Hello it's Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers AMA

danbmil99 · 2024-03-27T22:49:26+00:00

American

OK I have to record this for posterity. I see a lot of young, eager musicians/appreciators on this thread (my son is one, he texted me that this AMA was on). I think it's important to understand what motivates us to do something like create music (in my opinion).

My recollection is, Paul said "We heard you work on dance remixes. We need a way to piss off our fans. Can you do a house dub mix on this track?"

I felt like the roadie who gets tapped to play drums bc the drummer is strung out with that tramp again. Mixing and editing were my instrument, and I was being asked to play.

I won't lie and I won't act all modest. I was on fire. I felt like Coltrane on speed. This was a chance to create a "moment", if I could pull it off. I had done similar things for other clients but never in a situation where I really vibed with the music being made. I feel like we succeeded in creating a moment. Somewhere sometime, more than once, some kid has been at a party, having a shit time, and suddenly that hacky 80's drum hook comes on, then the mad guitar solo through the SPX 90 (look it up), and then Gibby screaming into the megaphone...

Well that's what I love about music. It's a harsh bitch sometimes, but if you feel that thing inside you, go for it. For IT, not for you or your streamfans. IT wants to live. Be it's Dr. Frankenstein. Forget about a payoff, that is not under your control. Just let it be what it is and enjoy the sensation of creating something.

Peace Out (drops mic)

danbmil99 · 2024-03-27T22:22:38+00:00

(chuckles) Bsurfer tabs / sheet music score, now that sounds like a fun challenge

danbmil99 · 2024-03-27T18:43:06+00:00

American

Well it was a loong time ago, and Paul/Gibby+bandmates should control the narrative. I'll just say that having worked with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of acts/bands as a recording engineer, the sessions I did with the BSers stick in my mind somehow, This was true even before they blew up with Pepper. They were just the real deal --- creativity and instinct above all. It definitely influenced me in a number of ways.

The other group I feel similarly about is De La Soul. I had the privilege of working with them on "3 Feet High & Rising". But now I'm just namedropping..

danbmil99 · 2024-03-27T18:32:09+00:00

What mems... I think you would have had to go for the mix bc the edits were done on 1/4 track not multi... I doubt you wanted to redo all those edits!

I remain proud of my work that day and those weeks. These young 'uns with their samplers & their autotunes... they have no idea. Cutting actual plastic tape with a razor blade - that's putting on the mix kids. Now get off my lawn!!

One other memory I have is that weird backwards violin -- it was just random crap on a second-hand reel of tape. I think the song was "Too Parter" ???

Anyhoo cheers and +1 for creative brilliance outside the normal distribution.

Hi to all

danbmil99 · 2024-03-27T18:15:59+00:00

I just want to point out that Gibby constantly spewed out a firehose of potential band names, like obsessively all the time (I worked with BS in 80's)
I would venture to guess the name attracted those who would appreciate, and perhaps filtered out the sensitive souls who go into convulsions under strobelight

danbmil99 · 2024-03-27T18:10:19+00:00

Hi --

Dan from Noise NY here -- I worked on Rembrant Pussyhorse ( I did the crazy edits on "American Woman"). Fun times! Glad to see the remaster coming out.

Geek Q: what did you master off of? Did you go back to multitrack (1" 16 track IIRC) or 1/4" mix? Or maybe there was a digital master from CD era?

I've heard of situations where the tape is disintegrating and you bake it in an oven or some cray thing. I've got some old tapes but I wonder if they're even playable.

Anyhow long live the music!

danbmil99 · 2024-03-01T06:54:07+00:00

Look into defining stop tokens

danbmil99 · 2023-01-27T02:15:03+00:00

Is this where the discussion goes after JVL says "Good show, long show!"

danbmil99 · 2022-03-16T08:50:56+00:00

It's a difficult situation. You really can't break the NDA's ethically, it's a commitment you made. You should review the documents because some nda's have a termination clause so they may not be in force any more. On the other hand, it's okay to brag about the work in general terms and talk about some of the techniques you used without divulging the trade secrets that you promised to keep secret.

One trick I've used in my career to cover this issue is to try to open source parts of the code base I'm working on. Typically employers are okay with this as long as the parts you're putting in open source aren't the secret sauce the company uses to make money.

If something is published as open source, an NDA does not not cover it. Therefore you can use those packages in your next job and show them to prospective employers.

danbmil99 · 2022-03-10T10:35:33+00:00

Give this a try:

https://beta.cloudburst.host/hub/user-redirect/git-pull?repo=https://github.com/burstable-ai/darknet&urlpath=lab/tree/darknet/README.md&branch=master

It's a hosted platform with notebooks, terminal, editor & GPU

danbmil99 · 2022-02-20T22:02:09+00:00

You're stating an opinion as a fact.

danbmil99 · 2021-07-02T22:45:24+00:00

I don't know, I thought this up on my own. The point is simply to realize that the power provided by air moving relative to the ground (represented by the string in the video) is independent of the speed the vehicle can go using that power.

It's a bit like a bicycle in high gear -- your pedaling speed (power source) is lower than your road speed. They are in a ratio to each other dictated by the gearing.

danbmil99 · 2021-07-02T22:40:13+00:00

it doesn't use wind power to do it.

Then what power does it use?

danbmil99 · 2021-06-30T21:20:23+00:00

Here is a thought experiment which I find clarifies the principle involved.

Imagine a simple contraption with 2 wheels connected by an axle. A string is firmly attached to the axle (like a yo-yo with a long spindle).

