Good for dipping?

Today's topic: Veggie Trays

The primary purpose of the veggie tray is provide hungry dinner guests with a simple-to-prepare appetizer. Veggies are served because they are healthy and every responsible host wishes to provide his/her guests with good options. The trouble is that the veggie tray is not about the veggies. No matter what good intentions may lie behind the preparation and serving of a veggie tray, the focus always becomes the dip. Regardless what type of dip is served, the veggies simply become a variety of vehicles to shovel more dip into the eaters' faces. It struck me today (while transferring mass amounts of ranch dressing from the tray to my mouth), that while all veggies are able vehicles for dip transfer, some are obviously better than others. Below is my analysis of several veggies I sampled and their ability to carry ranch from serving dish to gullet.

Carrots
Well rounded performer. Stick formation allows for deep dipping and copious coverage. Surface texture is smooth, but enough to grip the dip. 3/5 stars.

Broccoli
The big dipper! Voids between the florets, turn this heady veg into a sauce sponge. Stem acts like built in handle. 5/5 stars.

Cherry Tomatoes
Not a team player. While delicious on their own, this slick sphere is hard to grip and sheds dip. Enjoy them sans ranch unless you're willing to dive in after them. 1/5 stars.

Celery
Step up to the trough! Like the carrot, this stalk is easily handled and dipped, but holds a distinct advantage: the U-shape, which proves great for shoveling fattening dairy product. 4/5 stars

Remote Control Guitar Rig

A few months ago, I downloaded Sofa Control (available from Gravity Apps), a nice little app that allows me to use my Apple remote with any application. It works by mapping the buttons on the remote to the hotkeys applications recognize. I haven't really used this app very much, but a few days ago I decided to try connecting Sofa Control to Guitar Rig 3 (available from Native Instruments).

After some trial and error, I managed to finally get it working really well. Now I can use my remote live to change presets, change tempo, turn effects on/off, and mute the tuner. This is really useful. I've found that I can place the remote in my pocket and still activate through my clothing, so I no longer have to reach down to my MacBook or stomp those loud footswitches on the Rig Kontrol (also available from Native Instruments).

1. Foot Controller Setup
Guitar Rig works with several different foot controllers and is fully customizable. You may have your foot controller set up differently, but for the sake of this blog, I'll show you how I have my Rig Kontrol 2 set up.



RK Pedal: Usually volume, expression, or blend pedal (Sound)
RK KickDown: Effect parameter 3 (Sound)
RK Switch 1: Effect parameter 1 (Sound)
RK Switch 2: Effect parameter 2 (Sound)
RK Switch 3: Metronome Tap (Global)
RK Switch 4: Not Assigned (RK3 only)
RK Switch 5: Prev Sound (Global)
RK Switch 6: Next Sound (Global)
RK Switch 7: Tuner Silent Mode (Global)
RK Switch 8: Not Assigned (RK3 only)

2. Guitar Rig Hotkeys

Sofa Control needs hotkeys to function with Guitar Rig, so first I had to assign hotkeys to my Guitar Rig setup.



To assign a hotkey, go to Controller under Options. Find the switch you want to co-assign a hotkey to and click the Learn button. Press the key you want to make the hotkey. Repeat this process for any additional hotkeys. Hotkeys don't necessarily need to be connected to foot switches. Additional assignments can be made that are not linked to switches and are hotkeys only.

This is how I assigned my hotkeys:
RK Switch 1: ,
RK Switch 2: .
RK Switch 3: t
RK Switch 5: [
RK Switch 6: ]
RK Switch 7: m

3. The Sofa Control Script

I'm no programmer, but I was able to figure this out. I kept things simple by only mapping the pressed buttons. I may add functions to the held buttons in the future, but for now, this works great.

This gives my Apple remote the following functions:
Menu: Tuner Silent Mode Toggle
Play: Metronome Tap Tempo
Plus: Previous Sound
Minus: Next Sound
Left: Effect 1 Toggle
Right: Effect 2 Toggle

Note: Feel free to take this script and modify it as you need.

Open Sofa Control. Under File, select New Script. A new window will pop up. Select all the code and delete it. Copy the code below and paste it into that window.

(*
Description: Guitar Rig 3 Script for Sofa Control
Author: Scott Troyer
URL: http://www.scotttroyer.com

Mapping:
* Menu: Tuner Silent Mode Toggle (RF Switch 7 - Global - m )
* Play/Pause: Metronome Tap (RK Switch 3 - Global - t )
* Plus: Prev Sound (RK Switch 5 - Global - , )
* Minus: Next Sound (RK Switch 6 - Global - . )
* Left: Effect 1 Toggle (RK Switch 1 - Sound - [ )
* Right: Effect 2 Toggle (RK Switch 2 - Sound - ] )
*)

on rcActivate()
ignoring application responses
tell the application "Guitar Rig 3" to activate
end ignoring
end rcActivate

on rcPlay()
simulate keystroke "t"
end rcPlay

on rcMenu()
simulate keystroke "m"
end rcMenu

on rcPlus()
simulate keystroke "["
end rcPlus

on rcMinus()
simulate keystroke "]"
end rcMinus

on rcLeft()
simulate keystroke ","
end rcLeft

on rcRight()
simulate keystroke "."
end rcRight

Once you've pasted that code in, click Verify. The code should reformat the text size and color.



