best strategy is to keep it off most of the time, and set it high for about an hour when the air gets bad. i mean, i don't want to kill my landlord on the electrical bill, either.

i really think it should cease to be a concern once we get a week or two over 20 and i can just keep the window open. it's just that the basement is having a hard time "turning over" because we're stuck in this middle temperature range, and the air is really acting as a huge setback in it doing so...

actually, no. it's the gradient i'm noticing. keeping at 21.5 is just a waste of electricity - i'll have to crank it if the air comes on, regardless.

it seems to have levelled out. thankfully.

what i'm going to do is take it down to 21.5 and just leave it there. that'll trigger it before it gets too cold...

it must be about 10-15 degrees upstairs.

i mean, it's been over 20 all day and the heater has been working at 50% for an hour to get it to 22. ridiculous...

i've lived in air conditioned basements ~ half my life, and i've never seen an air unit run this irresponsibly.

another way to measure the temperature down here is via the floor. and i'll just say that the floor was not this cold at any point in the winter. which is bizarre.

i should hopefully be able to turn it back off in a few hours.

i mean, i can't articulate how stupid it is that i'm cranking the baseboard heat to fight off the air conditioner upstairs on this rarest of nice days of the year so far. but it would be below 20 in here, otherwise. and that's not acceptable to me.

i just wish it would warm up and stay warmed up. if we can get a week or two of warm weather, the basement will heat up. it's just that all we're getting right now is a few hours every week or so, which the air is negating. so, it feels like march in here because every time we get that little bit of warmth (a) it goes away and (b) the air sucks it out.

and the landlord wants to put an air conditioner in here. i'm trying to explain to him that it's not only unnecessary, it's completely backwards. he needs to try to get his brother to turn the air down....

i mean, if my thermostat can't even get to 22 then it's certainly not air conditioner weather. that's called enjoying the warm weather. air conditioner weather is 30+.

the thermostat was hovering around 21 naturally (ie not really on) before i turned it up to 22, but that was not indicative of what it feels like in here. it's that frigid air conditioning air that sinks down and makes you feel like it's january, even as the temperature in the room stays steady. yuck.

yeah. it's 25 degrees out and i'm shivering with a sweater on. absurd.

so, the heat is now on. buddy can explain that to his brother.

i mean, move to winnipeg if you want to live in a tundra.

these teases of summer are painful.

...and it's finally warm out for a few hours and the air upstairs has triggered the heat on. again.

whatever. the window is open. and if i have to, i'll turn the heat up. i don't care at this point. it's just inconsiderate to turn the air up that high, this early.

stuck in the middle of an alley closing in on all sides (vst mix) (intermediate)

i posted this back at the beginning of march, right before my drive crashed, with the caveat that i may revisit it slightly. the drums need some work, but i'm not going to use (directly programmed) midi to tweak them, so that leaves this done with. this is final (as chiptune). no further tweaks.

the update, however, is the addition of a wind section to take over some arpeggiation. i've boosted this slightly in the mix, but not too much. it was finding that middle point that took all day.

i've probably pointed out a few times that you need to listen to this stuff loud and through headphones to get it. this is especially true of this track, which needs volume and headphones to get the dynamics right.

canned guitars aside, or perhaps included, i think this mix sounds outstanding. it's just going to get better, though, as i layer it over with drum effects and live guitars.

this is the vst mix, including computer generated guitars. in addition to being the core of the final track, it's interesting to point out just how good computer music can sound nowadays. excluding the introduction, i didn't play a single note in this song. the guitars are all played through midi-based vst instruments and put into digital amp models and digital effects emulators. it's really rather remarkable how far the technology has come....

written in early 2001. initially rendered mar 7, 2014. re-rendered due to shift in instrumentation on apr 29, 2014.
 
