victor-avalos

[victor-avalos]

@projectsbyjamie @ezrafuks @marcoookidj-blog @metalaviator @designmooreinspiration @smaragdblog @prevuse @eildotcom 

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

[victor-avalos]

@projectsbyjamie @ezrafuks @marcoookidj-blog @metalaviator @designmooreinspiration @smaragdblog @prevuse @eildotcom 

[victor-avalos]

Did this design for their banner for. It was used in their Pinta! Paint Series. I had the chance to participate it and it was fun to learn how to do canvas painting. #winnipeg #manitoba #canada #paintingparty (at Millennium Library)

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Tonight. Dark Clouds Over Winnipeg. #winnipeg #manitoba #canada #weather #prisma

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Red Lights Red, Abstract, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada by Victor Avalos on EyeEm

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The Leg Neoclassical Architecture, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada by Victor Avalos on EyeEm

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4 Way Blackandwhite, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Downtown by Victor Avalos on EyeEm

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Slow. Quiet. Empty job. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Blackandwhite, Store by Victor Avalos on EyeEm

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Urban Sitting Urban, Winnipeg, Winnipeg Photography, Manitoba, Black And White, Chair, Table at Downtown Winnipeg by Victor Avalos on EyeEm

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Lovers in a dangerous time. Lovers in a dangerous time. Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, Love, Lgbt Pride, Lgbt by Victor Avalos on EyeEm

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Little Girl With No Name Statue, Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, Assiniboine Park, Leo Mol, Black & White by Victor Avalos on EyeEm

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I am back..Sorry for being away.

Sorry I been away from blogging on this site. But again is there anyone actually reading this. Still I don’t care, I’ll keep writing something this site.

So Whats New?

Well a lot of personal changes has happen. Lost a job but got a new job, lucky for me. Health scare in my family. That was a scary moment. New government, both federal and provincial. Ok, that last one isn’t a direct personal change but it is something new since my last posting.

Still collecting vinyl but at a slow pace. But I am very happy to get a limited edition red vinyl Kung Fury Soundtrack. I believe I ordered the last one because I went back to the website and noticed it is sold out. So that is cool like I mite have the last printed vinyl for a movie that never went to theater but had huge success on YouTube.

I love the red colour vinyl on this one. As well the soundtrack on this album are done by artists who paid homage to the music scores that were used in those classic 80′s action movies like American Ninja, King of the Kickboxer, Blood-sports and many more. If you like those movies and want to see something silly too then it is a must see.

I know I been absent from this ad I want to keep going with my blog. Just life sometimes prevent you from sitting in front of a computer at home after spending 8 hours in front of a computer at work. I get tired of looking at a monitor.

However, I’ll do my best to blog something at least once a week about vinyl collecting, graphic design and photography. I am going to start posting more pictures I have taken on here as well any design work I have done. My goal is to integrate this blog site to my portfolio website.

So if you are reading this blog, then I am glad you are checking and seeing if I added a new blog. I appreciate the readership and I hope to get more.

[victor-avalos]

Here relaxing on this Christmas Day in front of my Darth Vader Yule log fireplace. Sipping on my coffee while listening to a vinyl off my record player. #xmas #wpg #starwars

[victor-avalos]

The Vinyl Connoisseur - Discogs & Apps

So it has been several months since i started collecting vinyl records. I started with buying a Gnarls Barkley vinyl album and $150 Sony record player. Now I own about 40 vinyl records. Ranging in different genres of music. Some are Pop, New Wave, Motown R&B to Hard Rock. So if you are like me and starting to have a large growing collection. Then it is time to catalog your vinyl collection.

Why you need to catalog?

Is a good idea to catalog your vinyls.  If you have a rare $500 pre-1975 Led Zeppelin II album. You want to catalog it for insurance. You never know, your place can get burnt down. The reason why I want to catalog my collection is to keep a list of what I already own. I don't want to buy duplicates of albums.

Tools to catalog vinyls.

There is many ways to catalog your vinyls. There isn’t a right or wrong way of doing it. Its depends on what is easy for you. I know some people do it by using a spreadsheet on Xcel or Google Sheets. Having different categories in each columns. Such as artist name, album name, record label, year of release, and etc.

there are people who like doing it that way but It is a lot of work. However if you are like me and don’t have the time to type out every details of each album. Especially if you own over 100 vinyls. Then there is a easy way to catalog your collection and that easy way is Discogs.com

Oh Discogs, how can I live without you...

Discogs.com is a perfect website for us vinyl junkies. It has a huge database of many artists’ discography. As well a online market for people who want to sell or buy vinyls. This site also will lists CD and audio cassettes. Which is great if you are a big audiophile.

But what this site is great for is helping you catalog your vinyl collection. All you need to do is search the vinyl that you have and add it to your list. Simple as that. All that detail information will be included in your list. However it depends if you selected the right vinyl, because there is a slight differences when a vinyl is release in different country. Such as vinyl covers, different distributors and quality of material when it was made. Reason why I mention about it; Is because you can sell your vinyl on the online market, but you just don’t want to deceive people who are serious collectors. One day I’ll write blog about buying and selling vinyl on the Discogs site.

