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In my never-ending quest to provide better sound reinforcement support for filk at Duck and Windy, I acquired a mixer console this week (it should arrive via UPS sometime next week) - a Soundcraft S200 series studio board. (We used to have one almost exactly like it when I was in charge of MTU Sound and Lighting Services.)
This is one sweet board - 16 channels in (switchable line/microphone), phantom power, insert return/sends, 4 submasters, 4 aux sends/returns, stereo mix out, the works. It's an older board (made in 1982), with a very warm sound to it (referred to as the "British sound", and probably one of the best boards ever made - no digital here, this thing is all op amps and transistors). The board came from a church installation, and has been thoroughly checked out by the service department of Midwest Sound and Lighting (based in Omaha) - they say it is very clean and quiet in operation. (It shouldn't need re-capping for several years yet.) Even better, parts are still available for it on the secondary market, so I will probably pick up a couple of spare input channel strips just so I have them available if needed.
Once it arrives, I will check to see if the "star ground" modification has been done - if not, I will do that (ends up dropping any possible hum below the noise level of the op amps - more useful for recording, but it can't hurt for live sound also). I will also probably need to swap the hot and cold pins on all the XLR ins and outs - the standard for British boards of this era was to have the hot signal on pin 3 and the cold signal on pin 2, which is just the opposite of modern boards.
I'm looking forward to firing this thing up at Windycon... - Mood:satisfied
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I've been invited to be on two programming items at Anticipation, and after some deliberation, I've accepted both, but have asked for some additional information on the second.
Session ID: 168
Title: Overpaid, Oversexed and In Our Time Zone
Description: What?s going on with Dr. Who? Has becoming a sexual being made him a more or less interesting character? Just how far can they go with this?
Moderator: David D. Levine
Location: P-511BE
When: Thu 8:00 PM
Duration: 1:00 hrs:min
All Participants: Curtis Potterveld, Cynthia Huckle, David D. Levine, Perrianne Lurie, Ronald Oakes
Session ID: 274
Title: Stump the Scientists!
Description: Ask our panelists from various disciplines your science questions, and see if they can come up with the answers--which may even be true.
Moderator: Yourself I'm assuming that this means I'm it
Location: P-510C
When: Fri 11:00 AM
All Participants: Richard Crownover, M.D., Ph.D., Ronald Oakes, Jordin Kare
On this one I'm presuming that, since I'm an Engineer by profession (although my undergraduate degree does say "Science" -- i.e. "Computer Science") that my main role will be as a true moderator. I'll field any computer questions that come up. This is for kids programming.
For better or for worse, this does leave me free at the time I've tentatively offered to hold down programming ops, and possibly for the main business meeting (there are a couple of issue I may want to vote on) | |
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My count of books read for July may be down from the usual five or six, since I'm giving a lot of time to Tintenherz. It's over 500 pages long, and I still don't read German very fast. The book feels rather padded. Practically very scene is full of dialogue, which makes things move slowly. There's one scene where the protagonists' car has suffered a blowout, and they want to push it off the embankment because their pursuers aren't far behind them and would see the car. The villains' car is following close enough that they've been able to see its headlights behind them. So what do they do? They argue with each other before trying to push it out of sight! The villains conveniently drive slowly, or something. The chief villain, Capricorn, is a very one-dimensional character. There's a good reason for it in the context of the story, but it's hard to take him seriously. Mo is a trusting fool; I kept mumbling "Idiot!" at him (pronouncing it in German, naturally) as I was reading the book on the train this morning. On the other hand, a book that's full of dialogue is very good for German practice. One of the harder things for me is to speak the language like a normal conversationalist rather than a news reporter, and reading Der Spiegel doesn't help in that regard. The protagonists' love of books is a strong point in their favor, and the authors who keep being mentioned -- J.R.R. Tolkien, William Goldman, Ray Bradbury, Shel Silverstein, Robert Louis Stevenson, etc. -- are ones I can definitely relate to. | |
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It turns out that the Senate's "healthcare" bill includes lots of pork-barrel projects, such as "walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers’ markets."
But Teddy Kennedy assures us that this isn't pork-barrel spending: "Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, defend the proposed spending as a necessary way to promote healthier lives and, in the long run, cut medical costs. “These are not public works grants; they are community transformation grants,’’ said Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Kennedy, chairman of the Senate health committee whose healthcare bill includes the projects.
So "community transformation" is now a medical expenditure in Kennedy's eyes. Medical care is never more expensive than when it's "free."
