Monday, March 30, 2009
In other news...
I decided to spend a thousand dollars on recording equpiment today. This way I can record better songs after failing orgo (still 2 tests left).
Here is what I got!
SONY MDR-7506 STUDIO HEADPHONES
Digidesign Mbox2 with Pro Tools
and lastly,
Sennheiser e609 Silver
Here is what I got!
SONY MDR-7506 STUDIO HEADPHONES
Digidesign Mbox2 with Pro Tools
Rode NT2-A Studio Microphone Condenser Mic
and lastly,
Sennheiser e609 Silver
Wierd thought
So I'm in the elevator, and I start thinking...
What would I do if I walked into the elevator, and as the door closes someone stands there casually pointing a gun at my head and says, "this is your last elevator ride."
What would I do?
My first thought was I'd press the top floor, since that gives me more time before he kills me.
Then, I thought, but that only gives me like 12 more seconds.
Then I decided to live every day like I only had 12 seconds left.
What would I do if I walked into the elevator, and as the door closes someone stands there casually pointing a gun at my head and says, "this is your last elevator ride."
What would I do?
My first thought was I'd press the top floor, since that gives me more time before he kills me.
Then, I thought, but that only gives me like 12 more seconds.
Then I decided to live every day like I only had 12 seconds left.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Komodo Dragon
Oh My Gosh these animals actually exist! Thank God only in Indonesia.
For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allow it to swallow its prey whole. The vegetable contents of the stomach and intestines are typically avoided.[20] Copious amounts of red saliva that the Komodo dragons produce help to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). Komodo dragons may attempt to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully that the tree is knocked down.
For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allow it to swallow its prey whole. The vegetable contents of the stomach and intestines are typically avoided.[20] Copious amounts of red saliva that the Komodo dragons produce help to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). Komodo dragons may attempt to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully that the tree is knocked down.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Girls are so funny sometimes
So I'm sitting here now in the library studying molecular biology and a girl plants herself down right next to my seat (there are many other open seats not so close to me). So she's wearing short sleeves so she immediately struck out, but she apparently didn't know that I think girls should keep torah.
Anyway, she keeps looking my way every few minutes or so, asks me for a pen, etc. and meanwhile I'm counting down the minutes until she leaves.
Then she pulls a shtick i have yet to have ever see. She gets out her cell phone, calls someone, and on the 4th floor (the quiet floor), and says pretty loudly, "So we are reaalllly short on guy advisors for the upcoming shabaton, so if you know any guys please tell them to call me."
She hung up and looked at me from the corner of her eye, and I was about to die of laughter, but I held it in by thinking about Orgo. I knew it was good for something.
I hope you all find this as amusing as I did.
Anyway, she keeps looking my way every few minutes or so, asks me for a pen, etc. and meanwhile I'm counting down the minutes until she leaves.
Then she pulls a shtick i have yet to have ever see. She gets out her cell phone, calls someone, and on the 4th floor (the quiet floor), and says pretty loudly, "So we are reaalllly short on guy advisors for the upcoming shabaton, so if you know any guys please tell them to call me."
She hung up and looked at me from the corner of her eye, and I was about to die of laughter, but I held it in by thinking about Orgo. I knew it was good for something.
I hope you all find this as amusing as I did.
Funny...
A disappointed Coca Cola salesman returns from his Middle East assignment.
A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Arabs?"
A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Arabs?"
The salesman explained:
"When I got posted in the Middle East , I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there. But, I had a problem ... I didn't know Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters...
First poster: A man lying in the hot desert sand...totally exhausted and fainting.
Second poster: The man is drinking our Cola.
Third poster: Our man is now totally refreshed.
And then these posters were pasted all over the place.
"That should have worked!" said the friend. "The hell it should!? said the salesman. I didn't realize that Arabs read from right to left"
Bridge between the physical and spiritual...
Composed Shanna Aleph, 12/5/06
The bridge between the physical and the non physical
Yesterday I was sitting in Rav Yoel's Chug, and I began observing all the people sitting around the table, closing their eyes, and singing. I began asking myself, how does this work? What power does singing have that it is capable of brining someone to tears? How does singing make people feel an indescribable surge of spirituality, and an immense, pulsating connection to Hashem?
