Pascal Programming Lessons-Part 2-Using Free Pascal

            In this part we'll be setting up Lazarus and learning to use it and all it's functions and FPC which is not so complicated to set up, I'll start with Lazarus. I think you all know how to install it, I provided you with the download link in the first part.

            When you open Lazarus (I have no idea wha happens the first time, it was a long time ago) I think a new appplication is already started. If it is go to file New... and then a window will open asking you what do you wan to start. Pictures:

            Now to explain the things in these pictures. I'll skip new unit and form because that is too complicated to explain to begginers in Pascal and programming. I told you to go to New... because there you can choose to start a non-graphical program which is named Program, unlike Application which is a graphical Pascal program which we will cover later. Right now the only thing that is important is for you to know how to start a new non-graphical program in order to study with me and practice on your own. This is where we will start our journey. On the end of each lesson I'll give you a few excercise so you can brush up on your skills. I won't cover saving, everyone knows how to save.

            Once you select Program and click OK in the New ... window you should see this:

Delete all of it we don't need that right now. After you deleted that, I am happy to say now you know how to start making a Pascal program in Lazarus.

Next on FPC, in the previous lesson I provided a link. Once you download it, install and there should be an icon on the desktop to open it. Once you open it a small window will appear you can modify the size by clicking right click on the icon, properties and mess with the things there. I won't cover it here. anyway you should see something llike this:

It's very easy to use, to start a new program in the directory you want, first you'll have to change it. To do that go to file Change dir.... and once you chose a directory, in the same menu click on new. I am happy to say that you know how to make a Pascal program in FPC. That is it for this lesson, if it can even be called one.
In the next part I'll start with the real thing.

Robert Johnson - 75 Years of Myth

            Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues, died an untimely death 75 years ago. Dandy Ducks are remembering the great bluesman with this article, written as a modest attempt to introduce you to his lasting musical heritage.

            Robert Johnson is the central figure of blues history and one of the most important 20th century artists. His name resounds among the musicians all around the world. If you are fan of The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin or many other classic rock bands (without mentioning virtually every post-1930's blues player), you'll find out that he made a vast musical impact on their work and still remains a great influence on aspiring oncoming and current musicians. Also, he's one of the first to enter the so-called “27 Club“; he was born 1911 and died 27 years later, on August 16th, 1938.

            His life was surrounded in mystery and myth. The story tells that one midnight at crossroad Robert Johnson gave his guitar to the Devil. Devil tuned it and played a few songs, then returned it to Johnson, bestowing him a guitar mastery in exchange for his soul. Upon listening to his music, his eerie voice and a spine-tingling guitar for the first time, you might easily suggest his music is coming from some other world. As digging deeper will prove nothing other than how great talent and musicianship stood behind him, discovering his musical opus can be highly rewarding.

            Importance of his music lies not only in his astonishing technique but in a way of delivering old and familiar blues tunes. He gathered useful knowledge from his predecessors and renowned contemporaries, compiled numerous guitar figures and techniques and draw the best out of it. That's how Sweet Home Chicago is based on a common melody of Scrapper Blackwell's Kokomo Blues or how Love In Vain Blues borrows its chord structure from Leroy Carr's When the Sun Goes Down, yet Johnson's rendition feels like reinventing these tunes with the undeniable alluring quality and artistry.

One of the only two extant Johnson's photographs (or, maybe, there is a third one?)

            Johnson recorded just 29 songs, every one of them in two different versions, except Milkcow's Calf Blues which was recorded three times. That was a common practice at the time as the producers needed backup recordings in case of technical problems with the “choice number  1“, version chosen for the release. Or sometimes it was just needed to improve the song quality a bit.

            Unfortunately, 17 of total of 59 recordings still remain lost. Metal masters of 8 recordings are reported to be destroyed and donated to the army on the government's appeal during the WWII copper shortage in the United States. Still, there is no clue about the fortune of the remaining 9 masters. They could have been destroyed forever or they could still be hidden in someone's private collection. That was the case with the first take of Traveling Riverside Blues which was considered lost until it was discovered in the late 1990's.

