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Stephen Pickering

Author: Stephen Pickering

  • Why Did My Cycle Region Turn From Solid Green to Candy Stripped Green in Logic Pro?

    The normal Cycle Region in Logic is Solid Green

    I’ve been working in Logic Pro the last few days. Every once in a while, I’ll hit something or type something and all of the sudden my solid green “Cycle Region” turns into a Candy Striped Green “Skip” Region. And I don’t know how to get it back!

    When it turns into a Skip Region it looks Candy Stripped Green

    Well, Googling I found the answer. Just hit the “J” key on your keyboard. It turns it back and forth from a solid green cycle region into a candy stripped “Skip” region. So all along I must have been accidentally hitting the “J” key.

    Pretty simple, huh? But, dang, I had to dig pretty deep to find the answer. You’d think it would be more straightforward in Apple’s help menu.

    If for whatever reason that doesn’t work for you, you can also click in the top half of the ruler bar, anywhere outside of the existing candy stripped cycle, drag from left to right with your mouse clicker still held down, and that will create a new solid green Cycle Region and automatically the other stripped green Skip Region will disappear.

    *One other neat thing I realized is that you can create a cycle region wherever you are at in the song by simply clicking the top half of the ruler and dragging from left to right. The saves a lot of frustration because before I realized this I would always think I’d have to search for the already pre-existing one and drag it to the place where I was now working.

     

  • What to Watch on Netflix Instant

     

    Update: 12/28/12 – “Woody Allen.” This is a fantastic documentary, certainly a must watch for his fans, and fans of comedy and film in general. I wasn’t ever going to watch it, even though I love Woody Allen, because I thought for some reason, it would be one of those “Cheesy” documentaries with just like a general overview. But no! Thankfully, my Brother in Law, who is in town for the Holidays told me it was great, and he was right! Greatly directed, Woody Allen himself is interviewed, and it’s like he takes you into his World and his process. I was thinking Woody was so intensely private that he wouldn’t even be in it, but he is all in it, directly. It’s like an intimate look into his World, as well as being a great overview of his career and chock full of direct interviews with the Actors and Actresses that played such important rolls in his work.

    11/19/12 – Finally got around to watching “Ira & Abby” last night on Netflix, and I really enjoyed it. I probably would never have considered this movie if I hadn’t seen “Friends With Kids” which I loved. I was wondering who Jennifer Westfeldt was? I loved her performance in that one, and even though this is a bit quirkier, if you’re a fan of hers, you’ll definitely enjoy it. Her personality pervades this one as thoroughly with good vibes and humor as  in “Friends With Kids.” It’s a good movie, and the performances of the parents in this movie (Robert Klein is one, you’ll recognize the others) are fantastic and funny. It works and is enjoyable.

    11/5/12 – “Manhattan” by Woody Allen. Man, I love this movie. This is a must see for any movie buff, or even if you aren’t a Movie buff, and you like to read the type of short stories that are in the Paris Review and that sort of literature, I think you’ll love this. This reminds me of an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, only on film. The tone, the atmosphere, the aesthetic, put me in a blissful aesthetic “arrest.” Which is what true art does. Too bad I actually bought this film on iTunes over a year ago. But I’m delighted it’s on Netflix. It’s timeless and wonderfully refreshing.

    11/2/12 – This looks interesting. Just saw it on Ebert’s Facebook: “Out of Sight” with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez, directed by Steven Soderbergh. Based on an Elmore Leonard novel, so it should be fun. Here’s Ebert’s review.

    10/9/12 – Dumb and Dumber – The Unrated Version – Just saw Ebert Facebook about this new streamer on Netflix. There’s one scene that made him laugh so hard he embarrassed himself.  Here’s a link to his comment about it if you have a Facebook account.

    8/5/12 This just in from a friend on my Facebook Feed: “watching the documentary, ‘Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston.’ instant Netflix has its advantages.”

    Also, I watched most of “The Way” with Martin Sheen on the treadmill. I have about 30 minutes left, which I’ll finish on my next treadmill session. But it’s fantastic. For some reason I was thinking it was a documentary about that pilgrimage. No, no, no. It’s a fictional movie, written and directed by his son, Emilio Estevez, and I love it. Very moving and terrific acting.

