The web is cluttered with stories about supposedly free software. A person will likely find that most of these claims are false. I have combed through all the offers and selected one program that stands above the rest. In the future I will post some of my other finds
This program is a mix between Adobe Photoshop and paint. It has many of the same photo editing tools as Photoshop but has better drawing tools like Microsoft paint. I actually prefer this program to Photo shop. The interface is mush simpler and the program functions like Microsoft paint. It only takes a short while to figure out the various tools unlike the complex Photo Shop. The major drawback is some tools are missing like the “magnetic lasso” and others are not as effective as in Photoshop. Over all this is a kickass program that is worth a download and as a plus is faster to get then illegal copies of Photoshop.
-Spooky D
This is an article that ran in the February 23rd Issue of The Acorn. I, the author have restored it to its unedited state as originally intended. Two main paragraphs (which The Acorn cut out) are highlighted in red. Many other words and sentenced were edited out or changed around by The Acorn. This point of submitting this article to The Nutcracker is primarily demonstrate the censorship that the executive editors employ over their writers, and secondarily as a shameless plug for my work in attempt to obtain feedback on my writing style. Ok, well, voila…
The Perks of Running a Legitimate Business
By Dan Bindschedler
Sharp guitar chords cut through fierce waves of a melodious horn section while a persistent walking bass line outlines the harmony. A steady drum beat rumbles below while heartfelt lyrics lay down an eternal credo: “We are the strong, the brave, the few.”
This is just a taste of the fast paced, gritty flow of powerful music coming from Legitimate Business, a band known fairly well among
Wozniak started playing bass when he was 14 and soon after picked up the guitar as well. He remembers his group forming at first as a way to kill time. Soon after, they then began performing seriously around early 2005 at which point Wozniak was actually playing guitar; around November of that year, he switched over to bass. Many other changes have occurred since their creation. For example, Steve and singer Mark Ambrose are currently the only two members remaining from the original line-up of Legitimate Business. “We’ve had problems with guys who couldn’t make practice several times in a row.” Well, it looks like these changes were for the better because somewhere along the line, Legitimate Business must have struck the right chord; anyone with a Playstation 2 and a skateboard should be familiar with their music. Their hit “80 on 80” is featured on the Tony Hawk Project 8 soundtrack. The story of this breakthrough, which Steve agreed, certainly helped propel Legitimate Business’ career is a golden plug for Myspace. “I knew a guy who was working with Eversoft (creators of the Tony Hawk game series) and he heard our song on Myspace and wanted it for the game.”
Legitimate Business then had their first serious recording session at a home recording studio so they could make a better recording of “80 on 80” for the game. It was here that Steve had his first encounter with some of the more disgruntling aspects of the music world. “The owners of the recording studio had all this really amazing hi-quality equipment but they had no clue what they were doing. They ended up getting drunk and accidentally deleting our recordings.” Well, that just sucks.
However, Legitimate Business obviously has moved on to bigger and better things. Wozniak remembers how much more easily gigs were made available to the band after having their name on the Tony Hawk Soundtrack: “Before Tony Hawk, we had been invited to play at this one music scene in Syracuse, New York but it wasn’t really worth it because the promoters wanted us to drive four hours to play and they weren’t even going to pay us, so we turned them down,” Wozniak said. “After Tony Hawk came out, they really wanted us to play and were offering to pay and feed and pamper us.” This two-faced attitude, along with many other incidents marked the beginning of Steve’s taste aversion for the false colors of the music world.
It may seem like Steve Wozniak is living the dream of every garage band, yet he himself is hesitant to agree. “When I’m on stage playing, and people have driven hours to see me, it’s the best feeling of my life. But when I’m offstage, it’s the best worst feeling possible.” This disgruntled attitude, Steve explains, is a direct result of critics, promoters, the corporate aspect of the music scene, and largely because he “hates Ska.” Yes, this is a shocking statement to hear coming from one of the founding members of a successful underground Ska-punk band that has received notable success in the underground scene.
However, Steve Wozniak’s justification is rationally heartfelt and genuine. “It’s a horrible genre,” he said. “The people suck and we are constantly taking verbal abuse and criticism from music elitists that judge our music without even listening to it.” Regardless of the fact that a community of pundits come hand in hand with any form of art, Legitimate Business seems to receive a certain amount of hypocritical bashing. “People see that we happen to have horns in our band and then say we’re not Ska enough.” Wozniak say that these critics don’t know their music. He clarifies that while “Ska-Punk” may be similar Legitimate Business, the band doesn’t really fall into that genre. Wozniak would describe it as a sound that is unique and distinct and that they are assumed to be part of the genres because of their horn section.
It is problems like this that cause Wozniak, after approximately two years of playing with Legitimate Business to look at the aspects of making a career out of his band with much less eagerness. “I would be interested in seriously pursuing LB if the music world wasn’t so corporate. I hate sucking up” On the upside, Wozniak has gotten to get on stage and actually play along side bands that influenced Legitimate Business such as Big D and the Kids, The Pie Tasters, and Arrogant Sons of Bitches. “We’ve pretty much gotten to play with just about every band I’ve grown up listening to.” Wozniak also jumped at the opportunity to give some insight and support for another influential band called Bomb The Industry. He explained this unique group as more or less the musical equivalent of Communism. Fans of Bomb The Industry can get their hands on all the music and lyrics for free on the official website, and while there is no official merchandise, the band encourages fans to bring blank t-shirts to concerts where artists, using spray paint and stencils will create put Bomb The Industry designs on the shirts for free. All that Bomb The Industry asks in return is tips, food, shelter and a little appreciation for dirty commies. Other possibilities with music are intriguing to the young star. Wozniak expressed a possible interest in playing with other people and branching out into different in genres like folk-punk. He named a few other powerful noises of interest including World/ Inferno Friendship Society, Outkast, and The Beastie Boys (the Baddest Hebes this Side of Tel Aviv).
Wozniak is happy to be at Drew, but he admits that since he’s been off at college, finding time for everyone in the band to get together and crank out practice sessions has become a struggle: “It’s definitely become a lot harder at college. We’ve got two guys at William and Patterson, and two in high school who are going off to college next year.” Due to location and scheduling conflicts, Legitimate Business is forced to practice off campus. And of course the lack of space available for musicians to rock out at
In fact, Wozniak is among a large community of rock n rollers at drew who continue to reiterate that the music scene on campus, while abundant in potential, is lacking the means to help a whole slew of artists flourish. Yet, a vivid young fan hears hope in the echoing wails of Legitimate Business: freshman Joe Maron and No. 1 Superfan of Mr. Wozniak glorifies his esteemed college and Legitimate Business decrying that they “bring a certain element of musical energy that is lacking at Drew.” Mr. Marron whole-heartedly emphasizes that this quality, which surely many other talented musicians on campus share, necessitates an on campus “jam space.” Mr. Maron, who knows Steve Wozniak personally, guarantees that the star is dedicated to his fans and that “if enough people come to his shows, I will get him to play topless.” Well, clothed or not, Steve Wozniak and Legitimate Business are talented new addition to
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