Tag Archives: Title

OK, I’m convinced Steve Jobs fired all of his UI designers in a fit of rage…

Much has now been written, a smidgen of it by me, regarding the various design faux pas committed by Apple with Leopard, but here’s another new inexplicable one I just noticed:

Weird drop shadows in Mac OS X Leopard

What’s wrong you ask? Well, if you think about it, this just plain makes no sense. I’m not complaining about the weird blur effect on translucent elements in this new version (although that bugs me too). It’s this bizarre drop shadow on the little slide-down alert dialog box. Why is there a drop shadow here? Presumably it’s to make us realize this dialog is attached to the window (as they’ve been ever since Mac OS X debuted, albeit without a gratuitous shadow). But the effect is to make it look like the title bar is casting the shadow. Yet, the title bar does not cast a shadow on the rest of the window itself. So it therefore appears that the dialog is recessed below the window itself. And yet, the dialog casts a shadow on the window as well. It’s M.C. Escher’s worst nightmare. As others have already said about other UI elements in Leopard: Why, Apple? Why?

On the other hand… I have to admit, I’m actually starting to like the translucent menu bar. The horror!!!

A new song (and a new title)

I’ve just posted an early, as-yet-incomplete version of my latest track, “Every Stroke of the Oar Seemed to Enrage the Missouri.” The title is a line from an old educational film from the ’50s that surfaced as part of a video project at my job.

Highway 34 RevisitedI’ve also given the album its proper title now. Hors d’Oeuvreture is out, Highway 34 Revisited is in (with all due respect to Bob Dylan). The cover is not finalized, but as with the music, I have posted an in-progress version of it.

To read more and listen to full-length MP3s of the tracks, visit the album’s page.

Love Spatula (I don’t know what it means either)

The first release candidate for the track formerly known as “Bluesy Groovesy” is ready.

As for the title… I have a list I’ve been compiling over the past couple of years (ever since I finished my last solo CD, which was in June 2005) of potential song titles. That’s been the source of most of the titles I’ve used so far in this project. (I’m saving the best few for last… but it’s mostly just about finding a title that seems like a good match for the music.)

Well… I had this one title in the list. “Love Spatula.” I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean, and I can’t remember why or how I came up with it. It seems like it’s probably one of those situations where I misheard someone speaking to me, thought they said “love spatula,” and found the phrase so strangely intriguing that I had to write it down.

At any rate, it seemed fitting for this song, for whatever reason. Enjoy.

Note: To conserve server space, I’m clearing out older versions of the Hors d’Oeuvreture songs. Visit the album page to hear the latest available version of each track!

Another new song in the works…

I’m working on another song for my new CD. This one’s in the bluesy/funky vein, with a working title of “Bluesy Groovesy.” (Hey, it’s only a working title.)

I realized while listening back to this that it’s actually somewhat reminiscent of latter-day Red Hot Chili Peppers. With a sucky bass player. :P

This is just the basic track right now… it definitely needs something over the top… to, uh… put it over the top.

Update March 2, 2007: I’m now up to version 0.6; more details are on the CD page. Still needs some keyboards and maybe some sax or other instruments but I’m waiting for my MIDI controller keyboard to arrive (which should be today if the snow doesn’t keep the FedEx truck away again… they gave up on trying to make the delivery yesterday; Tom Hanks would not be happy).

Note: To conserve server space, I’m clearing out older versions of the Hors d’Oeuvreture songs. Visit the album page to hear the latest available version of each track!

No title could possibly encapsulate the randomness to follow…

…but I needed to come up with one.

Anyway…

I’m still trying to organize my life as it is captured on the platters of my new iBook’s hard drive. In the midst of doing so, I’ve been listening to some of my own recordings, including the new Inflationary Cosmology CD.

A co-worker, listening to the new CD, made the unfortunate observation that the main guitar pattern in the track “Nothing New Under the Sun” is remarkably similar to the opening of “More than a Feeling” by Boston… and sure enough, it is.

Oh well, at least I got the title right.

In other news… I just have to join the cross-linking stampede and draw your attention to this hilarious entry on someone else’s blog regarding the bizarre, Babelfish-esque cross-translated English subtitles from a Chinese bootleg DVD of Star Trek Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

There are many things to enjoy, but I think my favorite is that “Jedi Council” gets translated as “Presbyterian Church.”

That’s it for now. Back to reorganizing my existence…