http://mintz.hushedcasket.com Guitars. Games. Rapture rox! Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:59:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was perusing Monday's (Apr. 14, 2008) edition of The Huntsville Times when I came across an article about a sophomore from Sparkman High School who went to New York City for Spring Break this year. You can read it here. I also embarked on an adventure to NYC in ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/he-hasnt-aged-much/ Apparently, even Microsoft doesn't care about the adventure-gaming genre anymore; at least, not enough to insert one lousy string into Dreamfall's product page. This page is supposed to represent the game and sell itself to the customer! It doesn't look like it's taking full advantage of that opportunity... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/go-cry-emo-kid/ This fall, I will start working on earning a degree in the field of Computer Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. However, recent events have led me to second-guess this decision. It's an excellent field with many exciting benefits, but sometimes people are destined for other things. Sometimes, ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/second-thoughts/ Having recently discovered suspended chords (e.g. Asus4), I've been having a lot of fun playing with the three basic open chords (E, A, D). I also messed around with the C chord a little bit and made a fun little song. I also noticed that when strumming the A chord, if ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/fun-with-suspended-chords/ I love playing guitar. A euphoric feeling washes over me when I pick up my Walden and master a new chord sequence, or successfully strum a scale without screwing up. Every minute I spend playing guitar is worth it, even if it won't make me money someday. Lately, I've wanted to ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/revelation/ Have you ever rented a car, pulled into the gas station, and realized the gas cap is on the OPPOSITE side of the car? There's a simple way to never have that happen again, so long as you rent a newer car: look for the arrow next to the gas ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/no-more-gas-cap-confusion/ Last night, I purchased, played, and subsequently beat Mass Effect's first round of downloadable content in about two hours. The ferocious alien shown above is a member of the Batarian species within Mass Effect's world, and this DLC is the first time you encounter them. The first time you see ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/mass-effect-dlc-1-batarians/ I recently bought a cable to connect my guitar to my computer, and I thought I'd record something to test it. I wrote a simple song using nothing but the E, A, and D strings, so it's pretty simple to play. It actually sounds familiar to me, and I might ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/e-string-song/ I was just playing around with my guitar today, and I noticed something funny. If you play around with holding/releasing the B string (2nd string) while playing various chords that use it (A, Am, D, C, Gadd5, Cadd9, etc) it gives the music a little more... voice. That's the best ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/fun-with-the-b-string/ I just got a letter in the mail today confirming that I'm getting a full ride to UAH(untsville)! What a relief! http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/scholarship/ It's easy. Go to seeqpod.com. Type in an artist or song, click the song in the results, and listen. Want to make a playlist? Make an account, add a couple more songs to your list, and save it. Now you can listen to your playlist anywhere you have an internet ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/seeqpod-the-google-of-music/ This photo was taken from the Faculty Lounge in the new Shelby Center building at UAHuntsville. Note the Saturn V in the distance. Yes, I'm allowed to be in the faculty lounge... Click to enlarge http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/cool-pic-of-huntsville/ Want to learn how to play the intro to Stairway to Heaven? Visit this site for the tab and watch these videos: 1 2 I'm not perfect at playing this (far from it), but I'm pretty good at it thanks to the guy's explanation. It definitely takes some practice, but I've found I ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/led-zeppelin-stairway-to-heaven/ What Guitar.gg lacks in visuals, is more than makes up for in content. I stumbled across this site while looking for tabs of Wonderwall by Oasis, but stayed for the solid beginner's info. Not only did this guy (it's only one guy, Hotdog, the headless guitarist) have tabs, but he ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/guitargg-guitar-tutorial-site/ My current project is to learn how to play "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls. To play, you need a capo on the first fret. You can find a pretty good tab for it here. The strumming pattern is weird; I can't quite figure it out. I noticed that strumming DUD/UDUDDU ... http://mintz.hushedcasket.com/goo-goo-dolls-slide/