July 2009 Archives

I am not really a fan of these "weekly update" type posts, but I have some thoughts on a few things, that I don't think quite require their own posts.

Everyone that I know who is a Mets fan is still screaming for them to make a deal to get a bat.  At this point, I think it is too late.  I would rather that they not mortgage the future to get a bat that probably won't help them this season, anyway.  As I said in a previous post, they need three bats, not just one.

This year's Tour de France was an amazing event, because it gave us the return of Lance Armstrong.  As I write this, I am sitting in my easy chair watching the Peloton cruise into Paris, and barring anything catastrophic, Lance will come in 3rd, putting him on the podium.  This is an incredible achievement considering that he took four years off from cycling, and in his comeback this year, suffered a crash and broke his collarbone.  This took three to four weeks out of his training schedule, so his form probably wasn't quite as good as it could have been.

The big announcement at this year's Tour was that Lance Armstrong has partnered with Radio Shack to form Team Radio Shack, a new cycling team.  Lance will be racing for them, and has promised to sign a world class cadre of riders so that they can go to next year's Tour and be competitive.  Additional sponsors will include Nike and Trek Bikes which should come as no surprise to anyone.

The relationship between Radio Shack and the Livestrong Foundation will be reciprocal wherein they cross promote for one another.  Don't be surprised if when you walk into a Radio Shack in the future to buy a cell phone, you see Livestrong paraphernalia.

I was excited when I learned of this partnership because as a child, I was an electronic hobbyist who used to build little electronics projects, and kits that the various magazines published.  At that time you could go into your local radio shack and buy components to build projects such as these, and I have many fond memories of being in their stores and buying components like the 555 Timer (electronics hobbyists will be able to relate).  In addition to the bits and pieces that you could buy there, Radio Shack also had one of the early Microcomputers called the TRS-80 Model One, and I spent many an hour there playing with it.

Next year should be another exciting year in cycling, particularly for U.S. cycling since Team Radio Shack will be America's 3rd team, along with Team Garmin and Team Columbia.

Can't wait!

Four years ago I went to the NAMM show in Anaheim California, to exhibit with my former employer, which is cool since it's the biggest music trade show in the US.  Sure, when you're exhibiting, you are working eight hours a day on the floor, but it's all worth it when you get to go to the various parties and concerts that take place at night.

One night four years ago I was lucky enough to be able to see a Jazz/Fusion band called Vital Information, which at the time featured Steve Smith on drums, and Frank Gambale on guitar.  Joining them that evening were Baron Brown on bass, and Tom Coster on keys.  For those of you who don't know, Steve Smith is perhaps most famous for being in a little rock band called Journey.  I think playing in Journey paid the bills, but playing in Vital is his true passion.  The reason I think that, is because while Journey was a great rock band, with some good players in it, being in a band like Vital allows him to play with time more.  If I were a world class drummer, that would certainly be something I would want to do.

Replacing Gambale on guitar Monday night was Vinny Valenino.  Stylistically Vinny is very different than Gambale.  Vinny plays your classic hollowbody ES-335 type guitar, and played clean all night long, while Gambale is famous more for playing solid body electrics, featuring a little more dirt in his tone, and what I would call a more "flashy" technique.

Despite their differences, Vinny is an amazingly tasteful player, with no lack of technique, and he also does that George Benson-esque thing where he sings in unison with his playing while he solos.  I don't think I've ever seen Frank do that.   :-)

Monday night they featured mostly tunes from their most recent studio CD, Vitalization.  I don't own this CD yet, so I was not familiar with the music, but that didn't matter.

Simply put, these guys can play.  Their music is harmonically rich, and is played in very diverse time signatures.  Their compositions are always strong, the band is tight, and these guys can just flat groove.

I can't wait to order their most recent studio offering, and play it loudly.

If you happen to be a Jazz/Fusion fan, and these guys ever come to a town near you, run, don't walk to the venue, and get yourself a ticket!

