All posts by davidrbergman

Movies, TV and radio

My Thoughts on Breaking Bad

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We recently watched the second half of season 5 of Breaking Bad, now that it’s on NetFlix.  There are a few things I would like to share with you about this show that I found interesting.  (Spoiler alert, I give away the ending so don’t read if you haven’t watched it and care about such things.)

The first point is related to the question “When did Walter White break?”.  Some say it’s when he started cooking, others when he killed in cold blood for the first time.  I say Walt broke years before the start of the series.  To me, it’s pretty clear that Walt broke way back when Eliot and Gretchen stole his intellectual property and pushed him out of Grey Matter, the company he co-founded.  At least this is what Walt believes according to the writers of the series.  That’s a pretty big trauma to go through, especially if Walt was already a little narcissistic from the start, which I think he was.  He started Grey Matter with Elliot back in graduate school or shortly after and probably had a vision of how his life would unfold; inventions that would revolutionize his industry, wealth, fame, maybe a Nobel Prize.  In his mind he was probably growing into the image of Edison or Feynman but winds up another Tesla, not even a Tesla.  He is broken.  He does whatever he can to keep his family from becoming destitute, works at a low paying job with no gratitude or respect and no chance of doing any real Chemistry or making an impact on the world.  It’s a far way to fall.  Walt had talent and more importantly ambition.  He was probably subconsciously looking for any opportunity to shine again.

Seeing Jesse Pinkman on a ride along with Hank was the perfect opportunity.  Of course the writing leads us to believe that his motives are somewhat altruistic; he is dying of cancer and wants to leave money to his family.  I can believe that he believes this for a while.  But as the seasons progress and the writing reveals more of Walt’s past, it seems more likely that greatness was on his mind and that money for his family was an excuse for his actions.  I’m not sure if Walt was a massive narcissist or a true sociopath from the start.  I’m not a psychologist so I can’t really tell, I don’t even know the true definition of either.  The way Walt is capable of manipulating everyone around him makes me think sociopath.  But on the other hand it seems to me that a sociopath wouldn’t have been caught, wouldn’t take the risks Walt did and probably wouldn’t let his ego get in the way.  Walt had a huge ego, he was timid at first but the more successful he became the more he wanted everyone to know who Heisenberg was.  “Say my name”.  He couldn’t stand the thought of anyone cooking his formula, or competing with him in this new world he entered and quickly dominated.  Every time he confronts and kills a drug lord it’s as if he is reliving the Elliot and Gretchen scenario over and over and doing what he wish he could have back then.

Even though Walt dies at the end he won.  He really won the game.  He dies on top, got revenge against everyone who crossed him, even Elliot and Gretchen in a sense, he was able to put a hook in them and control their future a little, he used them.  He died in the Chemistry Lab that he helped create.  He dies in the arms of his true love.  Not blue meth or even Chemistry, he dies in the arms of his ego.  Blue meth was his child.  He made it, it was perfect, no one could do better and no one would have it if he couldn’t.  Now that’s a happy ending.

The second aspect of the series that I like is how the writers pulled a bait and switch on us with Walt and Hank.  In the first two seasons we see Walt as a typical nerd, and he probably was to some extent.  Hank on the other hand was a bit of an obnoxious bully, reminds me of the stereotypical dumb jock from high school.  The writers let us see this and then pulled a 180 in season two and three.  By this time some of Walt’s cruelty manifests itself and evolves.  We may have started out feeling sorry for Walt and even forgiving him for cooking meth, he’s like Robin Hood right?  But by now we want to see him dead.  Hank, having been shot in the spine (or near the spine), dealing with paralysis, facing his insecurities, appears more vulnerable and sensitive (when he’s not mean to his wife).  I think Hank’s vulnerable side came out when he transferred to boarder patrol and couldn’t handle seeing Danny Trejo’s head on a tortoise get blown up.  That’s when you start to see that his act is just a cover for his sensitivity.  Then there’s the nerdy side of Hank, collecting and cataloging minerals.  At this point in the series it is as if the two characters have exchanged stereotypes.  This made the series very enjoyable for me, it was very multi-dimensional.  Another part of Hank’s nerdiness is manifest in how he handles cases.  Though he never actually figures out that Walt is Heisenberg until he gets his hand on the Walt Whitman book it is amazing how fast Hank puts data together and gets all the facts of the case correct.  It’s like he is just a millimeter away from coming to the conclusion that Walt is Heisenberg all through the series but won’t let himself go there.  He has a very scientific mind but has applied it to solving crimes rather than solving Chemistry or Physics problems.  But the skill is still the same in either case.

