This is no good . . . we’re only going to make more and more flat pannells . . .

HERE

It’s here !

Vegas Pro 8 is here ! 

This makes me SOOOO happy !

For those of you who think I have a gambling addiction, Sony Vegas Pro 8 is a video editing program that is actually quite powerful.  It’s no Adobe Aftereffects, but the academic price (which is church pays as a non prophet) is less than $400.  Compared to a few thousand, this is a deal. 

We have been using version 4, which was on a computer that we inherited.  That machine has started to wig out here lately (well, it has been for years actually) and I don’t have a Vegas install to put on my new laptop (not to mention I don’t think I could transfer the lenience from the dying machine to the new laptop).  So I’ve been stuck.

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On Weddings

I’ve done sound and lights for . . . well I’m not sure how many weddings in my 11 years doing sound here at the church.  We average three a year I guess . . . so about 33 total I suppose.  And while the ceremonies have varied from very simple to very complex, very elegant to very relaxed to . . . well . . . to lets turn the lights on and get this done so we can get legal and  leave. 

Here are a few things I have learned about weddings . . . at least ones here at the church.

- Dripless candles are a lie.  One wedding I saw them work as they were suppose to, the other times they either burned a hole in the side and dripped or went out 1/3 of the way through the ceremony . . . or just dripped wax everywhere. 

- When they tell you early on that they just want to play one or two songs from a CD . . . that’s a lie too.  Because the more people get involved, the more someone wants to sing at your wedding . . . so by the time rehearsal time comes along the day before there are no less then 4 CD’s and no less then two different people singing / playing.

- If someone says they don’t need to rehearse a song, don’t let them sing . . . at all.  Make everyone practice with your equipment.  Make them. 

- Plan B comes into play more often then you would think, so have a Plan B for all the songs (i.e. be able to play the Demonstration track if the singer cant sing).

- It’s the Brides day.  Second on the list is the family.  Last on the list is the groom.  If the groom wants something, ask the bride if it’s ok.  If she says no, then the answer is no.  She been planning this day since she was 5, he just needs to not lock his knees and repeat what the pastor says and he’ll do fine.  Let the bride have her day or you could loose a limb.

- If a wedding starts on time, then something is wrong

- Photographers generally come in three types:

1.) the type that wants to work with you and get the job done in a professional manner . . .

2.) the type that thinks that you are there to work for them and only barks orders at you . . .
3.)and the type that has no idea what they are doing because they are someone’s cousin who ‘does weddin’s and stuff for pretty cheep’. 

- children in the wedding party usually don’t do what they are suppose to, but that’s cute

- Do not, under any circumstances, let the wedding planner / decorators in the church with out making SURE they know what can and what CANT be moved.  Colored tape and a map are usually helpful.  If you let people move your equipment, you wont ever see it again . . . at least not in working condition.

- make lots of notes at rehearsal . . . lots of them.  Type them out.  Check and double check to make sure you understand when something is going to happen.  Then check again the next day.  This could save you from being found dead the next day.

- it still amazes me how the lungs and vocal cords of one screeming child can produce more sound then $30,000 worth of sound equipment. 

It’s HERE ! 

 Here is a picture of it’s first boot !

Now that I have taken off all the crap that comes on a commercial computer (google desktop, Dell wifi connection assistant, ect) I am dumping all my files to it.  I didnt realise that my outlook .pst file was up to 250 megs plus now.  I may have to archive some of the old mail . . . unless that just moves it to a different part of the .pst file.  I bet it does.

No matter !  The new laptop is here ! 

 Ooooooh !  I just paired it with my phone via Bluetooth ! 

I’m going to mess my self I’m so excited !

Well good news folks !  The new laptop is on the delivery truck on its way !  So I’ll be spending the rest of the day (among other things) backing up the current laptop in preparation for a nice big data dump to the new one. 

In other news . . . the storms that came through early Sunday morning seamed to have hit our cable modem yet AGAIN.  It also blew out a NIC on the firewall / internet filter (since the modem was plugged into the WAN card of the firewall).  This is modem number three is as many years and piece of equipment number . . . well I dunno.  I’ve been full time here for the last 5 years and in that time we’ve lost three modems, two switches, a server, several cards and phones in our phone system, and a couple of computers . . . all to lightning. 

I’ve been charged with looking into why we get hit so much. 

There were a few times when the buildings themselves (or the power lines just outside) actually got hit and then . . . well there’s not much to do in that case.  Even surge protectors wont do much good when the metal building takes a direct hit.

But we keep loosing cable modems and whatever piece of equipment is hooked directly into them (switch, NIC in the firewall, etc).  And that tells me that a majority of the surge is coming in through the cable (as in the cable TV cable to the modem).  I’ve been told by Comcast that I cant plug the cable itself into a surge protector as that messes with the upstream data and the way that the modem talks to the rest of Comcast’s network.

So now I’m going to call them back and find out what I should do since I keep loosing equipment (like every summer something is hit via the modem). 

Anyone know of a commercial surge suppressor for coax cable that wont mess with the upload Hz of the modem ?

     Oh yes, it’s true ! 

     Is it a monster of a Machine that can play Crisis at 60 FPS whilst saving every book in the Library of Congress to an external hard drive ?  No.  But it’s what I need and will do all the video editing that I want for a few years to come !  And it has 3 years of regular warranty, as well as 3 years of drop / accidental warranty !  I’m so excited.  It should be in (or rather, should ship) in about 8 days.

     Here are the specs:

Vostro 1700  Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5670 (1.8GHz/800MHz FSB/2MB cache)

LCD Panel  17.0 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Anti-Glare Display 

Memory  2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM 

Video Card  128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS 

Hard Drive  160GB 5400RPM Hard Drive 

Operating System  Genuine Windows® XP Professional SP2 

Wireless Cards  Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Wi-Fi Internal Card 

Camera  Integrated 2.0 mega pixel Web Camera 

Primary Battery  85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery 

Limited Warranty, Services and Support  3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service 

CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service  3 Year CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection 

 Bluetooth Wireless  Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate), WinXP   Establish Hard Drive Partition  Custom Hard Drive Partition, 40GB Primary, Remainder Secondary