beverly hills cop
Beverly Hills Cop was a movie released December 1984 and it made a lot of money. Actually, that's not accurate. It made a ton of money. The budget was an estimated 14 million, and in the opening weekend in the US it made 15.2 million, and had gross worldwide sales of - get this - 316.3 million. Yeah, this movie made a ton of dough. In fact, it was the highest grossing movie of 1984.
I just re-watched this movie, and came to a realization.
This movie really isn't good at all.
The story was weak, the plot unrealistic and the comedy was poorly timed. The only reason this movie sold at all was because it was riding solely on Eddie Murphy's fame and nothing more.
In other words, without Eddie as the star of this movie, it would have completely tanked.
From what I've learned concerning the background of this movie, nobody wanted it. Several known stars of the time turned it down, and the script was this haphazardly put together piece of garbage that wasn't even complete. In several scenes of the movie, Eddie had to literally improvise to fill in the gaps, and this is why the movie harshly goes back and forth from between "Eddie standup comedy" to actual story and then back again. A few other characters also had to improvise lines during principal shooting as well.
For example, the whole "Super Cops" scene (which is without a doubt the funniest scene in the movie) is almost all improvised.
During the police station scenes where the cars are being tracked, if you thought, "Wait a second... the LAPD didn't have GPS in 1984!", you were right. GPS-like tracking was only added in the story to speed up the already-weak story.
I re-watched this movie thinking it would be really funny as I remembered it.. but it wasn't. It was just.. blah.
There have been a few movies I've watched that were riding on nothing but star power, and it can be said without a doubt that they don't age well. Beverly Hills Cop is definitely one of them.
One good thing did come from the movie however, the song Axel F from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.
But even with that song being as cool as it was, it's nothing compared to how cool the theme to Miami Vice is, available on the Miami Vice soundtrack.
To date, I've never watched a single episode of Miami Vice, but whenever the show came on I listened to the theme song intently, because it was (and still is) that good.
Now may be the time to buy your China-made Squier while it's still cheap
It's normally a really bad idea to bring politics into music because the two just don't mix. However, this time it matters and you'll understand why in just a moment.
In the most recent "town hall" US Presidential election debate, both candidates said without any reservation that China isn't playing fair when it comes the actual value of items, and that either would make China pay their fair share in the upcoming presidential term.
What this means to you, the guitar player, is that when 2013 rolls around, the price of Chinese-made guitars may suddenly spike in price across the board all over the world, because generally speaking, the rest of the world follows what the US does. (Note: It's just a common thing that other nations usually follow our lead whether it's the right or wrong thing to do.. that's just how it works.)
I'll use the Squier Bullet Strat - the lowest-priced standard-sized Strat guitar Fender makes, as the example here.
Over the past 5 years, the price of the guitar has only risen 10 dollars. It started at $119, then in 2012 was raised 10 dollars to a selling price of $129. That's an 8.4% price increase, which is in fact fairly significant. However, given the base price is so cheap to begin with, most budget-minded guitar players don't mind spending the extra 10 bucks.
After 2013 rolls around, it would not surprise me at all if the China-made Squier Bullet Strat had a 40% price increase from $129 to $180 due to new import tariffs that would be imposed no matter who is President.
Think it can't happen? You just watch.
If you've got your eye on a China-made guitar right now - any China-made guitar - I strongly suggest you buy now before the end of the US Presidential election. The message has been sent loud and clear that cheap Chinese stuff is going to come to an end very quickly once 2013 starts.
And yes, this extends beyond guitars into effects, electronics and literally anything else that's made in China right now. Get it while it's cheap, because after 2012, it's game over and the prices will go up sharply.
On a final note, yeah I could be wrong and the prices of China-made imported stuff may remain the same... but I seriously doubt it.
capricorn one
If you like conspiracy theory inspired movies, then this film is definitely one you should watch.
Capricorn One is a movie released in June 1978 that surprisingly holds up pretty well even now. Yeah, there are a few parts where you can totally see 1970s style, but fortunately the story is good enough where that doesn't bother you too much.
