RS-0017 - Mystical Elysian Love by Belladonna

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"Mystical Elysian Love" is on Italian rocknoir band Belladonna's debut album "Metaphysical Attraction". Video filmed on location in Berlin. Directed by Serena Corvaglia. More info: http://www.belladonna.tv. Posted with the bands permission.

Belladonna describes themselves as the first rocknoir band in the world. Moody, dramatic, intense, they say their songs dwell on madness and magic, revenge and reincarnation, sex and excess, with a massively powerful and passionate sound that's both deeply erotic and unbearably romantic.

They are fronted by stunning dark diva Luana and feature her partner in rhyme and music Dani on dirty gtr, Alice on haunting piano, Tam on seduction bass and Alex on pulsating drums.

RS-0016 - Richard Marr of Galaxy Park Studios

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While taking a break from recording with his band sadbastardgoespop, Jimmy Rochelle interviews Richard Marr of Galaxy Park Studios. To find out more about the studio visit http://www.galaxypark.com or http://www.myspace.com/galaxyparkstudios

So I bought a Mac ...

If you are wondering where Episode 16 of Rockosphere.TV is ... I'm working on it!

I got tired of the Adobe tools constantly crashing, and features just not working. So I walked into an Apple store and got myself a MacBook Pro, Final Cut Studio 2 and an external drive. Probably upon reflection I should've gone with an iMac. But I'm glad I didn't. The new sexier models weren't out yet when I made my purchase. I'd be cringing from buyers remorse right now.

But of course new toys require a learning curve.

I actually have the episode done. But it's in HD. In order to convert for the iPod I have to first create a 640 x 480 sequence, drag the HD sequence into it - tell it NO! when it wants to convert, then export the second sequence for the iPod. If I skip that part and export directly for iPod - it squishes the 16:9 format into the 4:3 format (yuck). Unfortunately exporting takes a looooong time ... I can't wait for iPod's to go Wide Screen. I can't even think about Apple TV right now.

I'll have to be more careful next time. The second half of the interview is with two people standing around a rotating fan. I tried to clean the audio up the best I could. But there is still more noise then I prefer. Live and learn. The hazards of documentary filmmaking. I didn't want to ruin the spontaneity.

Believe it or not, once I post Episode 16, Friday I'm going to post Episode 17 - that should go a lot smoother. One of our favorite bands that we interviewed a while ago is allowing us to post one of their music videos. A first for us! I'm not even going to burn in our logo - I'll just post it as is.

Speaking of music videos - I volunteered to direct one in September. Another first. Fortunately, for the soundtrack all I have to do is incorporate the studio recording. More on this later.

Squirrels wield a hot, secret weapon - life - 13 August 2007 - New Scientist

Squirrels wield a hot, secret weapon - life - 13 August 2007 - New Scientist: "It's Californian ground squirrel versus rattlesnake in a potentially lethal showdown. But the squirrel has a secret weapon that until now has remained invisible to the human eye. The ground squirrel heats up its tail then waves it in the snake's face - a form of harassment that confuses the rattler, which has an infrared sensing organ for detecting small mammals."

In-car CD players go the way of the tape deck | Crave : The gadget blog

In-car CD players go the way of the tape deck | Crave : The gadget blog: "We've known for some time that in-car CD players are ultimately destined for the recycle bin of consumer-electronics history, and a report out this week by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) confirms that the slide has already begun."

How filmmaking is like launching a start-up | Newsmakers | CNET News.com

How filmmaking is like launching a start-up | Newsmakers | CNET News.com: "How did your knowledge about technology and the computer industry play into your new role as a filmmaker--or did it? ... Ferguson: It did actually, to a surprising extent, in two ways. One is that filmmaking is increasingly digital. The entire film was made digitally, filmed with several different high-definition cameras. We used fairly fancy, extensive, high-definition cameras for the United States interviews. We used newly available, much smaller high-definition camcorders for our Iraq footage, which turned out to be a very good choice, although it was difficult, because we got two of the first 40 of these systems that were available in the United States and they were new and they had a somewhat complicated work flow."

AT&T censors Pearl Jam's anti-Bush lyrics | CNET News.com

AT&T censors Pearl Jam's anti-Bush lyrics | CNET News.com: "Pearl Jam fans and Internet watchdogs were up in arms Thursday after it was revealed that AT&T censored portions of the rock band's live concert cybercast on Sunday."

Music companies seek new money in old partners | CNET News.com

Music companies seek new money in old partners | CNET News.com: "Just this week, Universal Music and Warner Music Group announced investments in companies specializing in artist management or Web networking, segments they might not have considered part of their core operations in the past."

New York Times to ax premium online content, rival says | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

New York Times to ax premium online content, rival says | Tech news blog - CNET News.com: "Citing anonymous sources, the New York Post has reported that rival Manhattan paper The New York Times is planning to do away with TimesSelect, the subscription-only content on its NYTimes.com Web site. According to the article by Holly M. Sanders, the main obstacle at the moment is reconfiguring the site's software."

It's about time ...

Disclaimer: I contracted for NYT about a decade ago.

Music from indie labels to be sold via cell phones | CNET News.com

Music from indie labels to be sold via cell phones | CNET News.com: "EMusic, the nation's second-largest online music seller after Apple's iTunes, plans to announce on Tuesday a deal with AT&T that will allow people to buy songs from independent labels through their cell phones, without the need to go through a personal "

Technology Review: Playing Their Own Way

Technology Review: Playing Their Own Way: "People who love to create their own blogs, podcasts, and movies have a new outlet for self-expression: home-made video games. People who love to create their own blogs, podcasts, and movies have a new outlet for self-expression: home-made video games."

Uploaders To Last.FM Must Surrender Royalties - Wired Blogs

Uploaders To Last.FM Must Surrender Royalties - Wired Blogs: "In what seems to be becoming a trend, Last.FM has come under fire for forcing artists and labels who upload their music to the site to relinquish all royalties for internet radio and on-demand playback."

UPDATE: I've run this by a few bands and surprisingly, it doesn't phase them. They seem to feel that the trade-off is worth the exposure.