In order to understand such a concept, we need to first understand what it is to speak. Rabbis and parents tell us all the time to "watch your mouth." It is a generally accepted principle that improper speech is impolite, and therefore we should try to refrain from degrading ourselves and insulting others. We rarely think about the idea that out of the trillions of species of organisms that exist, only humans can talk, and we almost never wonder why that is. In other words, most people are familiar with the adage "speech is what separates the humans from the animal kingdom," but most people have never pondered the implications.
Analyzing the process of a spoken word reveals the depth of the principle referred to above.
When we want to say something, what happens? Our brain takes our intended thought and sends a signal via electric nerve impulses to our voice box to produce the proper combination of vibrations, which ultimately results in what we call a "sound." The entire sound production process is purely physical. The only non-physical entity throughout the entire process was the thought itself, which up until now was confined to a prison of physical entities before it was finally allowed to depart via speech in the form of a sound. The resulting sound is completely intangible. The vibrations utilized to produce the sound can be measured in the form of waves, but the sound itself can never be felt. In other words, humans (purely physical beings) are actually capable of producing something purely spiritual and non-physical!
Why do we have this complex brain-nerve impulse-larynx-mouth system that is capable of producing an intangible substance? According to evolutionists, we have this system because it serves as an extremely efficient way to communicate, and therefore it was a beneficial mutation that survived. The only problem with claiming that our complex speech system originated as a product of genetic mutation is that while the entire system of speech for the purpose of communication is truly an efficient system, each individual piece of the system serves no inherent beneficial purpose; the larynx can do nothing without the brain. Therefore, even if someone was born with a genetic mutation dictating the creation of a larynx, he would have also have had to have been born with the simultaneous mutations coding for nerves to connect the voice box to the brain, and mutations for the brain to now suddenly know the correct vibration patterns for sound production. All these mutations would have to have occurred in one life span and to a minimum of two people, for how else is speech useful if there is no one with which to communicate? The principle of mutation is one useful mutation that gets passed on, but the mutation for only a larynx serves no purpose, and therefore would not get passed on.
This is difficult to understand, but is better understood with another analogy. The human eye should not have ever been developed according to evolutionists. There were approximately 10,000 mutations before the eye could actually work as an eye. A mutation is only passed on if it is beneficial, but the 9,999 mutations the eye underwent before it mutated into a functioning human eye were all completely non beneficial, and therefore should have never been passed on to the next generation. Evolutionists have no explanation for this simple organ, how much more so for a complex organ system! Therefore, to claim that speech developed as a beneficial mutation is ridiculous.
Rather, the purpose of having this complex system of producing intangible entities is because we need it to connect to the other intangible entity, Hashem. Evolution didn’t give us this speech system, god did, and he gave it to us in order for us to have a means of connecting to him. When a purely physical human being produces a sound, he is taking himself, a physical being, and connecting himself to the only other non-physical being, Hashem. In other words, speech is the bridge from the physical world to the non physical world.
That's why we need to be very careful of what comes out of our mouth. When we use dirty language we take this spiritual substance and taint it with physical filth. We have this limitless potential to connect to God through the gift of speech, but instead we are pushing ourselves farther away from him.
Having explained all this, I think now we can understand how singing can transplant a person from feeling mundane and physical, to feeling connected to something deep and spiritual.
Logically speaking, singing is a perfected form of speech. A spoken thought is usually monotone and staccato, but a song is a harmonious blend of sweet sounding elegance and grace. In essence, the perfection in the harmony of a song can be equated to the perfection of Hashem.
When we speak to one another, most of our time is spent speaking about our daily lives. Very little of our spoken words are spoken words are spoken about Hashem, and therefore how can we expect to connect to him? However, when we stop and sing, and use our ability to connect to God in its highest most perfected form, and use it for the sole purpose of connecting to God, how can we not feel a pulsating connection to our creator?
The bridge between the physical and the non physical
Yesterday I was sitting in Rav Yoel's Chug, and I began observing all the people sitting around the table, closing their eyes, and singing. I began asking myself, how does this work? What power does singing have that it is capable of brining someone to tears? How does singing make people feel an indescribable surge of spirituality, and an immense, pulsating connection to Hashem?
