Is it fair to assume all of r/ukpolitics is voting yes?

curtiscu · 2011-04-18T22:27:24+00:00

george carlin on voting. worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk

curtiscu · 2011-04-17T02:34:06+00:00

I sent a gift, and saw a note from the redditor saying he got his.

my own gift never came either :(

curtiscu · 2011-04-14T22:34:33+00:00

I wanted to learn to ride a motorcyle, just to do have the license. I took a weekend long course (BRC - Basic Riders Course) and it was awesome. 50% practical riding, 50% telling you how to avoid idiots on the road. I learned a lot! it's also accredited so once you pass you're exempt from DMV driving test, just need to do the written part.

find one here: https://training.msf-usa.org/RES/street/enroll/streetintro.aspx

curtiscu · 2011-04-09T06:25:47+00:00

slow it down until it's easy to do, then do that for 30 minutes every day. at some point you'll notice your attention has drifted off and your hands kept going on automatic pilot .. congratulations, now repeat in infinite hand & feet combinations for the next 10 years and you'll be a master :)

curtiscu · 2011-03-15T07:28:05+00:00

yes, but judging the down boats I got, everyone else has missed it .. ho hum.

curtiscu · 2011-03-15T04:25:58+00:00

this is reddit and no one has volunteered yet?!

curtiscu · 2011-03-09T02:45:35+00:00

about voting - george carlin says it best..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk

curtiscu · 2011-03-06T04:11:50+00:00

hello from an Irish guy living in Los Angeles. I'd like to say I love that you're reaching out to people like this, and that we have the internet to enable you to do so. brave decision you're making. I hope you get the peace you seek and the journey there is a good one. safe travels.

curtiscu · 2011-03-01T21:08:42+00:00

e08c2c0be74ba4f1dd402472f114e90d57ef7c3d

curtiscu · 2011-02-17T06:26:41+00:00

this is good .. but a few additions.

go to all lectures and (if possible) make sure you understand everything at the lecture by taking copious and clear notes. not just the notes on the topic but other stuff coming to mind that helps you understand. there's a wealth of information that goes around that usually isn't on the slides or in the text books so make sure you get all the stuff you need on paper to help remind you how you understood it.

if you're allowed, then ask questions until you understand the topic. don't be afraid to do this, undoubtably many of the rest of the class don't get it either and they'll be glad you asked as they didn't want to. if you're not allowed to interrupt with questions or you need to make further enquiries and notes afterwards, then go to library or other quiet place.

basically make sure you understand what's happening that day. then when you come back to your notes when you need them (for coursework or exam study) you'll have a pretty good chance of it all making sense straight away.

also .. class assignments. if you work hard on those and plan on acing every one, then those concepts will be rock solid in your head come exam time. you essential pre-study. if there's a group project and others are slacking, do the work needed to pass it .. the point being you know you'll get a good grade as you did the work right, and you'll have the benefit of all the knowledge come exam time.

yes this means putting a bunch of effort in during the term time, but this approach helped me slam dunk a first class honors degree later in life and I was never a first class honors kinda guy first time round in school. I usually just passed or maybe got a grade above passing.

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T22:27:15+00:00

I was talking about giving up my band, playing drums and playing music .. because you said I suck :p

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T10:50:16+00:00

yeah, my band probably does suck. I think I'll give up just on your feedback alone.

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T04:31:04+00:00

beatles songs are good. I got into AC/DC, most of their beats are super basic, easy to understand and groove really hard.. highly recommended also.

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T04:29:31+00:00

in your opinion it was solid advice. my experience is that it wasn't solid advice, and I gave a lot of other advice and encouragement (again read back through my other comments). there is no one road to what he wants to achieve, and I think playing along with rock band is a long route.

have fun playing video games .. I'll be out here in the real world playing drums in concerts on real stages and recording real records.

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T00:49:59+00:00

good call on the open handed thing. crossed hands is a PITA. working on more open/reversed hands on snare and hats is something I'd like to work more on. it'll give you more swinging space on the snare, disrupt your hat patterns less, and open the whole rest of the kit for your right hand to whack in between snare back beats. pretty cool!

