Unleash Yourself

So it's been almost 7 weeks since I started getting more healthy.  I have been exercising more and doing the Caveman Diet.  Caveman what you ask?  Check it out here - Caveman Diet

Now I have lost 12 lbs in 7 weeks.  Pretty awesome feeling i tell you.  Check it out!

The Caveman Power Diet

The Caveman Power Diet increases energy, the ability to burn fat, and gets you in touch with your natural instincts. It's not just a way to lose weight, it's a healthy approach to making your body indestructable.
Doing the the Caveman Power Diet is a very natural state for your body to be in, and you will feel the results immediately. Embrace it for what it is; animal motivation. It is a very open do-it-yourself diet, that encourages you to feel content in a way that suits you personally.
The Caveman Power Diet gives you the freedom to enjoy food to the fullest, which is the most basic of animal instincts. So go ahead and feast yourself!

Funny Horatio One Liners

Axe Fx Video Clip of U2's Bad

Fractal Audio Axe Fx Amp and Effects Processor

Front Layout

HYPE  (hip) slang.

1. Excessive publicity and the ensuing commotion: the hype surrounding the murder trial.

2. Exaggerated or extravagant claims made especially in advertising or promotional material.

3. An advertising or promotional ploy

4. A fad. A clever marketing strategy which a product is advertized as the thing everyone must have, to the point where people begin to feel they need to consume it.

5. When someone gets excited about something.

In the guitar world,  there are many different products that rocked and change the course of music history and usually, this is focused on guitars and guitar amplifiers.  The Gibson Les Paul guitar, Fender Stratocaster, Marshall and Fender amplifiers to different guitar and bass effects pedal are only among the few that had impact music from different generations. 

Axe Fx Ultra LCD

To this date,  vintage gear is still the holy grail among musicians, music gear collector, enthusiast and hobbyists.  When I say vintage, I refer to guitars and amplifier in the 50's, 60's and 70's era.  Vintage gear has a strangle hold on music / gear afficionados that somehow we feel that anything less than vintage gear is not "as" good.  I'm not saying that it is NOT good, it's just not "AS" good (Do I sound like a cork sniffer to you now?).

Enter the Fractal Audio AxeFx guitar and effects processor.  I finally acquired this piece of equipment and I got the chance  to see what people have been talking about.  I'm literally a tube snob.  For me it's glowing tubes or nothing.  Solid state amps just does not cut it anymore.  Without a doubt, that this is the most versatile amp and effects processor I've ever heard.  It definitely lives up to the HYPE.  I've never heard an amp processor respond so well to pick attack  and guitar control.  At this point in time, I got freaked out already.  This thing is scary good.  It really does nail the tone of different high end guitar amplifiers.  The patches were insanely cool and very comparable to the recorded tones of different rock legends.

Here's my signal chain:

Gibson Les Paul Custom ---> AxeFX Ultra  ---> Art SLA2 Power amp  ----> Diezel 2x12 V30 cab.

Control Layout

My favorite so far is the Diezel, Mark IIC+ and Marsha amp simulation. They are outstanding.  It's almost you're playing the real thing.   It really NAILS it!!  Of course this is only the tip of the iceberg and it will take me a long period of time to even master what this thing can do.

Think of the Axe Fx as every tube amp and effects pedal worth having but couple it with the highest fidelity of any guitar system out there.  To compare the Axe Fx to a Digitech, Line 6 pod,  Pod X3 and Pod Pro is like comparing a Toyota  to a Ferrari.  It is definitely not a hype! It's the real thing. Now it's time to make sweet good music. 

Vacation For The Ages

Year 2010 was a bittersweet year most of us. A lot of things went down in our family health wise but everything turned ok as expected. Not to mention, the continuous plunging of the world economy and financial crisis that left most countries, broke and under water.

One of those hard hit country in Europe was Greece. Currently, the Greek government is in the process of enacting an austerity program for the country in order to save their dwindling and down spiraling economy. I had the chance to visit this magnificent country with my beloved wife this year. This trip was almost 3-4 years in the making. I say that because going to Greece is not as easy as going to other European countries. What I mean is, travel to this beautiful country can be a tad expensive compared to other travel destinations. So with courage and good fortune, me and my wife took the plunge and made haste travelling from US to Greece.

Athens

We arrived at Athens airport 9:00 am after a 9.5 hour flight from New York City. One thing that stood out for me was how the Greek immigration officers are very nice to tourist compared to other countries based on our experience. Airport was nice, clean and well kept, a bit modern that what I expected.

We met our tour guide, board the charter bus and off we go to our hotel in downtown Athens. Initial impression – typical European feel, clean and lack of Asian cars. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and concise with the information he gave us. We got an initial glimpse of the Parthenon, 2004 Olympic stadium and Greek way of life on our way to the hotel. Pop quiz – what are the things you dread when you go to European countries? Answer – small hotel rooms. This pretty much sums up hotel rooms in Europe unless you want to splurge and spend your weak American dollars for an expensive luxurious room. In our case, forget about the big room and save moolah for shopping.

Acropolis of Athens / Parthenon

Although there are many other acropolis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Parthenon is the highlight of Athens and it was build in the 6th millennium BC. It’s definitely a great feeling to marvel on a structure dating back all the way to the beginning of western civilization.

Acropolis Museum

The new Acropolis museum is situated under the south slope of the Acropolis in Dionyssiou Areopagitou street .The museum was given to the public in 2008 . Here, you will see various artworks from the temples and the other buildings it has as well the statues of the Caryatides and parts of the Parthenon Frieze. It should be noted that photography is not allowed and you are also not allowed to pose with the various objects. Our tour guide gave us a very detailed information of the artworks history and importance to the Greek culture.

Next : The Greek Isles - Stay Tuned!

Post Season Magic - San Francisco Style

San Francisco – It has been pure magic and exhilaration for the city of San Francisco.  The SF Giants

Just beat the Phillies in 6 grueling, well pitched games.   It was a cardiac finish all through out and life expectancy for San Franciscans are greatly reduced.  I must say that I am not a huge baseball fan.  I’m one of those sports fan that thinks that regular season baseball is boring compared to the heavy tackles in football and the slam jam action of basketball.   

Last Saturday October 23, 2010, the SF Giants clinched the NLCS championship by defeating the talented and hard hitting Phillies.   I’m not going to go into detail on how they did it but all I can say is, it was pure magic from the Giants.   People took the streets on a rainy SF night to celebrate the victory.   The  Bay Area surely needs a great sport story after all the heartaches and mediocrity that blanketed most of the it’s teams.

So  I congratulate all Bay Area fans for supporting the Giants.  

Now we brace ourselves for a 7 game showdown against the Texas Rangers.  I’m sure it will be a fun filled matchup but here’s hoping that our SF Giants will be crowned Major League Champs 2010.  GO San Francisco!

Welcome 2010 - Search for the Elusive "Tone"

As I welcome the New Year, I ask myself what have I accomplished in terms of my search for the elusive "tone".  I have tried different amps, guitar, effects, rack gear and what not but ultimately, tone is subjective and there is no "be all end all" tone.  What is important is the holy grail sound that you hear in your head and be happy with it. 

Of course if your chops is not that good, you may still end up with sloppy technique but awesome tone.  Happy New Year to all and good luck on our gear whoring in 2010.