prepared for it. Everyone was suspicious and angry about it. How Tom missed that is obvious. He is cushioned from the reality of everyday life and probably hasn't pumped his own gas in decades.

Brokaw's thinking seemed to be based on the discouragement of those Americans who drive larger, less fuel efficient cars. This is garden variety thinking on environmental fears of global warming and a bogus national defense argument. One would think Tom, being from South Dakota would understand the needs of rural farmers and ranchers who are reliant on such vehicles to manage their businesses. These folks rely on truckers, as well, to transport those goods to their respective means and ends. This all adds to the prices of these various products derived from these commodities. I was profoundly befuddled by Brokaw's naivete about basic economic forces in regards to fuel price. I think it is obvious that the spike in energy costs, beginning with Hurricane Katrina, were the catalyst leading to the current mortgage failures. People on the economic edge were lent money when fuel costs were low. After Katrina, gas prices spike over 2 bucks a gallon. The rest is history. It wasn't long before prices rose across the board and family budgets were strained to the point, in many cases, of deciding between paying the mortgage or buying groceries and keeping the lights on.

As he signed off he thanked all of "us," the people who watch 'Meet The Press' in his grand fatherly way. Without a twinge of irony he advised incoming host David Gregory that this program is important beyond the Potomac. It is important to Middle America, which is their code for hicks in the sticks, rednecks, farmers, the great unwashed. It is the equivalent of "colored" for his generation, the progeny of "the greatest." To Brokaw, I am sure, none of this means much. He loved his NBC news, sure. And maybe he is civil to his contemporaries at the competition. But, the fact that he would jack the price of gas back up to four bucks without the slightest reservation is truly disappointing.