Moved from MovableType to WordPress

Tonight, I moved this site from MovableType to WordPress.

The transition is a bit ridiculous and easy. WordPress has made a mockery of the MovableType installation process – there is pretty much no comparison.

The first time I considered moving away from MovableType was when the owners of the company (6apart) started charging for personal blogging licenses. That was obviously a mistake – and it was around that time that WordPress was taking off. All WordPress needed at the time was users and 6apart provided the perfect impetus for MovableType users to make a mass exodus to WordPress by charging the very users who helped build MovableType itself.

I was an exception because I had other things to do at the time besides install a new blogging system. The repeated trauma of installing MovableType made the idea of installing and moving fairly unappealing. I was happy to skip that idea.

Over the years, MovableType has been adequate in many regards, inadequate in many others. One of the most glaring examples lately has been the lack of an app for the blogging system itself, and the lack of commitment by the company that owns the platform to develop for it. It had a good run. It’s over.

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Update: Some trickery was required to swap from the subdomain for installation – 1-click installation has to occur on a domain which has no files existing within it (for whatever reason.) Had to reinstall and reconnect the DB this morning – even though it was working last night.

AFK – Nothing But You And The Beat

This is a mix that gets away from the popular dance floors and ventures far into the underground. Something you might listen to on a walk near the ocean, or a drive on a long windy road, or who knows. This mix is a soundtrack for a place far away from the maddening crowds. This is a mix that started in April, and finished in the beginning November – this would be the result of my latest efforts.

The samples in this mix – the vocal samples – are from Mad Men and The Walking Dead. Points to whomever can pinpoint individual episodes which each are from.
That is all.

Tracklisting:

  1. Stiven Rivic, Michael & Levan – Leap Of Faith [Mistiquemusic]
  2. Stefan Anion – Strangers [Silk Digital Records]
  3. Christian Smith – Milky Way [Tronic]
  4. Sasha – Mongoose (Guy J remix) [emFire]
  5. GMJ – New Dawn (Kasey Taylor’s Rainbow Serpent remix) [Vapour]
  6. Cid Inc. – Magnify (Quivver remix)[AfterImage Recordings]
  7. Pako and Frederik – Western Approaches (Evolution remix) [Coded]
  8. Hybrid – Blind Side (Hybrid Soundsystem remix) [Kill City Records]
  9. Micah – Begin Again (Faskil remix) [Polytechnic Recordings]
  10. Dibby Dougherty and David Young – Hydra Island (Cid Inc. remix) [Mirabilis Records]
  11. Pryda – Human Behavior [Pryda Recordings]
  12. Solarity – Tape Pack [Anjunadeep]
  13. Abstract Vision and Elite Electronic – Echoes (Protoculture remix) [Enhanced Digital]
  14. Andrew Bayer – From The Earth [Anjunabeats]
Download: AFK – Nothing But You And The Beat (mp3)

Right click and Save As, or option-click the link on a Mac to automatically download

10+ years of quicksilver

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My Mac Quicksilver G4 tower (I can hear people already going “WTF is that, it’s an apple product that doesn’t start with an “i”?!) turned 10 quietly this summer, running non-stop on original parts. And I mean, really non-stop. The computer has been off only for moves, which all together span maybe 30 hours over that time. Otherwise, it’s been up, running as a server. Additionally, on this computer I ran several websites, composed a lot of music, recorded mixes, radio shows, designed and made well over a hundred websites, did a lot of photo management with 70,000+ photos, did many many hours of homework, blogged most of what’s on davingreenwell.com, and so much more. When this computer was first launched, it – like much of what has come from Apple – was referred to as “Insanely great.” Without a doubt, it has been just that.
Last night I moved it away from the desk it had been for a lot of that time, and sold the desk to my friend Matty, who will be putting it to good use. Now the Quicksilver tower is hooked up to my 40″ screen in the living room, playing a vast library of music and doing the occasional slideshow. I’ve set it up to do screen sharing, and have also divorced it from its keyboard, mouse, and screen. Now I control it remotely from my MacBook and it shares that 40″ screen with a tiny little AppleTV (2nd generation.)

priorities for fall

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With fall arriving soon, light is leaving us earlier. Now it makes more sense to stay in during the evenings and sit in front of a screen, or scribble on a piece of paper, or whatever.
As anyone who knows me knows, I am someone who welcomes change. This is as much for my reference as anyone else that may be wondering why they don’t see me out as much anymore. It’s a time of transition so here is what is on my plate:

  • Daytime: BC Stats – Analyst
  • Evenings: A competition (which I can’t elaborate on right now), finite mathematics, Kuba Oms remix, Above and Beyond remix, branding for a friend’s project, ongoing fitness at The Y, and tennis.