Anyways...

With Discogs.com you can also create a wish list. So if you have a album that you want to get and you don’t want to forget it. Well you can simply add that particular album to the wish list and once you got that album, then you can simply move it to your catalog.

It is a awesome site to use for cataloging. The site can be tricky to navigate, but once you get the hang of it then it becomes easy to use. Only thing if there way a portable way of accessing my list on my phone. Well there is away to do it and its a must have tool for us vinyl junkies.

OMG there is an app for this!

There are 3rd party phone apps that you can get and will sync with your Discogs account. I use an iPhone and the app I like and recommend to use is Discographic. This app is easy to use. Great to keep on track on what you looking for on your wish list and to see what you already have in your collection. You can also access the database information about the artist, the album and etc. The only thing is a down fall about this app, it is not free. Will cost you about $4 for to download it from the iTune app store. However it is worth paying for.

If you have an android phone. Then you are lucky. There is a free app that you can get. I believe if you search in the Google app store, you will find some apps. However I am not too sure how good they are because I don’t have an android phone. But search around the net and see what other people suggest to use for the android phone.

I Have The Power!

Discogs.com is a great site to catalog and tracking your vinyls. Combining it with a phone app. You will obtain a powerful force...Well not really. However it will make your vinyl shopping a good productive experience. It will have help you save some money because you will not be spending more on a album that you already have. Imagine your place got burnt down and all that money you spent collecting  on rare albums is gone. However if you cataloged it. Then your insurance will be able to cover the cost. Things happens.

So I hope this was informative to you and let me know what you think. Maybe I missed something. Maybe I said something wrong. Please let me know. If you have any questions just leave it in the comment section below and I’ll do my best in replying back.

[victor-avalos]

The Vinyl Connoisseur - Guns N’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction

Friday after work I went to a small record shop near by my place. They were having a Black Friday Sale on vinyl records. So after spending about an hour going through hundreds of vinyl. I finally decide on buying Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction. This vinyl was highly recommended from a friend who is more knowledgeable about rock music. Also I need to expand rock music vinyl collection.

So I had an opportunity to sit and listen to the whole album. And I must say that it is a really good album. I only know GNR from Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 era. Before that I had no clue. Ok I lied I have heard 3 songs from Appetite for Destruction. Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Sweet Child o’ Mine. Which they are my all time favorite songs from GNR. However there are other good songs in the album, like Nightrain.

I am not an expert in GNR’s music like my buddy who can talk about their music and their history. I think he told me Nightrain is a drinking song. I can be wrong. Anyways the reason why i like this song is how it sounds to me. It is hard to explain why, but I really like that hard rock sound.

I would recommend getting this album on vinyl. It is a good addition to your vinyl collection. I know this blog doesn’t say much about this album and it is because I really didn’t grew up listening to hard rock music. However I am open to listen something new and explore a new experience in music. So if you are like me then give it try and explore the world of GNR.

[victor-avalos]

The Vinyl Connoisseur - New Order’s Brotherhood

Well finally I got this vinyl album. I had searched all over the world. I went to the streets of Calcutta to man who sells rare antiquities. Such as the famous monkey paw that can grant you wishes, but there are dyer consequences for each wish you make. As well there was the Egyptian “Book of the Dead”. If you read out the script on the cover it will summon a great destruction upon the earth. Rare items I tell you. Also If you purchase anything from this man you will receive a free cursed frogurt with deadly sprinkles.

Ok I didn’t goto Calcutta, India for this New Order album. But it took me a while to find it. I believe it is a rare vinyl. I am not a 100% sure. I have searched on Amazon and Ebay. The prices on there was crazy high. Cheapest one to buy was $120. The most expensive price I’ve seen so far is $350. The only cheap and fair price I found was on the Discog.com online market. Asking price from there is roughly $20 including shipping. For the one I got I only paid $15. Maybe the high priced ones are originally sealed. I do not know. I am happy with the one I got. It has a bit of ware on the cover, but the vinyl is in good condition.

The reason why I wanted this album is because I am starting to enjoy 80s new wave music. Is such a unique sound that has influence the 90s electronica music scene. 80s new wave sounds fresh, new, experimental with a synthesize sound. Even now in the 2000s, such band like The Killers has brought back that sound from 80s new wave.

I enjoy listening to this album and it has one of my favourite New Order song “Bizarre Love Triangle”.

This song is a great example of 80s new wave. You can here the electronic rhythm, probably on a 808 with a combination of a synthesize drum set. Then you got your electric guitar and synthesize keyboard. I could go on and on. I am no music expert but this song is great and I love the lyrics. I believe It is very poetic and deep.

Anyways, this album is great. All the other songs are good to listen. If you like The Killers, then I highly recommend getting this album. It is worth adding to your vinyl collection or any other music format.

Let me know what you think about the album or about New Order. As well if you have any other recommendation for 80s new wave that I should check out. Please leave a comment below.

[victor-avalos]

This is how I think when I want to buy a vinyl record. #vinyljunkie