    8/1/12 – Just saw this headline come through my Facebook feed today: The 50 Best Movies on Netflix Instant from Paste Magazine.

    This is a nice little movie. Once again, I paid good money to rent it on iTunes. I like these little Burns movies. They’re not big productions, but they’re good stories and focus on the acting and the movements. They feel real, and they’re entertaining.

    Update: 6/30/12 – “The Wedding Planner” with J-Lo and again Matthew McConaughey, much younger versions of both, is a cute little movie. Doesn’t take any effort, and entertaining way to spend an hour and a half, and the stars are of course charming and easy on the eyes. So is the backdrop of San Francisco. What man doesn’t dream of a 30 year old J-Lo or what woman a (Well, I’m not sure how old he was in this) McConaughey, especially as a young doctor?

    Update 6/29/12 – Apparently “The Lincoln Lawyer” with Matthew McConaughey is now on Netflix instant. Great movie, saw it twice. (I think I rented it both times from iTunes. Dang it!)

    Update 6/24/12 – Just saw Mindy Smith, the recording artist, say this on Facebook, “Just watched a great film called Cemetery Junction. It’s on the Netflix so check it out! Gotta love the Britt’s.” (I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ll put it in my Queue.

    On another note, I’ve found a cure for my 30 Rock addiction: Arrested Development! I’ve watched 18 episodes in the last few days and haven’t laughed so much since, well, 30 Rock! Maybe more, because the comedy is written so densely. It’s totally different. If you like Jason Bateman in the movies, which I do, you’ll see why the offers came pouring in after he did this series.

    Update 6/12/12 – Just saw Ebert tweet that “Shakespeare in Love” is just now on instant. Never saw it. Guess I should.

    Update 6/11/12 –

    Well, I burned myself out on “30 Rock.” As much as I love Tina Fey, I watched every episode so many times, I knew every little thing that was going to happen. So I watched the Gary Shandling movie from 2000 called “What Planet are You From” with Annette Bening. I went in not expecting too much. The reviews weren’t great, but I ended up really enjoying it. It was good. You can’t go wrong with a Mike Nichols film. If you like comedies and or Gary Shandling (And I’m a huge fan of “The Larry Sanders Show”) I think you’ll like it.

    But what I’m most crazy about is “Sherlock.” I watched the first episode last night and it was crazy good! I’d seen it in the queu for weeks, but didn’t think much about it. But then I heard from two or three people online how awesome it was. So, I decided to dive in. And I wasn’t disappointed! Loved it. Netflix has the first season of 3 88 minute episodes. So they’re almost as long as a movie. Can’t wait to watch episode #2 tonight!

    Drama

    • The Quiet American – I got this one from Ebert also. I loved it. It’s with Michael Caine, Brendan Fraiser, and the beautiful Vietnamese actress  Do Thi Hai Yen Takes place in Vietnam in the 50’s and is about how the Vietnam War came about. It’s from an English Novel, and so of course, politically, the English protagonist is portrayed ideally, ie. England’s role in Southeast Asia was one of “love” while of course the “Quiet American” himself, Frasier, is portrayed as coldly calculating, manipulating, and coniving (at least politically. Personally, as we see in the love story within the story, he’s ‘quiet’ and charming) in his political quests of influence on behalf of America. I don’t know about the history, especially the English idealism versus the one dimensional American lack of refinement as well as soul, but it makes for a good drama. And the love story within the political story is not only well played and convincing by all three actors, but riveting in it’s parallel conflict of idealism versus pragmatism. The story builds, crescendos, and ends in a way that feels real all the more because the tensions seem to parallel the paradoxes of how real life and politics works.
    • “Rumble Fish” (1983) is a Francis Ford Coppola black and white film, made in part to demonstrate the beauty of the medium. Early performances by Matt Dillon, Diane Lane and Vincent Spano. Great work by Mickey Rourke. It’s streaming on Netflix Instant. Here’s my review: http://bit.ly/uny0Mi ” – Roger Ebert
    • An Unmarried Woman – ‘RT @EbertChicago: “An Unmarried Woman,” my choice as the best fim of 1978, is streaming on Netfix. My review: http://bit.ly/opzkz2l ‘