The first three seasons were the most rich with surprises, at least for me, because of the above analysis of Walt and Hank’s personalities.  The fourth became extremely flat as the character’s succumbed to their fate and became more mechanistic.  That’s not to say season four was bad, it was great.  I’m just saying that we are seeing everyone become one dimensional as they accept what they are doing and deal with it however they can.

Additionally, I like Saul Goodman.  He is the comic relief in the whole thing.  Actually all the supporting characters had purpose and their personalities and action fit in perfectly with the needs of the main characters and story line.  Case in point Badger and Skinny Pete.  At the end of the day I think I wound up feeling sorry for Jesse most of all.  He was just a punk, a low level dealer.  It’s clear that all he wanted was a little love and understanding from his parents and basically his entire existence is one big passive aggressive attempt to get that.  Walt saw it and manipulated it, over and over.

I was crushed that they killed off Hank, but I like the way he died.  His final dialog with the Neo Nazi gang was something like this: Hank says to the Nazi gang leader Jack:  “My name is ASAC Schrader. And you can go f**k yourself.” (personally this was my favorite line).  Then Walt tries to save Hank by getting him to help Jack, to bargain with him.  Hank says to Walt:  “You want me to beg? You’re the smartest guy I ever met and you’re too stupid to see he made up his mind 10 minutes ago.”  Then Hank says to Jack:  “Do what you’re going to…”.  And with those words basically orders his own execution.  Like Walt, Hank won in a sense by going out his way and keeping his dignity.

There is no moral to the story.  People do what they do and survive how they can.  And, a determined person with nothing to lose will win.

copyright 2014 David R Bergman

Music

Buying Method Books

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My philosophy on buying method books.

Way back in the late 80s when I started giving guitar lessons I had a student who was very proud of his guitar method book collection.  The only thing is that it was a collection of over 100 grade 1 method books.  I felt a little sorry for him regarding this point, but it did inspire me.

Now that I’ve been playing for 30 plus years and I have studied under a few professional guitarists, and other musicians, I feel like I can judge what information is good for me and worth learning, it’s not hit or miss.

I expect to pay over 50$ for a one hour lesson with a good teacher.  Most books even with a CD cost less than 30$.  So I figure if I can get one new lick, new technique, or learn a new perspective on an old theme, I’ve got my money’s worth.

So why not buy the books.  The only draw back is they take up space, and you need to be committed to reading through it and extracting the data.  You are your own teacher at this point.

I would not recommend this approach to a beginner, it’s no way to learn something for the first time.  With no experience you’ll always be wondering if you’re on the right track.  You need the feedback of an experienced person to guide you through the beginning.  But after you have a handle on things and know what things you need work on I think it’s well worth the money.

copyright 2014 David R Bergman

The Guitar

Effects

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To begin, this is a discussion about my experiences with and opinions regarding the use of effects in electric guitar playing.  There is a lot to say and it may not be well organized.  In the end it’s not a judgment in favor or against effects, just my take on them.  I’ll state up front, I don’t like them.

I’ve been playing guitar for many years.  I’ve played acoustic, classical and a variety of electric guitars.  I’ve even built a couple electric guitars when I was younger.

One thing I never got into as much as my guitar playing friends was the use of effect pedals to “shape” my sound.  I prefer a clean sound, the cleaner the better.  Sure I may have used distortion once in a while, wah wah pedal, etc, but I never understood the use of phasers, flangers, chorus, echo or delay loops, etc.  Using these types of effects always seemed to me to take the pleasure out of playing guitar.

There seems to be a consensus among some guitarists that these effects hide mistakes, or cover up sloppy playing or make the guitar easier to play.  I’d like to take a few moments to address these points.  Based on my own experience this is not true.  Many effects use the signal your guitar produces to create the effect.  So in theory if you play a bunch of sloppy crap the effect will amplify the sloppiness and crappiness of your playing.

