Jam Sessions

Not much can be said about this title that hasn't already been said, but whoa nelly, is this exciting. It even sounds reasonably like an acoustic guitar. I have my doubts about calling it a "guitar," when clearly its primary function is more reminiscent of an auto-harp. that said, I'm obviously going to go get one immediately. It solves two problems - first, that I have no guitar, and second, that Claire would really like to learn some guitar but has itty bitty hands.

Probably the most absurd thing I saw was the guy from Vietnam recording a rhythm loop and then accompanying his DS on electric guitar. That doesn't suck. I'd also be interested to see whether or not the effects package allows you to do some kind of pre-gain adjustments, because some of the sample videos feel a little brassy. Like the attack that you get from the stylus is too strong for whatever compression they're using (the Slightly Stoopid guy was just using his thumbnail, and seemed to be getting better strums). Again, I'm complaining about a bona fide guitar sim on my personal favorite handheld, so my life is pretty good.

Somebody with waaay more Garage Band street cred than I should figure out how to use Jam Sessions as a midi controller for software instruments. I mean, I think it can be a line input with the current guitar voice, which isn't bad. But if I could use it to, say, control some sort of gamelan, or less esoterically, control one of the GB guitars, I'd be a happy camper. Get right on that, will you?

Where to begin

So, the puzzle questing has been taking up a fair amount of time, not to mention job hunting and other silliness. So there's a great deal to talk about.

I'm in the process of completing my application for Write Around Portland (see website here) so that I can do facilitator training the next time around. It feels like a really good way to use my MFA and hopefully will also get me into the scene around here. It's hard to feel so very disconnected from the writing community, and for so very long (really the last illusion of a scene I was even participating in was New College, so very long ago) and still get up the energy to write things. So this should be exciting.

Speaking of exiting writing, I found Barrelhouse to be a pleasant surprise when I picked it up at Powell's the other day. I can recommend it pretty highly. I'm also so out of the journal/zine scene that it's almost embarrassing to even be mentioning a mag at all, but you gotta start somewhere.

Current projects: Slacker's Guide to Law School and Bosephus Jones and the Missing Malamute. One of them is a kid's book (I leave it to you to guess which). Also getting back into the poem-a-day habit, though that's a tough road.

Anyhoo, many many other things, but I'll have to stack them in a queue and actually, y'know, post.