When I looked at my watch today, and realized that it was July 20th, I decided that I should write a blog post.  If you aren't aware, today is the 40th anniversary of the day Neil Armstrong and Buzz Adlrin, walked on the moon, fulfilling Kennedy's promise of landing a man on the moon, and returning him safely to earth, before the end of the 1960's.

I was having trouble coming up with a slant for the post, because I didn't want it to be some sort of long babbling post quoting facts and figures, which we've all heard for decades.  I wanted something different, and I was vexed until I was asked a question by my friend Steve, from Canada.  He asked which astronaut was my favorite.  This is an interesting question that I guess I had never pondered before, and that's odd, since I consider myself a huge space geek.

After thinking, I realized that I had to come up with three answers.  My first thought was of Pete Conrad, Apollo 12 Commander.  I've read a lot about Pete, and have seen many portrayals of Pete on the big screen, and he always seemed like an interesting fellow with a great sense of humor.  His Apollo 12 crew mates had nothing but superlatives to say about him, and he just seemed like the kinda guy I would have liked to hang out with.  He also did one of those cool "Do you know me?" American Express ads, in the 70's.

Of the original Mercury Seven selection, I would have to pick Donald K. "Deke" Slayton.  I read Deke's autobiography, and know a lot about his story.  He was selected, and even scheduled for a Mercury flight, but was not allowed to fly because the Flight Surgeons had detected some sort of irregular heartbeat.  He was grounded and given the job of Director of Flight Crew Operations.  This meant he was the boss of all of the astronauts.  While this job might sound cool to you and me, for Deke it had to be difficult, because he wanted nothing more than to fly, and now he was told he couldn't, but got to watch everyone else get their chance.

Deke's story does have a happy ending, however.  After some time Deke was prescribed a multi-vitamin, and noticed that his irregular heartbeat went away.  In time he was able to convince the Flight Surgeons to reinstate his flight status, and he finally got his ride on the Apollo Soyuz mission, that we did jointly with the Soviets.

My third choice is from the modern Shuttle astronaut class.  It's actually difficult to find a standout among this group, because there are so many of them, and because they don't get the media attention that the earlier astronauts received.  So very few of them are household names, and the public no longer has the wide eyed curiosity about the space program like they did in the 1960's.

In any case, my choice is Story Musgrave.  This guy has done it all, from repairing the Hubble Space Telescope, to being on the Home Improvement television show. His Curriculum Vitae is incredibly impressive, and I believe he has more hours in space than any other American astronaut save for the astronauts who flew on International Space Station.

On another note, I think I am one of the few people in my circles who is happy that they're retiring the Space Shuttles.  I was never a huge fan of them because they really didn't lower the costs of space flight that much, and they really didn't go anywhere.  All they did was orbit the earth.

I am happy about the new Aries program and out projected future trips to the Moon, and eventually Mars.  That is if some politician doesn't scuttle the program.

On a completely random note, a friend called me today and asked me something that I thought was really odd and out of context about Armstrong.  I totally did not get his meaning at all because I had been thinking about Neil all day, and nothing that he said made sense.  I then realized that he was talking to me about Lance Armstrong, who is once again racing in the Tour de France.  Then it all made sense.   :-)

I finally rented Gran Torino and watched it last night.  When I plan not to see a film in the theatre, and eventually watch it in my modest home theatre, I make a point to avoid learning anything about the film in question.

My first surprise about this film was that I had no idea that so much of the film would relate to the lead character's Asian neighbors, who belonged to a group of Asians called the Hmong.  I had never heard of the Hmong and it was fascinating to learn about their culture, their history, and their plight.

The main character in this film is a guy named Walt Kowalski, who is a retired auto-worker, recently a widower.  He is estranged from his children, and is basically a curmudgeon who wants to be left alone.  He very much reminded me of a combination of Archie Bunker, Hank Hill, Andy Sipowicz, and Paul Kersey.  Like all of these characters, we like them despite their many faults, and in time, we learn that they are sophisticated people with many layers.  Walt is no exception.

