Suntana

Here I sit in my fancy Dressing Room at Suntana's Blog Trek Coliseum. I'm just Chilling Out and getting In the Zone. We world-renowned Musicians have to do that. We have to achieve and assume a certain persona before we walk up on stage. We can't just walk up on stage with the same persona of ohhh say … having just watched a rerun of Gilligan's Island on TV while devouring a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese Combo. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And that's also not to say that's what I was doing just now. I'm just saying we Cyber Musician Stars have to assume that certain persona that exudes that aura of mystery. Well, either that or sell it that this isn't just Pre-Concert Drivel.

I have just a couple more minutes before I have to go up on stage and enthrall the global masses with yet another Suntana Mini Concert Keyboard masterpiece. There's just enough time for a quick monologue. Of course, in Texas, "quick" might have a different meaning than in the rest of the English-speaking world.

Sooo, what has been going on in my life that I could tie in seamlessly to the Let It Be theme of this Mini Concert, which will start shortly? Ohhh, I know. Just last month, for the first time in my entire life, I barely learned how to make Popcorn.

Whoa! Heyyy! C'mon now, y'all. Settle down before y'all get hurt ROF laughing yer Butts off as y'all assume I meant I don't know how to use a Microwave Oven. No, no, that's NOT what I meant. I'm talking about barely having learned how to make Popcorn the ole-fashioned manual way, just like back in the Little House on the Prairie days in the 1800s or whenever it was. Yep, I'm talking about slapping up a Pot on the Stove Top, pouring in some Cooking Oil and scientifically pouring in the correct amount of Popcorn.

While growing up, all of my siblings … my older brother, older sister, younger brother and 2 younger sisters took the baton at their seemingly destined turn to become the Official Popcorn Maker. Somehow there seemed to have materialized an exception in that Chain of Popcorn Making Destiny. By now I can't quite remember whether it was just happenstance, serendipity … or outright ruthless, strategic maneuvering on my part, but somehow I got out of doing my turn in that Sibling Chain of Popcorn Making.

Fast-forward many years into the future to last month. Was it guilt … or curiosity? Did I perhaps feel there was something in my life, which I hadn't conquered? Why did I out of the blue decide I wanted to give ole-fashioned manual Popcorn making a whirl? Nevertheless, the next thing I knew, I was up to my elbows embarked in my manual Popcorn making debut. It actually went very well, in fact, close to perfect.

Then I have to admit that in the two subsequent days, I regressed a little bit.

Oh, they weren't Towering Infernos or anything like that, mind you. The process on that 2nd and 3rd batch of Popcorn just didn't go quite as smoothly and the results were a tad noticeably inferior to my debut batch.

But, that didn't deter me. I didn't freak out. I didn't hang up my Popcorn Making Pot. I didn’t wave the White Flag.

The saying goes, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." So, I got back in the Popcorn making fight. I quickly regained my confidence and my edge. The world was safe again. The Art of Ole-Fashioned Manual Popcorn Making would NOT die out.

Then last week came into the picture, into the equation. The week that will live in infamy materialized almost as if from an alternate universe. There I was ready to routinely prepare me another batch of Popcorn. Then I uncharacteristically poured in too much Popcorn. I knew immediately I had Fugged Up. I didn't think the results of that would be catastrophic. However, catastrophic is pretty close to what the results were. Only about 1/3 the amount of Popcorn popped before the rest just stood there and did nothing, except wanting to burn.

I had to abort the mission.

I poured out the little bit of good Popcorn and threw out the uncooperative, rebel, charcoaled kernels. I quickly went for another batch. The results of the 2nd batch were NOT much better.

WTF? What was going on? Why had I suddenly screwed up two batches of Popcorn after having been almost ready to get my Popcorn Making License? I had a theory. I had put the unpopped Popcorn kernels in the Fridge because I thought I vaguely recalled that keeping Popcorn in the Fridge helped the Popcorn making process. However, what I thought I recalled might have been just for Microwave Popcorn, NOT for Stove Top Popcorn.

With a theory in hand to explain my less than stellar Popcorn results, I vowed to return to my glory days the following day. My strategy was, "Just simply don't put the Popcorn kernels in the Fridge anymore." So, the following day, armed now with room temperature Popcorn kernels, I was ready to kick some Popcorn Butt!

