Various updates in mixed order
Wednesday, 4 October 2006 13:36![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maugornWe got our new garage door installed on Monday.
Of course nothing could be so simple. Oh no...
My favorite, largest, heaviest set of shelves were too high and too close by 6"!! Fucking Grrr!
So now EVERYTHING that was left in the garage has to be rearranged before the rest of the stuff can even come back. Did I mention Grr! ?
Pagan Pride week started last week (for me at least) with the Baltimore event
It was fun on several levels.
Viv had purchased a tank of helium and a bunch of balloons and a 4' Weather Balloon.
I've played with a weather balloon before (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madbodger had acquired some from the then named "JerryCo" Catalog many years ago), but never full of helium. It actually had some lifting power. Again, I wonder how much helium it would take to just make me bouyant enough to be almost stationary in the air. I can hear patches023 saying "NO" already...
So they had a couple of bands and a couple of workshops and it rained, which dampened attendance, but overall OHF did a fine job organising this.
I met Shae, who is also involved in College Perk and books the Pagan Band Jams there, and gave him one of my CDs and told him I'd like to play.
Note: I NEED to find more damn ways out of the damn woodwork. Lots of people know me and know I play and would even recommend me to do so, if they would just remember, but still, the people who book these things are not hearing about me. That has GOT to change!!!
Next year, I want to get on the entertainers' list. I am proud to be a supportive proud Pagan, but I will be prouder still when I get to contribute what I'm best at.
Anyway, it was nice, albeit small, and at the end of the day we got to pass around the helium and make lots of munchkin noises.
Something that impressed me as kind of sad is how many people I spoke with who truly didn't understand that Helium was NOT Nitrous Oxide. WTF? Was EVERYBODY but me asleep thru High School Chemistry or Earth Science?
Okay, if you're reading this, and don't know, I'll be nice about it. But you need to fix this gap in your Knowledge.
Nitrous Oxide is a Compound. It's molecules are formed of one atom of Oxygen and one atom of Nitrogen each, hence it's chemical formula NO . It is highly reactive, slightly heavier than the atmosphere (NO balloons will sink, not float) and THIS is the stuff that you inhale as "laughing gas" to get high or aenesthetised, depending on how much you inhale. THIS is the stuff that will actually burn up your lungs, and cause long term damage if you use it too much and too often.
Helium (He) is an Element. It is the second lightest element in the universe, with only Hydrogen being lighter. It is also, courtesy of it's structure one of the very few truly inert elements in the Universe. It does not bond with other elements to form compounds. Some smart-assed scientists with too much time and too much money on their hands have succeeded in FORCING it into forming compounds, but Helium does not do this in nature, never- as close to never as anything ever observed, which, for our intents and millieu is...NEVER.
Therefore, taking it into your lungs does NOT cause any chemical damage and it does not get you high any more than you would be if you were deprived of an equivalent amount of oxygen. If you take it into your lungs, because it is so much less dense than the atmosphere, your vocal chords will operate on a higher pitch and that is why you sound like a munchkin. Other than depriving you of oxygen, a lungful of Helium is completely harmless. Likewise, Helium also does not damage the Ozone layer. The CFCs (chloroflourocarbons) that do, while also pretty inert on the ground, are not so in the upper atmosphere where they are bombarded by huge quantities of intense ultraviolet light. As I said, Helium is inert and does NOTHING to any other element or compound no matter where it happens to be.
Oh, and you don't have to worry about Helium gas getting "stuck" in your lungs. It is SO light that it floats right out when you open your mouth, and the atoms are small enough that they can even leave your body by passing *thru* it, albeit, slowly.
Ok. Rant/lecture over.
Sunday I had a Clipper City gig and more Pagan Pride with an Inter-Faith service at Paint Branch UU. Very very nice service and got to reconnect with someone I keep losing.
On Friday I got around to some recording. I still have to finish the new vocal track for "Norwegian Wood" sometime ( I have ONE damn phrase left that I want to fix ), but the entire evening was spent trying to fix the part of the guitar line I did for "Back Home In Derry" for the Rhianon album. As I feared, it was not possible to just punch it in (the line was too complex to catch the moment right), so I had to re-record the whole part. Took all evening until I was happy.
And Renee thinks we can have an album by New Years... uh huh...
Found a bit of good news. Some ofsagesaria's recordings were mangled in the transfer from the 840 to the 1880. Well, I listened to the originals on the 840 and they're fine there.
It was somewhere in the transfer process that they got hosed, so it's therefore possible to salvage them by either trying again or transfering them via audio or DA. She will be very happy to hear that.
As I mentioned in the cut, I had a Clipper City gig on Sunday that went decently well. I got a bit of a late start, but was ready more or less on time.
An amusing thing happened. I had a very obvious fan who camped out near me and sang along with just about the entire set. Turns out he's from Ontario, plays some of this stuff himself, knows the (Stan) Rogers family, and thru some careful questions sussed out that I did re-enactment.
As a matter of fact, he knows Markland, has hosted an event where the Longship Company brought up the Gyrfalcon and...
....recognised me from Pennsic.
Small world.
He bought a CD. Yay!