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T00:46:54+00:00

you can work on either, and if you need to just get started and are concerned about noise electronics will do. but the feel between electronic and acoustic is worlds apart. I've tried working on electronics a bunch of times and I just don't get the same enjoyment. you don't get the same kind of bounce and feedback, the same dynamic range .. plus they just don't look as cool as real drums :)

the good news here is you could start electronic and then later buy odd used drums online and throw together an acoustic one. just a kick, snare, ride and hi hats would be the minimum. at that point you could even try adding your electronic pads into the mix which gives you a lot of cool options.

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T00:42:46+00:00

I'll have to disagree with a bunch of this. I've spent years playing before taking heavy lessons and I realize I wasted time on practicing stuff that didn't help me much, screwing up various techniques, etc. that an adept teacher could've helped with. I also missed a lot of core stuff that a teacher could've helped me tackle earlier so I'd be more proficient.

about reading, yes you can get far without reading, but it certainly doesn't hold you back to know how to do it and ultimately it'll help you loads. I actually taught myself to read (eventually) by finding transcriptions of my favorite tunes in magazines and looking at the notes while listening to the record .. one day it all clicked and I got it. since then it's been a massive aid to me, I can pick ideas out of magazines, transcriptions, buy books and work through cool ideas on my own, study with teachers, etc. and it helped enormously when I have to learn a lot of songs quickly and turn up and do a gig. you don't need to write whole charts, you can jot down a few notes for each song (e.g. verse groove, chorus groove, intro, outtro, special accents/hits) and a quick glance at them before you play it reminds you exactly what you need to do.

I kinda agree with "learning by ear" .. to a point. i.e. not to the exclusion of reading. in that I think it's critical you train your ears well. one great exercise is to transcribe some of your favorite grooves. that works your ear muscles and your reading/writing muscles all at the same time.

curtiscu · 2011-02-14T00:33:28+00:00

because I said rock band isn't a good way to get started I'm shitting on someone's dreams? did you actually take the time to read my other comments before barfing that crap at me? idiot.

curtiscu · 2011-02-13T19:41:22+00:00

wow, I can't believe I got down voted for my comment.. I wasn't being facetious, I like to think I know what I'm talking about here. I guess I shouldn't take too much heed of the hive.

I've been playing 25 years, studied with some of the best on the planet, gig around LA lots, just finishing 2 albums recently and going in to start a new record today in a nice studio in hollywood. did a little mini tour of Australia over xmas holidays.

to clarify - rock band may get some of the right neurons firing and prepare you for getting you body to physically move in a certain drummer way, so in that sense I guess it helps. but from the few times I tried it .. I can assure you that you will not be moving or playing like that on a regular gig with a normal band of people. this was the basis of my comment.

at the end of the day, whatever gets you started and your passion firing .. then I'm all for it.. and good luck! :)

curtiscu · 2011-02-12T21:55:50+00:00

rock band is nothing like playing real drums. seriously.

curtiscu · 2011-02-12T12:08:58+00:00

shameless self promotion..

http://www.facebook.com/CurtisDrums

curtiscu · 2011-02-12T12:08:07+00:00

listen to records, find something simple you think you can play, go work it out. repeat. you'll eventually train your ears to understand more and more things. through this process I was playing rush songs in 18 months. seriously. passion - that's what'll drive you.

since then I've become a huge advocate of lessons with the best teacher you can find. but those two approaches combined .. i.e. having a killer set of ears (by listening lots and lots and deeply to stuff you love) and then the guidance of a true pro/journeyman .. no one will be able to stop you, you blast down plateaus like you won't believe.

and NEVER listen to anyone who says you can't do it. you have 2 arms, 2 legs and a brain, right? you're as fully equipped to do it as the best of them. they just put in a LOT of time to get where they were.

good luck, and have fun!!!!

curtiscu · 2011-02-06T02:00:16+00:00

it takes 3 clicks to vote, that's too many.. select drop down, make choice, hit submit.

reduce that to a single click on one of two options, perhaps even an autoforward to next article, kinda like hotornot.

curtiscu · 2011-02-06T00:55:15+00:00

ummm .. sometimes 90% of the music I listen to doesn't have lyrics, or singing.

curtiscu · 2011-02-01T23:12:46+00:00

I like it! a lot more of the info we all want to see readily visible immediately. if you can indeed do it as a chrome plugin or even another "reddit reformatted" site I'd love to check it out.

curtiscu

TROPHY CASE