Or pop it anyway. I attacked the project with the confidence of Chuck Norris. After all, what were the odds that I could screw up Popcorn for a 3rd consecutive time? The verdict? Nnnnggg, well, I don't think I'll be getting my own Cooking Show on the FoodNetwork. Okay, so it was mediocre. Grrrrr!

It was at that time that I faced reality and went, "Carlos … just Let It Be. Just go to Walmart and buy you some Microwave Popcorn." And so I did. I went out and got me a box of 4 Mini Bags of Orville Redenbacher's Lime & Salt Microwave Popcorn. In the meantime, I'll be Letting It Be while I regroup and regain my Popcorn making groove.

It doesn't get much better than a Mini Bag of Popcorn to go with a Mini Concert. Be that as it may, I managed to make it better. I managed to Hook Up with the legendary Miss 10 herself, Bo Derek to help me promote this 10th Mini Concert of mine. Do you all realize how long I've been waiting for this day, for my 10th Mini Concert to come up so that I could have the perfect excuse to put up a Pic of Bo Derek?

Ladies & Gentlemen, in honor of Bo Derek and Popcorn … I present to y'all the Beatles Classic …

Let It Be!

Let It Be

Enjoy!

NOTE: If you have trouble playing the Mini Concert MP3 straight from the link above: Right Click on the Let It Be link. Click on Save Linked Content As. Save the MP3 to your Hard Drive. Now play the MP3 with your Media Player of choice.

239 comments

Get Back --- to the Present … Almost

Thursday, June 23, 2011 2:45:38 AM

Hah! Y'all fell for it. I fooled y'all. You all read "Get Back" and figured, "Heyyy! Another Suntana Mini Concert. Ooooooo! He's gonna perform the Beatles' classic Get Back … Suntana style." C'mon! Don't deny it. You pretty women were all ready to do some dancing. I can tell because you all are all decked out in your nice party dresses, Bling Bling, High Heels, and your hair is all fixed up, Etc.

And the guys? Well, the guys seem to be wearing something that appears they scrounged up out of the dirty clothes hamper.

So, Hmmm??? It's harder to tell whether the guys were getting ready to do some dancing or getting ready to work on their cars.

But, since all the pretty women here on MyOpera were ready to do some dancing and see me perform the Beatles' classic Get Back, I guess I could improvise a quick a cappella snippet of it. Here I go:

Carlos was a man who thought he was a Flintstone,
But he knew it couldn't last.
Carlos left his home in Bedrock, Arizona
For some good ole Texas grass.

Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, Carlos!
Go home.

Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged.
Get back to the present, Carlos.

THERE! That prelude should tie you all over until my real upcoming Mini Concert, hopefully on Monday or Tuesday.

Anyway, as many of y'all know, I am semi-famous or possibly infamous on MyOpera for just like clockwork, by the numbers, virtually by design seemingly doing my best to remain a decade behind the current technology trend.

Heyyy, C'mon! It's NOT as it seems. I am misunderstood. I'm really engaged in a noble cause.

Some people rescue dogs, cats and other animals. I rescue prehistoric Computers, Monitors, Stereos and other High Tech stuff.

This past Sunday I found myself engaging in yet another impromptu High Tech Rescue. There I was, minding my own business. I was leisurely, or perhaps borderline ravenously eating my lunch at the Father's Day family get together. Out of the blue, my oldest niece asks me, "How much Memory does your computer have?" I go, "I don't know. It depends. Are you referring to the RAM or the Hard Drive?" My niece replies, "I'm not sure." I go, "Well, you're probably more likely referring to the RAM. My computer has 256 Meg of RAM … NOT Gig, but Meg of RAM. Theoretically, my computer should really NOT even be working with such a low amount of RAM considering that it is running Windows XP. But, it somehow mind-bogglingly does work and very well at that. Especially considering it's also running an Anti-Virus." I don't know why, but for some reason I had an inkling of an idea of where my niece MIGHT be going with this inquiry. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking on my part. Nevertheless, I casually resumed, "Why? Where are you going with this?"

My niece goes, "It's that at my work, they replace the computers every 3 years or so. They had an auction the other day of the old Computers and Monitors. I got you a Computer & Monitor for only $10.00."

