Glory (Blu-ray)

Glory is one of those films that I consider a sentimental favourite. It doesn’t rank in the upper echelon of my all-time faves, but it’s a film that I like to revisit from time to time and enjoy thoroughly every time I watch it. Sure it treads perilously close to melodrama at times, aided and abetted by James Horner’s soaring score, but this is rare case where I allow myself to succumb to the emotional manipulations of the story, and it chokes me up every time. Highlighted by stellar performances from Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman, exquisite cinematography, and the stirring story of the Civil War’s first all black regiment, Glory is essential viewing for any film lover.

I was really excited to discover that Glory was now available on Blu-ray and anxious about how great it might look and sound. Unfortunately, the news is not all good. The video transfer is generally quite good, but doesn’t come close to approaching the best the format has to offer. Bright scenes exhibit well saturated colour and fine detail. However, in many mid to lower lit sequences there is abundant grain, colours are sometimes washed out, and shadow detail is severely lacking. Fortunately, none of these issues infiltrate the climactic and spectacularly filmed assault on Ft. Wagner, much of which takes place at night, the action illuminated by flares and cannon fire.

The 5.1 HD Audio track is a similarly mixed bag. Glory is a surprisingly dialogue intensive war film, and the center channel track is much thinner and weaker than it should be. Things wake up a little as the mains and surrounds kick in, but the overall presentation lacks the clarity and separation that I’ve become accustomed to with BD’s. The three battle scenes are suitably cacophonic with immersive surround activity, though bass response is not nearly as solid or extended as I expected it to be, and that ranks as a real disappointment given all the cannon fire involved.

It’s easy to recommend Glory as a film, but much harder to recommend this Blu-ray release. It stands as a worthwhile upgrade for the dedicated fan, but not nearly as good as it could have been.

Swart AST Pro - First Impressions

Well, my Swart AST Pro has arrived. Picked it up in NY yesterday AM and spent the afternoon playing it in tandem with the Tone King Meteor.

It's pretty much as advertised - good reverb and trem, not much headroom, a base tone that's woody/smokey, very much in the Fender tweed camp.

I started by replacing the stock tubes with NOS across the board. Stuck with a 5AR4 rectifier and 6V6GT's. It wasn't long before I pulled the 6V6's for a pair of NOS Tung Sol 5881's (lower power 6L6's). That added a little more headroom but still not too much, and I dialed it in from there, fussing with settings and inputs as I went along.

You really have to work to get nice clean tones at any kind of volume. My go to pedal combo to emulate Blackface cleans is the Keeley Java Boost -> Catalinbread Silver Kiss, and it usually works incredibly well, but less so here. This little amp just wants to overdrive, and I quickly discovered that it's best to just let it go, that's where the real magic is.

The Swart really excels when it comes to crunchy rhythms and soaring leads. The sustain is effortless, it's just a matter of getting the high end dialed in just right, which I'm finding a little tricky at times (some interactivity going on here, I think). It responds well to all three pickup positions of my G&L Bluesboy, and every pedal I threw at it (the Greer Ghetto Stomp is an especially good match). It's a ton of fun to play when you're rocking out.

The sound is surprisingly big for a 1x12 in such a small enclosure, but the overall tonality is still a little boxy (one of the main knocks against the original AST). It's not so much noticable on its own, but became quite evident when I switched over to the Meteor sitting beside it. It's simply no contest - the Meteor sounds huge and far more open in comparison. Likewise, the much heralded Swart reverb doesn't hold a candle to the TK, though the trem fares much better head to head.

Comparisons aside, these two amps sound fantastic together, either seperately for rhythm and lead, or together. Running the Meteor clean or with just a bit of grit with the Swart overdriiving beside it sounds glorious, especially for edge of break up rhythm stuff.

Those are just first impressions based on a couple hours of play time, and there's lots of experimenting left to do. I'd like to try the 6V6's again, but this time matched with a 5Y3 rectifier (the traditional Tweed Deluxe setup). I have a 5751 sitting in V1, and may try another in V2 to see if that provides more headroom and open things up a little more. I also want to try the amp up off the floor where it has more room to breathe, and upstairs where there are more reflective surfaces to see how it sounds in that environment (I'm hoping to use it at kitchen and deck parties, which may also require a Swart Night Light attenuator).

The idea behind getting the Swart was as a very portable grab and go with onboard reverb and trem, and as a lead amp to complement the TK. It will certainly fill the bill as the latter, and I'm pretty sure that it will be well suited to the former as well.

Saying goodbye to Zach

Our oldest son Zach came by today for a belated Easter lunch.  My parents came over as well and we did the Easter egg hunt for the little kids.  Most important, it was the last time we will see Zach for quite a while.  He leaves today at 6 PM for a trip downtown where he will be sworn in as an Air Force recruit for the 2nd time.  He will spend the night in a hotel, then leave at 4:30 AM for boot camp in Texas.  Typically boot camp lasts 8 and 1/2 weeks, so we will not see him until he graduates at that time.  It was very hard saying goodbye.  Tears were shed not only for ourselves, but also for little John, who doesn't understand that his "Coco" is not going to be around anymore.