            Songs were recorded in two sessions. The first session was held in November 1936, in San Antonio, during the course of three days. Johnson stood alone behind the microphone with a guitar and made some of his greatest recordings there: Sweet Home Chicago, Terraplane Blues, Come On In My Kitchen, Cross Road Blues etc. Terraplane Blues was a hit among contemporary audience and it remained his best-selling single record.

            The second session was held half a year later, in June 1937, in Dallas, in two days. Johnson performed his magic once again with the guitar and the voice only. This session provided a significant addition to his songbook: Love In Vain Blues, Stones In My Passway and Stop Breakin' Down Blues became favourites during the blues revival and rock-and-roll era in the late 50' and 60's. Me and the Devil Blues and Hellhound On My Trail helped spreading Robert Johnson myth with its mystical lyrical imagery.

I got to keep moving, I got to keep moving
Blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail
And the day keeps on remindin' me, there's a hellhound on my trail

His lyrics have often been overlooked but, nevertheless, stirred the imagination of many.

            Robert Johnson died just a year later. Infamous ladies' man he was, one jealous husband had poured poison in his whiskey. He suffered illness for three days as his condition had worsened and medical state complicated. He died in the age of 27, leaving behind an invaluable contribution to future generations of musicians and listeners.

A brief history of Robert Johnson's releases

            First collection of Robert Johnson's material was released in 1961 on the LP called The King of the Delta Blues Singers. Interestingly, it made a great commercial success in Europe. It raised interest in blues primarily among British bands who incorporated it into the newly born, popular musical genres. Second volume of the set was released in 1970 to satisfy their hunger for more Robert Johnson's songs.

            The Complete Recordings album was finally released in 1990 and it was introduced to and influenced a whole new generation of artists and musicians; it also gained wide public interest and reached Gold status in no time.

The Centennial Collection will certainly please your appetite for great music 

            Complete remastering was done to commemorate Johnson's 100th birthday with The Complete Recordings - The Centennial Collection which was released in 2011. The first disc presents all surviving material from the San Antonio session with the second versions being included as bonus tracks. The second disc covers Dallas session likewise. The album is accompanied with the extensive booklet which contains a short biography of Robert Johnson and an informative text about the history of Johnson's releases.

            Remasters were done by Steven Lasker, using the state-of-the-art technology and equipment and is the best one could ask for at the moment. What remains is only the popular controversy about the speed of the original recordings. Vocalion Records who originaly published Johnson's recordings in 1930's were notorious for speeding up the compositions up to 25% so they could fit on the record. The result was that the sound was higher pitched than the natural recording. It still isn't confirmed was that the case with Robert Johnson's material and all official releases still contain songs as they were processed for the initial release.

            Robert Johnson's life has been extensively studied and his music enjoyed for more than 75 years but he still remains almost a mythical figure; it is a treatment reserved only for the truly great ones.

Hal

"When the train, it left the station
with two lights on behind
Well, the blue light was my blues
and the red light was my mind"

- Robert Johnson, Love In Vain Blues

Programming Lessons-Pascal-Part1-Introduction

            Well, time to learn you guys programming! I won't say it's easy and that you'll do it in no time! These lessons are made for people that have no experience in Pascal, if you have some you can skim through until you come across something you don't know. First of all I have a lot of experience in programming, I've been programming in pascal for about three years already and lately I've been studying Unity (game engine) so that when the time comes, I'll guide you guys into making a game (yes you've heard it). First of all I have to tell you that it will be hard, belive me. At first I was so optimistic that I'll learn programming and make games in a year or so, I was wrong and the only thing that kept me going was the thought that I'll make a game, right now I'm making a game and it's not easy. My point is: if you don't have any experience in programming, don't expect to be making a game in a year, unless you spend all the days in the year studying and excersing programming (I don't think anyone will study the whole year), but don't be discouraged, once you learn Pascal you'll be able to learn other languages in a day or so (every language has something specific about it). Why Pascal, because it's a programming language made for studying. I recommend that you download Free Pascal, in the next part I'll cover the basics in working with it, otherwise download Lazarus, a free pascal IDE which is very good sometimes, but also not so good for some things.

To download Lazarus: click here.
To download Free Pascal also known as FPC: click here.

            There's a funny thing, I wasn't planning to do these lessons at all, but my friends encouraged me because they're interested in programming and making games (say thanks to them).

