Girls representin……………..HOT TUNE!!!!!!!!!

This tune has leaked off Alicia’s new up and coming album ‘The Element Of Freedom’……can’t wait till it comes out!!!

This tune is another song that has been leaked from her ‘Pulse’ recording sessions…..

Mariah is reportedly embarking on a US tour to support her new album ‘Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel’. Hopefully there will be a UK leg to that tour ….. fingers crossed!

My girl Gaga can pull off anything , bath tubs are where its at!!

Janet bringin it back hard!!

After a very busy week, here we are again.

Last week was a busy one for different reasons.  I was in Birmingham on Tuesday for the UKOUG. I will post my impressions regarding the presentations I went to.

The other reason is daily work.

On Monday we notices a huge amount of redo log being generated between 04:00 and 07:00. When I mean huge it really means huge. We moved from having 3 archive logs (500MB each) to 17 archivelogs.

We saw this increase not as one off (it could have been our batches trying to process an unusual volume of data) but it wasn’t.

So, lets see how we did troubleshoot the problem:

Symptoms:

Archivelog increase from 3 files to 17 in one hour.

Problem:

Standby database in US was lagging behind, this generated tickets and phone calls to the on call DBA at 04:15 am.

Analysis:

We started the analysis using a simple query to show how many log switches the database has performed per hour.

It was clear we had a dramatic increased in switches.We also noticed that this increased started on Monday at 04:00. Our batches are very light on Monday morning as we do not receive any data during the weekend. Data arrives to our systems from Monday to Friday.

Using this knowledge we could almost discard batches as the source of the problem.

At 06:00 we noticed that a specific Oracle job (AUTO_SPACE_ADVISOR_JOB) was taking longer than necessary and performing more inserts than last week.

The decision was made of disable the job for one night, to see it that helped. It was a shot in the dark, but worth trying.

Next day we noticed a decrease in the number of archivelogs, but only by 2 (still 1GB). After enabling the job, we decided to attach the problem from a different direction.

Oracle has some very cool tables so see what happened in the past. Those views start with dba_hist_*. I created the following query to find out which user was generating more redo on the database:

SELECT COUNT(*),
       a.sql_id,
       c.username
FROM dba_hist_active_sess_history a,
     dba_hist_sqltext b,
     dba_users c
WHERE a.sample_time BETWEEN
      to_date ('26/11/2009 04','dd/mm/yyyy hh24')
  AND to_date ('26/11/2009 05','dd/mm/yyyy hh24')
    AND a.sql_id = b.sql_id
    AND (UPPER(b.sql_text) like '%INSERT%'
            OR UPPER(b.sql_text) LIKE '%UPDATE%'
            OR UPPER(b.sql_text) LIKE '%DELETE%'
         )
    AND a.user_id = c.user_id
GROUP BY a.sql_id, c.username
ORDER BY 1 DESC;

This query showed me who executed more inserts/updates/deletes during the window defined.

I run the query for November 26th and December 3rd and different windows (04:00 – 05:00 and 06:00-07:00).

The query proved very useful and identified the user and the sql_id that run the most (for security reasons, I have amended the username):

COUNT(*) SQL_ID        USERNAME
-------- ------------- ----------
 58       0h9cf9v0d1bt0 batch1
 9        a8gj2w0at9xjp batch2
 6        c8wust7dkbqzy user1
 4        4sr1q0ryvy6zn batch3
 4        9aywg0c0wzmxv batch3

for December 3rd, this was the output:

COUNT(*) SQL_ID        USERNAME
------- ------------- -----------
 168     9bmbf5t7580d8 User11
 50      0h9cf9v0d1bt0 batch1
 4       cg8dxqb0s8z7j user2

Wow, the number of executions for that single command was unexpected. Lets see the code:

SELECT *
 FROM dba_hist_sqltext
 WHERE sql_id = '9bmbf5t7580d8';

DBID    SQL_ID        SQL_TEXT
------- ------------- ----------------------------------
XXXXXX  9bmbf5t7580d8 UPDATE TABLE SET FIELD3= FIELD3,
                      FIELD4 = FIELD4, FIELD5= FIELD5
                      WHERE DATE = DATE AND
                      CURVE = CURVE AND
                      INSTRUMENT = INSTRUMENT

A quick word with the developers confirmed that the previous weekend a new feature was deployed. It was a new code that performed inserts if the data was not there or updates if the data was already on the database (I did not want to explain what MERGE command did at that time as this was a production problem).

I managed to have a copy of the procedure. The developers mentioned that the inserts were running very fast, but if the data was already on the table, the same procedure was very slow, so they run it in 2 threads from the application server.

I created a simple test on our QA environment and was able to reproduce the problem. The code is below:

procedure mypackage(
 date table.date%TYPE,
 curve table.CURVE%TYPE,
 instrument table.INSTRUMENT%TYPE,
 field3 table.field3%TYPE,
 field4 table.field4%TYPE,
 field5 table.field5%TYPE) IS
BEGIN
 ......
 BEGIN
  insert into table (date, CURVE, INSTRUMENT,
                     field3, field4, field5)
  VALUES (date, CURVE, INSTRUMENT,
          field3, field4, field5);
 EXCEPTION
 WHEN DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX THEN
  UPDATE table SET
   field3 = field3,
   field4 = field4,
   field5 = field5
  WHERE date = date and curve = curve
    and instrument = instrument;
 END;
END mypackage;

Ok, even with the modified version of the code, you should be able to spot the problem.