For some folks a gritty sloppy fuzzy sound is what they are going for, they want effects rather than melodic phrasing as a representation of their musical vision.  If this is what you’re going for then you don’t have to be a great player anyway.  You are probably treating your guitar and effects as a sound/noise machine.  I can appreciate this as there is no pretense to promote one’s self as a virtuoso of any sort.

However there are many guitarists that use effects to cover up mistakes, or at least think that it does, or make the guitar easy to play.  As I’ve mentioned above effects typically amplify mistakes!  So why use them?  I think in many cases it’s a folly of youth and inexperience or bad advise from others.  Guitarists experimenting with pedals for the first time are probably to engrossed with the special effect they’re creating to focus on their playing.  Also, hearing the details in a guitarist’s technique is like tasting flavors in a wine or coffee, you have to be trained to hear the details.  So in some sense when playing for the masses you can get away with some wild crazy fuzzy slop and pull it off.  Perhaps only the other guitarists in the audience will hear through it.

So, as a method for covering mistakes don’t do it, practice more.  Though I will say this, I am not anti-effects I am anti-(bad reason for using effects).  A note to young or new guitarists out there: if you want to use a variety of pedals to shape your sound go for it, but be prepared to practice practice practice.  Depending on the sound you choose you may need more practice than average to avoid making a mess.

As a method for making the guitar easier to play, I haven’t much to say about this except this is simply wrong.  There is a connection in the mind between the feeling in your hands and the sound you hear come out of your system.  If your guitar is really hard to play or sounds like shit through the amp clean, then you should get it adjusted by a professional or get a new, better, guitar.  The guitar should feel comfortable and easy to play.  A hard to play guitar is just fighting you and that’s not worth anything.

Here is an even bigger myth.  If I practice with a clean sound and get really good I’ll be great with effects on.  No no no!  This approach might mess you up beyond repair.  As I mentioned in the last paragraph there is a mental connection between the feel of the guitar in your hands and the sound you hear.  There are delicate adjustments we make to achieve a good clean sound.  For example do you float your picking hand or rest it on the strings?  Your answer may be related to comfort and what you think is easier for speed picking.  Another driving factor is whether or not you are going to excite open string resonances.  On a clean guitar some open string noises are not noticeable while on a HOT guitar any open string glitch will stick out like a sore thumb, overpowering the lick you’re trying to play.  Of course you could do like many shredders and put some tape on the strings, as one does for two hand tapping, to avoid this but the point I’m making is that you will adjust your playing one way or another to accommodate the sounds your system creates and the sensitivity of your system to tiny perturbations in hand placement etc.  The development of your touch is highly dependent on the feedback you get from your ear.  So it is crucial that you find a sound that you like and practice with your system set up for that sound.

For me, I like they way my guitar sounds with little or no effects, so I play that way.  It happened gradually, partly because I started getting more and more into jazz, and jazz guitarists typically play with a clean warm tone.  But I also just found that I couldn’t hear and appreciate the music I was trying to play when effects were being employed.  It is true that in some cases when I want to replicate the sound of another guitarist when playing in a cover band I will try to identify the effects being used and employ them.  That’s my job.  Lately I’ve been avoiding those situations.  I just don’t care to be in a band that’s trying to recreate Rush, Zep or any other band’s sound so well that the audience is impressed with our copy cat abilities.  Most guitarists I like to listen to play fairly clean, not a lot of effects that I can hear.

Now for a philosophical 180 degree turn.  I’ve been promoting what I call a “clean guitar sound” throughout this blog and to tell you the truth I couldn’t define “clean” for you.  As I gradually developed a clean, effect free, sound over time I did so by turning off the overdrive, reverb, chorus, etc, leaving only the amplification and tone adjustments.  But those are still in some sense effects.  You see, what I began to realize as I converged on a minimalist approach to my tone is that the electric guitar is one big effect.  All the physics behind the sound is in the electronics and the strings, as opposed to the body, and its construction.  Les Paul proved this when he made the stick, which was initially rejected by Gibson for looking ugly.  There is little or no physics in the body (Parker being the exception).  Furthermore the effects don’t necessarily start in the amp.  There is a large variety of pickups and coupling combinations that can create a variety of sounds coming from the guitar with no effect boxes attached.  The electric guitar is not organic like an acoustic guitar.  You are not relying on great craftsmanship, high quality materials and manipulating the acoustics of the instrument to create the perfect sound.

