This is my tribute to my four places of dwelling while living in NYC.

Astoria, Queens: 2003-2005

Roommates: Jonathan Schwartz, Johnny Amos
Employment: Blue Knights, PCEP, Therapy, composer/arranger/teacher

Bushwick, Brooklyn: 2005-2007

Roommates: John Elrod, Chiyo Elrod, Brandon Epperson, Dani Vialpando, Mike Esham
Employment: Santa Clara Vanguard, composer/arranger/teacher
Education: The New School, HeavyTone Records

Washington Heights (part 1): 2007-2009

Roommates: Jonathan Bradley, John Elrod, Chiyo Elrod, Bita Aminabadi
Employment: Santa Clara Vanguard, Blue Stars, composer/arranger/teacher
Education: The New School

Washington Heights (part 2): 2009-2012

Roommates: Jacquelyn Adams, Dan Peck, mice in the kitchen
Employment: Madison Scouts, composer/arranger/teacher/performer, web design
Projects: Prodigal Children, Genghis Barbie

FEBRUARY
• Arab Spring – Egypt

March
• The Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Power Plant Disaster

April
• The Royal Wedding of William and Kate

May
• Death of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan by U.S.

June

July
• Southern Sudan becomes an Independent Country

August
• Arab Spring – Libya

September
• Occupy Wall Street Movement

October
• Death of Steve Jobs
• Death of Gaddafi

November

December
• Death of Kim Jung Il
• U.S. Stealth Drone Crashes in Iran – intact
• Iraq War Concludes

Related articles

• Happy New Year 2012: Year In Review of the Biggest News Stories of 2011 [PHOTOS] (ibtimes.com)
• 2011: A Year In Review (notsoaverageboy.wordpress.com)
• Top news stories for 2011 (mysanantonio.com)
• 2011 In Review: 11 Leading Story Lines [2/2] (themillennialist.com)
• It’s the End of the Year As We Know It (forbes.com)
• 2011 in Review (magnaefamae.com)
• What 11 moments will you remember from 2011? (techburgh.com)
• 2011 In Review: 11 Leading Story Lines [1/2] (themillennialist.com)
• 2011: A Year in Review In “Year in Review” Videos (laist.com)
• 2011 in Review (rupeenews.com)

Image via Wikipedia

On Dec. 8th, Iranian State TV aired footage of what they claim is an RQ-170 drone – in REALLY good condition. The U.S. has openly stated that a drone did in fact land in Iranian territory, but opted neither to retrieve, nor to destroy the drone. In fact, the U.S. government claimed the drone crashed and all that was left was a “pile of rubble.”

So, either Iran is airing images of an intact U.S. drone that is faux to attract attention and promote anti-American propaganda or Iran is airing images of an intact U.S. drone that is REAL and appears to be in great condition. Let’s assume it’s real.

Scenarios:

• Iran employs the technology into their own
• Iran sells the technology to China or Russia – who then breaks it down, employs it into their technology, and then sells it back to Iran – Ikea style.

Suppose we say that the U.S. intentionally crashed the RQ-170 in Iran – intact and operational – what would be the strategic value of that? Remember – it was NOT important enough to send in Seal Team 6 or whomever, which means the U.S. government really thought it was destroyed or really wanted Iran to possess it.

Israel is probably sweatin’ it a little.

Related articles

• U.S. Spy Drone Captured by Iran of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)
• Iran shows intact drone, boasts of cyberattack – CBS News (cbsnews.com)
• Video: Iran Shows Off Captured U.S. Drone, Swears It’s No Fake (wired.com)
• Iranian TV airs image of alleged U.S. drone (cnn.com)
• US official: Iran does have our drone – CBS News (cbsnews.com)
• US Drone Brought Down by Electronic Warfare Ambush (fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com)
• Iran Shows Alleged U.S. Stealth Drone on TV – ABC News (abcnews.go.com)
• Iran Shows Video of Captured US Drone (abcnews.go.com)
• Iran airs footage of U.S. drone, protests ‘violation’ (vancouversun.com)
• Iran state television displays downed US drone (worldnews.msnbc.msn.com)
• Iranian TV Shows Downed US Drone (politics.slashdot.org)
• Iran Broadcasts Footage of Downed US Drone (usnews.com)

Image via CrunchBase

Mac Users:

Ever download a .rar file (for example) and – for some reason or another – in the middle of the download, you lose the connection, leaving unable to find the hidden, partially downloaded file, AND unable to download the same file (due to the file being there already)?

I have.