            LET US START! Finally. Well since this is an introduction, for the finish I'll show you an example of a Pascal program:

program example;
uses crt;
var
   x,y:integer;
   z:integer;
begin
   readln(x);
   y:=5;
   z:=x+y;
   writeln(z);
end.

            That's it for the first part. Be patient the next part is not that far away!

Makrokrama

The Wall Live - Two Concerts Review

A personal account of The Wall Live 2011 and 2013 shows in Zagreb and in Split.

Part 2 - where it gets really loud!

            In 2010, The Wall Tour was announced. And I felt dissapointed. The nearest show was in Budapest, 500 km away, and it was too expensive to travel that far just to see the concert. I examined every solution and eventually gave up. It was only few weeks later that I got the most wonderful news. The Wall was going to be performed in Zagreb, the capital city of my country, Croatia! I bought the tickets the first day they were put on market and then all I could do was wait.

            (There's a funny anecdote about me and my cousin waiting at 6 o'clock in the morning for the shop to open, when the tickets were to be put on sale. We believed there was going to be a rush for the tickets so we got there as soon was possible. Of course, it turned out we were the only ones and after an hour spent before the locked door we realised that even the true fans decided not to hurry and to sleep a little longer.)

             The concert took place on 13th April 2011. I had to wait for almost eight months but I was finally there: Arena Zagreb, concert venue and an ocassional hockey rink. Cardboard wall was half-built across the stage (it was meant to be completed during the show), the musical instruments were prepared and tuned and we could see the gigantic oval-shaped screen above the stage.

            At last, the lights were dimmed out and the show was about to begin. It commenced with the famous dialogue from the 1960' movie Spartacus („I am Spartacus!“,  „No! I am Spartacus!“…) roaring from the loudspeakers that made it seemed like the sound was coming from everywhere around. It silenced and wistful sound of trumpet began to play Outside the Wall melody. A few measures. And suddenly, it got loud!

            The first chord of In the Flesh? exploded sinchronizingly with the thunderous fireworks. Waters made his appearance during the instrumental introduction. Two men dressed like soldiers put on him a leather jacket and black glasses making him look like a fascist dictator, the scene that will be repeated much later in the storyline. He grabbed the microphone and fired up the audience!

So ya

Thought ya

Might like to go to the show.

To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow.

            I began shaking with excitement with the very first chord and when Waters came on stage I was incapable to move or to look away. It was a feeling that I would never forget, usually felt in the most rare moments of genuine excitement. I couldn't stop shaking until Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, almost half an hour into the show. And the highlights of concert were yet to come. 

            Mother gave a chance to an "experiment in time travel". It was performed in synchronization with Waters' 1980 live footage of the song at the Earls Court, screened on the wall. Very exciting rendition of Empty spaces was accompanied with Gerald Scarfe's animated sequences from the movie, followed by Young Lust, One of my Turns and Don't Leave Me Now before the wall was finally completed during the instrumental medley of Last Few Bricks. Waters peeped out the last empty space, singing Goodbye Cruel World and falling into isolation behind the wall while the last brick was being put into place, marking the end of the first part of the show.

"Mother, should I trust the government?  NO FUCKING WAY!"

            During the intermission, while we were ecstaticly retailing the experience, photographs of fallen soldiers in wars during the last and the current century appeared and exchanged on the wall. Waters invited people from all over the world to send the photographs of their ancestors or the fallen loved ones and he used them to accent the antiwar message of The Wall. Remember that he never met his father who died at Anzio in Italy in 1944, during the Second World War which is a recurring theme in his work and his certain obsession.

            Hey You opened the second part of the show. The band played behind the wall and therefore could not be seen. The show continued with Waters singing Is There Anybody Out There? and Nobody Home from inside the holes in the wall. Emotional peak was certainly achieved with songs Vera and Bring the Boys Back Home. They were accompanied with touching and heartbreaking videos of starving children in Africa and, the most notably, the video of young girl crying out of happiness while her father  unexpectably returned from the army.

Bring the boys back home.

            Comfortably Numb announced the final part of the concert. Whole audience was exhilarated when spotlight revealed guitarist on the top of the wall as he began playing the famous solo, originally conceived by David Gilmour. Waters ran from one side of the stage to the other greeting the audience. Solo ended with unanimous applause and wild approval.

