Product Feature : Tube Amp

The work week turned out alright, having accomplished more than expected. It feels good to finish off on Friday without unresolved issues waiting for Monday morning to come around. Feeling good, I return home to my condo to celebrate. A good work week may be a small feat, but to quote Harvey Pekar, “Ordinary life is pretty complicated stuff.” It’s time to put on some good tunes, bask in the groove and break out a few dance moves from the private collection.

The expensive computer speakers and sub hooked up to my Mac Book doesn’t quite do the trick when you are in the mood to listen to some serious music. For Youtube and movies they are awesome, but there is only so much 2.5” speakers can do. The range is very limited.

What kind of sound system suits the condo living lifestyle?

Perhaps, a bookshelf stereo. It is compact, great for space saving and some actually sound decent.  Unfortunately, most bookshelf stereos have a gawdy plastic look that will quickly cheapen the decor, especially when the room is not very big. Making the best use of space is vital when living in a condo, so a full component sound system with floor standing speakers may not be a great idea. No doubt it will get your feet hopping but the neighbors will also be pounding from above, below, and both sides.

Nowadays, most music is stored on a hard drive as mp3 or lossless flac format. LP’s are for nostalgia, cassette tapes are forgotten and a CD collection takes up too much space. Considering that the average condo size is 650sq ft and a 2TB of hard drive space is less than $100.00, why take up valuable space, when you are paying over $400.00 per sq ft.

With everything digitally recorded, digitally stored and digitally played, the musical experience can become somewhat harsh, thin and metallic sounding, rather than a full-bodied tone. Instead of plugging in the iPod into a solid state transistor amplifier, try a "Tube Amp".

Note that the source of the music needs to be good, meaning flac or 320kb/s files. Tube amps are known to produce a warmer fuller tone. The reason for this is because of harmonic distortion. All amplifiers whether solid state or tube add distortion to the signal fed to them. Distortion from a tube amp is mostly low order, even second, forth, sixth and eighth harmonics. In other words, they represent octaves that are musically related thereby blending in the harmonic distortion with the music being played. Solid state amplifiers, however, have high order odd harmonics in addition to the low order even harmonics. High order odd harmonics are seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenths, which are not musically toned and does not blend well with music. The higher the frequency of harmonic distortion the easier it is heard, which is why solid state amps can sound harsh and metallic. 

A small amount of low order even harmonic distortion in a tube amp may go completely unnoticed, whereas the same amount of harmonic distortion, but in high order odd harmonics can make the listener cringe his eyebrows. This is why many claim tube amps to have a warmer, fuller sound, the even harmonic distortion blends in with music.

If you are looking for something that sounds good and looks cool in your condo, have a listen to a tube amp and see if the sound suits you.

Photo + Words : Tobin C

Beauty News : Smashbox Friends & Family Sale

 

Valid only online @ www.smashbox.com from 11/23/2011 through 11/28/2011. Enjoy!

From your beauty expert,

Maggie Ng

Short Story : In One Moment [Page 7]

IN ONE MOMENT [Page 7] by Tobin Cheung
 
My waving arm goes unnoticed. She has her blinders on again.

I stand off the main path, curious to see what will proceed, wanting to learn how a man’s man makes his opening moves. I’m rather shy when it comes to picking up women. In fact, Liz was the one who picked me up one autumn night in an underground jazz club. In my zone, oblivious to the dingy surroundings, I was grooving, swaying and jiving to a “lady” down from New Orleans. He was blowing funk so smelly that my body parts were jerking and jolting without consent. He had flair, the kind that told you that jazz was his birth right and not a learned skill.

That autumn night under the red and gold lights, alone and unencumbered, I drowned myself in the music. Perhaps, that is what captured Liz’s attention, my uninhibited dancing, my movement of pure freedom; my lapse from reality. That night, I was feeling euphoric, even dazed. She took me by surprise, when she grabbed my arm and asked my name. I was in a trance. My state of consciousness was engulfed in the music, leaving no one in charge of reality. Needless to say, I don’t remember much.

“Thank-you and welcome to the 25th Annual Jazz festival. Tonight’s lineup will feature the legends of tomorrow. You will hear the influences of the greats:  Duke, Dizzy, and Davis, all playing their part in tonight’s repertoire of performances. And I must say; these are the most precocious kennel of cats I’ve seen gathered in one place. First a few words from our sponsors.”

    A mob of colours begin shuffling towards the main stage. It is a fashion show, the "artsy" and "sexy" have arrived. These types of events always seem to attract the very hip. One of the things I like to admire among the crowd of people is all the designer eyewear everyone is sporting. It is a trend that has been flourishing more and more over the past few years. I must have counted at least twenty pairs go by.

Tiptoeing on the curb, I peer over the jumble of heads towards the direction I last saw Liz. She’s gone. Without thinking, I drop my heels, and step into a blur, instantly causing a bang. My hand goes down and I manage to keep from crashing into the ground. After regaining my orientation, I search around in a daze, trying to determine how I ended up on the tracks of an incoming express train. Several meters away among the marching crowd is the person who literally ran over me.

“Hey, why are you running like an idiot for!!” I scream in his direction. Raising my hand to curse him out, I suddenly take notice of the ponytail looped high through the official jazz festival cap. 