I found the answer and thought I would share.

1) Open Terminal

2) Copy & Paste the following:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE; killall Finder

**THERE WILL BE A FLASH**

(don’t be alarmed)

This allows all hidden files to be visible in Finder; allowing you the option to delete (dragging to Trash, if you’d like).

To make your files invisible again, copy & paste the following:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE; killall Finder

This will get you back to normal.

Related articles

• Useful Terminal Commands & Tips For Mac OS X (maketecheasier.com)
• Three ways to fix OS X Lion’s Finder sidebar (zdnet.com)
• What’s new in Lion: the Finder and files (macworld.com)
• 10 Tips For Taming OS X Lion (makeuseof.com)

Marching Roundtable Interview:

Episode 42: DCI Drum Majors- Life On & Off the Podium

Download Part 1
Three DCI drum majors take us behind the scenes explaining their roles on and off the podium, as well as sharing tips and advice for those interested in becoming drum majors.

Our guests: Brad Green of The Cadets, Will Pitts of Phantom Regiment, and Evan VanDoren of Carolina Crown

Episode 43: DCI Drum Majors, Part Two- Conducting the Music

Download Part 2
In Part Two, three top DCI drum majors talk about conducting the music and dealing with timing issues in today’s highly demanding shows, as well as sharing stories from their time on the podium.

Our guests: Brad Green of The Cadets, Will Pitts of Phantom Regiment, and Evan VanDoren of Carolina Crown

Toward the end of the move-in (Spring Training) period last summer, I had the idea of preparing videos of what we will expect from the 2012 Madison Scouts horn line members. Utilizing the expertise of Tim Snyder and Robin Snyder of Box 5 Productions, we put together a handful of videos for future Madison Scouts to reference. It’s one thing to read about expectations in a manual; it’s another to actually witness an example of what one is referring to.

Things You’ll Need

Horn Positions

Trumpet – 2011 Show Exceprt

Trumpet – 4 Note Lip Slur

Trumpet – Eb Clarke Study

Mellophone – 2011 Show Excerpt

Mellophone – 4 Note Lip Slur

Mellophone – Eb Clarke Study

Mellophone – Tim’s Ticulations

Baritone – 2011 Show Excerpt

Baritone – 4 Note Lip Slur

Baritone – Eb Clarke Study

Baritone – Tim’s Ticulations

Tuba – 2011 Show Excerpt

Tuba – 4 Note Lip Slur

Tuba – Eb Clarke Study

Tuba – Tim’s Ticulations

Related articles

• Madison Scouts 2011 – Finals Vids (bradkerrgreen.com)
• Scouts Receive World Trade Center Artifact (bradkerrgreen.com)

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs. You’ve had one hell of a dash.

Related articles

• R.I.P. Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011) (dailypicksandflicks.com)
• Steve Jobs: 1955 – 2011 (balajoe27.wordpress.com)
• Steve Jobs RIP 1955 – 2011 (123beta.com)
• RIP Steve Jobs (1955-2011) (thajuicebar.com)
• Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 (parenthacks.com)
• Steve Jobs, 1955-2011. (balachandar.in)
• Rest in Peace Steve Jobs (shopify.com)
• Steve Jobs 1955-2011 (conversations.nokia.com)
• RIP Steve Jobs (1955 -2011) (crazzycool.blogspot.com)
• Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011 – Technology Review (policyabcs.wordpress.com)
• R.I.P Steve Jobs……1955 – 2011 (nancysmoments.wordpress.com)
• Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 (marshallstanton.com)
• Steve Jobs – 1955-2011 (changegears.wordpress.com)
• Steve Jobs: 1955-2011 (hellforleathermagazine.com)
• RIP Steve Jobs 1955-2011 (alan.com)

Image via Wikipedia

So apparently the U.S. has it’s own Stonehenge in the isolated fields of Georgia. This monolithic event has been named the Georgia Guidestones. Of course I heard about this through a television show on the History channel. Apparently an anonymous person or group had them built in the late 70′s. The anonymity of it’s creator, along with the nature of what is scribed on the stones, has inspired conspiracy theories ranging from a NWO agenda to post-apocalyptic directions for humanity to the Devil’s instructions.

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

This list is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages – English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.

Also, the Georgia Guidestones are aligned with the poles and the cosmos – apparently congruent with the North Star, points to North-South-East-West, and the Sun – both annually and at noon time. I want to see and experience these stones. From what I understand I need to get there before December of 2012 – I better hurry.

Today I went in search of it – the Big Yellow C – again, and found it.

