Knocked another big item off my checklist of things to do this week – finished mixing the new Ol’ Bill Dollar album, “Grab Your Gun and Bring in the Cat.” This is the third full length album from Bill. Here’s a little taste of the new songs.
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I was inspired to get back to work on the album after going to a discussion hosted at Drexel University with engineer Kevin Killen (U2, Peter Gabriel, Paula Cole, Elvis Costello). It was a great presentation. He brought along his computer with a Pro Tools HD rig, and opened up actual sessions to demonstrate what he’s doing. His approach is so simple but so effective – get good sounds on the way in and you won’t need to be so heavy handed with plugin processing at mix time. While he tracks through a nice console, he mixes entirely in the box, which is part of the reason the discussion was so enjoyable. He’s an extremely successful engineer who’s embraced digital audio instead of being stuck on tape for the cool factor, or whatever else causes people to love tape so much. I’ll take the Massey Tape Head over a tape machine any day.
After two days off from work (to be fair, let’s call it one and a half based on the fact that I was having calls forwarded to my cell phone from the studio) I had to actually venture out into the real world. And aside from the horrid road conditions, it wasn’t a bad day to get out there.
We’re working on a project that required an interview with Mr. David Montgomery, who is quite possibly the nicest owner of any sports franchise you’ll ever meet. We shot the interview in the media room at Citizen’s Bank Park, and I snapped a few quick photos with my phone, because hey, who knows when I’ll be in there again.
The one thing I didn’t get a picture of – and really wish I did – was Mr. Montgomery carrying one of our tripods and his assistant with the audio gear. I’ll explain.
After the interview, we left had some things in the lobby while we ran the first load of gear out to the trucks. As we started back to get the remaining equipment, Mr. Montgomery and his assistant were apparently on their way out and decided to carry it out for us. Just incredible.
On a side note, it was interesting to see that they plowed the CBP parking lots when I can’t imagine they’ll actually need them for anything. Needless to say, they’re more on the ball than the city of Philadelphia.
Here’s my possibly useful iPhone app of the day: Logitech Touch Mouse [iTunes link] and its partner in crime, Touch Mouse Server.
This little app turns your iPhone into a touchpad mouse. It has three buttons (Left, Center, Right), and even supports multi-touch so you don’t lose the brilliant two-finger scroll you’ve most certainly become accustomed to if you use a MacBook/Pro.
Setup is simple (at least on OSX – I haven’t actually tried it on Windows). After installing the app on your iPhone, download and run the server application on your computer, connect both to the same wifi network, open the app and you should see your computer in the list. Tap the computer name and presto! instant wireless touchpad. The server has an option to launch at every boot if you think you’ll be using it often.
The iPhone app also features a slide out on-screen keyboard in case you’re not sitting directly in front of your computer. I could definitely see this being useful in a classroom or business presentation setting when you only need a keyboard very briefly. One warning – it doesn’t “know” when you’re entering a password, so anything you type is shown clearly on the iPhone screen. This could be a bit of a security problem as anyone in your vicinity can sneak a peek at your screen.
All in all, it’s a nice little gem of an app, and free to boot.
Let me preface this post by saying three quick things:
#1. I don’t like the New Orleans Saints.
#2. I like Drew Brees.
#3. I don’t like any version of the liquid Budweiser describes as beer.
That being said, it was a good game. NOLA came back from a particularly Eagles-esque first quarter and really pulled it off. It all came down to that on-sides kick and the interception.
The commercials were OK -- the notable highlights for me being the Snickers commercial featuring Betty White/Abe Vigoda, and the Budweiser spot below (feat. T-Pain).
Why do I like it? It’s somewhat inherently funny, but mostly because it makes it dreadfully obvious that anyone can sound like T-Pain with Autotune. Oh wait, the I Am T-Pain iPhone app already did that.
When the (then) amazing 14-screen multiplex opened around the corner from my parents house in 1993, all the movies were free on opening night. Mix free popcorn, soda, and movies with the American public and you’ve got a recipe for true, unadulterated mayhem. In the midst of all this chaos, the movie I ended up seeing was Groundhog Day, and I’ve loved it ever since. I mean, c’mon, the lead character is a Ghost Buster. Who doesn’t relate to this movie on some level?
March 1, 2010 
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Setup is simple (at least on OSX – I haven’t actually tried it on Windows). After installing the app on your iPhone, download and run the server application on your computer, connect both to the same wifi network, open the app and you should see your computer in the list. Tap the computer name and presto! instant wireless touchpad. The server has an option to launch at every boot if you think you’ll be using it often.
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