    Christmas/Holiday

    Comedy

    • Casino Jack (2010) – ?”Casino Jack” is unusual in that it’s a political movie that uses real names, especially that of Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey), the celebrated Washington lobbyist who was accused of defrauding the Indian tribes that were his clients. The movie was directed by George Hickenlooper, who also made the unforgettable “Hearts of Darkness,” a doc about the making of “Apocalypse Now.” He died unexpectedly on Oct. 29, 2010, a few months before the release of this film. It’s on Netflix Instant. Here’s my review: http://bit.ly/epLExs
    • Morning Glory (2010) – I rented this movie on iTunes earlier this year when it came out on DVD. I liked it. Saw Ebert facebook it yesterday: “Currently the most popular film on Netflix. It’s a charmer. Streaming on Instant.” Here’s a link also to his review.
    • Swingers (1996) – If you’re any kind of film buff, you’ve gotta see this one. Man, it’s so good. I had the same feeling after watching it that I had after watching “Manhattan” by Woody Allen: It feels like the proper use of the medium. It has the feel of a really good piece of literature, a great short story, which is really hard with the medium of film, since human beings are built to be affected by the visual sense more than any other. That makes film a very hard medium to achieve ‘art’ with, to achieve something that is not didactic or pornographic. But this and Manhattan are the closest I’ve ever seen the medium come to achieving that “aesthetic” arrest that James Joyce talks about.

    Documentary

    • Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) – It’s about those ancient cave paintings in France from 30,000 years ago. Ebert’s Review.
    • Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011) – Heard this one recommended by Amber MacArthur and Sarah Lane on the Social Hour. Documentary about the New York Times.
    • Pearl Jam Twenty (2011) – Actually got this from one my friends on Facebook. Of course it helps to be a hard rock/grunge/ Pearl Jam fan, but I am, and so are a lot of folks.

    Television

    • 30 Rock – The process of producing a TV Comedy becomes a TV Comedy. And no one gets the comedic irony of  everyday life mixing with showbiz life, male egos mixing with female egos, the feeling of being in the middle of the chaos and yet being released from it through comedic surrender, better than Tina Fey.
    • Bones (2005) – Eileen Rivera from Twit.tv always talks about watching this one. Seasons 1-6
    • The Larry Sanders Show – All six seasons! Definitely one of the best TV shows of the 90’s.
    I figured building a repository for this topic would be beneficial. Probably 90% of the recommendations will come from Roger Ebert, where I get mine, and you can follow him on Twitter @EbertChicago or on facebook at Facebook.com/RogerEbert Of course, this list will build as time goes on. Also, leave a comment below of any of your recommendations.

  • LSU 41 Arkansas 17: Emotionally Stunned

    LSU is a better team than we are. LSU is better than anybody, except perhaps Alabama.

    Garret Uekman, a 19 year old Razorback Tight-End, seemingly in perfect health, died suddenly, last Sunday of what doctors described as an enlarged heart condition.

    Having said that, we are a better team than how we played the last quarter of yesterday’s game, or for that matter the last 2 & 1/2 quarters when we were outscored 41-3 after taking a stunning 14-0 lead with 12 minutes left in the 2nd Quarter.

    At that point in the game, I didn’t just think we were going to win, I thought we were going to blow them out. We were executing well on offense, moving the ball. And more importantly we seemed to be stopping them when we were on defense. Not only did we take the crowd out of the game, they were actually beginning to turn on their team. LSU was about to fold. As a matter of fact, in a way they did fold. On what would become their first scoring drive, as the fans were booing, they seemed rattled, fumbling the ball twice (the second fumble was fumbled forward for 8 yards which enabled them to gain a first down on a fluke play) Arkansas was playing with too much cushion on defense or else they would have recovered that second fumble that squirted 8 yards ahead of the LSU running back. Another time on that drive, when we had them stopped, their player dove his head down into our defenders hand and got a face mask and 15 yards to keep the drive alive.