I did my good deed for the week. I was waylaid a couple of weeks ago in the Armory hallway on my way to 3LF practice. Seems this fellow got the idea that I might have sound gear. Seems his band was having their very first gig and they were short a couple of pieces. So I took a chance and trusted the young men and they borrowed some speakers and cables and an amp and I got it all back last night. Now, to return the favor, they said they'd come to New Deal tomorrow. Karma!
On Monday, I got to help with another excellent cause and a rare treat.
Seems that Bob Bodine, a member of Clan Cambion (and a real "old guard" Marklander) was recently diagnosed with a terminal cancer and opted to wait it out at home.
They gave him a few months at best. The Cambion list went abuzz with plots and plans for how to visit or send some sort of cheer/support and opted to do a "remote" sacred harp sing. Once upon a time they had these sings every Friday. I'd heard of these sings, and sometimes heard some of the folks do it at events, and of course some of the repertoire that found it's way into Clam Chowder. But nothing like this- Monday night had an assemblage of nearly thirty people. Since I don't really know this stuff and singing naked (acappella) is not my forte, I volunteered to wrangle mics and keep an ear on the soundboard. Wow!!
If Dr. Gandalf's gear recorded what I heard in those headphones... fucking wow!
We got a great mix and it's all been digitally recorded- several hours of some of the finest "impromptu" singing I've ever damn heard.
Turns out that Bob passed the day before this happened. Some might think that it was a cruel irony. Personally I think that more than anything he wished he could be there and finally said "Screw it! I'm GOING!" That's what I'd do.
Tonight will be another date at New Deal Cafe.
Strike that. It's tomorrow.
TOMORROW!!!!
Tomorrow (THURSDAY October 5th), I shall be playing at New Deal Cafe!
(entry corrected after the fact for your amusement)
I can't say it enough.
With the performances moved to the back room now I REALLY need your bodies there right now.
If you're looking for a good time to come, this is it.
Of course nothing could be so simple. Oh no...
My favorite, largest, heaviest set of shelves were too high and too close by 6"!! Fucking Grrr!
So now EVERYTHING that was left in the garage has to be rearranged before the rest of the stuff can even come back. Did I mention Grr! ?
Pagan Pride week started last week (for me at least) with the Baltimore event
It was fun on several levels.
Viv had purchased a tank of helium and a bunch of balloons and a 4' Weather Balloon.
I've played with a weather balloon before (
madbodger had acquired some from the then named "JerryCo" Catalog many years ago), but never full of helium. It actually had some lifting power. Again, I wonder how much helium it would take to just make me bouyant enough to be almost stationary in the air. I can hear patches023 saying "NO" already...So they had a couple of bands and a couple of workshops and it rained, which dampened attendance, but overall OHF did a fine job organising this.
I met Shae, who is also involved in College Perk and books the Pagan Band Jams there, and gave him one of my CDs and told him I'd like to play.
Note: I NEED to find more damn ways out of the damn woodwork. Lots of people know me and know I play and would even recommend me to do so, if they would just remember, but still, the people who book these things are not hearing about me. That has GOT to change!!!
Next year, I want to get on the entertainers' list. I am proud to be a supportive proud Pagan, but I will be prouder still when I get to contribute what I'm best at.
Anyway, it was nice, albeit small, and at the end of the day we got to pass around the helium and make lots of munchkin noises.
Something that impressed me as kind of sad is how many people I spoke with who truly didn't understand that Helium was NOT Nitrous Oxide. WTF? Was EVERYBODY but me asleep thru High School Chemistry or Earth Science?
Okay, if you're reading this, and don't know, I'll be nice about it. But you need to fix this gap in your Knowledge.
Nitrous Oxide is a Compound. It's molecules are formed of one atom of Oxygen and one atom of Nitrogen each, hence it's chemical formula NO . It is highly reactive, slightly heavier than the atmosphere (NO balloons will sink, not float) and THIS is the stuff that you inhale as "laughing gas" to get high or aenesthetised, depending on how much you inhale. THIS is the stuff that will actually burn up your lungs, and cause long term damage if you use it too much and too often.
Helium (He) is an Element. It is the second lightest element in the universe, with only Hydrogen being lighter. It is also, courtesy of it's structure one of the very few truly inert elements in the Universe. It does not bond with other elements to form compounds. Some smart-assed scientists with too much time and too much money on their hands have succeeded in FORCING it into forming compounds, but Helium does not do this in nature, never- as close to never as anything ever observed, which, for our intents and millieu is...NEVER.
Therefore, taking it into your lungs does NOT cause any chemical damage and it does not get you high any more than you would be if you were deprived of an equivalent amount of oxygen. If you take it into your lungs, because it is so much less dense than the atmosphere, your vocal chords will operate on a higher pitch and that is why you sound like a munchkin. Other than depriving you of oxygen, a lungful of Helium is completely harmless. Likewise, Helium also does not damage the Ozone layer. The CFCs (chloroflourocarbons) that do, while also pretty inert on the ground, are not so in the upper atmosphere where they are bombarded by huge quantities of intense ultraviolet light. As I said, Helium is inert and does NOTHING to any other element or compound no matter where it happens to be.