For many people in the world today, things are changing faster than they can keep up with, and they are incapable, or unwilling to change with them.  I saw something like this in the very neighborhood in which I grew up.  When I was young it was entirely made up of Polish people, most of whom were retired, and took little interest in their neighbors.  In time, as people moved away, or passed away, the neighborhood became more multi-cultural and economically depressed, not unlike Walt's neighborhood. 

Much like the aloof neighboars that I had as a child, Walt is similar, but having said that, we get the feeling that Walt Kowalski cares about his neighborhood deeply, and despite the changes going on around him, wants it to be a safe place where a family can raise their children with no worries.  The difference between Walt and most people, however, is that Walt is a man of action, and is willing to put himself out there when he sees an injustice.

Walt eventually befriends his Hmong neighbors, and despite all their differences, they learn to tolerate each other's differences, and in time, enjoy their differences.

Walt becomes good friends with his two adolescent neighbors, Thao, and Sue, and they develop a close relationship.  Our first impressions of Walt tell us this would be impossible, but it happens.  Walt ends up caring so deeply for these young adults, that he is willing to put it all on the line for them.

As in my film reviews on the BV Podcast, I didn't usually give away any spoilers, and I am not going to do it here.  But what I am going to tell you is that I found this film to be powerful and moving.  Powerful and moving because we ALL know or knew a guy like Walt Kowalski at one time in our lives, and indeed, are probably related to someone like that.  While I am not of Walt's generation, I found myself relating to him in many ways, and what more could we ask of a film, a story, and a character, than that.

Was Gran Torino a perfect film?  No.  It had its faults, but they are far outweighed by the pluses.

Check it out.

OK, two things... sorta.

I got a text message the other day asking me why the Mets don't trade for a bat, and I'm of the belief that it won't help.  Right now with Delgado, Reyes, and Beltran still on the DL, the Mets need THREE BATS.  It seems to me that one bat won't help that much, and to trade away our best prospects to get a guy who may or may not help until the Cavalry returns, seems reckless.  Maybe it means that 2009 is done for the Mets... who knows.

The other thing that was a big topic of discussion (in MY circles, anyway) was the decision by the people who run the Tour de France to not allow radios in two stages this year.  In case you don't know, all of the riders wear small two-way radios so that they can talk to their team director, riding behind them in the team car.  To me this seems silly.  Sure, the race went off without a hitch for eighty years without radios, but why get rid of them now?  It seems to me that there are other areas of technology that have affected bike racing far more profoundly than radios.  Once upon a time bikes were made of steel.  Now if you can find a METAL bike frame in the Tour, you're doing well.  Most Tour bikes are carbon fiber with components that are made from other cool materials like aluminum, titanium, and ceramic.  Why not go back to steel bikes as long as we're reversing this technology trend??

And while we're on the topic of devolving technology trends, has anyone seen how stupid the F1 cars look this season???

Not that I'm a technology apologist, but let's move FORWARD.

** Update, 7/16/09

The Tour de France organizers have canceled the second scheduled day of riding with no radios.

I was visiting a friend a earlier today, and her parents happened to stop by while I was visiting.  The mom asked how I was doing with my whole Celiac thing, and I told her I was doing well.  It's weird because I rarely ever actively think about it, anymore.  It doesn't occupy my waking thoughts, and I haven't dreamed about accidentally eating gluten, or Celiac Disease in any way, in years.

Why is this significant?  Well... because after she asked how I was doing, I remembered that today is the seven year anniversary of my diagnosis.  I was admitted to the hospital on Friday, July 12th 2002, I was (apparently) diagnosed on the 13th, and released on Sunday the 14th.