In order to understand such a concept, we need to first understand what it is to speak. Rabbis and parents tell us all the time to "watch your mouth." It is a generally accepted principle that improper speech is impolite, and therefore we should try to refrain from degrading ourselves and insulting others. We rarely think about the idea that out of the trillions of species of organisms that exist, only humans can talk, and we almost never wonder why that is. In other words, most people are familiar with the adage "speech is what separates the humans from the animal kingdom," but most people have never pondered the implications.
Analyzing the process of a spoken word reveals the depth of the principle referred to above.
When we want to say something, what happens? Our brain takes our intended thought and sends a signal via electric nerve impulses to our voice box to produce the proper combination of vibrations, which ultimately results in what we call a "sound." The entire sound production process is purely physical. The only non-physical entity throughout the entire process was the thought itself, which up until now was confined to a prison of physical entities before it was finally allowed to depart via speech in the form of a sound. The resulting sound is completely intangible. The vibrations utilized to produce the sound can be measured in the form of waves, but the sound itself can never be felt. In other words, humans (purely physical beings) are actually capable of producing something purely spiritual and non-physical!
Why do we have this complex brain-nerve impulse-larynx-mouth system that is capable of producing an intangible substance? According to evolutionists, we have this system because it serves as an extremely efficient way to communicate, and therefore it was a beneficial mutation that survived. The only problem with claiming that our complex speech system originated as a product of genetic mutation is that while the entire system of speech for the purpose of communication is truly an efficient system, each individual piece of the system serves no inherent beneficial purpose; the larynx can do nothing without the brain. Therefore, even if someone was born with a genetic mutation dictating the creation of a larynx, he would have also have had to have been born with the simultaneous mutations coding for nerves to connect the voice box to the brain, and mutations for the brain to now suddenly know the correct vibration patterns for sound production. All these mutations would have to have occurred in one life span and to a minimum of two people, for how else is speech useful if there is no one with which to communicate? The principle of mutation is one useful mutation that gets passed on, but the mutation for only a larynx serves no purpose, and therefore would not get passed on.
This is difficult to understand, but is better understood with another analogy. The human eye should not have ever been developed according to evolutionists. There were approximately 10,000 mutations before the eye could actually work as an eye. A mutation is only passed on if it is beneficial, but the 9,999 mutations the eye underwent before it mutated into a functioning human eye were all completely non beneficial, and therefore should have never been passed on to the next generation. Evolutionists have no explanation for this simple organ, how much more so for a complex organ system! Therefore, to claim that speech developed as a beneficial mutation is ridiculous.
Rather, the purpose of having this complex system of producing intangible entities is because we need it to connect to the other intangible entity, Hashem. Evolution didn’t give us this speech system, god did, and he gave it to us in order for us to have a means of connecting to him. When a purely physical human being produces a sound, he is taking himself, a physical being, and connecting himself to the only other non-physical being, Hashem. In other words, speech is the bridge from the physical world to the non physical world.
That's why we need to be very careful of what comes out of our mouth. When we use dirty language we take this spiritual substance and taint it with physical filth. We have this limitless potential to connect to God through the gift of speech, but instead we are pushing ourselves farther away from him.
Having explained all this, I think now we can understand how singing can transplant a person from feeling mundane and physical, to feeling connected to something deep and spiritual.
Logically speaking, singing is a perfected form of speech. A spoken thought is usually monotone and staccato, but a song is a harmonious blend of sweet sounding elegance and grace. In essence, the perfection in the harmony of a song can be equated to the perfection of Hashem.
When we speak to one another, most of our time is spent speaking about our daily lives. Very little of our spoken words are spoken words are spoken about Hashem, and therefore how can we expect to connect to him? However, when we stop and sing, and use our ability to connect to God in its highest most perfected form, and use it for the sole purpose of connecting to God, how can we not feel a pulsating connection to our creator?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
"You must experience failure to appreciate success"
That's what a fortune cookie said to me a few hours ago.
How did it know about my Orgo test??
How did it know about my Orgo test??
Orgo Test
Just failled.
We're talking hard core faillure- leave out an entire 20 point question failliure.
Who cares though, its only my future....
