EMS, PLM & COT (e.i.e.i.o!)

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an Industry Week Magazine webcast entitled 'Redefining the Race: How Evernham Motorsports' PLM Strategy Drives NASCAR's Most Innovative Race Team.' While the webcast is primarily a promotional piece for EMS’ engineering software provider, Dassault Systemes, I found it an extremely enlightening view into the inner workings of EMS – and into a few of the current “non-workings” as well!

Evernham uses the “PLM” (Product Lifecycle Management) business model to field cars each week. Simply put, PLM is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. Using PLM methodologies, EMS functions as an automobile manufacturing company – one that has to bring a new product to market 36 times a year! PLM cuts time to market drastically, but is manpower and equipment heavy – two factors which require considerable capital. Capital, as we all know, is in short supply in many NASCAR teams nowdays – thanks in no small part to the new “product” that must now be brought to market – the COT.

One point made during the webcast was the ability of EMS’s PLM software to access shop data from the track during raceday, and and to communicate online with realtime engineers from the track. In a perfect techno-world, Josh Browne would be able to enter track, performance, weather, surface, temp, etc. variables into his laptop atop the pit box – and voila! The computer would indicate the needed adjustments based on these variables. Problem is – no historical data exists yet for many of the variables faced this season – new track surfaces, new nosecones on existing cars, funky weather, new tire compounds. In effect there may well be too many “first-time” situations facing EMS this season to make their investment in the PLM discipline pay off in the near term.

So, until EMS’s Magic 8 Ball starts producing useful information – we experience mediocrity. Heavy reliance on technology for crucial solutions doesn’t always deliver, and there are times when all the pocket-protector wearing, geek speaking race technobes in the world can’t help if they are unable to effectively handle the one CONSTANT that exists each week – communication with the driver.

To my knowledge, no software company has been able to successfully code “The Sadler Variable.” In order to correctly interpret the data coming from the driver of the #19 car (and every other car, for that matter) – it takes an entirely different set of HUMAN skills. Sadly, it’s these skills that seem strained on both sides of the scanner on raceday – and frustration is becoming increasingly apparent. This translates to the fan base as conflict between driver and crew chief. Whether such conflict actually exists is the cause of much speculation in the peanut gallery, and the sudden appearance of “Sports Psychologists” in the halls of EMS. I wish them luck – finding a perfect fit between driver and crew chief, particularly one that can survive the stresses and strains of a mediocre season, is NOT an easy task. If a personnel change is in the cards for the #19 team, it’s a sure-fire bet that MORE resources ($$$) will be required in order to tie up contracts.

I realize I’m often accused of being a cockeyed optimist when it comes to the #19 – but in this case I still think my stubborn loyalty is rightly placed. The #19 has finished every race (remember all the blown motors last year?), has stayed out of the wall, has minimized pit row penalties, and has had mid-pack finishes despite all the factors seemingly working against a win. Taken in context, the 2007 Season can boast MANY improvements over 2006, but fans have short-term memory when it’s been a while since the last trip to victory lane.

And for the record, I think EMS will eventually win the REAL Chase this year -- The 2007 Race To The Bank will help them bring home some Cup trophies before too long.

I'm Baaaack!

Yep, I had the crud. And did it up right, too! “Acute bronchitis” was the doc-in-the-box’s diagnosis, and I resisted the urge to tell him that I fail to see anything cute about coughing up chunks. Nonetheless, with nothing but time on my hands for the last four days, I had every intention of making my convalescence productive. Update the blog, catch up on my reading, work on some crafts – NOT! Thanks to some magic formula cough syrup in a brown prescription bottle, I discovered that it’s pretty near impossible to type (let alone read) while unconscious. Nevertheless, the goop did the trick and I’m back to my (ab)normal self. Soooooo……

It’s 6.7 Now, Right?

Dave and I heard the news last night and, in unison, we cried “He’s changed his numberrrrrrrrr!” That’s right – Junior is leaving DEI -- and in what has to be the most media-savvy move of the decade -- he’s left it at that. In the span of a few hours, the media (and the public) have commenced churning out every scenario imaginable with regard to Little E. The Childress/Hendrick deals are obviously the most popular theories, but I’ve come up with a few hypothesis of my own for your consideration. How ‘bout:

- HRM/JR Motorsports, Ltd.: In secret meetings in KY last week, The King met with the Queen regarding the formation of a joint Euro/American racing team with the unlimited resources of the British Empire (the only possible way to compete with Hendrick). With the full intention of courting Dale Jr., her majesty promised that Tony would be retained as Crew Chief, consequently Blair announced his resignation as Prime Minister today.

- Jr. LIVE!: Not to be outdone by Tony Stewart -- Jr. simply sets the stage for his new Sirius Radio program by creating controversial call-in subject matter in advance. “Tell Me Where To Go!” with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is expected to eclipse Smoke’s show in popularity.

- Crazy Mutant Desert Guys Motorsports, Inc.: Dale unwittingly discovered the ultimate pit crew during the filming of his Superbowl commercial, and is building a truly “indie” team around his new friends.

- “I’m just messin with ya’ll. I’m staying with DEI. No harm done, huh?”

I’m sure there are one or two more I’ve not thought of yet, but hey -- I been sick!