Yup! That's right, y'all. From one second to the next, at the Z-Snap of a Finger, I had thrust upon my lap the task, the challenge … the opportunity to rescue yet another pair of Kicked to the Curb Castaways, no longer wanted Computer & Monitor Combo. Being the altruistic Goodwill Ambassador Home Finder for Orphan Computers that I am,

I took on the mission to accept those High Tech Castaways into my home. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

So yeah, I am now the owner of a Dell GX270 Computer with:
» 1 Gig of RAM vs. my current HP Pavilion's 256 Meg of RAM
» 40 Gig Hard Drive vs. my HP Pavilion's 10 Gig Hard Drive
» Pentium 4 Processor vs. my HP Pavilion's Celeron Processor
» ReWritable DVD Drive vs. my HP Pavilion's CD ROM Drive
» 6 USB Ports vs. my HP Pavilion's 2 USB Ports
» Windows XP Professional vs. my HP Pavilion's Windows XP Home

And for nostalgia's sake, it has a Floppy Drive. Woo Hoo! Yep, that computer will feel right at home here with my other 2 Floppy Drive-having computers. The downside is that I can't fire up this new, faster, more powerful computer of mine just yet. Having come from a Bank, the computer's Hard Drive was of course wiped out.

Grrrrr!

So, I'll have to somehow acquire the Recovery Discs from Dell. And double trouble … it has no Modem!

Nevertheless, in addition, I also now have an 18.1-inch NEC MultiSync LCD 1860NX Flat Screen Monitor with a 1280 x 1024px Resolution. That is a nice HUGE Flat Screen vs. my old 17-inch 1024 x 768px CRT Monitor. This impromptu Goodie gift I WAS able to hook up and fire up immediately. I am using it as I type this. At first I wasn't too impressed with it. I was, "I don't know. This is blurry and the video is kinda Crappy. My old Monitor is better." But, then it dawned on me that the Resolution was still set for my 1024 x 768px old Monitor. I then Googled some Info on my new LCD Monitor. As soon as I set the Resolution to 1280 x 1024px … BAMM! Awesome video.

Now I get to see 1 and 7/8-inch of Background on the sides of the Blogs vs. only half an inch before. This will definitely come in handy during my Blog Designs.

With my new, bigger LCD Monitor up and running, I am now back closer to almost operating in the Present as far as technology goes.

Once I get around to eventually hooking up my new Dell Computer with everything it needs to be up and running, I should theoretically be kicking some serious Butt!

Now I'll be back to being only a decade behind again instead of the decade and a half with which I was flirting.

101 comments

Suntana Mini Concert IX: Simon Sez

Sunday, May 29, 2011 12:54:36 AM

What's that I smell in the air? Do y'all smell that? Okay Okay, don't drool too much. I wasn't referring to the aroma of Tacos, Gorditas, Hamburgers, Chili Dogs and Pizza coming from the concession stand.

I was talking about the smell of adrenaline. Ahhh yes! I never cease to get a rush out of getting up here on stage at Suntana's Blog Trek Coliseum to perform these Mini Concert Shows for you all to have a great time.

Being as she has recently overtaken Oprah as the Most Powerful Woman in the Galaxy, I originally had Lady Gaga lined up to open up for me here today.

However, I heard that Lady Gaga pushed and shredded the Artistic envelope to smithereens during her performance at the American Idol Finals. It was said that her performance should have been declared by the Producers as Too HOT for Prime Time TV due to children watching. Oooooooo! Now I'm really curious about this "Artistic" performance. I must find a YouTube. Heh Heh Heh!

Oops! I'm losing my train of thought. Where was I? Oh yeah, I'm at a Mini Concert. Anyway, I wasn't sure if Lady Gaga's Star Trek Laser Blasting of the Artistic Envelope would get me banned from MyOpera if she opened up for me here today. So, I had to reluctantly opt to switch to an opening act that was almost as OUT THERE in the pushing the envelope level, but just under the getting me banned threshold.

That is right. I'm talking about a round of the game Simon Sez.
Now now, don't y'all roll your eyes at me.

Just humor me. I promise to make it interesting and fun.

Simon Sez slap the person to your right in the face. SMACK! Ouch!

Simon Sez punch the person to your left in the stomach. POOMF! Day-Um!

Poke the person behind you in the eyes.
----- WAIT! WAIT!!! -----
Thweeeeeppp! Ouch!