Basically, the developer has decide to use the same name for the variable and the column to insert/update. The variable curve was storing the value to insert in the column curve of the table.

For the Insert, this is fine. Oracle will check the value of the variable, but for the update, the rules are different. Oracle was scanning and updating any single row of the table (8.9 million) as the condition:

WHERE date = date AND curve = curve AND instrument = instrument

was similar to do:

WHERE 1=1.

The second thread was updating every single row of the table (8.9 million) after every single insert done by the 1st thread…. No wonder we were generating so many archivelog files.

Solution:

The first step to fix the problem has been to disable one of the threads. We are lucky that the application is new, so it mostly performs inserts.

Developers are working now in renaming all variables and parameter to use a different name convention, something like p_<parameter>, l_<variable>, etc.

As always, comments are welcome.

Found this footage of Rukso DJ-ing at Avalon in Hollywood. Seems like Dubstep’s caught on in the US then…

when they start singing the riff back to you, you probably know you’re having a good gig….

Here is the rather lovely ‘Under Her Sails’ by Malpas which is earmarked for release in the new year by the awesome dudes at Speech Fewapy

Malpas photographed by Jade Sukiya

Check out Jade Sukiya’s Tumblr

Comment below if ya dig.

So I have a few things to share today, some new, some old, all truly excellent.

Repping Paris, Jazz Liberatorz, a trio of jazzy producers making the kind of hip hop I have been bemoaning the demise of for the last decade. Go get it.

Repping Tokyo, Nujabes, cheesy and crunchy and good, like a pack of wotsits:

Repping Cadiz, the incomparable Niña Pastori. This woman has a voice that never fails to make the hair on my arms stand to attention. Like grated gold.

Repping Congo, Papa Noel. Just try not to tap your foot to this one. I’m going for the full elbows-out pidgeon-neck chicken flap to this one:

Happy weekend everybody, and if you’re feeling like a bit of Salsa and Boogaloo tomorrow night, get down to Santo on Portobelly Rd. where I’ll be spinning some tunes.

…..Hottest superhero I’ve seen……she can save me any day!!!

They were released today!

My choice is in bold.
I’m not going to list them all, since there are a truck-load, so if you want to see them all, click here.

Record Of The Year

Halo — Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling — The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody — Kings of Leon
Poker Face — Lady Gaga
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

Album Of The Year

I Am…Sasha Fierce — Beyonce
The E.N.D. — The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame — Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King — The Dave Matthews Band
Fearless — Taylor Swift

Song Of The Year

Poker Face — Lady Gaga
Pretty Wings — Maxwell
Single Ladies [Put A Ring On It] — Beyonce
Use Somebody — Kings Of Leon
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

Best New Artist

Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Be sure to tune in on January 31st, 2010 on CBS at 8-11:30 PM.

I just found out I can’t sing. No, it’s true. Here I am, flitting along in my two decade long dream of becoming a world renown singer and I suddenly discover I can’t actually sing. Don’t try to argue with me. I’ve resigned myself to it, mourning over my deflated bubble and burst hopes.

To think how many times my poor sister had to hear me belt out “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid sound track. Why didn’t she tell me?

And of course, I spent 6 years of my life attending summer jazz camp and performing in festivals. I am a bassist, but I carefully avoided ever having to do a solo up the neck of my ebony fingerboard. How did I get out of it? I sang. I requested to sing instead of play the notes my fingers knew by heart. Singing was my safety, the way to avoid embarrassment if I messed up.  There I was, crooning out the lyrics to songs written 70 years before my time in front of hundreds of white-haired critics. And none of them ever told me.

Oh, and the last two years? I’ve been singing in church alongside my musician friends, thinking I was qualified to sing with the best of them. Every week I faithfully harmonized beside my worship-pastor of a husband. I worked hard to split up the parts, to get us in sync, to fill in the melodic holes. How blissfully unaware I’ve been to the warble of sounds that comes out of my voice box.

I should have known. Every week, somebody tells me to turn up the volume, to sing louder, to get closer to the mic. Every week, people can barely hear me, barely notice the harmonies. And then I carefully blame the sound system, the monitor, the songs. But I go on, singing faithfully. Unaware of the problem.

Sigh. I made the mistake of recording myself.

Yes, what a fool I’ve been. My husband and I make a hobby of recording songs, just for the fun of it. We’ll pick out a song, a simple one with easy melodies and familiar words, and then lay down the tracks on our recording software. We’ve done it before, and it usually comes out fine. I missed the signs because I was so good at blending behind my Brandon’s louder, handsome voice.

But this time, we picked out a song with two distinct parts. My voice stood alone, naked for the world to see. And what did I discover? I have the voice of a small rodent. It was soft, limp, wobbly. “You sound like a mouse,” said my darling husband. That can’t be right.  Oh yes, I carried the melody, I hit the notes, but it was a flimsy attempt at music. Of course, I wasn’t holding the mic right. And the recording equipment was picking up fuzz. I can’t sing with the light on. I’m distracted by the carpet.