For several years after the diagnosis, I had wanted to write down the story of what led to being admitted to the hospital, and my experience in the hospital.  One particularly crappy winter day I made the mistake of going shopping at a grocery store that was very near to a local business district where a lot of people do their Xmas shopping, and I ended up getting stuck in a parking lot for an hour, and I almost ran out of gas in the process.  All this to pick up a few odds-and-ends groceries.  For those who don't know, I hate getting stuck in traffic of any kind.  Thankfully I don't live in L.A.  This ended up being a particularly stressful event for me, and by the time I made it home, I needed to do something to decompress, so I sat down at my computer for three or four hours, and hammered out a rough first draft of my Celiac Story.  I had always intended to do a massive edit, and rewrite, and submit it to some publication (although I don't know which ones) for publishing.

I think I can literally count on one hand the number of people who have read this story.  But because today was the anniversary, I decided to find the piece that I had written, and make it a blog post.  I am doing so with a huge caveat.  As I said above, this is a very rough first draft, and I literally haven't touched it since I wrote it.  One day in the future I intend to do some editing, and rewrite it from the perspective of saying it, instead of telling it, but that will have to wait.  But for now, I give you the story:

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My Unusual Intolerance
By Richard V. Wielgosz

Back in July of 2002 I had been feeling pretty poorly. For some time I had been very weak and always out of breath. If I told you how long I had ignored the symptoms in the hopes that they'd go away, you'd slap me, so I won't tell. Most people have a small amount of anxiety about going to the doctor; I guess my allotted amount was (is) more than small.

I'll begin by giving you some history. Many years ago in response to several great-aunts and uncles passing from colon cancer, I had altered my diet quite a bit. I never digested red meats very well so I removed those immediately. I started eating more green leafy vegetables and fewer white meats as well. In time I became a sort-of ovo-lacto-vegetarian, completely removing meats from my diet, and subsisting on grains, vegetables, and dairy products. I would use whey and soy supplements to get the proper amount of protein. It seemed like I had a great diet, so why did I feel awful?

When I awoke in the morning I could feel my heart thumping away at what seemed like an unusually high rate. After getting past my denial that this was going to go away on its own, I gathered the courage to put my index finger on my throat while looking at my watch and came up with an alarmingly high heart rate for first thing in the morning.  Could it really be 105 beats per minute?  I take cycling pretty seriously, and when I was riding regularly and was at my fittest I would awaken and have a heart rate in the high forties or low fifties. Something was very wrong.

The doctor to whom I used to go had since retired, and I needed to find a physician who would take me as a new patient.  My friend Sue is a health care professional and recommended a particular physician whom she knew was taking new patients.  The next day I called his office and scheduled my first physical in about a decade.  The appointment was on Thursday, July 11th, 2002.  We talked about my family history for a while, he took the usual in office tests including an EKG, and scheduled me for some more cardiac tests. My cardiac rhythm look fine, just elevated. He was thinking that I might have some thyroid problems since other family members had been diagnosed with them. I left his office with some paperwork to bring when I went for the additional cardiac tests, and some directives for blood work.

I went for the blood work the following day on the way to work, which went normally until about noon when my phone rang and it was our receptionist telling me that my doctor was on the phone.  My first thought was, "Uh oh, this can't be good."  I took the call and was told that my blood count was dangerously low, that I was probably bleeding internally, and that I needed to be admitted to the hospital immediately.  This is pretty scary stuff for a guy who has never been to the hospital for anything other than to visit sick family members and friends.  Co-workers later told me that I turned a terrified and sickly shade of white.  This is quite a feat since my skin color was already quite pale from being so anemic (which up until that phone call I didn't know), compounded with the fact that I'm Polish and British in heritage.

He told me to meet him at his office, and he'd call for an ambulance to bring me to the hospital.  Ambulance?  Was I really that sick?  Come on, I knew I felt a little tired, but I was still working eight hours a day and was struggling through this problem.

I drove to his office and the receptionist (quite unusually) let me see the doctor immediately.  Again, a sign that things weren't good since normally the wait can be measured in fortnights.  The doctor showed me some alarming things. The Common Blood Count (CBC blood test) showed that all of my levels were askew, the most notable being my red blood cell count which the test showed to be around seven.  I later found out that a good red blood cell count should be between fourteen and eighteen.  Holy dive-bomb Batman, what's going on here?

