"Girafilm" Italian 8mm Film Viewer, originally uploaded by inthelight20.

This is a handheld 8mm film viewer. It uses a manual crank and has a small light bulb that illuminates the film as it passes by the viewfinder. It’s called the “Girafilm” and was made by Ciro in Florence, Italy. There is no production date on it. It takes only the small 50′ reels.

The best part about this viewer is that it came with a black & white Disney short called, “Hawaiin Holiday.” I had a blast trying to run film through it. I say trying because it’s meant for previewing film…slowly. Once you start cranking it at the right speed, the image blurs. I love the design of this piece. It’s all fun. The most frustrating part perhaps is the viewfinder which is tiny and is made of a cheap plastic lens. Oh well, maybe I’ll retro fit it with a better lens for viewing.

Flickr Set: Franken Pick

This week we found out that we’re having a BOY!! SCORE! I can’t wait to start teaching my son Noah the guitar next year!

Today my wife & I went shopping for vinyl records in Los Angeles & picked up a few gems. I first stopped at Origami Vinyl in Echo Park off of Sunset and picked up this single from Radiohead. It contains “High & Dry, Planet Telex, Maquiladors, and Planet Telex (Hexidecimal Mix)” It was pressed on “audiophile” grade 180 gram vinyl on a 12″ 33 1/3. It sounds great and I especially love the remix of Planet Telex which is featured on this video.

Later, we headed over to Amoeba Records also off of Sunset in Hollywood. Man, the store was packed with music lovers. Seriously, there were about 150 people [A slight Jacob exaggeration; Maybe 85 people] shopping when we were there and a good 25% people were feeding like birds from their massive vinyl collection. It was really cool. It felt like something from the past. I have fond memories of shopping at Tower Records that closed some years back. I remember when they started to get rid of records, then tapes, then, it closed down. [Stealing music online sucks.]

I also managed to find the album I talked about in my last post which a fellow John corrected me on. It’s a 48 year old record of a reunion of Glenn Miller singers & band. It’s a great concert LP that took place at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1961.

LA Record Shops:
Origami Vinyl
Amoeba Records

[CORRECTION: A guy named John informed me that this recording came from a different album of the same year titled, "W/WS 1428 – Live Concert-Music Made Famous by Glenn Miller – Tex Beneke, Ray Eberle & Modernaires [1961]” Thanks John!]

This is “Chattanooga Choo Choo.” According to Wikipedia, “”Chattanooga Choo Choo” is a big-band/swing song which was featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade, which starred Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller and his orchestra, The Modernaires, Milton Berle and Joan Davis. It was performed in the film as an extended production number, featuring vocals by Tex Beneke, Paula Kelly, and the Modernaires.”

I recorded this film from a 1960’s-1970’s “Alpha Beta” market record that contains a compilation of “Big Band” hits. This features Tex Beneke & The Modernaires. Tex Beneke did live shows two decades after the end of the Glenn Miller Orchestra of which he was the front man. He got much of the Glenn Miller Alumni & the Modernaires to also play for his tour in the 1960’s so the sound and performances were true to form and were spot-on. The recording quality is excellent and the performance is amazing. It was also done in true stereo. It was featured on the album titled, “Reunion in Hi-Fi.” I love the energy of this particular performance and stereo sound quality of the song compared to even the original from the 1940’s.

-Jacob

Check out this fascinating video if you’ve got the time. If you’re a musician, music lover, or audiophile (I try to be all 3) you’ll really dig this discussion. It features a panel of recording engineers, producers, and people who work in mastering for the music industry. They’ve worked with just about any name you can think of. The video is 2.5 hours but I could’ve watched it for days had it gone on. They talk about how we consume music and how the quality of the audio effects the way we experience music. I especially loved when they delved in to their experiences with other artists and the discussions about the various mediums we use to deliver music. They also play vinyl records to show samples of music. Do check it out if you’ve got time and let me know what you think about it. Personally, it inspired me to kick things up a notch in my recordings, it also had me examine how I listen to sound in music. Yesterday after watching this, I re-calibrated the tone arm on my turntable, positioned my speakers for optimum sound, and re-examined some older LP’s I have and compared them with some of my MP3 collection. What I took from this video the most was that great audio quality allows for you to connect with music in a more intimate way; it put’s you that much closer to the sounds that were captured the day they were recorded.