This movie is directly inspired from people who firmly believe the Apollo moon landings between 1969 and 1972 never happened. As said above, this flick was released in 1978, just a scant 6 years after the last moon mission (Apollo 17) in '72, so the idea of, "Were the moon landings fake?" was still a very fresh idea in the minds of many.
In Capricorn One, they're not going to the moon but rather to Mars, and the whole story of the film is about how the government faked the whole thing, and the astronaut's attempt to escape and not be killed by government agents. In an interview, the director openly admitted some of the lines were directly lifted from what the real astronauts actually said on their moon missions, and then changed them slightly to fit his movie. In effect, he was saying in so many words that the movie almost wrote itself.
But is it a good movie? For entertainment value, yeah it's great. But from a critical point of view, there are a lot of flaws.
And don't worry, what I'll say here doesn't give away the story.
Sort-of plot hole: The astronauts didn't understand sooner that no matter what, the government was going to eliminate them because they would have been too dangerous to keep alive. I call this a "sort-of" plot hole because it could have been they were just playing along until they figured out the best course of action to take, but then later on, one says "We're dead!" even though that was very obvious much earlier.
Plot hole: When Caulfield gets shot at, we never know who the gunman is, why he's there, why he only took one shot, purposely missed and didn't kill him, and then stole his car... big hole there.
Plot hole: You never have a good idea of how fast or slow time is passing in the desert scenes, nor do truly have any idea how far the men have traveled across it.
Weirdness: The Hollis Peaker character, while funny.. what's he doing there? What's his purpose?
Weirdness: What the hell is the relationship between Caulfield and Judy supposed to be? I think the only reason for Judy's character was just so that Karen Black could be written in the movie, because she is listed in the credits as a "special appearance". Didn't do anything for the movie. She was annoying.
Weirdness: Who is the main character? That's never really answered. It leans towards Caulfield a lot, however we don't meet him until almost 25 MINUTES into the movie.
Unrealistic: The air battle scene (which is all I can say about it without giving anything away) is just... there's no way that could happen in real life. But it's VERY entertaining. :)
Okay, that's the bad stuff. There's more but that would take forever to write out.
The good stuff is that from a conspiracy theorist's point of view, it's a good watch. From an entertainment perspective, it's also a good watch. There are several scenes where things get really tense and keeps things going along (even though the pacing is frickin' awful). Even with all the holes, it's still enjoyable.
My biggest complaint.. is the ending. I won't say what it is, but I will say that you totally want the story to continue. You want to see something happen after that. But you don't and never will. The way the movie ends leaves you dangling. I would have even accepted a few on-screen paragrahs after the fade the black, like "So-and-so arrived at so-and-so, stuff happened and the world was never the same... One year later, [this guy] was fired, [that guy] answered for his crimes..." etc., etc. You get the idea. How I wish that was put in there, but it didn't happen.
Here's are my the guesses as to why the movie ended like it did.
A) The director wanted to end the movie leaving the audience to speculate what happened afterward (which didn't work at all).
B) The production cost was way too high at that point and there wasn't enough money to complete the film properly.
C) The director simply didn't know how to end the movie.
I'm going with a combo of B and C.
Aside from the sloppy writing and bad ending, it's still good.
The most entertaining scene? The air battle, no question. And Telly Savalas is a RIOT during those scenes too. Laugh-out-loud funny stuff there mixed in with good action. Totally unrealistic action, but who cares? It's still great.
I liked the movie and it's a fun trip into escapism for a while, which after all are what movies are all about.
Rich's dirty secrets to awesome home recording with cheap hardware
I'm pretty sure any pro-audio guy who reads this is going to be thoroughly disgusted because the method described below uses old-school tech. But it works and it can be done very cheaply. And yes, I mean CHEAP. Not "inexpensive". I mean cheap, as in stuff-you'd-find-at-a-garage-sale cheap.
1. The computer
The minimum required for PC hardware is an Intel 1GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, a plain sound card with a "LINE IN" port, an 80GB hard drive that runs at 7200 RPM and the Microsoft Windows XP operating system or a lightweight Linux distribution.
