Anneke Day 4

We're told things are at "A-" level.

So far, Anneke's a cinch.

Hi Anneke!

She was born today at 2:53 am in a fairly intense way.

So far, so good! She likes open E chords on guitar.

It's Like Crafting, Just With Sound

UPDATE: (Yes, I played the instruments, too)

Normally this stuff stays offline, with good reason. But I built a piece of sound from scratch.

Anyway, this was more of a mixing exercise, just with homemade tracks. Ignore the singing, but check out those levels!

Tyrone Dupois - End of the Day

This was originally written by Doug Paisley (below, right). Check out his album "Constant Companion".

Stunning

A guy that I was lucky enough to be friends with died.

We worked on the Meth documentaries, a bunch of other local TV collaborations, as well as elliptical buddies at CalCourts. He moved to Washington a few years ago.

I can't really go into what a nice guy he was, because others have done it better. But he was a gem, and stuff like this really makes you realize that life is not fair.

Search continues for killer of Auburn father of two

Guess Who Got To Ride In A Tiny Plane?

To be exact, a 1954 Cessna 182.

The Sound of Sasha

You Want To Be In The Band?

Anybody interested in long-distance (or short-distance) audio fun?

Accordionistas? Folkies? Spoken wordies? Anybody with a mic?

Email you know who and say "I'm in." Could be fun!

SoundCloud: The Tour from SoundCloud on Vimeo.

Glad You Asked

What's the funniest thing I've seen in a while? It's the "Early Rap Topics" meme that overtook a certain corner of Twitter today. (Better than #slatepitches, which is saying a lot.)

Mixed Media

Media Item #1: Switzerland



Media Item #2: The Criminally Underated Catherine Feeny

Sara and I were lucky enough to catch Come Gather Round Us in a few settings, including a furniture store and rickety house. They are fantastic. Capital "F."
One of their members, Catherine Feeny, has a new solo record streaming at her site and she's also playing at Mosgo's on October 3rd. Those are high-quality songs, people. Try "The Bell and the Anchor" or "People in the Hole."

S-Pain

So I bought T-Pain's iPhone app, which is basically Auto-Tune and a few Auto-Tune enabled Karaoke songs. You sing, it pitch-shifts you. This is the first experiment, where I asked Sasha to talk in to the mic. She asks to watch Yo! Gabba Gabba on the iPhone instead. I took that clip, loaded it into Audition, cut it up a bunch, found some beats, and did this.

Carribbean Update

I got a sore throat, showing signs Sunday. Fever, night sweats, acute pain when swallowing and talking.

By Thursday we were in a hospital where English might be the third most-spoken language. Maybe second. Either way, it amplifies my empathy for ESL speakers, especially parents, in the States.

Diagnonsis: Strep throat. The Dutch-accented doctor sent me along with some super-heavy antibiotics and a "I hope your wife doesn't get that." In/out = 1 hour. Sara's been superchamp about getting everyone cared for.

(As for the whole hospital experience, it was pretty cake. We called, he said come down, we did, and $70 (US) we were on our way. A few months ago I went in for strep and it cost $300. What the hell?

*********

So, that's the c0-dominant force in this otherwise awesome trip! I've been resting like there's no tomorrow, and during Sasha/Mike naps, Sara's been getting her pool/beach time in.

(I finally saw Project Runway and was happy to bid adieu to that freak who made the chicken+egg dress.)

Sara's skin is golden brown, and Sasha has yet to burn.

Normally I'd be all "Let's try Kitesurfing!" and "Let's go get lost!" and "Let's vandalize a McDonalds!" So, in a way, it's a good thing.



Sasha's also been enjoying the beach and pool, in mixed doses. Her attitude towards swimming pools has completely swung around. She really likes playing in the sand.

She also has been talking a lot, for no reason. "Who made that circle?" "There's an iguana...Why?"

We've been making the most of it, and it'd be stupid to complain about purely bad luck (someone remind me of this when I'm not on meds). Being sick is much easier on vacation, and letting it get the best of you is extra-senseless here.

I'm on the mend, and we've still got some exploring to to do! Sara's skin is golden brown, and Sasha has yet to burn. So far it's been a blast, and I'm excited to feel well enough to explore during our remaining time here.

East Boulder Lake, Trinity Alps

Seventeen more photos.

Grassacre

Goal: a drought-resistant, hassle-free, unique non-lawn that we can do ourselves on the cheap

The front fence became the walkway, no hardware was bought, and Sara timed the plant sales perfectly.

No watering system, no pesticides. Today I saw, for the first time, bees tapping the flowers.

We're not sure it was a good idea yet. Then again, I felt like a jerk pushing that mower around a lawn nobody used.

Eventually, we'll plant a tree of some sort. Until then, we wait for the rain.


Started:
September 2008

Completed:
August 2009