Video: http://www.philoctetes.org/Past_Programs/Deep_Listening_Why_Audio_Quality_Matters

Synopsis: Most of us listen to recorded music far more than we listen to live music. Music is everywhere: in elevators, shops, cars, restaurants and bars, on our computers and, for some of us, in every room in our home. But what of the listening experience itself? Considering the Zen concept of mindfully doing one thing at a time, what pleasures await the person who just listens? Conversely, what do we miss when we degrade the listening experience? This roundtable will address the factors involved in maximizing or minimizing the impact and effects of what we hear, from the conception and recording of music to the listening format and environment of choice. In a modern day twist on McCluhana’s “The Medium is the Message,” the panel will discuss the effects that music delivery media have on our perception and reaction to music.

I picked up this little gem last week called Little Brave Sambo from 1953. I bought it because it was a cool 50’s style 78 RPM kids record. I even made this little video on my new turntable and filmed it with the iphone then threw it up on YouTube.

Later, I read up on “Little Brave Sambo” and found out that it was quite a controversial record for its time as the name was changed from “Little Black Sambo.” Sambo was a racial term for a person with mixed Amerindian and African heritage in the Caribbean. So I guess the producers said um…yeah, let’s just call him brave Sambo instead of black, which I guess was only half offensive because it really was the term “Sambo” that was offensive.

Anyway, we’ve been buying up old kids records for our baby that will be born next year because I want our kid to grow up thinking that Records/LP/Vinyl are normal and not something that old people used to listen to 30+ years ago.

-Jacob

Today my mom called to tell me that our dog “Belle” died. We had her since I was 17. Now I’m 29 and I’m sad that she’s no longer here. I’ve heard about people that get so attached to their pets that they take them to the studio for family portraits. Well, we never did that but it’s still hard to say goodbye to a pet that’s been a part of our life for 12 years. In dog years, as they say, she would’ve been 84 years old. All our family and friends knew Belle really well from over the years. She had a mean little bark and could do some serious ankle damage if you messed with her. As you can tell, she looked like a little cow because she was a Toy Fox Terrier/Chihuahua mix.

Bell gave us great times and in memory of her, bellow are two songs that remind me of her. The first is “Belle” for obvious reasons and the second is an old favorite of mine called “Goldie’s Last Day.” (Forward to 40 seconds)

-Jacob

For some reason, I’m often reminded of this guy and his legacy. This man was a genius in the field of mechanical and electric engineering. His life is the source of much mystery. He was a man that was way beyond our time in terms of what he achieved and discovered. I’ve been producing a short film about him as I have time and hope to release it within a couple of years. Check out the test intro below. (I’ve got too many things on my plate, but I hope to fully produce this one day.)

Check out his bio below as featured on Wikipedia:

“Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was an inventor and a mechanical and electrical engineer. Tesla was an ethnic Serb born in the village of Smiljan, Vojna Krajina, in the territory of today’s Croatia. He was a subject of the Austrian Empire by birth and later became an American citizen. Tesla is often described as an important scientist and inventor of the modern age, a man who “shed light over the face of Earth.” He is best known for many revolutionary contributions in the field of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems, including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution.

After his demonstration of wireless communication (radio) in 1894 and after being the victor in the “War of Currents”, he was widely respected as one of the greatest electrical engineers who worked in America. Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. During this period, in the United States, Tesla’s fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture, but due to his eccentric personality and his seemingly unbelievable and sometimes bizarre claims about possible scientific and technological developments, Tesla was ultimately ostracized and regarded as a mad scientist. Never having put much focus on his finances, Tesla died impoverished at the age of 86.

The SI unit measuring magnetic flux density or magnetic induction (commonly known as the magnetic field “B”), the tesla, was named in his honor (at the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures, Paris, 1960), as well as the Tesla effect of wireless energy transfer to wirelessly power electronic devices which Tesla demonstrated on a low scale (lightbulbs) as early as 1893 and aspired to use for the intercontinental transmission of industrial energy levels in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.

Aside from his work on electromagnetism and electromechanical engineering, Tesla contributed in varying degrees to the establishment of robotics, remote control, radar and computer science, and to the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States credited him as being the inventor of the radio. Many of his achievements have been used, with some controversy, to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories, and early New Age occultism. Tesla was awarded the highest order of the White Lion by Czechoslovakia.”

-Jacob

This week finds me in a mournful place because of the loss of Michael Jackson. Like other people, I was at odds at how to feel about the king of pop because of his tainted image from over the years but I never stopped loving his music. He was a one-of-a-kind and we probably will never see someone like him in music ever again. I remember listening to his albums at a very young age and was so influenced by his music that I purchased his album Thriller at the age of 10. This was very significant for me because it was the first CD I purchased with money saved from my birthday as a kid. I remember listening to it non stop and was amazed by the sounds that were produced in that album. Along with “Off The Wall,” It was also the album that played at our local skating joint called “Skate Junction. Skating to songs like Thriller and Human Nature was pure magic! It really used to take me away. Over the next several years, I ended up buying “Bad,” Off The Wall,” “Dangerous,” “History,” and a few others.

