askland on March 9th, 2010

In central Guangzhou, China (about a 3 hour bus ride north of Macau where I currently, live) you can go to the Han River Dog Meat Restaurant and order dog soup, dog with tofu, dog steak and many more delicious recipes. You can even have spicy dog in your hot pot.

But the Chinese government is considering finally banning the eating of cats and dogs. One person spearheading the campaign to make eating dogs and cats illegal in China says: “Cats and dogs are loyal friends to humans. A ban on eating them would show China has reached a new level of civilization.”

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askland on February 14th, 2010

Happy Chinese New Year 2010! Firecrackers have been going off for a few days here in Macau, China with fireworks on the water and throngs of visitor’s in the casinos.

I have my 2010 Tiger decorations up around the house (which I’m told can stay up all year) and received my lucky three oranges as a gift from a friend. We’ve been giving out the lucky red Lycee envelopes filled with Macau money (Patacas) to our doormen and women as a sign of good luck for the coming year and declaring “Kong Hei Fat Choy” to all of our Chinese friends.

My Chinese friends say I am “only half Chinese, but maybe someday 100% Chinese”. 愉快的中國新年2010年

askland on February 14th, 2010

“Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own,” he said. “Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you…failure has to be an option in art and exploration because it’s a leap of faith.”

“In whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.”

- James Cameron – TED Talks 2010

Just read these words today and they hit me so strong. Like if you’re reading the bible and a verse jumps out and you think God is speaking directly to you.

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askland on February 6th, 2010

You’ll notice a definite “Cirque du Soleil” influence on this presentation by Pink at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Hope you enjoy it.

askland on February 2nd, 2010

November 2009 -- The ZAiA Band plays live musical accompaniment for Cirque du Soleil’s ZAiA show. ZAiA is a multidisciplinary circus arts show about a young girl who travels through the universe to find love. Come to Macau and dream with us! Now playing at the Venetian Macau Hotel Casino and Resort.

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Tony Robbins discusses the “invisible forces” that motivate everyone’s actions — and high-fives Al Gore in the front row.

The first time I went through the Tony Robbins tape series was 20 years ago. I still find him very inspiring.

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askland on January 26th, 2010

Compare the two conducting and performance styles for Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Top video is concluding part two of Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture performed by the Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Mark Elder at the Royal Albert Hall during the Nations Favourite Prom 2004

Bottom video is the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra.

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In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Rabbi Gerd Jacob (Zwienicki) Wiener shares his memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.

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askland on January 25th, 2010

Mad Dog Hong Kong MC

A shout out to the Mad Dog motorcycle club in Hong Kong. I thought their leather vests were way cool and asked a member how I could get one. The response started with a polite sneer and ended with a rundown of the commitment and dedication the members have to their club. So I guess the only way I’ll get the vest is to get a knock off made at a local tailor in Macau or Zhuhai -- and then if a Mad Dog ever sees me wearing it they’ll kick my butt -- so maybe I won’t do that….

Back in the late 90’s or so I did have the privilege of playing for Sonny Barger of the Hell’s Angels. It was a private party and I was playing with Freddy Fender -- I think it was in Hollister, CA. I remember Sonny approached Freddy to play a specific song and Freddy was like “Yes sir” -- which was pretty funny because Freddy was a longtime Harley rider and a badass in his own right. But there’s a pecking order.

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askland on January 22nd, 2010

In the process of upgrading my phpBB2 forums to phpBB3. The actual upgrade process you can find on the phpbb website. But here I will keep a list of maintenance steps to take after you have upgraded and rebuilt your search index.

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askland on January 19th, 2010

Castles Made of Sand
Music, Lyrics and Vocals by Karin Maria Andersson
Guitar and video by Olivier Milchberg
Macau (SAR) China, January 2010

This video has clips from the Cirque Du Soleil artists of ZAIA starting in Montreal, Canada from January 2008 during training (and lots of snow!) to late 2009 backstage, and during rehearsals for the show at the Venetian in Macau (SAR) China.

