it's done

It's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done it's done.

It's done. The hard part anyway.

to hug a porcupine

Please read if you have some time:
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2008-06-26/news/to-hug-a-porcupine/

Absolutely heartbreaking article. Tragic and not for the faint of heart, but gripping and real. Fairly disturbing, so don't read if you are not willing to be shaken. It is difficult to comprehend the ugliness that people are capable of and the price others pay for it. We live in a broken world and no one is innocent. Sometimes there are no answers. Can we live with that and not lose hope?

I would love to hear some of your reactions. I imagine that some will be mighty confused.

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studio setup

I feel like I've been wasting my Flickr account, so I took a few pics around the apartment of my recording setup. It's also nice to get something out, because it feels like I've been working on these six tracks forever. It's almost ready, I'm just filling in some last cracks. Whenever I manage to fill a big crack, I always find a few smaller cracks that need filling. I guess that's how it goes.


My friend had these awesome monitors in storage while his garage studio is under construction. He let me borrow them. Much better than computer speakers let me tell you. Decent set of cans hanging on the left as well.



16 channel Mackie mixer I got off craigslist a while a go. A bit overkill for me, but oh well, it was cheap. Guitar effects hanging out in the rear.


Microphones used. Two large diaphragm condensers and the good ol' SM57. My company makes the one in the middle :)


These two got the most use on this project. Both cheapies and both bought online.


The drumset. Fearing noise complaints, I replaced the drum heads with mesh heads and pieced together a few things so the drums are electronic and silent. Cymbals are still loud though. But low frequencies travel through walls more readily. Right?


Closeup of the triggered snare. The black drum head is a screen door like material. That red piece senses the vibration of the stick hitting the drum and sends a signal to a controller you can barely see at the top of the picture, mounted to the bass drum. The controller has drum sounds programmed into it and you can plug it into a speaker or mixer or headphones.

oh gosh decisions

So after much wrestling, I ended up deciding not to get that VW tomorrow in Phoenix. Sooo stressful. I even got a cashier's check for the amount we agreed on already, just to tell him I'm going to hold off indefinitely. Feel kinda bad about bailing on the guy, but reading about the problems with that particular engine design freaked me out. Especially because it would be the most expensive thing I have ever bought. For now I am going to just drive my dad's '98 Avalon, and he might just get a newer car for himself. Gosh I don't know why spending money stresses me out so much.

On a different note, my friend let me borrow his freaking awesome studio monitors. They are like bigger than my monitor and take up half my desk. Pretty awesome.

pass no pass

Been calling, emailing, and test driving. Here's a couple interesting ones that I drove but ended up being to rough for a daily driver.

1971 Mercedes 280SE

Gorgeous classy car. Stately is a good word for it. Great body, almost no rust, but too many broken interior bits, no maintenance history, no paperwork. Alleged mechanic's car. Drove a lot better than I was expecting it to. Didn't really trust the seller though. Was a lot dirtier than in the picture. Having been burned by old cars with unknown histories, I know that a good deal can quickly turn into a huge headache. Can't afford that right now.

1983 Delorean DMC-12

Deloreans are epic. What an attention getter. I wasn't expecting this one to be practical as an only car, but I had to check it out. Who knows? Sitting in it feels like sitting in a space ship. They were after all designed to compete with the Ferrari's and Porsche's of its day. Poor visibility, heavy clutch, very little trunk space. I could live with that, except this one hasn't been registered since 1994 and would probably need a few thousand dollars' work put into it. There was literally a puddle in the passenger foot well. Surprisingly, it started right up and seemed to run really well. If I only had a garage to work on it in, it would be an awesome second car. Oh well.

2004 Volkswagen Golf TDI

I actually just settled on a price for this VW Golf TDI in Phoenix. Did my homework on it and everything seems to check out. Gonna drive out there on Saturday, and hopefully it looks as good in person. Never bought a car sight unseen before but the seller seems trustworthy. Look out for another wanderings post early next week...

i ask myself

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eye strain

Between work, looking through car listings, looking through job listings and editing music, my eyes have been pretty tired this last week. Half seriously applying to jobs overseas and on the other side of the Mississippi. Oh! You know what's weird? You know how on craigslist, they list 100 ads at a time in a given category? Well for the cars section, by the time you finish browsing one set and hit the "See next 100," you see half the set from before on the next page. That's how many ads are posted every few minutes. I guess there's a lot of cars in LA.