Thursday, September 10, 2009

Back at it and i phone apps

Back at work and most folks seem to be in the same condition. Vacations are done, trips are taken and now it's back to reality.
Diet wise things are going fine and I think I'm going to continue doing this as I really like how I feel and it's not that big of a hassle. Yes my kids don't eat it and sometimes I have to exercise more will power on myself, but I have much more energy and I sure feel better in all phases physically. I certainly have much more mental energy and I don't feel so "draggy" as you can when you are consuming so many starchy carbs. It's also given me a new appreciation of vegetables and fruits that I didn't have before. The flavor possibilities are endless and that leads to come interesting dishes and combinations.
The other thing I've been exposed to in doing this is the seeming desire to want to make something with raw foods that it is not, i.e. lasagna or some other kind of faux dish. I don't really subscribe to this as it never meets expectations and is always, at least to me, a pale comparison. I prefer to do things true to the ingredient, so the flavors shine and the preparations can remain fairly simple. I don't want to be dehydrating foods and soaking nuts for hours and blending 5 different things separately before I can begin a dish. Just doesn't make sense to me.
IPHONE APPS
With updates to my phone software recently, I've been looking around for apps that do various things. I heard there are some 18,000 applications for the iphone. In poking around I found a few that I really think are very interesting.

1. Bloom - by Brian Eno - If you are familiar with Eno, then you know he's been doing what he calls Generative Music for some time now. For me it started with Music For Airports in 1978, but that was before everything went digital and computers became the dominant force. Eno has continued on this path and Bloom is an application for the iphone that creates very pleasing repetitive patterns and then continues to generate variations off of the original. There are multiple settings and you can adjust delay times, volume etc. You can even just shake the iphone to clear out what you did and start over, just like the old etch a sketch. I really like this app because you don't have to be a musician to use it and appreciate it. Anyone can use it and have lots of pleasant fun with it, and hopefully explore some sonic areas that might not have existed for them before. I think the app is $3.99

2. Bebot - This app is pretty amazing and I'm just getting started on using it, but it's got some endless possibilities. It's a 4 voice synthesizer that has lots of adjustable parameters. The main feature is that you can slide your finger around the screen or just touch the screen in various areas to generate sounds. It's pretty amazing so far and I can't wait to get better on it. This app is $1.99

3. Wivi Band - This one will blow your friends away, literally! It's a sound modeled collection of wind instruments, very real sounding, that you control thru a two step process. With your hands you activate keys that define pitch i.e. a piano on your screen while you are blowing over your phone mic to activate the sound. This turns your phone into a wind instrument and the results are mind blowing. Big fun, not easy to use, takes some practice, but amazing results!!
This app is bigger and deeper and cost $4.99, but still, I mean come on, this is cheap for what you are getting!!

Highly recommended!!

Peace,

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