The above in detail:
A PC with a single-core 1GHz processor can be found just about anywhere. These 10-year-old (or greater) computer boxes are so cheap that people practically give them away. You specifically want an Intel processor and not AMD because some older AMD's like the Athlon XP cause frequency noise in the sound card when recording, but the Intel does not. This doesn't happen with modern AMD CPUs, but it does on the older ones.
You do not need anything more than 2GB RAM for 32-bit Windows XP. About 99% of PCs with XP are 32-bit and not 64, so it's not something you have to worry about. 32-bit XP even though it's supposed to support 4GB RAM at the most will only support 3.2GB maximum, so it's a total waste to have anything more than 2GB RAM. As for the clock speed of the RAM, it doesn't matter. It could be the slowest RAM available and it will still work just fine for audio recording software purposes.
Audio does not take nearly as much hard drive space as video does, so any hard drive 80GB or greater will work. The only thing you have to watch for is that the drive runs at 7200 RPM and not anything slower. There are slower 5200 and 5400 RPM drives out there, and if you unfortunately have one of these, junk it for a 7200; this will be printed on a sticker on top of the hard drive in plain sight.
The blue port on the back of a plain sound card is what you need to pay attention to, as that's "LINE IN", and yes it is a stereo input. This means you can feed the analog output of a mixer into it easily. It is most likely true the cheap PC you pick up will already have one of these.
As for Microsoft Windows XP, well, everyone knows what that is. It's not in production anymore but it's been around since 2001 so it's not like you don't know it. And no, it does not matter if you have "Home" or "Professional" edition, because there's nothing in "Professional" that would give you any advantage when recording audio.
If the computer box you have doesn't have XP or you can't get a license for it, download Lubuntu for free and use that instead; it's a lightweight very-fast Linux that will run on old computers easily. It will also run modern web browsers like Chrome and Firefox. The only crappy part is that getting wireless internet to work in Linux is annoying, but chances are the old PC you'll be using has no wireless anyway and just a plain wired network card, so this isn't a problem.
2. The software
I suggest using the free Audacity, but since most people want to know what I use, it's Cool Edit Pro 2.1. This is really old software that was last made under this name in 2003. This is before Adobe bought it and changed it to Adobe Audition. I used Audition 1.5 for a good long while but eventually went back to CEP because it just runs better - even in Windows 7. Cool Edit Pro is not available for download as it's not made anymore, nor was it ever freeware.
CEP is my personal choice for recording software. If I didn't have it, I would use Audacity and wouldn't think twice about it, because it's the only thing I prefer to record with besides CEP. Like CEP, Audacity is very light in operation, doesn't give you problems, has all the filters and effects CEP does and works great.
Oh, and there's one other huge advantage concerning Audacity - it's multi-platform, meaning it can run in Linux. If your computer box is running Linux, you'll be using Audacity, and it's good to know this.
3. The mixer
I use a very basic Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer because it's all I need. I feed a "Y" connector from the 1/4-inch left/right outputs to a stereo 3.5mm-input to the sound card (which for you would be the blue "LINE IN" port).
The exact cable that you need is a 1/8" stereo to dual 1/4" TS splitter.
To note: If you're recording a full band, you're going to need a mixer with more inputs for the extra microphones and such. If you need the extra inputs, get the Behringer Xenyx 1202FX. Great mixer, easy on the budget, small but not too small, and even has built-in effects with 100 presets.
DO NOT bother with USB. Don't even touch it. If you do, you'll encounter a lag/latency nightmare ("pausing" when recording). Use an analog output from the mixer to an analog LINE IN input on the computer. It is not a sin to do this.
Yes, there will be some barely-there electronic noise when recording with analog. You will see this when recording with Audacity, but that's OK because you only hear it just before a recording starts. This means you can "silence" that part of any track just by highlighting it with the mouse and then using the "silence" filter. It's really not a problem, believe me.
Remember: Nobody will know you're recording with analog, because nobody cares. Well, nobody except pro-audio guys who will tell you you're doing everything wrong when in fact you aren't. If some pro-audio guy tells you "you're doing it all wrong", just ignore the guy, because he's obviously not going to give you the money for the super-awesome all-digital crapola. It's your money, and if you have to go cheap, then go cheap and record your way. Analog recording works and sounds just fine, because it's not like you're recording a symphony.
