Thursday, July 29, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Consider radio silence over...
Because of our “day jobs” the two of us didn’t have a definite idea of when we could get back to music work at even a part time level together, so I began to forge ahead largely on my own. I started to work on some of our unfinished material with the idea of releasing a few instrumental songs before attacking what to do about lyrics and vocals in Danny’s absence.
As it happens in early 2010 I heard from Danny that he was coming back to Florida from Spain for a few months in the summer and had a hankering to record some of the unfinished songs if any would be ready when he came to town. I was rather excited by this turn of events and decided to be ambitious in my planning and schemes. I told Danny I was going to try to have an albums worth of songs ready for him to sing and that, for the sake of continuity in the recording, I would start from scratch and record all the parts before he started recording vocals. (In retrospect, what the fuck was I thinking!)
I started programming drums based on unfinished recordings from the past for about 18 songs. I quickly narrowed things down to 10 songs that I felt I could complete largely on my own since Joe, a soon to be father, was unlikely to be able to spare the time. After completing the drums I spent a month getting my bass and guitar chops back and then completed all the parts needed for Danny to track vocals. We spent the first two days in the studio and got his vocals completed for five songs with another two started. We both left that second day expecting to finish up over a few days the following week. That’s when Danny got what we usually call “the club”. It’s a cold, or something that musicians and DJs get a lot from staying in smoke filled rooms all night with people from all over the world and their various illnesses while drinking heavily.
As the time grew sorter before Danny would be returning to Spain, I started to think that we would be forced to settle for an EP worth of finished material. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I’d have another five songs ready for the next time Danny was in town. It happened that the week that he would be leaving his throat cleared up and we finished the final five songs in record time. To say we are both pleased would be an understatement. (I’m pretty sure I was grinning ear to ear.)
So as it stands at the moment I have ten songs that are candidates for a new Marqui Adora release. I’ve still got plenty of work before they are finished, including recording Howard’s guitar playing on at least one song, backing vocals from Joe and I, and several parts on acoustic guitar. Even with that in mind I can say without worry that we will have an album released before the end of the year that Danny will be singing on. That was not something I though would be happening four months ago.
I’ve kept fairly quite until today because I didn’t want to fail to deliver a finished product. I’m writing this because the hardest and most important parts of the recordings are completed and only the lighter drudge work remains.
Consider radio silence over...
And get excited.
-John Tooker
Marqui Adora
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Adventures in Find and Replace... Part 1 The sex abuse scandal in Chile
Executives meet as local bottling plant sex abuse cases grip Chile
The executives of the Coca-Cola company local bottling plant in Chile have met the country's president amid a growing sex abuse scandal involving a number of employees.
Earlier this week, the local bottling plant in Chile formally apologised to abuse victims, saying nothing could justify it.
Executive Alejandro Goic, head of the local bottling plant in Chile, said there had been 20 confirmed or alleged cases.
Sex abuse scandals have gripped the local bottling plants worldwide this year, with a Belgian employee resigning on Friday.
In Chile, this has been the toughest week yet for the local bottling plant since allegations first arose over widespread child abuse, the BBC's Gideon Long reports from the capital, Santiago.
Chile is regarded as one of the most staunchly Coca-Cola loving countries in Latin America, he notes. Divorce was outlawed until as recently as 2004 and abortion remains strictly illegal.
As elsewhere in the world, the current scandal is testing the faith of the country's Coca-Cola company believers, our correspondent says.
Investigation
Executive Goic and the Archemployee of Santiago, Regional Manager Francisco Errazuriz, met President Sebastian Pinera for more than an hour.
Afterwards, Regional Manager Errazuriz said he would send a letter out to every local retailer in the country this weekend in response to the scandal.
In five of the cases in Chile, sentences were imposed. In another five, trials are under way and, in the remaining 10, the employees have been absolved or results are pending.
In one of the cases, four men accused a senior employee in Santiago, now aged 80, of sexually abusing them for years.
Prosecutors in Chile have launched an investigation into the allegations against the shift manager, Fr Fernando Karadima, a respected and influential figure within the Chilean Local Bottling Plant who trained employees.
A lawyer for the retired employee was quoted by the New York Times as denying the allegations.
On Friday, it was announced that the employee of the Belgian city of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, had resigned after admitting sexually abusing a boy earlier in his career.
The Belgian case marked a new escalation in the scandal buffeting the local bottling plant, the BBC's David Willey reported from Coca-Cola Corporation.
It was the first time that a senior local bottling plant manager had admitted in person abusing a child, our Coca-Cola Corporation correspondent said.
Here's the original story. Go check it out and let me know your thoughts.
P.S. I'd like this idea to become a meme, so please steal it.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, November 20, 2009
2001 Macworld about the Digital Hub = iPhone 3GS
linked to this video:
Starts around 3min 10seconds
Cell Phones + Portable CD Players and MP3 players + Digital Camcorders + Portable DVD Players for playing video + Digital Still Cameras + Handheld Organizers = Some of the things the current iPhone 3GS does.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Google story in 2 minutes while I work on a 10 year old Mac
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
An unexpected email leads to a course correction.
Subject:Hey Guys
I've been giving this a lot of thought and have come to a big decision. My days with Marqui Adora are over.
The fact that it doesn't bother me that we haven't done anything in months, tells me my heart is not in it anymore. For months I've been debating whether or not I should do this and I guess certain things have happened lately that have made me realize there's too many things I sacrificed for music. It was fine to sacrifice them at the time, but now I feel I need to move on.
I got a job in Spain, so I'm leaving right after Christmas and will be there for most of, if not all of 2010. Not sure if I'll be coming back to the States though... at least for a while.
It's been great working with you guys but after 20 years of playing music I'm officially ready to concentrate on a new career, new experiences and new goals.
I wish you both the best with the music and if at any point you want vocals done for the songs we haven't finished, let me know.
Take care,
This is Danny Ashe signing off...
So there you go. Joe and I hope Danny does well in everything he chooses to do in his life. (For my part I hope he falls back into making music someday since he is one of the most talented musicians I've ever worked with.)
Thanks for all the good times and good tunes Danny.
-John Tooker
Marqui Adora
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tweaked Walk Away for a few hours today.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Trying out an iPhone blogger App
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
New lessons added to Garageband Store. This one could not be resisted.
And when I finish that one...
Hope they add bass guitar lessons soon.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
My happy moment of the day.
Monday, September 14, 2009
I learned something today... (From a gay fish)
Monday, September 07, 2009
The dead whale carcass of the music could feed a lot of smaller fish and a few sharks.
Related video:
(The sharks would be ticketmaster and livenations 360 deals in this case.)
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Only six songs remain in the drums folder onto the Bass folder!
So I think my next plan of attack will be to move the songs in the bass folder forward until most of them are ready for guitars. Some of them might not even require much to move onto the guitar folder. Here are the ones currently in the 02 Track Bass folder:
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Things I've noticed about Logic 9 while getting my oil changed and tire repaired.
Also tried out the Flex time on this song slowing the tracks from 77bpm to 65bpm and the results did impress me. (Though I will be re-tracking the parts for performance reasons.)
The new groups floating window is very useful.
I like the new zoom commands even though I will have to retrain my hands. They are more useful and I don't have to twist my hands into bizzare shapes just to zoom in or out. If you've used a previous version you have to choose the defaults since it doesn't automatically replace them when you upgrade.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
My new trick for programming Hi-Hat parts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Moved a few songs up the ladder.