Make sure both of these options are checked. Now select 'Guitar Rig 3' from the pop-up menu. The application icon will automatically be added to the box on the right and Guitar Rig 3 will be added to the Sofa Control menu.

Save the file and close the window. You are now ready to use Sofa Control with Guitar Rig 3.

Let me know if this post was useful to you! Merry music making!

Disable Photobooth Flash

So it's a ton of fun to mess around with Mac OS X's picture taking application Photobooth, isn't it? Probably one of the first things you did when you got your new MacBook or MacBook Pro, was to open up that little app and try out all the nifty features. Since then, you've snapped hundreds of photos of yourself, family, and friends using all the warping and color effects. And sometimes those pics have turned out funny or cool enough to upload as your Facebook profile. Everything is great, right?

Well, no. At some point you realized that sometimes your photos look a lot better in the preview. Apple was kind enough to give us a simulated "flash" to help light those dim homes we live in, but the flash doesn't always give us great looking photos. If you've tried adjusting your screen brightness all the way down to black, you've discovered it still doesn't stop the flash.

Today, you suffer no more. I present a solution. Simply hold 'Shift' while clicking the camera button. Photobooth will count down from 3 and make the usual beep, but your photo won't be tainted by that garish blue cast of an Apple simulated flash.

Before (with flash)


After (without flash)

Point of No Return

Recently, I set my Facebook status to "Scott thinks our financial system has reached a point of no return." A friend wrote me the following email.

So what do you mean by our financial system has reached a point of no return? What do you think can be done? Just curious. I am not very educated on political things, but I would like to know your thoughts.

I wanted to offer my perspective, but quickly realized I would have to be thorough in my response. Below is my lengthy answer.

Caveat: By no means, would I consider myself a trained economist. I'm sure others have greater insight into these things. These are just my opinions. I could probably stand to be educated a bit more. ;)

By "point of no return", I think I mean 2 different things.

1. We're setting bad precedents.

Politically, we (and by we, I mean those in our gov't) are making bad decisions that are setting bad precedents for our future. Many of the programs of the "New Deal" that were set in place during the Depression were intended to be short lived programs. Some of the programs were designed as permanent reforms, but many of them were simply designed as course correcting measures. Unfortunately, those programs designed to get us out of the Depression became institutions of our financial and political worlds and still exist today (70 years later).

The recent bout of government bailouts for private corporations might be a somewhat logical temporary fix to help us keep our heads above water, but if our own history is any indicator, these temporary fixes will end up as permanent fixtures of our system. There's a joke in the church that kind of relates to this idea. It's said that any new church event that's halfway successful automatically becomes the "First Annual" event. Meaning, if it worked once, why stop?

So, I believe that we're setting into place a fix that will ultimately become a "right" in the future. What happens in 1 year, 5 years, or 30 years from now, when corporations get themselves into trouble? Won't they cite the events of today and say, "You bailed them out, why not us?!"

2. The damage has already happened.

I think the damage inflicted upon our economy by foolish investments is so deep, reaching the highest levels of our financial system, that the repercussions cannot be abated. We can throw money at the problem, but that will only treat some of the symptoms, not cure the disease. Grievous errors have been made and someone (we) will have to pay for it. Our leaders may try to patch things with temporary fixes and then paint the turd gold by claiming how they helped us "avert disaster." But whether we suffer in the short term with a full blown recession/depression, or suffer in the long term with higher tax burdens, greater national debt, more centralized government, and fewer liberties, the truth is clear: we will suffer for our mistakes.

As for the what can be done: I'm not sure what the best answer would be, but I know several things for certain.

1. To quote my friend Andrew, "Lack of oversight is not the answer to a problem caused by lack of oversight." Unbridled power is not a solution. This article will make you shiver: http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/20/news/economy/treasury_proposal/index.htm?postversion=2008092011

2. We should not operate under the assumptions of privatized profits and socialized losses. This cross breed of capitalism and socialism will only benefit the rich and powerful. This article has a really good podcast: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94686428

3. Don't panic. Despite the grim outlook. The key to a positive economy is our attitude. If everyone (or even some of us) begin to panic and pull everything out of the system, we'll certainly whip ourselves into a frenzy. I don't mean to instruct everyone to just relax and get blindsided by a coming storm, but simply to temper our natural tendencies to panic.