In theory if you buy a guitar with hot internal electronics you may need a ton of effects to clean it up!  Ironic.

So, I move from the concept of clean to pure.  Here is what I can say about my sound expectations.  I know how the physics of the strings work and I know what to expect in terms of overtones or harmonic content in the sound as a function of where I pluck the string, near the bridge gives you a twangy treble sound, near the center produces a warm more pure tone.  I know to expect that the harder I play the louder the sound gets, at least up to the point where the guitar can no longer comply with a linear response.  I know that my 335 sounds nice when played acoustically and I want that tone amplified when I play through an amp.  When the use of additional effects changes these expectations it is the wrong approach for me.

copyright 2014 David R Bergman

Single Malts

Laphroaig 25 year

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This is a very special bottle of scotch for many reasons.  I am a big fan of Laphroaig to start, I have a lease for one square foot of their property and do plan to go stand on it some day before I die.  In general Laphroaig is on the peaty smoky medicinal side of the flavor spectrum.

As usual I started with a healthy neat glass, drank about half in several small sips then added an ice cube or two.

The nose contained the smell of old books and it was a little medicinal.  At the same time it was sweet smelling, almost like a cotton candy machine.  The combination of cotton candy and medicine is almost like cough syrup.

The taste has a strong musty flavor, like a basement or a smoky room, more of the old books in the taste and strong medicinal taste.  There is a little bit of bitter spice present and the after taste is nice and bitter, almost herbal, maybe sage and bay leaves.  There is definitely a tobacco flavor present as well.  Flavors are strong in this bottle and although moderately complex, they are consistent.  The taste is much stronger than the nose and all flavors of the nose are present except for the sweet candy smell.  The flavors are complex in the sense that there seem to be many but they are all in the same flavor category, like a well spiced curry.  The flavor leans toward the smoky peaty medicinal side of the spectrum.  But its like I’m tasting a whole cigar store or spice store inventory in each sip.  The after taste gets more musty and bitter.  I like this very much.

Ice (or a little water) brings out the sweet overtones more, but doesn’t kill the nice musty flavor or the strength.  It deadens the nose a bit but actually makes the taste a little stronger.

This would go great with a Hoya De Nicaragua cigar or Aurora Brazil (if they still make them).  The smell of old books makes me want to drink this in my library, though I’d have to say I couldn’t read after a few sips.

This bottle was an anniversary gift from my wife.  I think the initial price was $500 – $550, but I was a member of a club at the store where it was purchased and got a discount which brought the price down to $375.  I am very impressed with the flavor and love Laphroaig 18 year so this was a good choice for me.  But it is not a scotch for every day use, unless you’re a rock star, or perhaps Donald Trump.  I wouldn’t run out to the store and get another when this bottle is empty.  But I’m grateful that I have this bottle for now.

copyright 2014 David R Bergman

Single Malts

Glenmorangie Ealanta

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I was very excited to try this scotch after it received so much hype.  I have to say I was not disappointed.  This is a very fine scotch with a complex refined flavor.  It’s the opposite of what I usually like.

Some of the most impressive features of Ealanta are; 1) that it’s surprisingly light in flavor, 2) there are a lot of flavors present in this scotch but they are subtle, 3) no one flavor dominates the overall taste, 4) the flavor of each sip changes over time.  Ealanta is a very complex scotch with delicate but noticeable flavors.

Now for my take on the flavor.  As I’ve started in previous posts, I’m not a professional taster or critic.  I can only tell you what I taste, and my buds are quite damaged.

I started with a neat glass then after several sips added ice and drank another.

The nose was strong with ethanol, turpentine, spice and a little bit of a musty scent.  An ice cube almost immediately kills the strong ethanol and turpentine scents leaving a sweeter spicy scent.  Ealanta is 46% abv which is not much stronger than average.