Awww Crap! I'm too late. People! PEOPLE! I didn't say "Simon Sez."
Oh well, you are all out. So much for the opening act of Simon Sez.
If y'all can't see too well after that Eye-poking Simon Sez stunt, at least y'all can still listen to my Mini Concert.

Actually, I was only kidding. The "Simon Sez" subtitle of my Post has nothing to do with the game of Simon Sez. Did y'all really think I would make it that easy? Let's proceed to connect the dots to see just exactly what musical connection this Simon Sez has so as to be associated with today's Mini Concert. Say WHAT? You over there in the back. What did you say? Am I gonna play a Simon & Garfunkel song? Heyyy! You're very sharp. I wonder if we're related?

What's your last name? Is it Suntana? No? Then we're NOT related. Just as well because your guess is completely wrong.

Nevertheless, how did I wind up selecting the specific song for today's Mini Concert? The short story is that some guys and I were chatting over in someone's Blog. Someone made a comment and that immediately reminded me of this song. So, I went something like, "Oooooooo! That reminds of this nice song. I think I'll play it at my next Mini Concert." What is actually more interesting is something that happened completely separate of that Chat session. On some other day after that Chat session, I was over at my friend Mags' Blog. (intothedeep) I forget the specifics of the Chat Thread there. But, almost as if by destiny, my friend Mags commented that she had had James Bond on her mind. As luck would have it, the song for my Mini Concert on which I was already working had a connection to James Bond. So, I told Mags, "Ooooooo! Have I got a surprise for YOU!"

Actually, when I initially began working on this Mini Concert project, I didn't know about the James Bond connection of the song I had selected. It wasn't until I Googled up the lyrics to this song that I found out it was actually the theme song for the James Bond movie --- The Spy Who Loved Me. Those of you who are James Bond Fans will now no doubt immediately realize I am talking about the song Nobody Does It Better.

Now that the Cat is Outta the Bag as to what the featured song is on today's Mini Concert, there is still the matter of connecting the last dot as to where and how "Simon Sez" fits in.

Elementary … Carly Simon sings the song Nobody Does It Better. Hence, "Simon Sez." Right?

So, Mags, this song will be dedicated to you, mainly because of the serendipity that materialized regarding the James Bond connection. But, also because with the impromptu Cute Haircut you got recently … how can we resist NOT declaring --- Nobody Does It Better?

Ladies & Gentlemen, I present to you …

Nobody Does It Better!

Nobody Does It Better

Enjoy!

NOTE: If you have trouble playing the Mini Concert MP3 straight from the link above: Right Click on the Nobody Does It Better Link. Click on Save Linked Content As. Save the MP3 to your Hard Drive. Now play the MP3 with your Media Player of choice.

118 comments

Suntana Mini Concert VIII: The Fusion Shuffle

Sunday, April 17, 2011 11:36:09 PM

The Fusion Shuffle?

Really?

WTF is THAT?
Perhaps this Mini Concert is coming to y'all LIVE from Tazmania. Maybe Tazmanians like Taz the Tazmanian Devil of Looney Tunes fame know what the Fusion Shuffle is. Maybe that's their native music. Well, up until last week, I didn't even know what the Fusion Shuffle was myself. And yet, somehow I'm about to perform for y'all a Mini Concert featuring that mysterious Fusion Shuffle music genre of which I speak. What HAVE I gotten myself into?

Up until now, my previous 7 Mini Concerts have consisted of predominantly Cumbias and Power Brick Ballads. The only Mini Concert that ventured away from that routine was my 2nd Mini Concert, which featured a Texas style Polkas (Corridas) medley. For a while now, I had been entertaining the thought of going out of my Tejano music comfort zone and surprising y'all with a totally Non-Tejano Mini Concert. With the Show that I put together for this Mini Concert, I certainly accomplished that. However, I didn't end up going with some of the projects with which I had been experimenting. I'll do those at some future dates. Instead, I reached back into some bits & pieces of projects with which I had messed around for years.

Last week, my OC friend Loku (Lokutus Prime) and I were discussing Jazz music. Loku had conveyed that he had a very broad spectrum of what types of Jazz music he liked. I cautiously warned that he probably didn't like the type of Jazz that I liked. Loku said to try him.

