Jul 22 2008

New Song I Wrote: Perfect is the Enemy of Good (Guitar Only)

I recorded this song just to capture some music I had in my head. It’s not meant to be a final version, but more of a “stream of thought” in terms of music (though edited). I still need to go back and gather those thoughts into a comprehensible “song” that has all those melodies and harmonies that makes music so structured, or not.

The recording goes along with its own first draft lyrics which were also created from stream of thought writing, which is inherently unstructured and mostly incomprehensible. So, you won’t get to hear the lyrics anytime soon (because I can’t sing).

This is probably as far as I’m going to go with this particular song. I just threw it together because people often ask what songs I’m playing when I play my guitar. I’m just making junk up as I go along, and this is the junk I came up with so I thought I’d share.

I hope you like it, feel free to critique it as I’m always trying to improve! Oh, and I know the timing is a bit off. I need to invest in a metronome.

I present:

Michael Ziray – Perfect is the Enemy of Great

 

Aside: The title comes from a Voltaire quote (my translation): ”Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.” The song’s lyrics are actually about a girl and knowing that perfection is the goal, but by no means the finish line.


Jul 19 2008

New Song I Wrote: Undeserved

I started this song over a year ago (March 2007?). I worked on it a bit since then but completely lost the direction I was going with it and gave up trying to make anything from it. Thus, I think it’s probably one of my worst songs. However, in the interest of finishing what I started and the fact I hate to leave things without closure, I decided just to cut it short and finish it up.

This one doesn’t contain any stock loops and is created entirely note by note in Apple’s Garage Band.

I present:

Michael Ziray – Undeserved

I hope you enjoy!


Jul 17 2008

Recipe: Tejfölös Káposzta (Sour Cream Cabbage Soup)

 

Ingredients:
———- 

2-3 kilo pork
2 kilo sour cabbage
3 onions
2 quarts sour cream
salt & pepper
1/2 cup Sweet Hungarian paprika

Optional:
Caraway Seeds
Bay leaves 

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Jul 14 2008

Bike Training with the Garmin Edge 705 GPS

Recently I bought the Garmin Edge 705 to track my training. I wanted a GPS unit that I could use running, cycling and also in my car. The 705 is slightly larger than a cellphone and is extremely light (less than a cellphone). It mounts to the handlebars of your bike or you can purchase a car kit to mount it there as well.

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Jul 13 2008

Final Touches, a House Warming and a Birthday

My roommate’s birthday was on Friday and to celebrate we threw him a party. It was also a house warming of sorts since we had just redecorated. The total cost for the project was about $800.

For the final touches (in addition to the last post), we bought two throw rugs for the kitchen and two stools for behind the bar. The crown molding was put up along, the bookshelf was put up and stocked with my favorite books and everything was simply cleaned. I don’t know how long it would have taken me to do had I not been motivated by people coming over.

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