I noticed there was a written statement on the inside of the Big Yellow C. So I stepped closer.

It read, “AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE TWICE AS LIKELY TO HAVE THIS DISEASE AS OTHER GROUPS.” I noticed there was a website with a QR code close by.

Got a QR code reader? Scan this.

The website reads, “Stay tuned on September 20th, when we’ll reveal what this is all about.”
THAT’S TOMORROW!
My guess is that it will address Hepatitis C. More to come as this story unfolds.

Related articles

• This video illusion will destroy your brain (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• Are these women looking at you, or at one another? [Optical Illusions] (io9.com)
• Illusion (onelightmanywindows.wordpress.com)
• Optical Illusions in Architecture (morfis.wordpress.com)
• Impossible Columns… Again! (moillusions.com)
• This Optical Illusion Is Melting My Brain [Video] (gizmodo.com)
• 15 Mind-Boggling Optical Illusion Videos On YouTube (socialtimes.com)
• 5 Rude Optical Illusions (psikita.wordpress.com)
• Optical illusions n’ real life illusions !! (djkyle87.wordpress.com)
• Shadow Optical Illusion: Are Your Eyes Deceiving You? (VIDEO, POLL) (huffingtonpost.com)

Stagger Breathing

When listening to long sustained chords from a brass ensemble, you will notice that the best ensembles sustain these chords without holes in the sound. The “wall of sound” is created by utilizing a technique called stagger breathing. Essentially the wall of sound is created by each performer in the brass ensemble following this simple process:

1. Know when you are going to breathe & commit to the breathing

• You must commit to the breath even if you are not running out of air

2. Don’t breathe at the same time as the person(s) next to you

• 2 or more people in the same proximity breathing at the same time creates holes in the sound

3. Fade out

• A rapid, one beat decrescendo
• Don’t allow the pitch to drift out of tune
• Don’t allow your tone to change

4. Breathe

• One beat to take in a full breath
• The breath should immediately follow the decrescendo; no gaps between the end of the decrescendo and the full breath in

5. Fade back in

• A rapid, one beat crescendo from a niente – no gaps between the end of the breath and the beginning of the crescendo
• Do not rearticulate the front of the note – “ah” articulation
• Be in-tune and in-tone all the way through the crescendo

“ALWAYS SOUND GOOD”

“ALWAYS LOOK GOOD”

“IT ONLY COUNTS ON THE MOVE”

Via CNN – Look back at how September 11 unfolded

Related articles

• Archive chronicles TV’s take on 9/11 (cnn.com)
• Witness to history: White House photographer and the images of 9/11 (cnn.com)
• Where were you on September 11, 2001? (lifeasacynic.blogspot.com)
• Where were you when you heard the news of 9/11 (quefregados.wordpress.com)
• Preparing for 9/11 (thoughtfulbeliever.wordpress.com)
• A Decade Later, the Internet Archive Chronicles 9/11 (nytimes.com)
• Remembering 9|11 (crader.info)
• A decade later, the Internet Archive chronicles 9/11 (gigaom.com)
• How 9/11 made “History” (oup.com)
• Citizen’s Voice: Lucky mom recounts son’s 9/11 horrors (knoxnews.com)

Image via Wikipedia

MySQL Tutorials

The Madison Scouts were recently presented with an artifact from the World Trade Center in recognition of their 2011 production “New York Morning”. Presented by Kenneth Job, Vice President of Job and Job (a New Jersey engineering firm), the artifact is a vial of metal remnants from World Trade Center beam C126, recovered after the events of September 11, 2001.

The C126 beam is being used in the construction of a memorial located in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, just 10 miles from the World Trade Center site. Through special permission of various agencies, Kenneth was able to present this artifact to the corps to include in its historical archives.

“It’s an incredible gesture,” stated Scouts Executive Director Chris Komnick. “We are honored to be the recipient of the gift and it will become an important part of our 2011 historical archives.”

“The members of the 2011 Madison Scouts were given a very special show to perform and night after night they delivered it with incredible emotion and respect,” said Komnick. “It clearly had impact on many who experienced those performances, especially our fans on the East coast. It was a privileged to present this show on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11.”

Following is the letter presented to the Scouts along with photos of the C126 beam and subsequent artifacts.