He was about to ambulance me off to the hospital to be admitted when I insisted that I would drive. I suppose it was silly, but something in me wouldn't let that happen.  I would drive to the hospital in my own car.  I had been living with whatever this was for some time, and I was quite certain I could muster a fifteen minute drive to the hospital.  He cautioned against it but I wouldn't have it.  I was driving dammit.

I arrived at the hospital and they were expecting me.  It was about 2:30 pm and they did the necessary paperwork and sent me to the ER for a blood transfusion.  A WHAT?!  They're going to put someone else's blood in me?  Don't people sometimes acquire deadly diseases from transfusions? The list of things that scare me seems to be growing. Despite that, I reasoned that this would be relatively safe.  The likelihood of actually getting sick from a transfusion is pretty small. The fantastic nurses hooked me up to an IV and told me I wouldn't have my own room until they could find me one.  Great.

To kill time I talked to the nurses and various other examples of humanity that walked around the ER.  It was actually quite interesting  and at one point one of the nurses came in to check my blood pressure and temperature and I asked her something I had always wanted to know.  What happens if they infuse you with the wrong blood type?  I asked and I don't remember all of the things that she said, but one of the things she did say was that I could die.

 DIE?!?!?!?!

St. Elsewhere did not prepare me for this.

Suffice it to say, I took a great interest in their cross check procedure before each following unit of blood was hooked up to my IV tube.

The wait for a room ended up being about twelve hours.  They finally wheeled me up to the room as the SECOND unit of whole blood was dripping into my veins at about 2:30 am.

My first night in a hospital was very memorable.  Memorable because I was awake for almost every moment of it.  Between the nurses checking my blood pressure and temperature every hour, (standard practice I was told during a transfusion) and the incoherent man in the bed next to me crying and shouting out gibberish every twenty or thirty minutes, I got no sleep.  By morning I was quite sleep deprived and was fed a breakfast of pancakes and some sort of sticky sweet stuff which was labeled "pancake syrup."  It would later turn out that this was a terrible choice given my condition.

Shortly thereafter I was visited by a Gastro-Intestinal specialist for a consult.  We talked for fifteen to twenty minutes and he told me he had me scheduled later in the day for an Endoscopy to check for the bleeding ulcer they thought that I had.  Oh great, I thought. Now I get to have a camera rammed down my throat.

Throughout that Saturday various friends (thank you Lesa) and family visited me between cat naps, and finally a gurney was wheeled to my door with a sign on the pillow labeled "ENDO" in black marker.  This procedure scared me a little.  It's invasive and I had never undergone anything like it before.

They wheeled me down to a room where I was hooked up to various pieces of monitoring equipment and the procedure was explained to me by the doctor's assistant.  They knocked me out and the next thing that I remember is waking up in my room and seeing my friend Mike.  I have no memory of the procedure and can not even guarantee to you that it actually happened.  All I had was some missing time.  I could have been abducted by aliens for all I know.  Before going under I asked the doctor to make a video of the procedure, but was told they didn't have the right equipment to do that.  Pity, at least I'd have some proof.

The anesthetic they gave me for that procedure must have been pretty powerful. My memory of the first hour talking to my friend Mike is vague at best.  I'm told I flirted with the candy striper, and introduced Mike to another friend three times.  Wow!

I was later told that by this time the correct diagnosis about my condition had been made.  The doctors however chose not to include me in this epiphany that day.  One of my fantastic nurses asked me what I thought of my diagnosis and I told her that I was not aware that they had made one.  She said they had, and that it wasn't a bleeding ulcer, and that they would tell me the next day.  She would have liked to have ended my suspense and told me the diagnosis but the chain of command required that she leave that to the doctor.