Oh, and you don't have to worry about Helium gas getting "stuck" in your lungs. It is SO light that it floats right out when you open your mouth, and the atoms are small enough that they can even leave your body by passing *thru* it, albeit, slowly.
Ok. Rant/lecture over.
Sunday I had a Clipper City gig and more Pagan Pride with an Inter-Faith service at Paint Branch UU. Very very nice service and got to reconnect with someone I keep losing.
On Friday I got around to some recording. I still have to finish the new vocal track for "Norwegian Wood" sometime ( I have ONE damn phrase left that I want to fix ), but the entire evening was spent trying to fix the part of the guitar line I did for "Back Home In Derry" for the Rhianon album. As I feared, it was not possible to just punch it in (the line was too complex to catch the moment right), so I had to re-record the whole part. Took all evening until I was happy.
And Renee thinks we can have an album by New Years... uh huh...
Found a bit of good news. Some of
sagesaria's recordings were mangled in the transfer from the 840 to the 1880. Well, I listened to the originals on the 840 and they're fine there.It was somewhere in the transfer process that they got hosed, so it's therefore possible to salvage them by either trying again or transfering them via audio or DA. She will be very happy to hear that.
As I mentioned in the cut, I had a Clipper City gig on Sunday that went decently well. I got a bit of a late start, but was ready more or less on time.
An amusing thing happened. I had a very obvious fan who camped out near me and sang along with just about the entire set. Turns out he's from Ontario, plays some of this stuff himself, knows the (Stan) Rogers family, and thru some careful questions sussed out that I did re-enactment.
As a matter of fact, he knows Markland, has hosted an event where the Longship Company brought up the Gyrfalcon and...
....recognised me from Pennsic.
Small world.
He bought a CD. Yay!
Clipper City 10/01/06 01) (inst) Dressed Ship 02) Eddystone Light (debut) 03) (inst) Polka Set 04) All For Me Grog 05) Leavin' Of Liverpool/(inst) Sailor's Hornpipe/Off To California 06) Adieu, Sweet, Lovely Nancy 07) Away, Rio! 08) The Mermaid 09) Boots Of Spanish Leather 10) Drunken Sailor 11) Mary Ellen Carter 12) Cape Cod Girls 13) Strike The Bell 14) Barrett's Privateers 15) Rolling Down To Old Maui 16) Skye Boat Song 17) Into The Mystic 18) For My Lady 19) Son Of A Son Of A Sailor 20) Jamaica Farewell 21) Sloop John B 22) If I Had A Boat 23) Brandy 24) Sailor's Prayer
I did my good deed for the week. I was waylaid a couple of weeks ago in the Armory hallway on my way to 3LF practice. Seems this fellow got the idea that I might have sound gear. Seems his band was having their very first gig and they were short a couple of pieces. So I took a chance and trusted the young men and they borrowed some speakers and cables and an amp and I got it all back last night. Now, to return the favor, they said they'd come to New Deal tomorrow. Karma!
On Monday, I got to help with another excellent cause and a rare treat.
Seems that Bob Bodine, a member of Clan Cambion (and a real "old guard" Marklander) was recently diagnosed with a terminal cancer and opted to wait it out at home.
They gave him a few months at best. The Cambion list went abuzz with plots and plans for how to visit or send some sort of cheer/support and opted to do a "remote" sacred harp sing. Once upon a time they had these sings every Friday. I'd heard of these sings, and sometimes heard some of the folks do it at events, and of course some of the repertoire that found it's way into Clam Chowder. But nothing like this- Monday night had an assemblage of nearly thirty people. Since I don't really know this stuff and singing naked (acappella) is not my forte, I volunteered to wrangle mics and keep an ear on the soundboard. Wow!!
If Dr. Gandalf's gear recorded what I heard in those headphones... fucking wow!
We got a great mix and it's all been digitally recorded- several hours of some of the finest "impromptu" singing I've ever damn heard.
Turns out that Bob passed the day before this happened. Some might think that it was a cruel irony. Personally I think that more than anything he wished he could be there and finally said "Screw it! I'm GOING!" That's what I'd do.
Tonight will be another date at New Deal Cafe.
Strike that. It's tomorrow.
TOMORROW!!!!
Tomorrow (THURSDAY October 5th), I shall be playing at New Deal Cafe!
(entry corrected after the fact for your amusement)
I can't say it enough.
With the performances moved to the back room now I REALLY need your bodies there right now.
If you're looking for a good time to come, this is it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
2006-10-04 17:53 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-04 18:04 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-04 18:18 (UTC)It's tomorrow, actually.
Entry has been corrected.
Thanks
no subject
2006-10-04 18:59 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-04 18:17 (UTC)I meant tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
I went and fixed the entry. Thank you.
See ya?
no subject
2006-10-04 19:01 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-05 14:58 (UTC)How about:
"This is gonna be one SWEET Strip Poker tournament!"
no subject
2006-10-05 16:11 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-06 15:59 (UTC)I shall teach you. It will be fun.
Laughs sinisterly.
no subject
2006-10-04 19:11 (UTC)no subject
2006-10-13 14:21 (UTC)