So, I tossed him some samples of Artists' names of the type of Jazz that I liked. Not surprisingly, just as I figured, Loku and I had different tastes in Jazz music. This became more evident when we were discussing the different versions of the famous Swing song --- In the Mood. Loku preferred the original Old School version by Glenn Miller. I preferred the more contemporary version by Doc Severinson and the Tonight Show Band. Of course, there is no right or wrong. Nothing wrong with which version of the song In the Mood or any type of Jazz music either of us like.

Unbeknownst to Loku, at that very real time frame in which we were having our Jazz music discussion, I was already dead smack in the middle of working on my Mini Concert, which had connections to our very conversation. Aside of the song In the Mood, I had mentioned to Loku that I really like the Jazz song --- Birdland by the Canadian Jazz Great Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. Loku wasn't familiar with either the song Birdland or the Artist Maynard Ferguson. But, Loku HAD floated out that he was NOT much of a Fan of more modern Jazz and Cover songs.

Sooo, Loku, NOT much of a Fan of Contemporary Jazz and Cover songs, Eh? Boy are you in for a surprise.

Muhahahahah!

You'll probably have a conniption and / or need some oxygen and some Benadryl after you hear what contemporary concoction of an arrangement I brainstormed with those two very songs that I had mentioned to you.

Alright … the Cat's Outta the Bag. That's right. My Mini Concert tonight is going to feature a medley of the Jazz song Birdland and the Jazz-like Swing song In the Mood.

However, there is still the matter of just exactly where and how The Fusion Shuffle enters the picture.

For many years now, I had messed around with Birdland and In the Mood on my Keyboard. But, since I had never recorded them before, I had never had to deal with incorporating any Rhythm. I would only play the Lead melody along with the Drum Beat. I used to use a different Drum Beat, the 8 Beat 3 Drum Beat all this time. However, for this Mini Concert project whereby I would have to incorporate Rhythm, I realized that Drum Beat was NOT working for me. It wasn't conducive to blending in with some Cool Rhythm. I decided that Drum Beat was NOT going to cut it

and it was gonna have to go. So, I decided to just start at the very beginning and start sampling what all Drum Beats I had at my disposal on my Keyboard. I had to find a better Drum Beat if the project was gonna make it to the Mini Concert stage. Luckily I didn't have a long search. Immediately at the 3rd Drum Beat that I sampled, I liked it and decided to try and see if I could convert my Birdland / In the Mood Jazzy concoction into working with this new Drum Beat --- Fusion Shuffle. I WAS able to rather quickly adapt the flow of the medley to the new Drum Beat.

And I immediately liked the outcome much more than what I had going with the old Drum Beat that I had used for years.

So, just what exactly IS this Fusion Shuffle Drum Beat style? Ummm, Pfffttt! I'm NOT sure if this is correct, but it's possible that it has a smidgen dash sprinkling of Reggae tinge to it. But, I could be totally wrong.

I'll see how y'all classify this new endeavor of mine. For sure I guarantee y'all it is a Cool catchy beat.

Just like with my Cumbia Mini Concerts, there is just NO WAY y'all will be able to resist snapping your fingers, tapping your feet AND dancing yer Butts off to it.

If any of y'all can't quite figure out how to dance it …

may I suggest the Running Man? I will neither confirm nor deny that I tried that.

Ladies & Gentlemen, featuring and debuting the NEW Suntana Mini Concert style --- Fusion Shuffle … I present to y'all …

Birdland … and In the Mood!

Birdland … and In the Mood

Enjoy!

NOTE: If you have trouble playing the Mini Concert MP3 straight from the link above or the link below: Right Click on the respective Link. Click on Save Linked Content As. Save the MP3 to your Hard Drive. Now play the MP3 with your Media Player of choice.

And just like Movie Studios sometimes give bonus footage on some DVDs, y'all get a bonus MP3 Track this time around. Just like I've done on another Mini Concert or two before, I'm treating y'all to a behind the Recording scenes Track of the medley version without the Lead melody. It is only the Rhythm, Bass and Drum Beat. Since the Fusion Shuffle beat is Cool and catchy, I thought y'all might be interested in what this Mini Concert sounded like with just the Rhythm, Bass & Drum Beat before I added the Lead Track. Check it Out:

Birdland … and In the Mood Sans the Lead Track

148 comments

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