New Website Coming...

A month of blogging silence comes to an end today. I've been working on a lot of various projects, which busy. The current project is getting myself a new website. The current one sucks bad (seriously, don't even visit), but a brand spankin' new site is on it's way! I, for one, can't wait!

Focus Your Brain on Focus

Every now and then I find something that seems to have slipped through the large holes in society's pop culture net. Today's find is the band Focus from Amsterdam. They formed in 1969 and had a hit in 1973 called "Hocus Pocus." Despite the oft quoted maxim, "There's nothing new under the sun," prior to Focus, it's entirely plausible that yodel rock had never been performed (and quite possibly, never since). Open your mind and let the yodel caress your soul.



Post informed by NPR.

I'm homeless houseless.

Returning to a House
Not long ago, Katie, Hoss, and I drove the 21 hour stretch from Florida to Wisconsin. We had been on the road playing shows and recording music for nearly two weeks. We had to hurry back to Wisconsin to drop Hoss off at his apartment before Katie and I headed on to another gig in northern Wisconsin. After what seemed like ages, we finally pulled into Oshkosh. As we made our way toward his place, Hoss said a funny thing:

"I live here."

I think we were all struck by how odd this simple statement sounded. Of course he lives here; this is where his apartment is. But why did he live here? That's what seemed so strange. We had driven thousands of miles, seen hundreds of towns and cities, and stopped at so many places, that it felt completely arbitrary to just leave Hoss here, in this town, a town that looked like all the others. Of all places, why Oshkosh? Why not somewhere else? But then again, why not Oshkosh? Why would any other town be better? Why would anyone specifically call a certain place home? What were we returning to? Whatever it was, we hadn't needed it for 2 weeks, so do we need it now? In that moment, home became a funny concept.

Mom & Dad's House

Just a few days ago, Mom and Dad put their house on the market. That's a big move (literally) for them. They're empty nesters - at least when I'm not crashing at their place in between tours. They are looking to find something more suitable for their lives now. I'm excited to see my parents trying something different, challenge themselves, make new connections. Moving after being stationary for so long is going to be tough, like finally walking after being bedridden.

Being the child with the most flexible schedule means I'm most likely to be pitching in to get it ready. I'm awfully daunted by the task of emptying a home that's been accumulating stuff for 30 years and then prepping it for sale. Maybe an "AS IS" estate sale would be best. Just grab the family photos and make a clean break! haha. I'm also a bit sentimental about giving up the only home that we kids have ever known. A lot has happened there. It's been expanded and remodeled countless times to accommodate a growing and changing family of seven. It'll be hard to let go.

Matt & Natalie's House

This week I've been chilling here with my brother Matt in Indy. His house is a place where any night of the week you're bound to find half a dozen or more people hanging out, eating, laughing, playing, and just generally living life together. Though it's just Matt and Natalie's house, it's definitely become a home for several people (and a few animals) here in Indy, as well as me when I'm in town. It's a ragtag bunch of characters whose lives all seem to intersect in a little green house in the middle of Indiana and it's a really beautiful thing.

Last night, as Matt and I sat on the front porch of his house, we talked about the big stuff in life: relationships, careers, church, money, family – a real heart-to-heart brother talk. Naturally, Mom and Dad's house being up for sale was a big part of our conversation. We talked about what that home meant to us and what home really is. It made me think of a scene from Joe Dirt, where Joe can't understand that an old cajun hillbilly is saying, "Home is where you make it." A classic segment from a very funny David Spade movie. Warning: Joe Dirt is rated PG-13. Link to Joe Dirt clip.

House ≠ Home

Being on the road so much has changed my perspective on what home means. I know that home is not a house, a building with beds and bathrooms, because I'm beginning to feel at home in most every place these days. Being a traveling musician, I don't have a house or apartment to call my own. I keep a storage unit for some of the music equipment I don't use regularly, so technically I'm a renter, but I don't have a place for me. As lonely as that sounds, there is a certain non-revocable freedom when you realize that home is no longer a place, but a state of mind. Home for me has become wherever I am. As Metallica so eloquently put it: "Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home."

As Matt and I were talking about this last night, I was finally able to verbalize my thoughts on Home. I have learned to carry home with me. Home is having contentment, completion, and rest - the feeling that I have everything I need, want nothing more, and am at peace those around me, with God, and within myself. Home is the knowledge that there is no where to go, because here is where I am meant to be.

While on the road, I often camp out in my hammock. It's a great way to camp because it's easy, fast, and free. All I need is two trees. When I finally have that hammock strapped up around the trees, a wood fire burning nearby, and my shoes kicked off, I lay back, look up at the sky through the canopy of trees and breathe deep. At that point, I am home. There is nothing more to do, nothing more to get, and nothing more to achieve. I am just a human be-ing. Home truly is where you make it and I'm learning to make it everywhere.