I totally “got” his music as a kid and couldn’t figure out why he was so misunderstood. I mean here was this guy who became electric every time he stood on stage. Every song he recorded, he put his personal stamp on. Every music video and film, was magical. His music really used to take me away. I think as a kid, when I started to explore new music, his is what I gravitated to. I was also influenced by some of the people he’d work with like Slash & Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen, & Vincent Price.

Later, I’d end up ditching all of his music for newer music like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and NWA. I immersed myself into hip-hop and completely left anything of Michael’s behind. This too ended as I discovered the great bands of the 60’s and 70’s and then delve into learning how to play guitar. I tried to emulate the greats and eventually found my way back to Michael. As soon as I started to record my own songs, I pulled out Michael’s albums and found their production value to be simply astonishing. They were chock full of vocal flourishings, harmonies and unique guitar riffs. I instantly remembered how I felt as kid listening to his music and being taken away.

So today, Michael Jackson’s funeral takes place and millions of fans around the world will watch in as Michael is laid to rest. For better or for worse, he will go down as the greatest entertainer of our time and I’m happy to know that he gave us his gift of music. I’m glad that my song writing was influenced by his and that I got to experience the 80’s with Michael Jackson’s music.

Rest in Peace Michael.

-Jacob

That’s right baby, I beat all 50+ Facebook users named Jacob Morales to the new URL: http://Facebook.com/JacobMorales

-Jacob

I saw this wicked-awesome De Lorean on the way to my brothers house in San Diego this Memorial day. The guy driving the car was totally in character when he went on his loudspeaker and called me a “butthead!”

-Jacob

As I was filming a wedding last week in Pasadena, I met Pro skater & star of MTV’s “Rob & Big,” Mr. Rob Dyrdek. He was a pretty down to earth guy and cracked me up with his uber suit! He’s the boss of the groom who designs wicked awesome toys for his company Wild Grinders over at : http://www.wildgrinders.com/

I have a blast filming weddings especially when I meet some really cool peeps!

-Jacob
http://MovingPixelFilms.com

Today is April 20, 2009 and It’s been a month since I got married and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to blog about it but here it is! I got married on April 21, 2009 to my beautiful bride Desiree. We got married at Red Hill Country Club in Upland, Ca. The day had so many highlights and I’ll share a few of them here. I got to spend my last night as a single man hanging out with my brothers and the following morning, my uncle flew down from Arizona to not only attend my wedding but also to be my emcee. As family poured into to the venue, and the wedding just minutes away, I remembered all of the many weddings I’ve had the privledge of filming and thought to my self, “Now it’s my turn, I’m finally here! I’ve got 2 brothers and 1 sister and I was the last to tie the knott!

One of the biggest regrets about my wedding was that I knew my best friend wasn’t going to attend my wedding because he’s right now serving our military over in Iraq. I did however have a plan. We arranged for him to be here virtually and we pulled it off. With a laptop, a wireless internet connection and Skype, we were able to connect with him. His dad walked around the reception with the laptop and got to see just about the whole thing! That really made our day! I also had my friend ” Jason Tucker DJ the wedding and that was super cool too as he controlled it all from his iphone………wireless! We also got to hire one my favorite photograpers, Danny Cortez of Danilo Photography. The weather was perfect, the food was great, everyone we love was there and we were blessed tremendously with gifts!

So………..after about 8 years of dating. I am now a married man. It’s still so new that I can smell the fresh paint on the walls!

I’ll see you at yours!

-Jacob

-Jacob

Hey all,

If you’re not busy…….

…this Saturday eve, I’ll be playing about 2+ of my songs over at Home Brew Coffee in San Dimas. It’s a small place so if it packs out, I guess we’ll have to sing that much louder. The showcase will feature about 14 singer/songwriters who’ll debut new songs written during February for http://FAWM.org. The songs I wrote last month can be heard right here: http://fawm.org/fawmers/jacobmorales/ It’d be cool to see you if you can make it. If not, I’ll be filming it as well and you’ll be able to view it live on the internet. Also I have no idea what time I’ll come on so if you can’t stay the whole time, no worries. Just come for some good music, coffee and general “kick it” time. Come out or view it online at (7-10 PST): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-moving-pixel

Oh yeah, it’s totally free. Just show some love to Home Brew Coffee if ya can with buying a beverage : )

What, When, Where:

FAWM SONG WRITING SHOWCASE
Saturday, March 14 (7-10PM)
Home Brew Coffee
661 W. Arrow Hwy
San Dimas, Ca 91773

VIEW ONLINE Saturday, March 14 (7-10PM): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-moving-pixel

Hope to see you then,

-Jacob