Day Three

We are currently sitting around thanks to a computer hard drive that appears to full. Our engineer is trying to make some more room.

Here is a little clip of us preparing to feed our faces.

Dinner Time

Day two

It is day two of the recording saga. We are wrapping up a difficult Tim Rumsey piece and hoping to get another three or four songs down before evening.



Here is a shot of the mixing board at Alive Studios. This board has a story behind it. When it was purchased a few years back it was being used by a studio in NY city. Theyhad to wait for them to finish up a project before they could transfer it down here to VA. The project they were working on was Walt Disneys' "Beauty and the Beast" . It was nominated for and won several awards.

We were wondering if we are going to be the beauty or the beast. Dave claimed the beauty side of the board and the rest of us got stuck with the beast. Very unfortunate.

Our Lodging

We made it to Harrisonburg and moved into our cabin. it is a bit on the rustic side but suitable. We laid down four songs today and we are shot. Overall, a very good day. Here is a pic of our cabin...



and setting up for the first tune...

Recording

We (VOP) are leaving in about five minutes to head for Harrisonburg where we will begin the laborious endeavor of recording...I am looking forward to it while dreading it at the same time.
Maybe I can post some pics or such while we are there...

The Fizzonator

Has anyone ever heard of the "Fizzonator"? It is an amazing invention..just in time for the dog days of summer. I was perusing the shelves at Sheetz (which happens to be about a mile from the housing development we are working in) when I saw this marvel. It is the granddaddy travel mug. It holds a whopping 52 ounces of drink.
The little cup is for perspective...impressive, isn't it?
The best part is that you can get it refilled for only 89 cents. They have a gatorade dispenser right next to the mountain dew lever so I will remain well hydrated this summer. We will be working in this neighborhood for quite some time so I should get my 5.00 investment back soon enough.

It is also a great conversation piece, I have gotten lots of comments from people in line waiting to pay. I've also gotten some strange looks too but I just ignore those.

You need to go to sheetz right now and get you one...

Broadband, please...pretty please.

I am sick and tired of dial-up. I have checked on DSL numerous times only to be told it is not available. One time I aggressively called Verizon and sat through several hold times and got transferred a half dozen times and eventually was able to talk to someone who actually could tell me why I can't get it. It appears my line is fiber optic and he claimed DSL will not run on fiber optic but needs copper lines to work. Seems to me if you go back on any network far enough you will fiber optic. Maybe it is fiberoptic almost to my doorstep. He did point out that there is some newer technology coming that runs on fiber optic and is supposedly faster than DSL. It is called FIOS but is only in limited markets which means I'll be getting it maybe when I am 70 years old and unable to drag my wrinkled and withered body to the computer.

I do have cable run up my street which was installed about 5 years ago but broadband is still unavailable. I call or email them about once a month to make sure they know I am still waiting but to no avail. I was working in a subdivision last week when I saw a jetbroadband truck and the technician was shooting some new lines for installation. I actually turned around and went back and chatted with him for awhile. I explained my frustration about not having access to broadband and he said he actually built the lines on my street and remembered where it was. He rattled off a bunch of techno language that went completely over my head about how they are slowly upgrading the lines and installing thingamajigs and whatnots. Anyway, he said one guy actually went door to door and got his neighbors to sign a petition and actually got the company to upgrade his neighborhood. He said they target areas that have shown interest. I must be the only poor sap in my neighborhood that wants broadband.

I have also been following with interest a co-op that is installing a grid of new fiberoptic in the central Virginia area. These would be to serve the more sparsely populated areas. Apparently, they will be selling rights to other company's to use their cables.
They are called Mid-Atlantic Broadband
and I'm hoping they will open up some other options for broadband.
Meanwhile I lumber along at the breakneck speed of 56k and hope I don't injure myself.