There is no doubt that Zach is doing the right thing for himself.  He is on his way to becoming a man and seeing what real life is all about.  We are very, very proud of him and will miss him very much.  I am looking so forward to his graduation and hearing stories about boot camp and his job training.

We love you with all of our hearts, Zach.  Make us proud, but more importantly, do yourself proud.

Love,
Dad, Mom, Jessica, Laurel & John

Barb Kicks Ass

Barb kicked total ass this past weekend.  There's just no other way to say it.  She took the bull by the horns and decided it was time to get the basement completed the way we wanted it.  So she (with some help from Zach) got the new theater area painted, got everything moved, arranged, hung and accounted for and now the basement is fabulous.  The kids have the run of 70% of it.  It's a huge play area where they can do what they want, have tons of toys at their disposal and a TV and DVD player as well.  It's very kid-friendly, decorated very cutely and just perfect for what we need.

And the theater area turned out way better than I ever expected.  It's perfect for movies, sports, gaming or visiting with friends. Barb got all of my movie posters up and all of my gaming stuff stored neatly.  I got everything all hooked up and working so it's a go.  We could not have done all of this without Jessica either, so a big thanks to her as well.

But Barb was the worker.  She was the (wo)MAN.  She kicks ass!

Vacation Time!!!

It's been a long haul since Jan. 4th, but today marks the start of a much needed 10 day break. It actually started yesterday at noon. I took the afternoon off and drove down to Ogdensburg NY to pick up an amp that I had shipped to the UPS Store there.

The amp is an original Tone King Meteor, a 40W 1x12 combo with reverb and tremolo. It has two footswitchable channels, one based on a Fender Deluxe Reverb and the other on tones that range from Fender Tweed Duluxe into early Marshall territory. A half power switch allows you to run the second channel at 20W. Very handy! I haven't played much at all since returning to work in July, but the itch is coming back in a big way. There's nothing like a new amp to fuel that urge, and I have a killer Slacker Radio mix set up and ready to roll for backing tracks. Yee-Haw!!!

Tonight we're off to the Sens game courtesy of tickets I won in a raffle about a month ago. Our seats are 12 rows behind the Senators net, so it might be a good night for some photo opps. Looking forward to the game and hitting our favorite arena restaurant for beer and burgers beforehand.

My main "project" for the week is to get our taxes done. Up until now it's been a very straightforward affair, but that's all changed since I became self-employed last year. Lots of receipts to compile and expenses to calculate. I'm not looking forward to it, nor am I looking forward to the trip I need to make to the licence bureau to cancel the registration on my old car sometime next week.

I'm not sure how much time I'll have for gaming, but whatever there is will probably put towards a second play through Heavy Rain. Joyce was actually asking about it last night (gotta love that!). She'd like to see how differently it might play out the second time through. So would I?

Joyce is working through Wed., then on Thurs. AM we hit the road for a few days in Ithaca NY. Why Ithaca, you ask? Well, it came highly recommended by a server at our favorite eatery in NH. It's primarily a college town (Cornell U, Ithaca College) with lots of pubs, restaurants, live music, etc. Were booked into an historic inn on the edge of Ithaca Commons - the hub of activity downtown. It's apparently a lovely town and area, and also wine country. Neither of us have ever been to a winery and, though it's no doubt out of season, we'll definitely be seeking one out. We're also planning a day trip up to Waterloo about an hour to the north. There's a huge oulet mall there that we're anxious to check out. In the meantime, I've been busy compiling tuneage for the tour (fighting iTunes every step of the way). Really looking forward to the trip and getting the Mazda on the road for it's first serious run (notwithstanding my round-tripper to Ogdensburg yesterday).

Finished God Of War III

Awesome.  Just absolutely awesome.  This would have been a serious Game Of The Year contender last year.  I am sure it will make the finalists for 2010.  If you have a PS3 you shouldn't miss this game.  Just the sheer spectacle itself is worth the price of admission.  And the gameplay is dead-on as has always been the case with this series.

Now it's time to see what all this fuss is about with Just Cause 2.

Quick gaming thoughts

I am about 3 hours into God Of War III and - no surprise here - it's awesome.  The graphics are phenomenal, the cut scenes tremendous, the voice acting superb and of course the gameplay is 2nd to none.  Dave from Were Not Here claims that this is the best video game series of all time and if it's not, it's gotta be in the running.  Simply stellar.

I also will be getting Just Cause 2 today.  I pre-ordered it yesterday, trading in Dragon Age: Origins.  I could just never get into that game and I tried with 2 different characters.  I wish I hadn't waited so long, I could have gotten more credit for it.  Anyway, Just Cause 2 looks fun; it's a huge sandbox type of game where stuff blows up real good.  :-)   I won't be playing it until GOW3 is finished but I will give impressions when I do.