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TuesB een a busy boy in the studio - had a great day the other day, nailing the web tv series theme ( I think..) . They liked the rock version of the track I made last but wanted the heavy elec guitar toned down which meant re-doing it which I did - I still felt it was lacking something so I searched for a trendy synchopating synth sound - third try and - a perfect fit - kinda mashes in with the guitar and slighty funks it up and makes it sound complete - I then went on to make a new track for the Bridget McMahon album which kinda grew and grew from wafty instrumental to song, then added a faux-Breton bit and then adding King of the Faeries tune on the end. Paid for all this with a buzzing brain that didn not want to go to sleep. I also listened through to the master of the Rain Garden India album sent to me by the label and OK'd it. Weds
- despite being really tired on little sleep and sorting out Gs car for service and new tyre I had quite a solid day - adding electric & acoustic 9 string guitars to new Bridget piece and doing some mixing on it. I then did some mixing on another Bridget track which was a little tricky - nearly there - just needs a little fairydust. Gotta change my head tho as I have a couple of gigs - Loughborough Acoustic Club - have to take quite a bit of kit as I;m supplying PA, plus they wanted me to bring keyboard, plus guitar - might not bother with theremin.... Watched The Talk of the Town (1942) to chill out last night which had a great cast with 3 faves of mine - Jean Arthur, Ronald Coleman and Cary Grant. Strange I hadnt heard of it before. It was a fun comedy drama. A little clunky here and there - needed the Capra touch. But I can watch these guys in anything. - Mood:okay
 - Music:Pharoah Sanders - Anthology
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Für alle von uns, die täglich ihren Sprachschatz im Englischen um unerlässliches Neuvokabular erweitern wollen gäbe es hier bei einem meiner Lieblingsblogs Aufklärung in Sachen Sport-Sex Metaphern. Man lernt nie aus. Ich kannte bislang nur den Satz zu Scottish Highland Dancing: Highland Dancers do it 4th intermediate rear arial position. | |
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In the for-what-it's-worth category: July 9 sales rankings of The Heavens Proclaim: Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,776 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)Popular in these categories: (What's this?) | |
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Tonight's So YOu Think YOu can Dance was excellent with quite a number of excellent routines but my favoruite was the powerful addiction routine by Mia Micheals for Kupono and Kayla. Wow! So much emotion, such lovely movements. Mia continues to be my fav choreographer year aftter year and routines like this one are why. | |
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day 2 Sioux Falls SD
miles traveled 360
temp hi Fort Dodge 83
low 63 as we were leaving marion ( cedar rapids) IA
Weather overcast to start then broken cumulus with sun in between the clouds
gas mostly $2.32 - $2.35 spent most of the day in IA
mishap NONE
JOYS arriving in the 49 state i have been to.
traffic fast and easy. even on two lane roads and going through small towns
was only 51 miles away from spenser IA where the book "dewey the library cat" is based/written/lived
as we were approaching Sioux City IA there were 3 bi planes flying formation easy to see in out line of site.
from the AAA travel book being able to get a reasonable hotel with free wifi, heated pool and waffels for breakfast.. *
finding a wonderful mexican restaurant in the AAA book just a mile down the road from the hotel.
having my husband doing the driving while i was in and out sleeping.
i am getting so spoiled.
* the front desk person who agreed to honor the AAA book rate was happy i did not need her to repeat the rate since she had several people checking in at that moment, and quoting the rate out loud would have lost her $40.00 per check in. | |
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This afternoon while walking to the train (something I do when I have the time after work), I hit upon an analogy that I could almost get to work. I realized that there is some analogous mapping of role playing game systems to programming languages.
( Analogy Detail ) | |
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Day 48. I got up early today, 8:00 or so. I wanted to head out to a diecast store in Reading. I got out of the house a little later than planned, and ran into some nearly stopped traffic for a bit, so I was much later than the 10:00 arrival I had planned, getting there at nearly 11. Turns out they had been late opening anyway and my late arrival worked in my favor.
This store is Kiddie Kar Kollectibles, a wonderful little shop that specializes in Matchbox as well as some other lines. I hunted around in there for nearly an hour and spent much more money than I'd intended but came home with some stuff that I really, really wanted for my collection. Yay! I think.
