Thoughts and Non Thoughts

Once there was an Audiophile who was looking for the Audio Truth. He searched far and wide until he met The Guru. The Guru was meditating on the wooden floor, raised above the ground on wooden posts. The Audiophile sat in front of The Guru. “Pray tell me,” he pleaded to The Guru, “what is the secret to sonic nirvana?” The Guru asked him, “why do you come here?” “I have the best high-end gear around. Even the cables are the best,” the Audiophile replied. “Why do you come here?” The Guru asked again. “There’s something missing,” the Audiophile sighed. “I have been upgrading and upgrading my equipment, but each one doesn’t bring me closer to sonic nirvana.” “Ah, the Upgrade Path,” The Guru nodded. “Unfortunately, that does not always lead you to enlightenment.” “So tell me, dear Guru,” the Audiophile asked excitedly, “what is the True Path.” “Ah, the True Path,” The Guru nodded again, “does it exist.” The Audiophile wasn’t sure if this was an answer or a question. After a moment of silenc...

My order from Amazon of this CD finally arrived today, played it twice already. It's a well-produced album without sounding over-produced -- quite refreshing for Fagen or Steely Dan for that matter. Musically it's a synthesis of the first two solo albums -- the lyrical mastery of The Nightfly and the groove of Kamakiriad . After burning out post-Nightfly and ending up with a ten-year writer's block, Fagen made the rhythm section pre-eminent in Kamakiriad. Thankfully, in Morph Fagen brings back a heavy dose of the Steely Dan melodic and chord sophistication while keeping the beat. The bass lines, specially in the opening track, are superb while the falsetto in Brite Nightgown reminds one of the funk of Prince. The other tracks could easily belong to any Dan album sans the guitar work of W Becker, though Jon Herington does a great job here. Here is an artist who has found his voice and his groove. Message-wise, it gives voice to the current New York state of mind. Unf...

Discovered this wonderful digital camera. Was looking for something small enough to bring along that also provided good image quality. The FX9 has the form factor but I was pleasanly surprised with the image quality. Must be the Leica lens -- in fact the image quality reminds me of a film rangefinder, though of course the small sensor gives a different depth of field. FX9 review at DPReview.com.

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“Who was that cute couple you just talked to?” he asked as he walked into her home studio with his coffee mug. She was doing Photoshop on her Mac. “Barbie and Kenny,” she replied. He raised his eyebrows. “Seriously, those are their names!” she said, half-laughing. “What do they want for their pre-nup?” he asked, referring to the pre-nuptial photo shoot that couples want included in their wedding photo packages nowadays. “The usual – outdoor, playful,” she said as she continued working on her Mac. “She wants it shot around his BMW,” she giggled. “Ha! I knew it,” he said. “And only this Barbie talking while….” He sipped at his coffee. “…Kenny…” “…while Kenny kept looking at your hemline. Not a good sign.” “Dad! He wasn’t looking at me. And stop being a marriage…forecaster!” she laughed. He sat beside her and put down his coffee mug on the computer table. “You know I’ve shot countless weddings, then baptisms, birthdays, graduations…” his voice trailed off. “My clients say I chronicle thei...

She sneaked and sat on the bench beside me. It was our last week on campus. Our senior year was ending, summer was approaching and with it the rest of our lives. We were facing the wide lawn as the late morning sun shone through the canopy of old acacia trees overhead. “Thanks for what you did for me. That was sweet, asking our lab class to sing,” I chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll ever get another chance to have people wearing lab gowns and goggles sing me happy birthday.” “And don’t forget the money I raised for the party,” she smiled. “That’s on Friday night.” She had passed a hat for a small party to celebrate the end of the school year. She was wearing that hat now, a wide-brimmed straw hat that framed her face, so beautiful against the warm light. Her smile held all the promises of summer. I held her hand and she didn’t move. “What is this rumor I’ve been hearing,” I said, “that I have a big crush on you?” “Is that a bad thing?” she asked, without looking at me. “What did you say?” ...