Do you ever wonder how much your life would be worth? Ever pondered the dollar value somebody would associate with a lifetime worth of learning, growth, and achievement?
Not me. I have a life insurance policy statement that tells me. It's right there.
I guess I thought a life would be worth more.
I blame the failing global economy.
1.21.2009
Prime Time Television
So I've been thinking about this plot for a sitcom episode all day. Just like Seinfeld or Friends. The sitcom would feature 2 couples and their quirky single friend. The episode would go something like this:
Cast:
Couple 1
Couple 2
Quirky Single Friend
Work Friend - Special Guest, one episode
Couple number one, feeling cooped up all the time, decides they should spend more time with couple number 2. They make plans with the second couple. But the second couple meet an extra couple (They're not important and thus only even mentioned in the dialogue, but never seen) and break plans with Couple 1. Soon enough Couple 1 never sees Couple 2, and are growing increasingly agitated.
Couple 1 then decides to spend more time with the Quirky Single Friend to fill their socializing void. Except Female 1 secretly thinks it would be better to hook up Quirky Single Friend with Work Friend. That way Quirkly Single Friend and Work Friend can start dating and Couple 1 will have a Couple 3 to do activities with.
And so Couple 1 invite Quirky Single Friend to dinner. But Female 1 also secretly invites Work Friend. Work Friend has been mentioned to Quirky Single Friend, but never formally introduced. Quirky Single Friend thinks that the dinner is just a casual friendly outing and invites Couple 2, whom he still sees on a regular basis and to the annoyance of Couple 1.
Of course all three people arrive at the fancy restaraunt and meet up with Couple 1 and Work Friend. Female 1 begins an aggressive sales pitch of Quirky Single Friend in an attempt to foster interest between Quirky Single Friend and Work Friend. But the situation quickly becomes awkward as Male 1 is forced to try and diffuse the situation, but can't do so easily without risking the wrath of Female 1. Conversations start being passed through the table from one cast member to another with Couple 2 acting as an information relay between the other 4.
"Would you please tell Male 1..."
"Well you can tell Female 2..."
The entire scene turns into a disaster scene full of witty jokes, silly but uncomfortable antics with the waiter, wrong orders, and food allergy mishaps. Work Friend becomes alienated towards both Couples, and Quirky Single Friend tries to hide from embarassment. Work Friend and Quirky Single friend barely say two words for the entire scene as they're constantly being interrupted mid-sentence by one of the 4 other characters at the table. The scene finally ends in an awkward silence where everybody eats desert and doesn't speak to each other. Which makes paying the bill very difficult since nobody will talk to each other.
The punchline to the episode is, of course, this: It's not an episode of a sitcom at all. I've taken quite a few liberties and exaggerated quite a bit, but this was actually my life last night.
I am Quirky Single Friend.
Cast:
Couple 1
Couple 2
Quirky Single Friend
Work Friend - Special Guest, one episode
Couple number one, feeling cooped up all the time, decides they should spend more time with couple number 2. They make plans with the second couple. But the second couple meet an extra couple (They're not important and thus only even mentioned in the dialogue, but never seen) and break plans with Couple 1. Soon enough Couple 1 never sees Couple 2, and are growing increasingly agitated.
Couple 1 then decides to spend more time with the Quirky Single Friend to fill their socializing void. Except Female 1 secretly thinks it would be better to hook up Quirky Single Friend with Work Friend. That way Quirkly Single Friend and Work Friend can start dating and Couple 1 will have a Couple 3 to do activities with.
And so Couple 1 invite Quirky Single Friend to dinner. But Female 1 also secretly invites Work Friend. Work Friend has been mentioned to Quirky Single Friend, but never formally introduced. Quirky Single Friend thinks that the dinner is just a casual friendly outing and invites Couple 2, whom he still sees on a regular basis and to the annoyance of Couple 1.
Of course all three people arrive at the fancy restaraunt and meet up with Couple 1 and Work Friend. Female 1 begins an aggressive sales pitch of Quirky Single Friend in an attempt to foster interest between Quirky Single Friend and Work Friend. But the situation quickly becomes awkward as Male 1 is forced to try and diffuse the situation, but can't do so easily without risking the wrath of Female 1. Conversations start being passed through the table from one cast member to another with Couple 2 acting as an information relay between the other 4.
"Would you please tell Male 1..."
"Well you can tell Female 2..."
The entire scene turns into a disaster scene full of witty jokes, silly but uncomfortable antics with the waiter, wrong orders, and food allergy mishaps. Work Friend becomes alienated towards both Couples, and Quirky Single Friend tries to hide from embarassment. Work Friend and Quirky Single friend barely say two words for the entire scene as they're constantly being interrupted mid-sentence by one of the 4 other characters at the table. The scene finally ends in an awkward silence where everybody eats desert and doesn't speak to each other. Which makes paying the bill very difficult since nobody will talk to each other.
The punchline to the episode is, of course, this: It's not an episode of a sitcom at all. I've taken quite a few liberties and exaggerated quite a bit, but this was actually my life last night.
