I'm tryin' to tell you somethin' 'bout my life

[dischead]

I've known for years I'm an outlier... that most people don't care, and some people are totally ignorant, like the KFOG callers months into 2009 who thought Dave was still spinning new 10@10s....

This whole piece, above, was quite beautifully stated., my friend. I've had friends say similar stuff re: vinyl & CDs that sit on shelves as opposed to mp3s on a drive.

Although events like the elimination of 10@10 continue to nudge me toward a mostly desireable
future of MP3s, one of the impediments is my reluctance to begin digitizing my modestly large (2200+)
collection of recordings (mostly vinyl, audiotapes, and CDs) until I have a sufficiently robust system
for data backups in place.  I really don't want to invest the time and effort for that project and then
lose it to hardware failure.

I think we are at a very interesting turning point in history.  Taking a long view, I think the period of
analog media, and "electronic" analog media in particular, is relatively short -- and we are now at its
end.  How do we preserve archives dependent on obsolete hardware and software?  What does it
mean to be the "paper of record," when most of the articles are never printed with ink on paper?
(How many people under thirty have even heard of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature?)
How can we rely on online information sources when they can changed or deleted with a few keystrokes?
A brave new world, indeed.

[ggould]

A year ago, I made a move from the lowest paid school district in San Mateo County to one of the highest.  It turned out that I was a dead man about 3 weeks into the year.  The entitled kids and parents tarred and feathered me, and I have decided to retire, instead of looking for some other school to catch on with.  I will focus more on my guitar work, and do some part time teacher coaching for the Exploratorium Teacher Institute.  So, who knows what tomorrow may bring indeed!

[RGMike]

  The entitled kids and parents tarred and feathered me

Rich people suck.  Please expand on this if it's not too painful. Sorry to hear this, Geoff.

[ggould]

  The entitled kids and parents tarred and feathered me

Rich people suck.  Please expand on this if it's not too painful. Sorry to hear this, Geoff.

Right now I sound like too much of a whiner.  Later I might collect my thoughts.

[Lightnin' Rod]

  The entitled kids and parents tarred and feathered me

Rich people suck.  Please expand on this if it's not too painful. Sorry to hear this, Geoff.

Right now I sound like too much of a whiner.  Later I might collect my thoughts.

Their loss, I'd say.  Enjoy some free time, get out to the golf course.

[ggould]

  The entitled kids and parents tarred and feathered me

Rich people suck.  Please expand on this if it's not too painful. Sorry to hear this, Geoff.

Right now I sound like too much of a whiner.  Later I might collect my thoughts.

Their loss, I'd say.  Enjoy some free time, get out to the golf course.

maybe someday I'll actually play golf with you!

[dischead]

"No one in this world, so far as I know -- and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents
to help me -- has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.
Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.

"The mistake that is made always runs the other way.  Because the plain people are able to speak and understand,
and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite
for more.  This assumption is a folly."

-- H.L. Mencken, September 19, 1926

[RGMike]

"No one in this world, so far as I know -- and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me -- has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.

"The mistake that is made always runs the other way.  Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more.  This assumption is a folly."

-- H.L. Mencken, September 19, 1926

Bingo.

[dischead]

I had been plagued for some days by a persistent earworm from a prominent '80s hair metal
band that I don't ever listen to or care about, but just happened to hear the admittedly
catchy hook one time.  A couple of days ago I was watching a stupid television program
where a forgotten gem was used on the soundtrack, and it's cleansed my head of anything
else.  It's this five-minute masterpiece from the Kinks:  Shangri-La.  Simply amazing
how much musically and lyrically is packed into this song.

[Lightnin' Rod]

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I moved up to Santa Rosa in February. 

So far I'm okay, except for the smoke and unhappy dogs because I won't let them out into the smoke.  My heart goes out to those in neighboring areas.  Let's all hope the wind stays down and the firefighters can get some containment.

[RGMike]

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I moved up to Santa Rosa in February. 

So far I'm okay, except for the smoke and unhappy dogs because I won't let them out into the smoke.  My heart goes out to those in neighboring areas.  Let's all hope the wind stays down and the firefighters can get some containment.

Wow -- stay safe, buddy.

[urth]

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I moved up to Santa Rosa in February. 

So far I'm okay, except for the smoke and unhappy dogs because I won't let them out into the smoke.  My heart goes out to those in neighboring areas.  Let's all hope the wind stays down and the firefighters can get some containment.

Wow -- stay safe, buddy.

Yikes. Hope you remain upwind of the flames.

[dischead]

I still occasionally get the feeling right before ten o'clock that I should be getting ready for something.
(sigh)

[dischead]

Hi, long time, no post (or lurk or anything, really),

So, I put together a 10 at 10! My first, in fact!  I used the Audacity app, which is pretty cool. I got almost all the way through before I learned I how to overlap and mix tracks.. which is AWESOME.  Anyway, give a listen if you are stuck at home or something...

How did you get the audio for your clips?  Is there a tool for getting the sound from
youtube videos, or did you use some other source?  I have a few ideas for sets I'd
like to make.

Just this very week I installed Audacity and started playing with it in preparation for
digitizing my cassette tapes -- including my 10@10 recordings.  It does seem like a
very nice piece of software, with lots of interesting and useful features.  A little
daunting at first, but with frequent references to their documentation and following
one of the tutorials I was able to get useful results in short order.  I've been splitting
some Dead shows where the sets were one big MP3 into separate tracks.  The
"Export Multiple" feature is very handy.  Very soon I'll be moving on to recording my
tapes.

It may be a few weeks before I start in on the 10@10 recordings, and a few months
before I have the first batch ready for sharing.  I have about 160 shows in all, so
realistically it will be a year or more before I finish them all, as I have a few dozen
other tapes to do as well.

[dischead]

If anybody has the phone number for Hell, please call and tell them to take their weather back!

Out here in the East Bay (wine country!), it was 108 Saturday, a "low" of 78, 106 on Sunday,
more of the same today and tomorrow.  Intense thumpers Sunday morning and the lightning
strikes have started several fires, including one in a nearby park.  I went out to get the paper
before nine o'clock and it was very humid, already near ninety, and smoke filled the air.  Now
the prevailing winds are blowing smoke from the Sunol Wilderness fire in our direction and when
you go outside it literally smells like standing next to a campfire.

Still I'm thankful that we don't live in the hills near any of the fires.  It's difficult to imagine being
subject to mandatory evacuation and having to leave everything behind, and worrying the
whole time if there will be anything left when you can return.