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/track/vst-mix

rap news 24

deathtokoalas
it's actually not apartheid, which most people don't understand the meaning of. the west has chosen to use the term apartheid due to positive association with the so-called victory in south africa (which has not really ended racial separation there at all, it's just created a small black upper class) and due to concerns about the possible offensiveness of accusing an israeli state of genocide. but, if it were apartheid then the goal would be to convert gaza and the west bank into factories to produce goods for israelis, which sadly was actually proposed by the americans recently as part of a "peace plan" to "improve the palestinian economy" but was rejected outright by the israelis, who want to ethnically cleanse the area. the proper terminology for this is not apartheid but genocide.

...and this marketing strategy to make bds and other actions seem less "anti-semitic" has unfortunately failed. i think it's time to backtrack and be more graphic about the truth of the matter.

stop calling it apartheid. start calling it the genocide that it is.

archi2a
So every company that has factories abroad is evil? Or does that only apply to the ones owned by jews?

deathtokoalas
that depends on whether you've stopped beating your wife or not. have you, archi2a?

it's capitalism itself that is "evil" due to the reduction of human labour to a commodity. whether the model is being applied to asian workers being beaten to make electronics for westerners or palestinians forced into wage slavery for israeli luxuries, we're talking about the same fundamentally horrific situation.

however, that's not what is happening. the israelis do not want the palestinians as slaves. they simply want them removed from the planet. this is not apartheid; it's genocide.

fwiw, i don't have enough faith in markets to think that bds has the potential to be successful. nor does the israeli government seem to take it seriously. netanyahu is just using it as a prop to raise campaign funds. but that's not particularly relevant to pointing out the nature of the situation on the ground, how the apartheid designation is drawing attention away from the genocide that is continuing and drastic steps that ought to be taken to counter it.

archi2a
If the Israelis want the Palestinians "removed from the planet", why does Israel supply electricity, and medical aid to the Gaza strip? Why does it allow palestinians to be treated in israeli hospitals?  If there's a "genocide", where are the piles of corpses of Palestinian civilians(that's what happens in a real genocide). Why does the Palestinian population have one of the highest ratio of growth if they're being mass murdered?

deathtokoalas
your questions are talking points - propagandistic in nature - and not worth answering directly. further, you probably work for somebody that is paying you to post this and i probably don't have a legitimate chance of convincing you, because you're not actually thinking about the things that you're posting. however, for the benefit of other people reading this, i'll talk around your talking points.

israel can't simply snap a finger and be done with the palestinians in a moment. if it was that simple, they indeed would have done so. there are some boundaries that they have to adhere to so as to maintain a working relationship with their allies, which include arab governments in the region who are concerned about how continued israeli colonization of the region may destabilize their own governments. so, it has to carry out a long and slow process of colonization and replacement. the current stage of this long term process is related to eliminating the possibility of a future palestinian state. that is a type of genocide. if you look up what the word means, you'll see that. but, you're not interested in doing this, you're just pushing nationalist propaganda.

archi2a
I stated facts, go ahead and check them for yourself, or come visit Israel or Gaza and see for yourself, I've got nothing to hide. 2) I can actually get paid for exposing biased BS about Israel? Who should I sign with?

deathtokoalas
i doubt i'd be allowed into the highly contained open-air prison that is gaza. from the israeli perspective, this is an effective way to contain the palestinian population in the short run. it's admittedly not entirely clear what the long term plan regarding gaza is, but the foreseeable future is for israel to continue to run it as a prison.

archi2a
Gaza is not controlled by Israel. There are no israeli soldiers there. And anyone can come and go through the security checkpoints. Furthermore, Gaza also has border with Egypt, which is too in a war against Hamas and also strictly controlls its border to prevent weapon smuggling.

deathtokoalas
see, this is so outlandishly absurd that it's more worthy of laughter than any kind of response.

as rap news once said, many years ago,

"people, please, research the truth. nowadays, it isn't hard to do."

archi2a
What is absurd? The fact that Gaza has a border with Egypt? Check a map for G-d's sake. That's exactly what I'm telling you, research the truth. I've only stated facts, which you can verify yourself. Or, as I said, come visit, see for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

deathtokoalas
mmmhmmm. like the fact that gaza is no longer under israeli occupation?

