gdp's Comments

The Cinch Review : Dog can count to ten?

Tue, 18 May 2010 19:01:23 +0000

Thanks for the warning. Better to be safe than sorry with these kinds of things, no question. (I'm sure that the woman who owns that dog has received more than an earful of feedback on the issue by now.)

Big Government : The Tea Party: A Heartfelt Hymn of American Redemption

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:48:29 +0000

A great and appropriate Bob Dylan reference, and a very fine essay indeed.

The Cinch Review : The whole philosophy of Hell

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:58:03 +0000

Very true. I think what Lewis is getting at through the character of the demon Uncle Screwtape is that the devil wins when people look at life as a zero-sum game; i.e. that someone else's gain is your loss. As opposed to truly loving one's neighbor as oneself.

The Cinch Review : Tears of Rage: The Great Bob Dylan Audio Scandal

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:35:14 +0000

Pete: Thanks very much. It's those, like you, in the vanguard of the anti-dynamic-range-compression movement who will truly earn the statues in the town squares some day!

Big Hollywood : David Brooks' Sentimental Education: Bruce Springsteen

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 23:45:18 +0000

Superb piece. Springsteen is as authentic a working class hero as Brooks is an authentic conservative.

The Cinch Review : Tears of Rage: The Great Bob Dylan Audio Scandal

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:00:39 +0000

I'm sure I'd sign such a petition, though I'm not personally inclined to organize one.

The Cinch Review : Tears of Rage: The Great Bob Dylan Audio Scandal

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:25:09 +0000

People will always argue about Dylan's voice, but that's not the issue in question here.

The Cinch Review : Tears of Rage: The Great Bob Dylan Audio Scandal

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:26:42 +0000

Personally, I'd only want to say "Not necessarily." I don't want to set myself up as the judge of all these CDs. I'm confident about what I've said in the article here, but I'm not a bona fide audiophile. But there are sites like www.stevehoffman.tv with forums where specific recordings get discussed in great detail.

The Cinch Review : Tears of Rage: The Great Bob Dylan Audio Scandal

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 13:03:21 +0000

Regarding Dylan's voice: one thing I noticed quickly when listening to the uncompressed vinyl version of "Modern Times" was that there was more going on in Dylan's voice than I had previously noticed, little weaknesses that I hadn't heard. These would be imperfections in a singer to whom we look for technical excellence -- a Pavarotti -- but for a singer like Dylan imperfections are part of the package. They're an element of his humanity and character and why we love him. They carry emotional resonance. So, smoothing these things out with excessive dynamic range compression is a terrible crime.

The Cinch Review : Tears of Rage: The Great Bob Dylan Audio Scandal

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 12:59:59 +0000

Regarding Dylan's voice: one thing I noticed quickly when listening to the uncompressed vinyl version of "Modern Times" was that there was more going in Dylan's voice than I had previously noticed, little weaknesses that I hadn't heard. These would be imperfections in a singer to whom we look for technical excellence -- a Pavarotti -- but for a singer like Dylan imperfections are part of the package. It's an element of his humanity and character and why we love him. It carries emotional resonance. So, smoothing these things out with excessive dynamic range compression is a terrible crime.

The Cinch Review : Tears of Rage: The Great Bob Dylan Audio Scandal

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 22:42:55 +0000

Rich: Very good point. It requires a lot of legwork to really sort all that out. I think that of all the recent releases that I've heard, nothing sounds as BAD as "Modern Times," but the quality of each of the others, including the reissued ones, no doubt would have to be evaluated on a case by case basis, and I'm not necessarily the most qualified person to do that. I did mention "Tell Tale Signs," which is part of the Bootleg Series. Looking at some of the waveforms from it says that it does have some excessive dynamic range compression being applied, but it is not so bad-sounding to my ears as the three original Bob albums of the 21st century. As to specific engineers: I don't know if the guy credited on the sleeve as doing the mastering on each album is really responsible for the bad result that we get on the CD. It may be so, but I prefer to blame nameless Sony/Columbia villains.

Macleans.ca : Mark Steyn on why the fascists are winning in Europe

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:08:43 +0000

Steyn's chief point here is exactly right. The absence of true free speech and a healthy conservative movement in Europe is what is driving some voters to the extremes. Canada should be warned and Americans should take careful note as well. (However, that was a little too hard a knock on ol' Woody Guthrie if you ask me, as a "singing Commie" -- Woody wasn't perfect, but he was no Pete Seeger either.)

Jihad Watch : Jihad Watch: Have you sent the troops a care package today?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:06:28 +0000

Robert: Thanks, very happy indeed to be on your team.

Jihad Watch : Jihad Watch: Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs slings more defamation and libel

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:11:48 +0000

I haven't been closely following the strange evolution of Charles Johnson, and, taking stock of this story today, I'm truly flabbergasted. I was a faithful and regular visitor to LGF for years, but lost interest in going there when the Creationism posts began outnumbering any other one topic. Today, seeing Johnson's latest posts, my jaw dropped, and I removed links to LGF from my own humble website. Maybe there's a way of rationalizing what has occurred in Johnson's mind over the past months, but on the face of it it appears to me that he is genuinely deranged. Perhaps he was always thin-skinned, and getting criticized from the right for his anti-Creationism campaign was something he just couldn't deal with in a rational manner. But nothing can excuse the really toxic and libelous ranting in which he is now engaging. It's sad. I think Robert has no choice but to respond as he has.