            The band showed up in front of the wall with their instruments. They were dressed as soldiers and Waters wore the same leather jacket and black glasses as at the very beggining of the concert, turning into imaginary fascist dictator once again. The peak of the excitation was In The Flesh reprise when  „ soldiers“ handed Waters a machine gun and he began shooting the audience in every direction.  Run Like Hell and Waiting for the Worms followed the fascist narrative in the same direction when the show finally reached the climax with The Trial. Waters, now alone on the stage, sang passionately, now dramatizing the character's desperation while putting himself on the trial and accepting his guilt. The wall could be torn down at last! 

"Since my friend you have revealed your deepest fear

I sentence you to be exposed before your peers"

            The wall collapsed and the band walked out on the stage playing the last song with Waters on the trumpet. During the song, he introduced the members of the band as they were leaving the stage, waving to the audience. Waters left last with the greatest applause and the show was over. I left the arena with the precious memory and unforgettable experience. And with sadness in the heart because it was over and I was left again to the challenges of my ordinary life. For awhile, at least.

            Waters continued touring Europe and later Australia and South America. Insisting on that as many people as possible can see the show and heed its messages he announced another American and European tour with one, but great, difference. Previous shows were all performed indoors while the upcoming tour was going to be adjusted as a stadium, open-air event. It's the way Waters insisted was the best fitting for his creation.

            I was quite surprised when I saw another Croatian city on the list of proposed concerts. The show was due 23rd July 2013 at Poljud stadium in Split. Though tickets were much cheaper than they were for the show in Zagreb, the distance I would have to travel was three times greater. And maybe, I just didn't want to spoil the memory of the previous concert; it was an extraordinary experience and I felt that the part of the magic lies in seeing it only once. But resistance was in vain…

            While I was indecisive about whether to go or not to go, Croatia entered the European Union and in symbol of celebration all tickets for the international concerts were 50% off for a week. I bought a ticket for The Wall at the last minute. And I got a Fan Pit ticket which meant I was going to see the show from the one of the very first rows!

            And, indeed, the show was fabulous. It was pretty much the same, only the antiwar message was emphasised, especially by adding a new song to the setlist. The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes was written during the 2011 tour and performed from 11th July the same year onwards. It is a coda to Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 and it repeats its chorus in a slower tempo. Lyrically it covers a real story about a Brazilian tourist in London who was shot in the head eight times by the police because they had identified him as a terrorist. Nor the government nor the police has yet admitted their mistake and apologized. Waters explained the event with these mighty words: "Giving governments, and especially the police, too much power is a slippery slope to tyranny!"

            There were no other notable additions to the show which was equally impeccable and exciting as the first time. It lacked only those eight months of impatience and that shaking of an almost a childish excitement which made the Zagreb show so unique. Although I found a constant and blisfull smile on my face during Run Like Hell in Split while unanimously clapping with the audience rhythmicly with the song's beat; it is equally precious. And Roger Waters was not more than 10 meters before me! With the brimfull stadium behind and the wall right before me, the show surely had an unearthly quality. (Waters lauded the audience reporting that the band told him it was the first time they could hear the crowd singing through the wall.)

Poljud stadium before the concert.

            So, that's all for my The Wall exploits. I didn't retail it minutely as those who were present to any concert of the tour know what was it all about and they can relive it once again in their minds, with a sweet touch of nostalgia; for those who are yet to see it this is less than a slight portion of what they are going to experience, just an attempt to make their spines tingle while impatience's consuming them; for those who had no opportunity to attend the show this review was a stimulus to enjoy the music and to try to understand its messages. It isn't the concert what matters, it is how many people the music has changed or made them think about their lives and the world that's surrounding them.

            And for my sake, this was a gentle remembrance of a wonderful experience which may fade a bit, but the scale of its impact will not ever cease.

Hal

            If you want to find out more about The Wall and its live performances check out Part 1 of the article.

            And if you have never heard about The Wall but you got interested, go ahead and listen to it! It will certainly enrich your musical knowledge. Also, I suggest you watching Pink Floyd - The Wall movie for fuller experience. Maybe you even still have a chance to see the concert; Roger Waters is still touring and he may come somewhere near your hometown!