Monday, February 28th, 2005

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Posted on February 28th, 2005 | 2 Comments »

Sunday, February 27th, 2005

Well, Tuesday, March 1st marks the release of one of MY most anticipated albums in quite some time. The Mars Volta will be putting out their 2nd full length album, Frances the Mute. I got a hold of a pre-release copy a few months ago, and despite the crappy quality of the version I found, it has been a steady member of my playlist lately. While only containing 5 tracks, the album spans almost 80 minutes, and does not disappoint if you’re a Mars Volta fan.

Some of it is a bit … self-indulgent, or pretentious … with the ambient sounds going on in parts for way too long, but overall it’s one of the most amazing albums I’ve heard in quite some time. The Mars Volta does such a great job of mixing elements of indie rock, metal, prog rock, and tons of other subgenres into a very cohesive, powerful series of songs. While they’ll never call it a ‘concept album’, Frances the Mute is essentially that. The silence between songs is a distraction to the guys, and they do a fine job of making the entire album flow from start to finish, taking you on an extraordinary journey.

Some of the “movements” are some of the most chaotic, frenzied songs I’ve heard from them, others (like The Widow) remind me a lot of Televators, a slower ballad type song that slowly brings you to another hard hitting song. The final song on this CD is almost a half hour long, so there is a lot for everyone.

The cool thing is, I’ve been seeing reviews all over for this album before it’s even out. That’s very promising, as I’d like to see them have some commercial success. Due to the simple fact that all but one song on this album is less than 8 minutes (The Widow), it’s not likely they’ll get a ton of radio airplay. However, even the simple fact they’re getting such critical acclaim should help them do well in stores.

Anywho, I recommend this album whole heartedly. It did take a week or so to really grow on me, but it’s quickly become my favorite album in quite some time. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the final copy, which will undoubtedly sound ten times better.

Posted on February 27th, 2005 | 2 Comments »

Saturday, February 26th, 2005

These were taken for some magazine back in the mid 80s (’85 or so is the consensus). I looked around to see if this was just some Gates look-alike photoshopped into this scene, but apparently it’s real. Enjoy!

Posted on February 26th, 2005 | 6 Comments »

Saturday, February 26th, 2005

Something I’ve been trying to get into the habit of doing more lately is using more consolidated css code for sites I design. Other than easier text management and more powerful layout capabilities, one of the greatest advantages of css is the bandwidth and time it saves. However, even a standard css document is a bit too clunky when you take the time to look at all the redundant properties being used.

Lately, I’ve been trying to train myself to think a bit more abstractly about the way I design pages, and in turn, write xhtml/css/php. I find myself thinking in terms of blocks rather than the whole picture. I suppose breaking it down into smaller chunks is a good thing in some ways, but overall it leads to redundancy and a sometimes clumsy layout. However, since I began focusing on what should be a fairly obvious procedure, my code has been a lot lighter, and my sites have ‘worked’ a lot better from a design standpoint. Anyways, check out this link and maybe you’ll learn something new. A lot of these tips are common sense, or things you learn the first day you sit down with css, but a few I had no idea about.

Posted on February 26th, 2005 | No Comments »

Friday, February 25th, 2005

Today I got the chance to see the AWD (advanced web design) final projects - what I’ll be working on for the next 2 months. It was nice to kind of get an idea of what kind of project I’ll be working on with some of my classmates. Some of the projects were flat out amazing - others, not so much. Given the time constraints, I was overall impressed with what they were able to do with such limited resources. Another cool thing is apparently you can actually charge a local business/band/whatever for your services. I was under the impression that it had to be pro bono.

I also got my grade for my web design class and, as expected, I got an A. What kind of makes the whole thing bittersweet is the fact that a few of my friends ended up failing the class. The pace and the difficulty of some of the projects were just too much, I suppose. The funny thing is, the teachers for this class were by far the best we’ve had since I started here, so it’s not really due to poor instruction. In any event, it’s sad to see some of the kids you’ve gotten to know over the past 6 months or so hit the dusty trail. Hopefully round 2 teaches them a lot and they get out of there.

This weekend should be nice. I think I’ll be attending a shindig thrown by a DM buddy of mine, and if the weather cooperates, I want to go to the beach on Sunday. I’ll try to enjoy my last few lazy days before AWD and Game Content Creation classes start up next week.

Posted on February 25th, 2005 | No Comments »