It’s been a while week. Tuesday, I was back down at the Bottle & Cork teching the Citizen Cope show. Our role was minor, which was nice. It actually got me more time to just watch and enjoy a show for a change. The show was sold out and packed. The hope is that they’ll do two dates next summer.

After recovering from that, I was back to some video editing madness. I must admit, I love the variety that comes with my job. It’s stressful, and it’s hell most of the time, but I cannot imagine having to do the same thing every day. I would probably hate life.

I’m ready for some time off. I need to do things other than work, eat, sleep, repeat. I’m considering a random trip to NYC next week. Other than that, I don’t think I’ll get to take some quality vacation time until September. If gas wasn’t so expensive, I’d just randomly drive somewhere and hide for a while.

Last night, Rod and I saw Wanted. What a wicked awesome movie! If you enjoy edge-of-your-seat action, this is a must see. The film’s got style. Today we saw WALL-E. It’s just brilliant. Pixar has perfected the formula for good family movies, and they execute it so effortlessly. There’s not much dialog, which makes it even more impressive.

I’ve been working some pretty crazy hours lately. By that, I mean they are both odd on the clock and numerous. Part of this crazy work schedule has been my responsibility with national touring acts playing at the Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach, DE this summer. We installed our rock & roll sound system there for the summer and each night a national touring act plays, Rod and I travel down for support and to run sound (front of house and/or monitors). So far, the we’ve worked with Pat McGee, James Otto, Robert Randolph, Eli “Paperboy” Reed and the Trueloves, Cowboy Mouth, and some other opening bands. It’s fun work, but it is hard work. Since the bar is open until 1AM, the earliest we’ve gotten done so far is 2 AM, and then we often have a 90 minute drive back to the shop (after which I drive 25 minutes home). On Tuesday, I’ll be down there again for Citizen Cope. This will be a fun and amazing show. Fortunately, my responsibility is minimal! Oh, and if I like you, I can get you on the guest list for any of these shows. Let me know if you’re interested.

I also had the opportunity to work with the national touring Christian band Building 429 in Elkton, MD a couple weekends ago. They were very fun to work with and the show was good, despite the excessive heat.

Oh, my toys! Well, one of them is featured in the photo to the left. It’s this light. It’s pretty rad. So, there’s button on the bottom that turns the light on and off, and another button at the top that changes the color and/or mode. The very unfortunate part about this light is that it does not turn on in the same mode or color it was on before it was turned off. This means, if I’m on blue and turn the light off, the next time I turn it on, it defaults to white. So, in order to get the different letter strokes in these shots, I have to do each stroke in a different bulb-mode shot. I then layer them in Photoshop CS3 and set the blend modes to Screen (which makes black an alpha channel). I then play with the sizing and positioning of the strokes until I have a nice shot like this. I’ll play with it more when I have time!

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to hang out with Abigail. We basically roamed around PA, DE, NJ, and MD all day and night, taking photos of almost anything that would let us. We made it as far as Ocean City, NJ and a 24-hour Walmart in Elkton, MD. I had a lot of fun, but I pitty Abigail for having to put up with me all day. You can check out the shots of the adventure that I kept here. Oh, and be sure to check out Abigail’s shots too!

I think I’m going to upgrade my Canon Digital Rebel XTi body to a Canon 40D. Until mid-July, there’s a promotion going on that puts it just a little more than the new Rebel Xsi. I’ve had my XTi for almost 2 years now, and I think I know a little bit better what I want in a camera. The features that really make me want the 40D right now are:

• 0.95x Viewfinder. This is huge for me, since I’m blind and wear glasses. This will help me see through the viewfinder more clearly, even when my eye isn’t shoved right up to the eyepiece.
• 3.0″ LCD. Again, I’m blind. I need every bit of LCD I can get.
• Live View. I don’t necessarily need this, but it should help composing shots where it’s difficult to get to the viewfiinder. Oh, and it works via USB too!
• 17-shot RAW buffer. Wooo.
• 6.5 fps. I will enjoy this very much.

I wish the 40D used SD cards instead of CF, but I can live with CF. The Xsi has more resolution, but that’s not as big of a concern for me now. Oh, and I can get the 40D with a lens for just a little more too. There’s a nice write-up about the differences between the 40D and the Xsi here. Dear God, help my wallet now! Oh, while I’m on this, anyone interested in buying a nice Rebel XTi package when I’m ready to part with it?

Anyways, I think that about sums up the past couple weeks for me. I’ll make an effort to post a little more regularly!

I’m kind of thinking my site needs a fresh look. What do you think?

So the past two weeks have been filled with lots of work. And after work, I’ve been cleaning, spackling, painting, organizing my room (while simultaneously trashing the rest of the house). I’ve replaced all of the drumheads on my set, and purchased a DW 9002 double kick pedal.

Anyways…

I want this now.

I’ve had a nasty sore throat for a couple days now… and it’s getting worse. I have a decently high tolerance for pain.. and the only thing I’ve done for it is take some DayQuill which seems to work a bit. I think I just need sleep, which hasn’t been easy lately.

I ran sound for this Resapalooza gig at University of Delaware today. At some point setting up, I slammed my left shin into something… a roadcase maybe, and it left a nasty bruise and cut on my leg through my pants. It hurts! Actually, it stung real bad for an hour after it happened.

The gig went pretty OK, besides ending late. It rained lightly for most of it.

I’m home now. My throat still feels like I swallowed sand paper. I got myself a Blue Moon, which is doing wonders.

Anyways, I’m going to sleep.. and I don’t plan on waking up until 10 AM at the earliest.

I’ve got to work tomorrow in prep for Monday. I need a nap too.

I worked till 6:45 PM today and have to be at the shop at 6:30 AM tomorrow. Eww. I’ll be working all weekend. Blah. So, I’m going to bed.

BTW – It appears that tomorrow’s post will complete my year of blogging. I didn’t figure that out until just now.