    I really believe had we stopped them on that drive, they would have folded, and the rest of the day would have been ours. But it wasn’t to be. And suddenly, in what seemed like a blink in the eye, all the momentum changed towards LSU, and they were off to the races.

    Another couple key moments spring to mind as momentum changers. Obviously without any doubt the 92-yard punt return by Mathieu. Many will say that was the key turning point in the game, and they may be right. Any time another team takes one to the house on you, it’s always an emotional blow, no matter what the circumstances, but these circumstances were anything but normal: A No.1 team playing a No.3 team on national television with implications of a National Championship on the line. Add to that, that one of their own, a player who had been on the very same field as they, only a week before, had suddenly died on Sunday, leaving young minds no time to process the unexplainable tragedy, and one can understand that any team in the nation would be equally emotionally stunned.

    That made it 14-14. Still, mustering emotional strength from no one knows where, the Razorbacks didn’t fold and fought on. On the subsequent drive they were moving the ball and the chains nicely. Dennis Johnson had a nice run to pick a first down, and it felt like Arkansas was going to score, but then he fumbled going down, and that one seemed to be the proverbial “straw” or “nail” that the Razorbacks couldn’t come back from.

    It’s not that they didn’t have the heart or the talent. It’s that they were emotionally and spiritually drained, and under the circumstances, who can blame them?

    They overachieved all year. They improved from beginning to end. They fought hard even when they were playing their best and managed what seemed like victory after victory from the jaws of defeat.

    They became winners. By anyone’s standards this was a championship year, a championship team, and more importantly a real leap forward for the program as a whole.

  • Advice for Aspiring Writers

    I came across this today via Twitter, and I thought it was so good, that I needed to keep it on my blog, so that I would always have a copy.

    Here’s the advice:

    First — keep reading. Writers are readers. Writers are also people who can’t not write.

    Second, follow Heinlein’s rules for getting published:

    1. Write it.
    2. Finish it.
    3. Send it out.
    4. Keep sending it out until someone sends you a check.

    There are variations on that, but that’s basically what works.

    Ciao,
    Annie

    It’s from novelist Anne McCaffery who died today at 85. I wasn’t aware of here, but when I read the blog post about her death and it noted this piece of advice, it made such an impression on me that I posted it on all my Social networks, but also felt the need to keep it on my blog.

    You’re blog on you’re own domain, I think is important, because things like Twitter, Facebook, are great for “Real-Time” but they are ephemeral, and you tend to forget what you posted after a few days, much less can you find things that you need.

    One of the things that resonates with me on her list is “Finish it.” I’ve noticed that with songs: Even if you don’t necessarily like your lyrics, it’s always so much better to finish the song, rather than leave it lingering, waiting for the “perfect” lyrics to “someday” come. Someday never will come, but if you finish the song as best you can, then it takes on a life of it’s own and has the opportunity to get better.

    “Done is Better than Perfect.” is a sign that they have around Facebook’s Headquarters. Very à propos.

  • New Song: “Keeping By the Only Way”

    [audio:http://stephenpickering.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Nowhere112011.mp3|titles=Nowhere112011]

    Iphone/Ipad/Download Link

    When Google Music was announced last Wednesday, and they introduced they’re new “Artist Hub,” it motivated me so much that I did this song in one day, thinking I would upload it to the store the next day. I still haven’t done that because I keep wanting to re-mix and master it. Or maybe send it along with another song which would be a “B” side to a professional Mastering Engineer. Hope you like it.

     

  • Poem: “Out There”

    There’s something about standing here.
    Purple lake.
    You lake monsters curl
    around Nessie’s frame
    while locked inside
    twirls Nessie’s babe.
    The bark peeled away,
    the arrow fires straight through
    the cotton woods
    where the vision stood.
    One can hear the fields ticking,
    the silence purring
    Delta blues
    Bitches brew.
    The vision spirals inward
    to that place
    where nothing escapes.
    The gourd swallows the flame
    until we’re full, until we’re done
    until we’ve given up
    and then smiles it back to us again.

     

    © 2011 – Stephen K. Pickering