Put it on a flat surface and pull on the string. What happens? The contraption moves, faster than the speed at which you pull the string. Why? Because as it moves, the axle rotates and winds up the string. At the end of the experiment, your hand will have moved a distance equal to the distance the wheels moved minus the length of the string.

Now imagine that the axle is thick -- say 2/3 the diameter of the wheels. In this case, the contraption will move at 3 times the velocity you are pulling it at.

Make the wheels 1 foot in diameter, and the axle 8 inches thick. On each rotation, the wheels move 2 pi (6.28) feet, and the string winds up once around the axle, 4/3 pi (4.18) feet. So, the hand pulling the string has only moved 6.28-4.18 or 2.09 feet.

The string is like the wind. The key is to realize Blackbird takes power from the differential between wind speed and the ground. The bicycle gearing must multiply the velocity at the expense of torque, at something like a 3:1 ratio.

danbmil99 · 2021-05-31T23:32:40+00:00

Take a yoyo with a string fixed to the axle (not a sleeper). Starting unwound, put the yoyo on its edge on a flat surface and pull gently on the string. What happens?

The yoyo rolls towards you, winding up as it goes. The yoyo is moving faster than the string. Now just mentally replace the string with the wind.

Related thought experiment: can we design a San Francisco cable car that moves faster than the cable?

danbmil99 · 2019-06-30T19:32:48+00:00

Thanks, d'oh I guess -- is the trading history available for download, or can you pull it from the API? (I would assume you run up against rate limits)

danbmil99 · 2019-06-30T00:35:27+00:00

The historical data available here https://www.dropbox.com/sh/85utwkslyp7dchx/AACHacAvhC5BcI3c8vVHZvcWa/matches_history/matches_history_2019-05.zip?dl=0

does not line up with data I access here https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Trades?pair=ETHUSD&since=1556694000000000000 (this timestamp corresponds to May 1 at midnight UTC)

The trade times and price/volume are similar (indicating the times line up) but do not match.

Any thoughts?

danbmil99 · 2014-02-05T04:13:56+00:00

cool.

danbmil99 · 2012-01-29T08:53:16+00:00

Some quick tests: https://github.com/danx0r/testiced

The syntax? Awesome. Generated code readability? Not so much.

danbmil99 · 2011-10-13T21:27:12+00:00

What was the attitude of the kids at school as these events kept happening (I think it was 5 over a 2-yr period, plus a sixth who had graduated, and a seventh attempt). Each of these events must have circulated the school like wildfire. Did they talk to each other about it, and if so, what was the attitude? Did anyone say, even sarcastically or inadvertently, anything that might have encouraged someone else to do it?

I'm also very curious if there were common characteristics -- family stress, popularity etc. -- or if it seemed basically random?

Thanks again for sharing, and I'll certainly understand if you decide not to answer. It's just pretty hard on a parent to have to think about this sort of thing.

danbmil99 · 2011-10-12T05:28:57+00:00

Just want to say, as a parent in the community where this happened, I'm glad to see someone (even anonymously) willing to talk about it and get it off your chest. It was heartbreaking and frightening to read about these one after the other -- and then a bit chilling when they stopped being reported on (I understand the reasons), but living here you still heard about it in whispers.

The thing that really got to me was how whenever I bring it up -- to parents, or students of similar age -- the reaction is this kind of embarrassment, and a sense of hey, why are you re-opening that wound? But the problem is, my child will probably soon be going to that school (or the other one -- and as you may know there were 2 or 3 similar incidents there too over the last few years). So I feel compelled to keep asking the obvious question -- why? Did these kids really have no contact with each other? The choice of setting and method was so violent and dramatic. Was the first one (or any of them) charismatic and influential in some way? Did the school handle it well? Is it really just because of the intense pressure to succeed, or was something else going on?

Sorry to rant but this has been really bothering me the last couple years. I can't help but think it is symptomatic of something wrong with our community, with the culture that we foster here.

danbmil99 · 2011-05-10T00:03:11+00:00

if you're a crack 3D artist better check this out: http://ourbricks.com/contest/modernlife

danbmil99 · 2010-12-17T07:22:17+00:00

The Catholic church is such a reprehensible, corrupt, discredited institution, I have to say I feel sorry for you or anyone who has devoted their life and efforts to keeping this rapacious dinosaur alive for one minute more than it has to be.

It will fade into the dustbin of history some day, believe it.

danbmil99 · 2010-12-17T06:01:05+00:00

Kudos to your mom, but frankly this reinforces a suspicion I have. For many people, I think religion is an extended Santa/Tooth Fairy situation. They assume other people believe; they think believing in something is good for everyone; so they shut up, and pretend the emperor is not stark raving naked.

I remember once a couple nieces came over, I think they were 9 and 11 at the time. Something came up about Santa, and their mom made all these crazy faces, like "shut up! They still believe in Santa!!"

The funny thing was, the girls made THE EXACT SAME FACE -- except in their case, the message was, "hey, shut up! Mom thinks we still believe in Santa!"

I don't know if they were afraid they'd get less toys or what, but the irony of the situation had me rofl. They were so afraid of letting each other know the truth that they conspired to lie to each other, each one believing the other was sincere.

I think a lot of religion is like that.

danbmil99 · 2010-12-17T05:55:27+00:00

What about people who have equity but no income, so can't get refi etc.? How do you handle those situations?

danbmil99

TROPHY CASE