My First Blog Post (maybe?)

originally posted May 2005 to my Windows Live blog

Oops, I stepped in “blog” ??!!

What to BLOG? What to BLOG?

Let’s start with music, since that’s one of my favorite things.  I am going to come out with the "Remember when they didn’t suck?" CD box set.  There are a lot of bands that started out kicking @$$ and ended up lame.  Lot of 70′s-80′s bands died and went to ballad-hell! Need examples?

• Journey
• Heart
• Cheap Trick
• Foreigner
• Chicago (after Terry died, obviously)
• Even Van Halen lost their kick!!!!

I could make the list pretty long, but who would you add?

Stevie Ray never lost it, but we lost him.  Best thing that ever came out of the 80′s.

In the 90′s I was worried I’d be like old people and say there’s no good new music nowadays.  But there was a ton.  Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Metallica, Eric Johnson …the list goes on. One of the best was Stone Temple Pilots.  It was testosterone rock.  Now we have Velvet Revolver, which is ok, but not STP good (yet?).

Kenny Wayne Shepherd, what the hell happened to you?  You could do no wrong….until that last CD which was a total waste of my cash.  Get your old singer back and do what you excel at.  Stop smoking whatever it was that made you do that last CD.

Jonny Lang…one of the few people I’d pay to see right now.  Sings with more soul than anyone I know of, and plays great.

Who is good lately?  Not many I’ve seen.  Jet is retro and catchy.  When they stop making the new good stuff, check out the old stuff.  Find out about the blues.  It’ll move you.

Guitar gods of all time?  The usuals…Hendrix, Van Halen, Page, Vai, Eric Johnson, Clapton (though more for style than technique), ….know who is probably the best Musician?  Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd.  He is like BB King in that he can convey more with one note than a lot of guys can with a blinding fury of notes.  Music is not all about technique.  It’s about delivering FEELING and EMOTION with your tools.

On the other hand, I’m not interested in 99.9% of "music" by non-musicians – those who don’t master their art, but they look hot or can dance or program a computer and talk smack in trite rhymes.

Sam Phillips is a shining star that few know about. Martinis and Bikinis was incredible! Find out about her.

http://www.bradfordvillebluesclub.com/ is the place to go for the finest music in N. Florida.  Check out local wonder boy Rick Lollar, too.  Amazing!  Go out and support your local bands.  They need it, and you might find a gem!

Musical Legends of Tallahassee

originally posted to my Windows Live blog May 2005

Tallahasssee, Florida, for being such an out of the way smallish town, has spawned some musical greats.  Some you may not have heard of, but savvy Tallahassee locals know about all of these.  If they are ever in your area, go check them out.

 
The most famous in recent years is probably the now defunct Christian Grunge rock band Creed whose break-out hit "My Own Prison" was originally recorded by another local talent.  If you liked Creed, check out Alter Bridge which has former Creed members.

Another all time great who originated in Tallahassee is guitar legend Julien Kasper, who I first saw performing with a legendary local band Crosscut Saw (now defunct).  Crosscut Saw was an outstanding blues/rock band who featured many local talents, but I was blown away when they backed Julien in a rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s "Third Stone from the Sun", which is not something your average player dares to perform in public.  It’s very idiomatic of Hendrix, but Julien pulled it off with flair, playing as if on fire with the spirit of Jimi.  Julien is now an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music, sharing his expertise on the playing styles of Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix, among other things.  I recommend his CD highly and if you ever get a chance to see his band perform, don’t miss it!

Also from Crosscut Saw emerged the king of harmonica Pat Ramsey, who I’ve had the good fortune to jam with on two occasions, once playing guitar at Tallahassee’s own Bullwinkle’s Saloon, and once while playing bass at the home of a friend of Pat’s.  I’ve never heard a better harp player, though Pat’s own son may already be vying for his crown.  Some claim that John Popper of Blues Traveller is one of the greatest, and I’ll tip my hat to his technique, but in terms of soulfulness and musicality, he doesn’t come anywhere close to Pat.  You owe it to yourself to buy all of Pat Ramsey’s CD’s.  I did.  Catch Pat Ramsey and the Blues Disciples whenever and whereever you can. [Edit: Sadly, Pat has passed away since the time of this post.]