The next day was Sunday the 14th.  My GI doctor stopped in to see me while I had a visitor and told me that I had Celiac Disease, which is sometimes called Sprue.  Celiac Disease is an intolerance to gluten, a protein found in many popular grains like wheat, barley, and rye. When ingested this triggers an autoimmune response in the body causing the immune system to attack and damage the small intestine.  Continued ingestion of gluten over prolonged periods of time leads to severe GI damage resulting in many things, one of which is essentially malnutrition.  I was not absorbing nutrition properly.  Nutrients like iron to help build blood components (remember I had Anemia) and other unimportant things like protein and calcium (he says with dripping sarcasm). At this point it all started to make sense.  With my friend Lesa I had gone over my diet counting things like iron intake, and based on our calculations, I should have been fine. This diagnosis made all the sense in the world.  I was eating enough good stuff, just not absorbing it properly.

I was released from the hospital on Sunday as well.  I was thrilled to be out of there.  I found the experience to be very stressful.  Thanks to the four units of whole blood I was given, my blood count was now at a respectable level, and I was released with a prescription for time-release iron tablets (two or three hundred Mg's per day for a month), and a follow up appointment one month later.

I was somewhat familiar with gluten intolerance because I had seen the products labeled "gluten free" at my whole foods store, but never in my life did I think I would ever have to eat in that way. However, considering that I was terrified that I had something like colon cancer that was going to kill me, I was thrilled to have Celiac disease. All I had to do was avoid gluten.  Easy, right??

Anything that can be made out of normal flours can be made out of various gluten free flour combinations.  So now when I go shopping I reach for the rice pasta instead of the whole wheat pasta. I have found that food I eat now is every bit as flavorful as "normal" food, but texture has changed.  Gluten gives flour the ability to be stretchy and gives it the that wonderful flaky texture in pastries. I'm perfectly happy to trade those things to feel good.

OK, maybe it's not as easy to eat gluten free as I implied two paragraphs ago.  In practice, for me it wasn't too difficult, but for people not as careful as I am, it can certainly be challenging. Gluten is often hidden in many store bought prepared foods, and in places you'd never imagine.  It can often be found in those mystery ingredients on labels called "natural flavors." This requires people with Celiac Disease to be vigilant, lest they ingest gluten, that poison to their GI tract.

Has it changed my life at all?  Absolutely.  Going out to eat is sometimes difficult, so I don't do it as much as I used to. I cook more than ever, and if friends want to go out to a restaurant and I don't feel like playing "quiz the chef," I simply eat first and enjoy a drink with them over dinner. Fortunately the chefs in most restaurants are very accommodating and do their best to help you enjoy your meal.  However, you do need to be your own advocate, and if the restaurant is not very accommodating, either go to another restaurant or wait to eat until later while your friends enjoy their meal. If you're unsure about the contents of the food it's always best to not eat.  I simply do not, and will not take risks with my health. I don't ever want to feel like I did three years ago, again.

Looking back I find that my experience in the hospital was nothing but positive.  Sure it was scary, but they correctly diagnosed me in two days.  I'm very lucky. I have friends in the Celiac Support Group of the Mohawk Valley (CSGMV) who went misdiagnosed or undiagnosed for decades.

Another gift that I was given by being in the hospital was to be able to spend time with my great-aunt Bertha.  She was admitted around the same time as I, and was in the room directly across the hall from me.  Getting to spend time with her showed me how much of a remarkable woman she really was.

The hospital staff was amazing and I owe them my gratitude for their wonderful care. I know all of that stuff about nurses being like Florence Nightengale sounds like a cliche, but for me it's not.  They were awesome.

Celiac Disease is one of the most misdiagnosed diseases in the world, and undiagnosed this can lead to many other serious complications including colon cancer.  Remember those relatives of mine who died from colon cancer? I strongly believe they had Celiac disease and were completely unaware of it.

People with Celiac disease commonly exhibit weight loss, anemia, fatigue, skin rash, depression, and those ugly GI issues no one likes to talk about, but not always, and that is why this is such a difficult diagnosis to make accurately. Once suspected, a simple blood test is often enough, but combining that with a biopsy of the small intestine is the strongest diagnostic method.