How much does all this cost?
The computer: You probably already have an old clunker computer, so this could be free. If not, try picking up an older Dell PC box. These things are everywhere just about anywhere in the world, and can be had for next to nothing. The only thing you'll have to spend any real money on may be a new hard drive. A refurbished Dell from Wal-Mart is the perfect super-cheap budget recording PC. It's $188! The only crappy part is that it's Windows 7 and not XP, but who cares? You can dump that for Lubuntu Linux (which runs really good on a Dell) and you're good to go.
The software: Free.
The mixer: Between $50 to $125
The Y-connector cable: $10 to $20, depending on where you buy it (again, I suggest getting the 2-pack from the linked cable product above).
Total investment will be anywhere from $0 to about $325 after taxes/shipping. And yes, that is the total cost. Nothing more needs to be spent after that. Any other costs would only be for music gear such as a guitar effects processor and microphones.
What about the recording quality? How will my recordings sound?
Here's the deal when it comes to the quality of your recordings:
Give a guy inexperienced in recording $5,000 worth of hardware and say "record something great", and that guy will record nothing but crap.
Give a guy experienced in recording $300 worth of hardware and say "record something great", and he will.
What this means is that just because someone has crazy-good super-expensive hardware doesn't mean he knows how to use it properly. It's the same as "an experienced guitar player with the $100 guitar sounds great while the inexperienced guitar player with a $1,000 guitar sounds like crap". Experience counts both for playing and recording. If you have no recording experience, expensive recording gear will give you no advantage whatsoever.
What this also means is that nobody sounds great at first. Your first recordings, whether they're on cheap or expensive recording hardware, will sound terrible. And you know what? That's just fine. You will get better at recording the more than you do it.
In addition, remember that for the guitar player (and the bass player), a modeling effects processor is your best friend. Again, I will mention the DigiTech RP255 here. If you plug that sucker DIRECT into the mixer and don't use any amps, you'll sound good even with little to no recording experience. TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. If on the other hand you try miking an amp with little to no recording experience, you'll sound awful because miking amps for recording is never plug-in-and-go. It takes time, the room acoustics matter, and a whole bunch of other stuff needs to be taken into consideration that you probably didn't think of - nor would you want to. All you want to do is hit the record button and go, right? Right. Use modeling processing, don't bother with the miked amps, and you'll save yourself from a lot of frustration and headaches.
I mean, if you want to mike the amps, then go ahead. But it will prove to be a huge pain in the ass compared to using a modeling effects processor.
Anyway, there you go. Now you know cheap ways to record your stuff.
Must-have gigging essential - GPS (and how to get ultra-precise directions)
I've been a Garmin GPS user since 2005, so believe me when I say that I know my way around a GPS. The current unit I own is the nuvi 40LM model. The "LM" by the way means "Lifetime Maps", so when buying a Garmin GPS, always get one that has "LM" in its model name so you don't have to pay for map upgrades.
Why as a gigging musician do you need GPS?
Some clubs, venues and other places you gig will be in really weird locations
I have gigged in places that would be next to impossible to find even with printed directions from Google Maps. There are some spots so tucked away that you're amazed anyone could even find the place. There's been several times I've said to myself, "Wow, I'm glad I had my GPS" when arriving at certain locations, because I know I'd never be able to find it from a printed map alone.
Trying to find a place at night without GPS is just a bad idea
Driving at night sucks and always has. And of course, most gigs are played after the sun goes down. During the day when the sun is out, sure, it's usually easy to get around. But once nightfall comes, things that did look familiar are all of a sudden unfamiliar. Any landmark or road sign that's not lit cannot be seen unless you're pointing your car's headlights directly at it (which of course you can't do since you have to stay on the road).
Gas is frickin' expensive
Drive with GPS and you save money on gas. The best example I can give of this is what happens when things don't go according to plan.
