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It's still Christmas
Fishy gave me the most awesome Christmas gift last month. Tonight I got it installed and working. It's a recording sign that hangs on the wall upstairs, and I can activate it by clicking on an icon on the main recording PC in the basement studio. That way, people upstairs will know not to stomp on the floor while the sign is on.But it's more than just a sign that lights up. That was the easy part, he found the sign on Ebay. Which, if that were all it was? Would still be awesome. But no, he went the extra mile. He found a company on the web that makes USB interface modules that control large AC relays, and built a whole system around this thing. He wrote a server application that runs on my 24/7 uptime fileserver, into which I plug the USB interface module. Then, you plug the sign into the AC plug that he built around the USB interface module. Then you run his client application on whatever computers happen to be on the same network (such as my main recording PC), and with a click on an icon, you can turn the sign on and off. Even better, the sign blinks as it's turning on or turning off, to get the attention of anyone in its vicinity.
Combined with the RF wireless remote control thermostat I just got (so I can turn off the furnace without running upstairs), I can now begin a recording session without having to run up and down the stairs. We can also do things like let the furnace run, and let people upstairs talk and enjoy themselves, right up until the moment I'm ready to start doing takes (instead of just telling them to be quiet all day).
Thanks so very much, Fishy. This is just awesome. Just in time for the Brooke and John (and Peg and Rowan) recording session this weekend.
In other news, Sooj is back home from the hospital after surgery, and doing well. We're all so happy. We can't wait to see her when she comes up to the Pacific Northwest to play at Faerieballs in a couple of weeks. Everyone, be gentle with her, she'll still be in recovery mode. She's under strict no-bouncing orders.
In other other news, I'm going to be Marian Call's guitarist for her concert at Conflikt at the end of this month. We just did a rehearsal last night and it went quite well. I'm so proud! I just love her songs, and they're all currently stuck in my head.
In other amazing news, Vixy and Fishy are going to the inaguration! This whole thing was planned a long time ago, but whether or not they would be able to actually get the tickets was a lingering question. Apparently the tickets are official now, and they're go for Obama on the 20th. Wow.
Reminder: We've got a Vixy & Tony show with Betsy Tinney coming up in just over a week, on Saturday the 24th, at Wayward. We're doing something kind of special, where we're going to try to do two almost completely different set lists: one for this Wayward show, and a totally different one for the Gathering Grove benefit for Sooj on Valentine's Day. So if you were thinking of going to only one of those two shows, think again! You must come to both for the full effect!
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