Then I headed back to Mattie and Darryll's, and touched base with Kathy. She wanted to spend the rest of the day taking it easy, and Darryll was willing to show me around in Philadelphia, so we headed to the SEPTA train into downtown. We started at the Liberty Bell visitor's center, stopping in the crap shop where I got a few random little things, then next seeing the Liberty Bell itself. After that we started walking. We walked to Elfreth's Alley, then to Penn's Landing, then back to Independence Hall. There we got in one of the groups for the express tour, and I got to take some pictures inside. After that we headed back to the train.
When we got back, Mattie was home from work so the four of us went to a restaurant called Michael's for dinner. It was nice and relatively inexpensive for most of the menu.
Back to the house, where Kathy and Mattie did some singing and playing. I fell asleep on the couch. We finally called it a night.
Fares: $2.90 | |
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Kitty photos still not downloaded to be uploaded. Tonight Dave said "Will they stay this cute?" Well, for a while they will.
We are much engaged with our favourite July pasttime, watching the Tour de France. Thank goodness for OLN, which is broadcasting. We suddenly realized in the last week that we will be missing the final two stages that count because we'll be at Confluence. That was not a happy realization. They are both mountain stages and wickedly important to the GC riders.
I love the Tour. I just *barely* stopped myself from writing something about Lance Armstrong to the tune of Mary Ellen Carter (something about ride again...). But I was strong and held out against committing gratuitous parody. | |
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- Mood:wishing for more vacation
 - Music:sprinklers running
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When I fly to ConChord by United in September, I'll be bringing just a carry-on, and definitely not my keyboard. The excellent song on this YouTube video confirms my decision. And remember: Never piss off a bard. | |
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1.Take a picture of yourself right now.
2.Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture.
3.Post that picture with NO editing.
4.Post these instructions with your picture. ( View more ... ) Also, while I'm at it, J.D. Salinger breaks thirty years' press silence because he likes Terminator 4 (edit: link from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tiggerallyn). When asked what he thought of today's novelists, and whether he had plans to publish any new work, Salinger replied that he loved it when the helicopter crashes and John Connor gets grabbed by that terminator that's only half a torso, and then he blows it away with the mounted machine gun.
"But by far the best part is when they reveal the T-800 for the first time and it looks just like a young Schwarzenegger," said Salinger, his voice reaching a fever pitch. "I was like, 'Holy shit.' I guess they must've used CGI or something to get that face just right. But what a moment! I practically lost it, if you want to know the truth."
Besides setting the literary community abuzz, Salinger's decision to come out of seclusion has allowed scholars access to his massive archive of unpublished work for the first time. So far, critics have examined three never-before-seen novels, eight novellas, and more than two dozen short stories—all of which appear to be Terminator fan fiction.
"But make no mistake," said Salinger expert Professor Duane Hartworth of nearby Dartmouth College, "this is without a doubt the most personal and affecting body of Terminator fan fiction ever discovered." | |
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There's a great article here by someone who works for Jane's Due Process--a group that tries to help girls who can't get parental consent (parents dead/jailed/serving in Iraq/abusive) negotiate the judical bypass process, which is basically a joke but is all these girls have left. For my own part, it looks pretty cut and dried to me. Those parents who are not whacked out and abusive about sex will be the first people their pregnant daughters turn to for advice, so in this case the law is unnecessary and even insulting. And those parents who *are* whacked out and abusive about sex don't T DESERVE a say in what their daughters do, and in this case the law is actively harmful. Unnecessary when it isn't actively harmful: pretty much the definition of a bad law. | |
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Today's book review is The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff.
This book takes place in a brand new world and tells a complete story. There is a lot of sex in this book. Most of it is off screen and we don't spend a whole lot of time on the details, but this is definitely not appropriate for the children of prudish parents.
I come out of this book slightly bemused. It was certainly a good book, the sort of book where I was genuinely disappointed that it was over because I don't want to leave the world. Its characters spend enough time doing realistically stupid human things to be very believable, but manage a lot of the time to be so much more sensible than my culture about their interpersonal relationships that it makes me ache. There was snarky humor, there was action with real tension, there was mystery. But it didn't feel like a Tanya Huff book. Usually, Huff gives us a world that is fairly easy to understand; most of the fun is in watching the characters and the plot. But much of this story is about trying to make sense of what's really going on. It's clear that there are very clear rules; the characters know what's going on. But very little of it is ever actually laid out for the reader; we have to puzzle it out for ourselves. It's entertaining and frustrating at the same time. I almost never re-read books -- I have far more books I want to read than I can get to as it is -- but I have a feeling that I should read this one again just to see how much I missed the first time.
9 out of 10.
Argh. A plot summary will take much more time than I have right now, so I will have to try to get to it later. | |
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