It’s a girl, yep, that’s a girl, didn’t feel like a girl. “Sorry, didn’t see you there, you know, with the crowd of people and all.” I mumble waving at her. She didn’t appear to be damaged at all. Why would she be, traveling at warp speed? I, however, was beginning to feel a pain in my shoulder.

After a moments’ hesitation, she turns and quickly vanishes.

“And we would like to remind you that for the next week, these talented bands will be grooving in one of the many great bars this city has to offer. So, get yourselves a festival schedule and find out where you need to be.”

Straightening out, I fall in with the one way traffic and bump my way to the stage. All the benches beneath the canopy are already taken by sporadically placed individuals.

[To be continued...]

Hair Product Review : Origins Ginger Up Shampoo

 

Origins : Ginger Up Aromatic Shampoo [6.7 fl oz / 200 ml]

Beauty Stars : 4.2 / 5

Review : The Origins Ginger Up Aromatic Shampoo was referred to me by my friend Shelly.  She kept saying how amazing it was, so I decided to give it a try.  I found it at a cosmetic warehouse sale for $10 CAD. The bottle isn't that big, so I ended up using it up quite quickly because I have to wash my hair everyday. But it didn't dry my hair even though I used it everyday.

It is definitely aromatic and I love the scent.  The savoury scent of ginger is quite strong, invigorating and totally wakes you up.  This shampoo is great because it is free of many bad chemicals such as parabens, petroleum, parrafin, synthetic colour, synthetic fragrance and the list goes on.  Wheat protein and pathenol ingredients help to keep your hair nice, smooth and protected. 

The only negative I found is that the aroma doesn't linger in your hair that long after your hair is dry, but other than that, it does a great job cleaning my hair.  This shampoo is made for all hair types.  If I ever get another invite to one of those warehouse sales, I'll definitely try to stock up on this product.

Beauty Review : Maggie Ng
Note : For any beauty questions or product submissions, please email : maggie@maggieng.com

Beauty Product Review : Shu Uemura Mini Eyelash Curler

 

Shu Uemura : Mini Eyelash Curler [discontinued]

Beauty Stars : 4.5 / 5

Review : The Shu Uemura Mini Eyelash Curler works great! It is able to get right to the corners of most eyes regardless of the shape.  Unfortunately I think the mini curler might be discontinued (at least that’s what I heard).  I had the regular sized SU curler in my kit for a while but always wanted the mini one too.  When I finally went to look for it at the stores, it was gone.  Then one random day, I walked past Holt Renfrew’s cosmetic section and they had this “Paramount Beauty Pouch” for $25 CAD that included the Shu Uemura Mini Eyelash Curler and a few other neat products.  I asked the cosmetic rep if they were carrying it again and she said “No, just happened to be included in this limited time beauty pouch.”  I was like OMG! THANK YOU!!!  So I bought one with no hesitation.

Tip : For the curler to work well, you should replace the silicone pads every 3 months with regular use.  Sometimes you can use a blow dryer on the curler for a few seconds to heat it up before using it to get a better curl.  Make sure it’s not too hot and doesn’t burn your skin though!  And lastly, curling your lashes from the base, center and tips of the lashes will give it a more natural curl, as opposed to just curling it in one spot and getting one very sharp angle.

Beauty Review : Maggie Ng
Note : For any beauty questions or product submissions, please email : maggie@maggieng.com

Hair Product Review : Joico Ice Hair Finisher Shaping Hair Spray

Joico : Ice Hair Finisher Shaping Hair Spray [300 ml / 9 oz]

Beauty Stars : 3.7 / 5

Review : The Joico Ice Hair Finisher Shaping Hair Spray was being sold at a local hair supply store. I got a 2 for 1 deal for it, so thought I'd try it out.  When I first used it, it came out kind of like a foamy mousse-like texture.  I thought it was kind of odd because it did say "hair spray" on the bottle.  But after you use it a few more times, the spray becomes finer and then it was ok.  I don't really use it for styling or updos, as it makes the hair too hard once it dries.  I just save it for the end and use it as a finisher "hence the name"! It holds well and smells nice -- sort of like a coconut smell. Yum!  A lot of my clients compliment it on the fragrance.

My only beef that I didn't like about this was that the nozzle gets clogged easily, so you have to clean it every so often, otherwise if you try to use it, it could spray the product in all different directions.  I think it almost hit a photographer's uber expensive lense once when I used it at a wedding gig.  Eek. Luckily it didn't.  So before I use it, sometimes I spray it a few times aimed at the floor first, just in case to make sure the nozzle is working properly. 

Beauty Review : Maggie Ng
Note : For any beauty questions or product submissions, please email : maggie@maggieng.com

Beauty News : Lise Watier Age Control Supreme

Here's the inside scoop :

Lise Watier will be launching a new line of skincare called Age Control Supreme in January 2012. Known as the supreme ritual of youth, the secret ingredient within the formula is Labrador Tea Extract. This anti-ageing ingredient is found within Canada's Boreal forest. For more info, stay tuned to www.lisewatier.com.

From your beauty expert,
Maggie Ng