Category: Uncategorized

RPM Challenge – Day 19

Not much today. I mixed one song last night and recorded one vocal this morning. I am off work the next two days, but will not have the house to myself tomorrow. I will try to do some more whispered guide vocals if I can write some damn lyrics. I think I will be using the random wikipedia article trick quite a bit this year.

Here is the song I mixed last night. I am not happy with the mix at all. The vocals are too low. Of course with my singing, too low is infinitely better than too loud. Am I right, or am I right?

http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/confidence.mp3%20

Olympic Ice Hockey – Men’s Quarterfinals Results

The second round of four games in the Men’s ice hockey tournament Quarterfinals happened today. I mentioned earlier that Sweden beat the crap out of Slovenia. In the second game of the day we saw a gigantic upset as Finland (lead by Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask) beat Russia, 3-1. Russia had been one of the gold medal favorites, and here they are bounced out in the quarterfinal.

At noon today there were two huge games. First, Canada beat Latvia by the skin of their teeth, 2-1. At the same time, the USA was beating up on the Czech Republic, 5-2.

There are four teams left, and three medals to hand out. Team USA is in pretty good shape… except…

The Semifinal round match ups are all set now. All four teams have tomorrow off, and then on Friday at 7:00am Eastern time, Sweden plays Finland in a battle for Viking supremacy. I think Sweden is the better team in this one, although I will be rooting for Tuukka and the Fins.

Later on Friday, at noon Eastern time, the battle for North American supremacy will commence. Canada vs The United States of America. This is a rematch of the gold medal game from last Winter Olympics. That game was quite possibly the best hockey game I’ve ever watched. The only negative about that game was the the US had to settle for the Silver. Now I will be wearing the red white and blue on Friday, and there is no doubting where my hockey loyalty lies… but it’s hard to see anyone beating Canada. Although, they haven’t quite been the monster everyone has expected, and the US has been dominant in all but one game. I think we have a chance. I think we have a shot at making it to the gold medal game.

Coincidently, if my two predictions come true we will see a rematch of the 1980 gold medal game between The United States of America and Finland. I could definitely get into a match up like that.

Go USA!

Ice Hockey Quarter Finals – Day Two

As expected, Sweden pummeled Slovenia last night by a score of 5-0. Of the eight teams playing today, six are what you might call powerhouses. Sweden is the first of those to advance.

Next up is Russia and Finland at 7:30. About an hour from now.

Men’s Ice Hockey Quarter Finals

There were four games played in the Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey tournament.

Slovakia eliminated Austria, 4-0.
Russia eliminated Norway, 4-0 in a game that was much closer than the score indicated.
Latvia eliminated Switzerland, 3-1.
Czech Republic eliminated Slovakia, 5-3. They almost blew a 4-0 lead, but they held on to win it.

That sets up the quarter finals matches for the four teams with a first day bye.

Tomorrow at 3:00am Eastern time, Slovenia’s cinderella ride most likely ends against Sweden.
At 7:30am Russia faces Finland in what should be a really great game. No offense to our hosts, but I am rooting for Finland in this one.
At noon Latvia will be destroyed by Canada.
Also at noon, The Czechs face the USA. This too should be a great game. Team USA has a real test on their hands.

Here’s to a US win.
Go USA!

RPM Challenge – Day 18

I mixed two songs last night. I don’t like either of them, or anything else I’ve worked on this month. It’s good, because I don’t think I am going to have enough time in the house alone to finish all of the vocals.

This is the first song I worked on, and the first song I finished:
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/small-3.mp3%20

This is the 12th song I worked on, and the second song I finished. As you can guess, I am jumping around all over the place right now.
http://alonetone.com/robertjames1971/tracks/not-in-this-lifetime.mp3%20

I have one more song that is ready to mix. I was just too tired to finish it off last night. Yesterday I wrote lyrics and a really rough melody for three more songs. This morning I recorded two of them. My vocal performance was terrible at best, but it’s done and I don’t think I am going to have time to fix anything that irks me when I start listening back to it. I didn’t take the time to put rough mixes up onto Soundcloud.

So that’s five vocals recorded, and a sixth that is written and ready to record. I need to get four more done to qualify for RPM, and eight more to qualify for FAWM. FAWM is starting to look like a lost cause. I took Thursday and Friday off from work, but I don’t think I am going to have time on those days to handle vocals. I’m starting to honestly consider driving to an empty parking lot somewhere and recording in the car. It’s looking more and more like that’s the only way I will be able to finish everything. Cold weather be damned, you know?