When it first hits my tongue I get nutty (perhaps walnut) flavor followed by spice, pepper and some strong ethanol flavor.  After swallowing a peppery ethanol burn stays in my mouth for a while.  Then comes a musty after taste that turns to a sweeter caramel/vanilla taste with a hint of old leather mixed in.  I taste a spice that I cannot identify.  It starts out tasting like cinnamon or clove but to me its more like cumin or sumac, a middle eastern spice.  One thing for sure is that this is a subtle tasting scotch, it doesn’t hit you in the face like many of my favorite scotches.  This is more refined but full of flavor, more complex than I’m used to drinking.  So, to me, Ealanta has a flavor spectrum that is more broad than deep.  Also note that the nose is stronger than the taste.

Another interesting aspect of this scotch is that the transition from initial nutty taste to the spicy burn is quick while the onset of the caramel leather after taste takes a long time to notice, maybe as long as a minute.  You need to hold the sip in your mouth for a while to taste the walnut and you definitely want to savor this scotch, waiting a while between sips.  If you like the description of a string nose don’t add ice or water, that will kill it.  This scotch smells and tastes better neat.

I found a bottle for $107 with tax, under 100 before tax.  Relative to other scotches I’ve had and what I’m willing to pay for a good one this was well worth the money.  Also, it was a gift so that ain’t bad.  I would pay this price again for this scotch out of pocket without thinking twice.

copyright 2014 David R Bergman

Single Malts

Ardbeg 10 year

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Ardbeg 10 year is one of the Islay Scotches (my personal favorite) on the smoky end of the flavor spectrum.  More specifically, as the previously mentioned spectrum is not one dimensional, this scotch has some very distinct flavors, the most notable of which is peat.  Second to the peat is a smoky or slightly burnt flavor.

The flavor is strong when neat and tamed a little with a single ice cube.  One cube allowed to melt slightly in a couple ounces of this nectar is enough to make it as refreshing as mountain spring water.  When tasted neat the first sip is a little salty.  This slight saltiness is good in my opinion.  In the Whisky Classified salt would be a medicinal flavor. while peat is a smoky flavor.  In my opinion the smoke flavor is stronger than the medicinal flavor, contrary to the classification given by David Wishart.  It is a very strong tasting scotch, full bodied.  I don’t taste a hint of any other flavors, but then again I’m just a heavy scotch drinker and don’t claim to have a refined educated palate.

Ardbeg 10 year is not complex, which is a complement in my world.  Its flavor is very distinct and very identifiable.  It doesn’t try to be a little of everything or have a flavor that is orthogonal to its aroma (nose).  It simply is what it is, a perfect representation of how good something can be when all energy is focused on a single goal.

This scotch is lighter in color than many single malts which makes me feel refreshed as I drink it.

I have developed an expensive scotch taste, typically preferring 18 year or older single malts.  So my go to budget scotch is Ardbeg 10 year, typically 40$ – 45$ for a 750ml here in NJ.

copyright 2014 David R Bergman

Food and drink

Morristown Diner

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We go here all the time, mostly for breakfast.  I’ve had several items on their menu and they are all good but the thing I like the most is their breakfast combos.  I usually get eggs over easy on Taylor ham with hash browns (or home fries) with chopped onions and peppers added.  You have to ask for the peppers and onions.  Mix the yolk with the hash browns and you’re in business.  In general all diners have similar breakfasts.  We’ve been to about a dozen diners in north NJ and Morristown Diner has the best hash browns, hands down.  The rest of breakfast is good too but pretty standard.

I consider myself a big coffee snob and I have never been impressed with coffee at and restaurant or diner.  Ironically, when I go to very up scale restaurants in NYC and get a 3-5$ cup of coffee after dinner it tastes like crap, room temperature, insipid.  Another point about Morristown Diner is that the coffee is very impressive, robust, and never tastes old, stale or watered down.

Last but certainly not least is the attitude.  The people there are very friendly and considerate.  We get great service there.

Other good items are, Large Greek Salad, Steak and Eggs, Hungry Man Breakfast Sandwich, Belgium Waffles, Gyro, the fries are very good too.