You drive to the gig and get there with no problem. After the gig, you pack up and start to head back home. During the trip back home, you're driving on the highway and up ahead is an accident where you're forced to take an exit ramp to somewhere you've never been before. With GPS, this isn't an issue because the nuvi will recalculate the route automatically and get you back home. But without GPS? Yeah, your printed map is worthless at that point. You'll be wasting gas from driving around for a good 15 to 30 minutes trying to find a way around the accident and get back on the highway.
How to get ultra-precise directions with a Garmin nuvi
Note before continuing: This is going to seem like a really long-ass way of doing this, but believe me, getting to gigs this way will not only save fuel but also save your ass from getting lost many, many times. It's totally worth it to learn how to do this stuff.
Step 1. Find the gig on Bing Maps
I purposely recommend Bing Maps because it's easier to get coordinates there instead of using Google Maps. You'll see why in a moment.
The example location I'll be using here is Pegasus Lounge in Tampa, Florida.
I go to Bing Maps and search for "pegasus tampa"; this shows the address as 10008 N 30th St, Tampa FL.
Step 2. Switch to Aerial View
The default view is "Road". Switch that to "Aerial".
Step 3. Zoom in tight on the location
Step 4. Right-click a spot to get the coordinates
Step 5. Enter the coordinates in the nuvi
Okay, now it's time to punch this into the nuvi so I can navigate exactly to that spot.
Note: The directions below is how MOST nuvis work. Yours may have menus that are slightly different, but the end result is always the same (which you want it to be).
First, "Where To?"
Second, "Coordinates" (you may have to press a down arrow to see this)
Third, "Format" (at bottom), and change to "h ddd.ddddd" so you can enter the numbers just like it shows on Bing Maps, then "OK".
Fourth, enter the coordinates. The first number is north or south. If a positive number, it's north. If a negative number, south. The second number is east or west. If positive, it's east. If negative, then west.
And yes it is true you'll only be able to enter 5 digits after the decimal point and not 6 as the Bing Map coordinates show. Don't worry about that as it's still very precise.
After that, touch "Next"
At this point you'll want to examine the map to make sure you've got the right spot. If the streets match up with what you see in Bing Maps, you're good to go.
After examining the map to make sure the right spot has been mapped, touch "Save"
Name the location, then touch "Done", and "OK".
At this point the location will be in "Favorites", so now from the main menu you can touch "Where To?" and then "Favorites" and it will be in there.
Why is it necessary to map locations like this for your gigs?
Direct coordinates are always accurate.
From above you saw that named addresses - especially for businesses - don't usually point to where you're trying to get to. But with coordinates there is absolutely no question of where the GPS will take you.
Another reason to use coordinates is for parking. Sometimes there are gigs where the parking is in the back rather than in the front, and you have to go down some special access road to even get to the back of the building where the parking area is. Obviously, that's not listed on any map because it has no defined address, so coordinates are basically the only way to get directed to places like that.
Is a smartphone GPS as good as a Garmin nüvi?
No, and it never has been.
Smartphone GPS works and I'm not saying it doesn't. But a Garmin nüvi GPS is true real-time (it updates its location every 3 meters or less, which is super-accurate), uses true from-satellite positioning while many smartphones do not, doesn't run the risk of crashing like a smartphone does (on many smartphones, if you receive a text or call while navigating using the phone's GPS, that can crash the phone's OS almost too easily), and of course the nüvi is way, WAY faster at calculating and routing to destinations.
I consider smartphone GPS "fair" at best. Yeah, it works, but not like a nüvi does. Any nüvi made from 2010 or later runs circles around smartphone GPS in basically every way. I know that ticks some smartphone owners off when they hear that, but it is the truth. This is why iPhone owners to this day prefer Garmin nüvi over the iPhone's way of doing routing (even before the crappy map app Apple has now in iOS 6).
Simply put, you need a dedicated GPS in the car, and it should be a nüvi. The smartphone is great for texting, talking and so-so navigation, but when you want the good stuff, you go Garmin.
Again, remember, this is coming from a guy who's been using Garmin GPSes since 2005, taken trips over 1,000 miles with them and has navigated to gigs with a nüvi that a smartphone would never find even on its best day.