For us in the show the video is extremely emotional. Some of the people in this video are no longer with us in Macau. The time of ZAIA is one that all of us will remember and many of us will cherish. The experiences we had in China for many of us were not what we expected – they were experiences and adventures we could have never imagined; many good and some painful for each of us.

I normally don’t get seen in videos or promo photos – so thank you to Olivier for getting me in there several times. Fun to see the musicians and how all of our looks changed from the beginning in Montreal to the journey in China. As our composer told us: “You all look more shiny.” I would agree. Cirque and China have allowed us to shine.

I think this video will give a sense of closure to many of us for a slice of time we spent together – a “castle made of sand”.

I am personally moved by the video in a way beyond words. Thank you to Maria and Olivier for this truly precious gift of song….

And a note from Olivier on this video:

Hi all my dear friends,

Here is a new video on the creation of Zaia. It’s a tribute to Zaia artists, and especially to Maria and the musicians.

I asked Maria to compose a song for it, and she did it just before leaving Macau.
These images can seem nostalgic in our situation, but the purpose of this video is only to highlight the strong and moving times we spent together; sharing sorrow and joy, as Maria says.

It’s my way to say thank you to all of you, and to express my admiration of the amazing talent of every artist. And let’s remember, even if this adventure stops right now, our talents will continue to shine and spread over the planet.

Olivier

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askland on January 18th, 2010

Olberman slams Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh for their comments on Haiti.

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askland on January 18th, 2010

Fuerzabruta -- The New Show from the creators of DE LA GUARDA. Visit fuerzabrutanyc.com for more info

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askland on January 13th, 2010

A young man with no disabilities and many abilities! This should inspire most people to be thankful for what we’re given and to realize most of our limitations are decided by ourselves. And I think his Claire De Lune sounds pretty good!

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askland on January 11th, 2010

The Christmas holiday is one of the most difficult times of the year to stay ‘green,’ but rocket launching our Christmas tree was a great way to recycle our trash destined tree. 32 large rocket engines and some careful calculations ensured fun for the whole family.

askland on January 11th, 2010

Try in some small way to fathom the size of the universe. And here’s the related size of planets and stars:

And it’s always a good time for a refresher to view Carl Sagan’s COSMOS:

askland on January 5th, 2010

Damn the internet for always teaching me new things. I am very happy to think that I already know everything. I stand corrected once again; this time on the use of the word “flutist” vs. “flautist”.

I’m still getting used to the French Horn being referred to as just “Horn” – will the changes never cease? My musical world is crumbling before me….

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askland on January 1st, 2010

This took me quite a while to find. Here is the query to use in MySql to create the search table in VBulletin. To find the code to create other tables in VBulletin database go to your VB upload files to: install/mysql-schema.php

This was in response to an INVALID SQL error in VB 4.0 where “domainname” is the name of your website url:
MySQL Error   : Table ‘domainname.search’ doesn’t exist
Error Number  : 1146

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askland on January 1st, 2010

A collection of my changed VBulletin 4.0 settings. I’m posting this so I can remember the changes as I go along that may be helpful to other people. Maybe other VB owners have better, or additional suggestions, they can let me know about. (hint, hint: leave a comment please!)

Just released on December 21, 2009 – the new VB4 has received mixed reviews. Members of my communities also are mixed on their appreciation. We’ll give it some time to settle and see how it goes with the new CMS. I run forums on both VB and PhpBB.

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askland on December 28th, 2009

An email received with questions about performing the music for AIDA by Elton John.

EMAIL:

I am the pit orchestra director for an upcoming High School prodcution of
Aida.  This is my first experience working with a more contemporary style
pit.  I noticed that you have experience with conductn the show.  I’d
appreciate any help or advice you might have for working with
instrumentation -particularly with regard to the keyboards and percussion.

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