OK, back to music for a bit…..

I had a lifelong dream fulfilled last night!! Pete Townshend’s long-lost and legendary Lifehouse Method project has at last become reality. Method went “online” yesterday, and I was able to “sit” for two musical portraits using the new system. I’m completely enthralled with the end result and totally humbled by the fact that I’m participating in an endeavor which fulfills Pete’s lifelong dream to see this project through.

If you’re in eye-shot of this blog – I urge you to “sit” for a composition. But first, you ask, just what is Lifehouse Method? Well, let me go back in time a bit to explain……………

It was one of those experiences that gets indelibly burned into the brain. I was 13 years old and babysitting for some friends across the street from my parents’ house in Conroe , Texas -- nearly midnight , and my charges were fast asleep. The patriarch of the household was a stereophile who had amassed an incredible system equipped with a pair of Koss headphones so massive with insulation they weighed a ton. Late night FM radio in Houston was still a rather dubious affair – the infamous Crash Collins was known for his smoky growl and strange “inhaling” noises while spinning the some really heavy vinyl and the tell-tale spaces of dead air (indicating that he’d once again nodded out). I wasn’t allowed to listen to such “garbage” at home.

Collins must have had some really good stuff that night, because he decided (perhaps inadvertently) to spin an entire album side (rare in those days) from the Who’s 1971 album “Who’s Next.” Townshend, the creative force behind the Who, had earlier in 1969 penned the first Rock Opera – "Tommy" – and I remember thinking “Well, if this is half as good……” When the opening synthesizer riff began, I was instantly mesmerized as if something internal was vibrating in harmony with the song. As Townshend’s initial power chord struck, I was totally captivated. When Entwistle’s thunderous bass finally joined the fray, I was awestruck, captivated and I knew I had found my anthem – Baba O’Riley! I immediately struck out to learn more about the album, the band, and eventually the concept that lay underneath some of the best rock-n-roll ever heard!

I was surprised to learn that the hypnotic synth riff that opens “Baba” was actually constructed using personal DATA about Townshend’s Spiritual Leader, Meher Baba, that had been somehow fed into an algorithm which transformed it into music! In fact, the entire Who’s Next album was indeed a collection of songs salvaged from a failed project conceived by Pete to gather vital statistics from individuals and reflect this information back to the audience in the form of music. “Lifehouse” as the project was called, was another rock opera of sorts – a story set in the future when humanity was controlled by the government via stimuli force-fed to them over a “GRID” – a hardwired information network with leads to each individual called “experience suits.” The protagonists in Townshend’s story were rebels who managed to free humanity by hacking into the Grid and flooding it with music. This music, created by their own algorithms, culminated in a crescendo so powerful and celestial it took down the Grid.

While the story was fiction (at the time) – Pete’s desire to find the “lost chord” via synthesized information wasn’t. Additionally, he aimed to make performance a two-way street wherein the audience participated in the creative process. At one point, Townshend had actually gathered a group of subjects in the Old Vic Theater in London to attempt this artist/audience interaction. The project failed mainly due to the fact that Townshend lacked the complex technical equipment to process the information. The few songs he had written to score the original Lifehouse opera were pieced together and released as the seminal “Who’s Next.” Practically no one knew the backstory!

By the time I had discovered Who’s Next, Lifehouse had already faded into rock-n-roll lore, rarely mentioned by journalists and audiophiles. What a shame, I thought – that such an enigmatic idea should languish. Lifehouse was always on my list of musical “if onlys.”

And then, along came the Grid.

I have to snicker to myself whenever the argument over “who predicted the internet” points an appreciative finger in Al Gore’s direction. As the net grew, many remembered Townshend’s vision of a society grown complacent compliments of their addiction to an orchestrated information feed. New technology flooded the music industry, allowing artists to experiment with input, output and everything in between. In 1999, Townshend resurrected Lifehouse, finally mixing and re-arranging the now classic Who’s Next tracks back into their original form.

The world finally heard the Lifehouse opera on BBC Radio on December 5, 1999 – but it was simply a “performance” and NOT the collaborative effort Townshend’s rebels of the Grid. In order to truly complete Lifehouse – the music had to be a 2 way street.

Enter Mathemetician/Compser/Philosopher Lawrence Ball, Programmer Dave Snowdon. Since 1999, Pete has ridden the helm of an ambitious endeavor to create the software program that would allow an individual to provide personal samples/images/data and have the information transmographied into a unique musical “portrait.” An interpretive work of audio art particular to one person – reflective of their mood, voice, etc. The final piece of the Lifehouse puzzle was finally complete, and on May 1, 2007 it was put into place – The Method went public.

Initially, participants may “sit” for 3 pieces of music. In order to interact with the software, you are asked to provide a sample of your voice, an image, a sound, and a rhythm. In return, the system composes your 5-minute musical portrait. The results are astounding! The Method will be open to the public until July, and eventually many of the “portraits” will be combined into a larger work which will be performed live! Having spent many decades wondering “what if” with regards to Lifehouse – I can say I am absolutely elated that my "what if" dream has at long last turned into a reality that exceeded my expectations tenfold!

Be a rebel and sit for your own musical portrait!

www.lifehouse-method.com

Listen to yourself in an entirely new way!