archi2a
Exactly. Do you have any picture of Israeli soldiers stationed in Gaza after the disengagement in 2005?

deathtokoalas
these lines in the sand are based around these arbitrary technicalities, like kids playing dungeons and dragons. as though moving a few feet past some arbitrary border has any meaning to anybody except professional propagandists. and this is something israel has utilized quite loudly: move the soldiers back ten feet, then claim you've withdrawn. the united nations isn't buying it. independent media observers aren't buying it. really, nobody is buying it at all.

you're lucky i've got a headache and am hungry, because i want to be recording guitar tracks right now, but am waiting until midnight for a check to clear to get something delicious to put on my spaghetti...

i've got some pictures of some people being prevented from delivering food & medical supplies. that almost seems like a blockade of some sort. and when you can blockade somebody from all angles that's the same as occupying them.

but, wait, let me guess - that was unnecessary because israel runs a generous welfare stare that provides them with everything they could possibly need. that was a previously stated fact. so, they must have been smuggling in weapons. qed. those terrorists!

archi2a
Yes, of course there's a blockade by sea, to prevent Hamas smuggling weapons from it's main backer: Iran. Anyone who wishes to donate to Gaza can do so through the Red Cross, Israel, or Egypt, but not by sea. And like I said, Egypt controlls its own border with Gaza in the same way.

You can answer when you think more clearly, if you wish.

deathtokoalas
i see. so, gaza is not occupied by israel, israel just controls all movement in and out of the area through direct military force, by means of it's own interests in the region. got it. the difference is absolutely meaningful and abundantly clear.

archi2a
Yes, both Israel and Egypt. And if Hamas didn't rocket israeli population, this blockade wouldn't be necessary. In fact, if there hadn't been for the constant suicide bombing in bars and buses, there would be no security fence either (at least not in the Israeli border).

deathtokoalas
mmmhmmm. so, you would embrace the right of return, then, if the palestinians would only denounce violent tactics?

archi2a
I would embrace a Palestinian state coexisting in peace with the State of Israel.

deathtokoalas
indeed. it's easy to state that once you've built security fences around the area. separate and unequal. but, does that mean you would support an immediate moratorium on settlements in the west bank, to ensure that this theoretical state can exist somewhere in the physical world? do you realize that existing government policy is to eliminate the possibility for such a state in the west bank by cutting into the area piece by piece?

also, supposing that the state of israel continues to refuse to accept the palestinian right of return, how do you propose that palestinian families regain the land that was stolen from them besides using force?

deathtokoalas
obligatory "influential on song of the next few days" track.

rap and hip-hop have never been my thing; i've always preferred the energy and musicality of punk to the more club-oriented hip-hop/rap approach. but, i'm not one to arrive at a conclusion without trying it out first.

ain't nobody ever called me a nigga, but loser has been a consistently applied accusation and/or adjective. i kind of identified with that, without being able to identify with that. know what i'm saying? so, that's a shout out to nwa....

(relevant tracks: unintelligible)

marshaul

Musicality of punk? Best joke of the week!

deathtokoalas

punk is supposed to be catchy...

hip-hop tends to lack things like chord progressions, polyrhythms, syncopation, harmonies and melodies. that is not true of punk.

Jay Townsend

If you want harmony then listen to bone thugs

deathtokoalas

i'll grant you this overlooked point - there's a non-trivial intersection of hip-hop with gospel that has very rich harmonic content. it's contextual to the culture, though. not the easiest thing for an atheist middle class white kid from canada to understand.

the harsher side of it actually makes more sense than the gospel side of it, in the context of it being a type of electronic music and electronic music being the musical zeitgeist over most of my life. i listen to all kinds of stuff that's heavily influenced by hip-hop (autechre, say - or nine inch nails). i've just found that getting into anything with the word "hip-hop" explicitly attached to it is almost impossible.