I am Quirky Single Friend.
1.19.2009
How Did I Miss That!?
Holy crap! This thing has polyphony!
I currently own an old Casiotone CT-460 keyboard (synthesizer) the used to belong to my grandmother. This thing has been around since the late 80's when Grandma first got it for christmas from her kids. I guess the hope is that she would learn to play. I think she did take lessons for a little while, but this little casiotone just isn't properly suited for any sort of serious playing. Like many keyboard of it's kind, it only has 49 keys instead of the standard 88.
I used to practice on this little keyboard when I was growing up. If my parents left town we'd stay at Grandma's, and so I couldn't get access to my piano. The casiotone was the only way I could practice. But of course it had all these cool little buttons and knobs and sound effects and I'm easily distracted. So practicing didn't go so well. But I did learn what all the buttons did.
All except a small handful, that is.
Allow me to sidestep for a moment. I took 10 years of piano lessons through the Suzuki method, and eventually earned my Grade 8 diploma from the conservatory of music. I'm no mozart, but I'm pretty darn good I guess.
Well when I left home I couldn't take my piano with me, so for the past 10 years it's sat in my mother's basement waiting for the day when I'm stable enough in a home to relocate it. So a few years ago, while my Grandmother was still living, I asked if I could take the Casiotone. It had by that time taken up residence in her basement where nobody used it. I moved it to the city with me. I purchased a midi cable for it. And I began to dabble in electronic music. I've been doing so for a few years now. In case you didn't notice the link on the right, here's the kind of stuff I mess around with in my spare time. Audible Fragments .
Well last year I wandered into a music store and puttered around on some synthesizers. The technology has come a long way since they made this casiotone. And so I decided last June that as soon as I was done paying off my debt I'd start saving money for a new synthesizer. Something that would be good enough to replace a real piano, and that would double as an excellent device for messing around with electronic music as well. I've decided on the Roland RD300GX digital stage piano. My debt payments are going along nicely, and I've even put away some money for the Roland too. I should have it by June, or maybe even sooner if my income tax return is nice to me. But I'm stuck with the trusty old casiotone in the meantime.
So coming back to the point, I decided to see if I could find a manual online for it. Just for kicks. Sure enough I did find the manual. So I took a browse through the PDF file, and there it was! The description for that goofy "465 sound tone bank" button that I'd never figured out the use for.
It's a polyphony toggle! You pick a sound, hit the button, pick a different sound, and voila! 2-sound polyphony! After 15+ years of messing around with this thing, I've only just now discovered one of the coolest features it has!
I currently own an old Casiotone CT-460 keyboard (synthesizer) the used to belong to my grandmother. This thing has been around since the late 80's when Grandma first got it for christmas from her kids. I guess the hope is that she would learn to play. I think she did take lessons for a little while, but this little casiotone just isn't properly suited for any sort of serious playing. Like many keyboard of it's kind, it only has 49 keys instead of the standard 88.
I used to practice on this little keyboard when I was growing up. If my parents left town we'd stay at Grandma's, and so I couldn't get access to my piano. The casiotone was the only way I could practice. But of course it had all these cool little buttons and knobs and sound effects and I'm easily distracted. So practicing didn't go so well. But I did learn what all the buttons did.
All except a small handful, that is.
Allow me to sidestep for a moment. I took 10 years of piano lessons through the Suzuki method, and eventually earned my Grade 8 diploma from the conservatory of music. I'm no mozart, but I'm pretty darn good I guess.
Well when I left home I couldn't take my piano with me, so for the past 10 years it's sat in my mother's basement waiting for the day when I'm stable enough in a home to relocate it. So a few years ago, while my Grandmother was still living, I asked if I could take the Casiotone. It had by that time taken up residence in her basement where nobody used it. I moved it to the city with me. I purchased a midi cable for it. And I began to dabble in electronic music. I've been doing so for a few years now. In case you didn't notice the link on the right, here's the kind of stuff I mess around with in my spare time. Audible Fragments .
Well last year I wandered into a music store and puttered around on some synthesizers. The technology has come a long way since they made this casiotone. And so I decided last June that as soon as I was done paying off my debt I'd start saving money for a new synthesizer. Something that would be good enough to replace a real piano, and that would double as an excellent device for messing around with electronic music as well. I've decided on the Roland RD300GX digital stage piano. My debt payments are going along nicely, and I've even put away some money for the Roland too. I should have it by June, or maybe even sooner if my income tax return is nice to me. But I'm stuck with the trusty old casiotone in the meantime.
So coming back to the point, I decided to see if I could find a manual online for it. Just for kicks. Sure enough I did find the manual. So I took a browse through the PDF file, and there it was! The description for that goofy "465 sound tone bank" button that I'd never figured out the use for.
It's a polyphony toggle! You pick a sound, hit the button, pick a different sound, and voila! 2-sound polyphony! After 15+ years of messing around with this thing, I've only just now discovered one of the coolest features it has!
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