Mindsigh

On the impotence of proofreading

Posted by Jerry on December 7th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, New media, Writing

I was bigly in need of a spill chocker when I was pinted in the generic disruption of this video! Thanks to Christy Dena for bringing this to my intention 🙂

Cheers
Jerry

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Full Circle live in Adelaide

Posted by Jerry on December 3rd, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Music

Adelaide was bright and warm when we landed at the airport, and Bruce our bass player was there to greet us and take us to our accommodation, then to the venue. I was disappointed to see my fiddle arrive, not at the ‘fragile items’ section, but on the baggage conveyor with all the suitcases – not a good look for Virgin Blue Airlines. At least the small crack should be easily repaired. To their credit they allowed me to take the fiddle as a carry-on bag for the return journey – this should be the norm for hand-held musical instruments.

The RSL hall in Norfolk Street off Marion Road was well appointed and served the Royal Artillery Reserve well – and it was time for their Christmas dinner dance. We used a local sound engineer and sound system so we could just bring the essentials, and spent about an hour on a sound check – this being the first time my new pickup was being used in earnest. I quickly dispensed with the pedal as the sound was great going straight into the mixing desk. I highly recommend “The Band” made by Headway – really good acoustic sound from the fiddle and without the breathy bowing sounds. And Rob the sound engineer was excellent at pulling the sound together in just the right way.

The crowd had a great time and there were presentations from their unit commander. And we sang “Only nineteen” and “Band played Waltzing Matilda” and the audience really got into the mood for the evening

After the dinner was cleared away the audience really got into the music and we took it from mood to mood, building to a fast tempo at the end

And that was just the beginning… After the show we unwound with a session back at the unit commander”s house where we were staying, and then Saturday saw us head out to see the city. It had changed a lot since I was last there.

The following night at the Sergeant’s Mess at Keswick Barracks it was like the first night had just been a rehearsal by comparison. A much bigger crowd turned up and as soon as the dinner servery was cleared away they were ready to dance – we called several dances – and sang songs and we finished up about 1.00AM – we had a great time and the audience loved every minute.

A couple of people had video cameras and we’re hopeful that soon we’ll be able to bring you some of the footage – so watch this space!

Cheers
Jerry

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Decluttering the cables

Posted by Jerry on November 25th, 2007 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Technology

It all started with a pen. It rolled off the back of the desk and I didn’t hear it hit the floor. When I went exploring I encountered a tangled mess and enough dust to build a nest in.

I had read earlier of methods of decluttering cables – most of which seemed to involve specialised racks from IKEA. It was time to get creative. Howards Storage supplied a couple of wire baskets and Woolworths supplied the six-way socket and it fitted the baskets perfectly. I also had to get the DSL modem off the ground too. I decided that although rear installation would hide the cables effectively, there were times when you need to see which lights are flashing, so I decided on a front mount beneath the desk, but still off the floor.

And here is the result – four screws (supplied with the racks) mounted the whole lot in a neat fashion and the wires were each coiled out of the way. I used some velcro cable ties from Clints Discount Warehouse to keep the coils together. The whole lot took about 15 minutes and the result is an easy access for the vacuum cleaner and a neat arrangement of cables tucked well out of the way. Now to tackle the entertainment system!

Thanks to Sharon for the link to the declutterer 🙂

Cheers
Jerry

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12 Girls Band play Riverdance reel

Posted by Jerry on November 22nd, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Music

This is amazing – Riverdance music on Chinese instruments – and beautifully staged too!

Cheers
Jerry

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Photographing the moon

Posted by Jerry on November 20th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, New media, Technology

The Fuji Finepix camera S5700 has a ten ttimes optical zoom and is a 7 megapixel camera. I particularly like the large lens size as it copes well with relatively low light conditions, such as indoor evening shots. But my standard test for a camera is how well it takes a moon shot at its greatest zoom. And here is the result

It was taken using the the full zoom and full digital zoom on the Manual setting (shutterspeed 500, aperture F3.5 ISO100) – okay I’m impressed – and it cost no more than the canon powershot cameras I had used before. I had looked at these cameras before, but was put off by the XD card media – well now they have updated and take both XD and SD cards – making them compatible (finally) with most card readers.

This camera is excellent value for money and a great entry camera if the prices of digital SLR cameras have been putting you off.

Cheers
Jerry

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