We're talking hard core faillure- leave out an entire 20 point question failliure.
Who cares though, its only my future....
Lazy Procrastinator
So I realize now that I am lazy.
What did I just do? I was busy and didn't want to stop what I was doing to bentch, so I decided I'd keep drinking a little bit of my drink every now and then until I finished what I was doing, and then I would bentch.
Really what I was doing was just pushing off benching until I'd forget about it, and then when I'd finally remember, it would be too late to bentch and I wouldn't be able to anymore.
I forgot that I would feel bad about missing benching. No more Yetzer Hara!!!!!!
What did I just do? I was busy and didn't want to stop what I was doing to bentch, so I decided I'd keep drinking a little bit of my drink every now and then until I finished what I was doing, and then I would bentch.
Really what I was doing was just pushing off benching until I'd forget about it, and then when I'd finally remember, it would be too late to bentch and I wouldn't be able to anymore.
I forgot that I would feel bad about missing benching. No more Yetzer Hara!!!!!!
Music and Relationships.... "You're great, but I'm just not feeling it..." and other nonsense
Shalom to all.
This is some kind of an experiment, basically a way to take my thoughts out of my head put them somewhere else. I don't expect many to read this, but for those that do read it, stop wasting your time and go learn to Torah.
While writing a song yesterday, I liked what I was playing, but I realized that I wasn't feeling that surge of emotion that overtakes me when I feel like I'm in the middle of composing an amazing song.
So I put the guitar down, and stopped writing.
And then I started thinking... whens the last time I actually had that surge of emotion? I think the first song I ever wrote (which was terrible), the first time I ever played with a band (I think our drummers mom left the house we were so bad), and then aside from Ashrei and Eishes Chayil, a bunch of mediocre songs.
I used to think that this emotional surge that took over my body was indicative that the song was special, that if I felt like I was being telaported to Gan Eiden while singing the chorus then I now "knew" that the song was "real."
So I put the guitar down. Then Jesse (my roommate) turns to me and says "hey man, that song was beautiful I really like it." So I think to myself, "thanks, but its just another dud, I'm not feeling anything." And so he tells me to keep playing it, so I do, and end up writing a verse and chorus, and then an intro, and then before I know it, I really like the song.
I then thought about how many songs with potential I killed due to some unfounded expectation that I believed was necessary to validate my feelings. I thought more, and realized that over the course of my brief professional tenure I have performed many times, often improvising a great and creative guitar solo (heres one of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZbgiAUQJz8), and simply never feel that emotion.
I realized that this emotion is not a surge of realizaiton of emes, but rather is simply a nice feeling that shows up when the mood is right and really want to feel something.
This is some kind of an experiment, basically a way to take my thoughts out of my head put them somewhere else. I don't expect many to read this, but for those that do read it, stop wasting your time and go learn to Torah.
While writing a song yesterday, I liked what I was playing, but I realized that I wasn't feeling that surge of emotion that overtakes me when I feel like I'm in the middle of composing an amazing song.
So I put the guitar down, and stopped writing.
And then I started thinking... whens the last time I actually had that surge of emotion? I think the first song I ever wrote (which was terrible), the first time I ever played with a band (I think our drummers mom left the house we were so bad), and then aside from Ashrei and Eishes Chayil, a bunch of mediocre songs.
I used to think that this emotional surge that took over my body was indicative that the song was special, that if I felt like I was being telaported to Gan Eiden while singing the chorus then I now "knew" that the song was "real."
So I put the guitar down. Then Jesse (my roommate) turns to me and says "hey man, that song was beautiful I really like it." So I think to myself, "thanks, but its just another dud, I'm not feeling anything." And so he tells me to keep playing it, so I do, and end up writing a verse and chorus, and then an intro, and then before I know it, I really like the song.
I then thought about how many songs with potential I killed due to some unfounded expectation that I believed was necessary to validate my feelings. I thought more, and realized that over the course of my brief professional tenure I have performed many times, often improvising a great and creative guitar solo (heres one of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZbgiAUQJz8), and simply never feel that emotion.
I realized that this emotion is not a surge of realizaiton of emes, but rather is simply a nice feeling that shows up when the mood is right and really want to feel something.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)