So we tried it again. And again. And I stood up to use my diaphragm. And I had my Brandon sing with me. And I had him play guitar in the background. And he played with the voice controls. Nothing fixed the mousiness. If anything, it was more bold, more proud of its squeak. “Sing louder,” he said. So I did, and I really belted it. Louder than I’ve sung in a long time. And the weirdest thing happened. I lost control of my voice. It barreled through, hitting whatever targets it could but missing the important ones. The mouse scampered away, but it was replaced by a forced squawk. It was all over the place, unwieldy and imprudent. The air that flew out of my lungs couldn’t find the notes and just grabbed whatever tune it could find. It was like my voice was desperate, unsure of this new venture it was taking.

The discovery is now staring me straight in the face: sing in key and sound like a vermin, or sing loud and sound like a hooligan. Where is the balance? How am I supposed to recover from this? My dreams, my hopes, lost in the guise of a mouse. Where can I go from here?

Want to know what is worse? It was funny. I laughed at myself. My husband laughed at me too. I was finally hearing myself clearly for the first time in decades. I’ve always passed it off as something wrong with the system or the timing or the environment, but not today. I’m awake, and I’m ready to come to grips with my limitations.

What did you say? Practice? Oh yes. Practice. You’re probably right. Someday when I’m not too embarrassed, I’ll post those recordings for you. But not today. And don’t get your hopes up.

By the way, you could have told me.

「Enter the Chickenへの道」も佳境ということでこの曲逝きましょう「Post Office Buddy」

これは持ってませんけど1994年発売のアルバム「Giant Robot」に収録されているらしいです。19曲目にして最長の6分40秒、アルバムは持ってないのでyoutubeで聴くのみですが、長さといい何といい結構ダレ曲の一種なんじゃないでしょうか。しかし最近になってyoutubeにこの曲のライブ模様があがったので観てみます。

これいいですね。ライブで演奏してるやつの方が全然良いですし、これ見るとPost～の印象も変わるから不思議です。Bucketも密やかに調子良さそうですし、彼はこういうのは割とお得意というか弾きなれしてる感じを受けます。自分はこのような淡々と押すような曲が好きなのでこの動画に二重丸をつけたいと思います。

それにしても何気にエントリーした「Post Office Buddy」、これって凄くマイナーですよね、話に出ているのを見たことがありません。邦題が「郵便局で一目ぼれ」でしたっけ。うーん、邦題がいけないんだろうか。いや、きっとオリジナル7分弱というのがいけないんだと思います。

here’s a surface…

my emotions are best defined by a marble travelling along it lol.
after a real low, i rolled to a real high and now im rolling back down again. wish i was more in control of how i feel, or just permanently happy. wish things were simpler. if i had one wish, i’d make you my whole life. anyway tune of the day has to be Three Little Birds by Bob Marley:

ぎゃー！ 「Frozen Brains Tell No Tales」!!!!!

最近nikoにもあげた2003年発表の超怪作「Bucketheadland 2」の19曲目にしっかり食い込む一曲。恐らくこのアルバム内で一番有名なんじゃないでしょうか。アルバムに収録されているこれには変な合いの手が入っていますが、曲が良いことに変わりはないでしょう。現在youtube上にはこれをステージ演奏した動画が6個くらいあがっていると思うのですが、今日はその中から私が呆れかえってしょうがない（褒め言葉）パフォーマンス動画を逝きましょう。

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkOTWOSuPMs

いやだからこれ怖いって。その中でも最も怖かった瞬間をキャプショしたわけですが、何もこの動画はBucketheadの怖さを確認する為のものでも「7分間のBucket ホラーショー」でもありません。所謂「レコード以上にやるじゃんBuck」の典型動画だと思うのですが（それだけで良い動画と云えるでしょう）、基本彼は動かない人なのでよく判りませんが、それなりにノっているのがよく判ります。しかしその行動範囲は半径1m内、その中でゆらついているでかい男のバストショットが延々と続くわけですから素人さんにはお薦め出来ないのかもしれません。

それにしてもこのライブハウスの照明さんはどうしてこういう照明を思いついたのでしょう、Bucketの無表情さがよく表われていると思います。ついでに何処見てるのかもさっぱり判らず、ひたすらゆるゆる揺れているというか何というか。まあそれはいつもの事として（？）、Bucket, 最近この曲やってないでしょう。やればいいじゃん。バンドが居ないとちょっと演奏出来なさそうな雰囲気なので、Bucketがバンド組をんでやろうという気持ちになってくれれば復活も充分あり得るのではないかと。来年はそのスタイルもいいと思うんですよ。良い曲なんですから演奏しないのはもったいないです。

Tuning a guitar is one of the most important skills to develop if you want to become a serious musician. It can be learned in minutes, days, weeks, or months depending on your ability to distinguish pitch. There is couple of ways to tune a guitar but this article will use online guitar tuner to tune a guitar by ear.

Read more…