As I said earlier, for me this kind of change wasn't a big problem. For many people however, it can seem overwhelming. Thankfully for those people there are resources like the local CSGMV and national resources like the Gluten Intolerance Group. These groups can help you manage the change to a gluten free lifestyle, but remember that you need to be your own advocate, and be vigilant.  Phone or email companies if you want to be sure a product is gluten free. This is the best way to be sure.  Recently, a food labeling bill passed congress and was signed into law that will make labeling on food more clear, and I believe it will be fully enacted by 2008.

If you are exhibiting any of those symptoms and don't feel well, ask your doctor to test you for Celiac Disease, it might change your life.

Find the Celiac Disease Group of the Mohawk Valley on the web at www.csgmv.org

The Gluten Intolerance Group can be found at www.gluten.net


Copyright Richard V. Wielgosz

I went to see Zappa Plays Zappa on Monday the 6th at the Turning Stone Casino, in Verona NY.  I had been waiting to see this show for about three years.

For those who aren't aware, the ZpZ thing is Dweezil Zappa (Frank's son) touring with a bunch of amazing musicians (sometimes the band contains members of Frank's touring bands), and they play nothing but the music of Frank Zappa.

I was expecting nothing less than excellence, and that is exactly what I got.  The band played unbelievably faithful covers of Frank's stuff, while getting their own individual flavor in, during their solos.

The tunes that I recall that they played are, Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy, Montana, Inca Roads, Black Page 1 and 2, Cosmik Debris, Zomby Woof, Don't Eat the Yellow Snow, Lucille, and Outside Now...

Great stuff.  Be sure to check them out if you have the opportunity.

I'm thinking at the very least that I should post here once per week.  The main reason that I say this is because that was our posting schedule when we did the BV Podcast.  It's probably good for me to maintain that schedule at a very minimum.  Time will tell.

I hope to review some of the films I see at the MWPAI, since I will not be able do do that in the Podcast, anymore.  And I'll likely post a variety of opinionated musical tirades, political rants, and polemics.

Wish me luck.   :-)

I've been following the development of the Ardour DAW program for years.  Back in the day when I was a very new Linux user I took note of this program, its goals, and its development.  At that time, installing it required lots of libraries, and there really weren't any pre-compiled binary options.  Since I wasn't a very experienced Linux user, the idea of compiling the program, and all of its dependencies was very daunting.

Well times have changed.  All of the good Linux distributions have package management programs that install the programs and all necessary dependencies.

Since I became unemployed, I have been very interested in getting back into audio production, and recording, again.  I installed Ardour onto my desktop machine last month, and found it to be a very capable DAW that is rich in features.  Unlike the commercial DAW programs, I can log into an IRC channel and speak to the main developer (and most of the developers) at any reasonable hour, almost any day of the week, which is an amazing resource.

Of late I've been more involved in some of the online music forums, and I've made a few new friends, and I ended up using Ardour to mix a tune that a friend from Vancouver recorded, and I found Ardour to be an amazingly powerful program, that was very easy to understand and adapt to with all of my analog audio experience.  Steve and I are pretty happy with the way the tune came out, and the tune called Big Mouth, can be found here.

If you're a Linux or MacOS user, I would really recommend using Ardour, and donating to the development team.  I made a modest donation myself, and when I get some spare cash, intend to build a dedicated Ardour box, and hope to make some money on the side mixing projects for people out there on the inter-tubes.  Pipe Dream?  Maybe, but I'm gonna give it a shot as soon as I am able.

 Ardour 2.8.1 released

Once I get the hang of configing this blog to look like something decent, I hope to use this site to blog about things that are on my mind (no surprise there) and to create a little area advertising my services an an audio engineer.  Clearly I have a long way to go, so we'll have to see what's up.  I'm still looking for a theme that I like for the blog.