The above photo was taken on Hornby Island this summer. At night, we walked on the massive sandy beach at Tribune Bay. Bioluminescent algae lit up our footsteps, and the flashing branched out like sheet lightning in sand. It was perfect.
I’m looking forward to seeing what autumn moments will come to stand out in similar, yet their own, ways.

Remembering Jack Layton

“No one is irreplaceable, but he is about as close as they come.” – Former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

“As you know, Jack was a musician — he was quite a natural one at that. And we always talked about getting together to jam. But it seemed we were both always too busy. I will always regret the jam session that never was.” – Stephen Harper.

“I am deeply saddened by the untimely death of Jack Layton. Collectively, Canadian hearts are breaking. Jack will always be remembered for his unfailing love of Canada and his dedication to this country and its citizens.” – Green party Leader Elizabeth May.

“After Question Period, the lobby is a crowded, rowdy place, full of MP’s, staffers, guests, standing around, plotting, drinking cups of tea or coffee, talking on cellphones or the phones by the chairs. I see this scene and I see Jack on crutches, his face moist with sweat and his complexion pale, powering his way through this crowd, cantilevering his body on crutches, taking the weight on his shoulders, moving towards his caucus area in the lobby. It is an image of a man struggling, in the middle of a crowd, to prevail, to make it through. What I remember best is his smile: cheerful, jaunty and buoyant. The smile was an inspiration, then and now.” – Michael Ignatieff

“He was a man of great generosity. We would see each other of the gym, and he was always happiest after seeing his granddaughter, Beatrice, who he talked about all the time. I’m filled with great sadness.” – Gilles Duceppe

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” – Jack Layton’s last letter to Canadians.

With the passing of Jack Layton, there’s no doubt it’s a sad day for Canada in many senses. I’m not big on getting political on my blog – I think the democratic process is important, but I am not convinced my specific opinions would be relevant to everyone.
That said, Jack was an exceptional leader – and I mean that not in the political party sense, but as a leader of all politicians – a group which many youth and Canadians in general had a tough time trusting or even accessing as people. Jack re-humanized a profession that has put itself through a lot of dark and nasty stuff – those who count on it to enable change also had to go through that dark and nasty stuff.
I am certain that some of the truly great leaders of tomorrow will be compared to JL.

r.i.p. nigel haze

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Yesterday, Nigel Haze passed away. I don’t know the details of his death, but I do know some important details about his life. So indulge me for a moment, I’m going to get into them.
Nigel Woodward AKA Nigel Haze was not just a fantastic person, but also the first person to show me how DJ mixing actually worked. I remember walking into this house party near McKenzie and Interurban and I was going to do one of my ambient-mixing sets. That’s pretty much all I had been able to figure out at that point. I had played one party before and folks there would beatmatch but not quite at the level that Nigel displayed that night. He locked two records and would create something new out of both of them by cutting and manipulating bass and hi-end sounds – it was the real deal.
Of course, I my jaw was on the floor because I had never been this close to a display of talent like that. We were in my friend Jay’s basement kitchen, turntables set up on the countertop. I bothered him with flattery but he would have none of it. Instead he shoved the headphones in my hands and said “It’s easy – you try it!” I did. It was not easy. But with a little help from him and Tim (who I also met at that party – and eventually started 3 radio shows with), it became second nature soon enough.
My friendship with Nigel evolved after that – we would go on to headline raves under the Etheric Link banner, share a club residency together with Yoseff at Neptune, and of course share the occasional beverage at the Rooftop patio. He was always upbeat and knew how to make jokes work at seemingly impossible times. Nigel will be missed dearly, but will live on through his influence as a musician and a genuine, real person.
I’ll keep playing tracks with woodblocks for ya bud.