Related articles

• The World Trade Center Rises Again (news.icanhascheezburger.com)
• VIDEO: Piece Of World Trade Center Arrives At South King Fire & Rescue (b-townblog.com)
• Madison Scouts 2011 – Finals Vids (bradkerrgreen.com)
• World Trade Center Survives Hurricane Irene (newyork.cbslocal.com)

Image by theOOBE via Flickr

iPhone app development YouTube videos … education from all ages to all ages. I will be adding YouTube videos as I discover and watch them.

Related articles

• The latest iPhone app developer is… the FBI? (mobile-ent.biz)
• iPhone App Developer Service | Thought Mechanics LLC (thoughtmechanics.com)

Color Theory

Color theory. RGB.

Related articles

• Ask Casa: A Color Palette Query (casasugar.com)
• Cosmetics Counter: My theory on colour theory (life.nationalpost.com)
• Color theory #2 (mockingbirdsatmidnight.wordpress.com)
• Color theory #1 (mockingbirdsatmidnight.wordpress.com)
• The color wheel of cartoons (holykaw.alltop.com)
• Color Quiz! Are You Warm or Cool Colored? (apartmenttherapy.com)
• 3W “mylonit” RGB mood lamp (electronics-lab.com)
• Color Modes (dpageek.wordpress.com)
• Color Theory: Cool Colors (casasugar.com)
• Casa Quickie: Eco-Color Theory (casasugar.com)
• Color Theory #3 (mockingbirdsatmidnight.wordpress.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Back near the beginning of July 2011, I discovered a collection of YouTube videos displaying an amazing human phenomenon celebrating the summer solstice. I posted the discovery on my blog – http://bradkerrgreen.com/8000-floating-latterns.

“To celebrate the recent summer solstice, residents of Pozna?, Poland gathered to break the country’s record for releasing paper lanterns by setting 8,000 of the glowing lights aloft.” Instantly I was inspired to create an original (albeit short) soundtrack celebrating this amazing event.

Related articles

• 8,000 Floating Lanterns (bradkerrgreen.com)
• Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (lourdruzz143.com)
• Incredible video: Thousands of lanterns floating over Poland (gadling.com)
• Summer Solstice and Midsummer (thatbitfurther.wordpress.com)
• solstice (photographytales.wordpress.com)
• Summer solstice (rushisawant.wordpress.com)
• What you don’t know about the summer solstice (tipggita32.wordpress.com)
• Summer Solstice and 2 Sides of the Coin (theh2obaby.wordpress.com)
• Google’s 2011 Summer & Winter Solstice Logos (searchengineland.com)
• Celebrating the Solstice with spiritual practice (practicingbelzebuubteachings.wordpress.com)
• Listen to Gizmodo’s Soundtrack: Today, Aaliyah [Video] (gizmodo.com)

Below is a map designed to show the evacuation zones in preparation for Hurricane Irene. New York City’s hurricane contingency plans are based on three evacuation zones: Zone A, Zone B and Zone C. The threat of flooding in these areas are different.

Images – either my own or other images found online-

Related articles

• MAP OF THE DAY: New York City Hurricane Evacuation Zones (businessinsider.com)
• NYC Orders First Mandatory Evacuation In History, 250,000 People Affected [Hurricane Irene] (gizmodo.com)
• Evacuation map of NYC: Irene is a big deal (laobserved.com)
• The best ways to stay updated on Hurricane Irene (geek.com)
• Hurricane Irene: Links roundup (boingboing.net)
• Interactive Map of Flood Risks and Hurricane Evacuation Zones Wakes Up NYC Residents (blogs.scientificamerican.com)
• Hurricane Irene News Update II (thedailywh.at)
• Here’s What Will Happen If Hurricane Irene Slams Into New York… (businessinsider.com)
• ALERT: New York City, Mandatory Port Evacuation (gcaptain.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Madison Scouts 2011

DCI World Championships

Finals Night

YouTube Videos

Image via Wikipedia

This may be the most beautiful, unfamiliar event I have seen in a long, long time. I want to strip the sound and write a track for it.

“To celebrate the recent summer solstice, residents of Pozna?, Poland gathered to break the country’s record for releasing paper lanterns by setting 8,000 of the glowing lights aloft.”

Enjoy this Summer Solstice event!

Related articles

• Weekly Photo Challenge: Up (lourdruzz143.com)
• Do You Own Any Paper Lanterns? (casasugar.com)
• Summer Style: Don’t Forget the Lanterns (casasugar.com)
• Summer Style: Paper Lanterns in 500 Days of Summer (casasugar.com)
• Incredible video: Thousands of lanterns floating over Poland (gadling.com)
• An Analysis of the Classic, Summer Solstice (brighthub.com)