Dedicated fans of the Blues already know about "The Sauce Boss," Bill Wharton.  Whenever Bill Wharton and the Ingredients  perform, fans love not only the great blues but also the great eats.  Bill has been known to cook up a big batch of mighty good Gumbo to share with the fans.  You know you want some!
Well, that’s barely the tip of the iceberg for the best blues/rock musicians from Tallahassee, and hopefully I’ll add more in the near future, but I have to also tip my hat to two great Tallahassee organizations:

1. The Bradfordville Blues Club cranks out the finest blues every weekend, sometimes with local acts, sometimes bigger names. This is Tallahassee’s authentic back-woods juke joint and if you haven’t been, you haven’t lived. Bring dancing shoes!
2. The Apalachee Blues Society promotes Blues and Blues culture in a wide swath around Tallahassee.  They also get together at least monthly and have a good time.  If you live in the area and like blues, show up at a meeting and see what I mean.

More someday…

The State of the Computer Programming Biz

originally posted to my Windows Live Blog on July 1, 2005

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Thinking about going into computer programming?  Everyone knows that salaries are not what they were before the DotCom crash of the 90′s, but salaries are still decent, right?

Well, they may be improving, but the only way the vast majority of software developers will get paid well is if the industry as a whole sets some standards for itself. There are some indemic problems in the industry.  In a move to hire cheaper labor, lots of companies sacrifice quality.  This obviously can impact the sucker, er, I mean end-user buying the cheapware, but it also costs the software company more  in the long run.  The reason is that there are huge differences between the kind of code cranked out coders with low vs. high experience levels.   It is one thing to be able to make something work in your code.  It is another thing to make it work well, not only in terms of the user’s experience but in terms of stability over time, error handling, etc.  It is yet another thing to write code good enough that it is easy for other coders to figure out how to fix and enhance without spending days trying to guess how the code works and complaining that the whole thing needs to be rewritten, preferably in the language that they prefer to code in.

On one hand it is very cool that writing software is easier and more feasible for the average computer user.  On the other hand, that doesn’t mean they should be hired to produce code professionally. 

There aren’t any widely accepted industry standards that rate the quality of work by a software developer.  Lawyers at least have to pass bar exams to certify that they are qualified to do a decent job.  Doctors have to meet requirements established by the AMA.  Why should you care?  If you are a software developer, you are the one that has to help make this industry a better place to work, and a more lucrative career as well.

Are you a software developer who actually cares about quality and professionalism in your work?  Maybe you have learned about the technology, but now you want to know the difference between a good coder and a great coder?  There is actually quite a lot written on the subject, but it seems that only a small percentage of coders bother to learn about this subject, and even fewer to make the effort to do anything about it.  You have to not only learn how to make things work in your code, but you need to pay attention to sometimes very minute details of how you design your code.  You need to also think about the bigger picture of the process of developing software.

Here is some suggested reading for those interested:

• Software Craftmanship: The New Imperative by Pete McBreen
• Code Complete (2nd Edition) by Steve McConnell
• After the Gold Rush: Creating a True Profession of Software Engineering (same author)
• Rapid Development (same author)
• Software Project Survival Guide (same author)
• Writing Solid Code by Steve Maguire
• Debugging the Development Process (same author)
• Writing Secure Code by Michael Howard & David LeBlanc
• Dynamics of Software Development by Jim McCarthy

Drew Hankin Dies at age 38

Here are some links to articles about Drew's Passing

•  My Post For www.SectionB.com
• Warchant: Drew Hankin dead at 38
• WCTV Article, Video and links to more 
• Steve Melewski's Sports Blog
• Tallahassee Democrat News (requires subscription)
• Tallahassee Democrat Obit (requires subscription)
• Tallahassee Democrat: FSU baseball program hosts memorial service for Hankin  (requires subscription)
• AllVoices.com article