If you live in Morristown you should go there.

copyright 2013 David R Bergman

The Guitar

My experience with Gibson guitars

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I own two Gibson guitars, a Flying V and a 335.  In the course of my life I’ve had a chance to play almost every brand out there and have owned the following brands, Gibson, Fender, Epiphone and Jackson.  There are several reasons why I continue to like Gibson over all other brands.

One is the tone, the tone is amazing even through a crappy amp and no effects.  You don’t have to “shape” the tone to get a good sound out of a Gibson.  Next is the quality and durability of the hardware.  My V is about 30 years old, I got it in 1984.  It has been through all sorts of weather, temperature differences and humidity changes, I can take it out of the case and it’s right in tune every time.  The same holds for my 335.  I don’t know what “stock” parts are like at the Gibson factory but I get better performance out of them than expensive high end custom hardware.  It might not be the hardware alone but whole platform, a sort of Gestalt that comes about when Gibson puts it all together.

The pick ups also seem to be pretty good.  The tone I mentioned earlier is there even acoustically, they have great tone and sustain.  But I’ve noticed that when I go to open mic nights and plug my 335 into someone else’s gear it screams, blowing the other guitar away in volume, without changing the settings.  It just seems to have more balls.

There is one thing I have to gripe about.  Gibson doesn’t seem to take the cleanliness of the fingerboards very seriously.  At times I will pick up a Gibson off the rack and it looks like a kid worked it over with rough sand paper.  It’s little details like this that count when you charge 3k$-4k$ for a new guitar.  It may not make a difference in the playing or tone but when you pay that much for a guitar I think you should be able to get details like that taken care of.  I’ve seen beautifully finished detailed fingerboards on 300$ guitars but they sound and play like crap.  It may only be cosmetic but it counts and I wish they would do better.  When I brought my 335 I got a free set up and fret dressing from the store that sold it to me and they finished up some of the details for free.  That was nice of them.

I still play guitars in music stores across the country and around the world and nothing matches my Gibson in terms of sound and feel, so despite my complaint about sloppy fingerboards I would buy Gibson before any other brand.

So far.

copyright 2013 David R Bergman

Movies, TV and radio

NPR (Never Play to the Right)

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I’m a very liberal person but NPR pisses me off.  I recently heard an interview with some guy (don’t recall the credentials, blah, blah) talking about news and how, in this day and environment, you can get news extracted from the various “news programs”.  His solution… (drum role please).  Listen to 4 or 5 different channels, both right and left oriented and listen for the common patterns.  Ok, so, I’m supposed cut through your bullshit while I have so much to do all day.  If I need to watch or listen to NPR/PBS, FOX NEWS, CNN, etc, I will never have a chance to be productive or live or make a decision based on this data.

So, the conspiracy here is to cripple the American people and force us all on welfare and various social programs so we may sit home all day and apply the scientific method to extracting the 10% useful information from a collection of aural and visual parasites planted in our consciousness for the purpose of earning a day time Emmy award for a wanabe actor or actress, pardon me a “personality”.

Who produces a list of facts about the happenings of the day from around the world?!  Nobody.

copyright 2013 David R Bergman

Travel and living

Columbia MD

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I lived in Columbia MD for about 3 years.  This is a very attractive Maryland city.  According to legend it was a completely planned city, and it shows.  Everything you could want or need is within a short drive from any point in the city and everything is accessible, e.g. driving is easy, traffic flow is usually light.

I lived right across from the big mall, Columbia Town Center, and across from the local public library and an apartment of the same name as the mall.  The rent was quite pricey but apartments were very clean, up to date, and the building was very safe.  The management was very responsive to requests from tenants.  So, if I had to live in Columbia again I would probably go to the same apartment complex.

You are pretty close to Baltimore and DC.  Distance wise they might be about the same but time wise Baltimore is definitely closer.  Outside of rush hour traffic you can get from Columbia to Baltimore in less than 30 minutes.  Columbia itself is pretty low key, a family city.  If you want excitement or night life you’re taking a trip to either Baltimore or DC.

Right near the area I lived there was, as I said, the mall, an outdoor concert venue, Merriweather Post Pavilion, many small lakes and forest preserves with hiking trails, many good restaurants (a lot of ethnic variety), Trader Joes, Whole Foods, etc.  It is a very peaceful place for the most part.