Thursday, August 28, 2008

Recording vs. Live


99% of the time that I am behind a soundboard it is for the purpose of mixing something live and in real time. I love the pressure of having to "get it right" the first time. There is an immediate sense of satisfaction that goes along with hitting all of the right cues and making something sound good during the course of our services.

From time to time I do get to record some projects. When I say record, I mean lay down some vocals or maybe some acoustic guitar tracks. Jeff, our student life worship leader is laying down some demo tracks as I write. Acoustic Guitar (AGT) Vocals (VOX) and right now I am listening to a sweet snare drum that he is playing while I record it. It is about the fifth time we have laid it down. Sometimes we have to do it again because my gain settings weren't right, or his rhythm was off, or he wanted to lay a safe version down. I even move the mic around until I get it to sound just like I want it to. I like not having the pressure of having to get it right the first time. There is a creative aspect to recording his demos that doesn't always happen when mixing live.

Here's to more demo projects, good vocals and better microphone technique.

Billy

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Here we go again...


Today is officially the last day of summer vacation in our house. Austin is the first kid to head back to the daily grind tomorrow with his first day of highschool. Being the jock/brain that he is he has a zero period that starts at 7 and a heavy load of honor classes. I'm getting tired just thinking about the late nights that I know are coming and I'm not even the one who'll be doing all the studying!

Tamila and Aaron start back next Wednesday. Travis follows the Monday after. We will have all four kids in four different schools...all with different start and end times. ACK! I have a feeling I'll be wishing for the good ol' days of summer when all I did was shuttle two kids around town for summer classes instead of four.

So, in honor of this last day of summer I'm going to do nothing. Nothing spectacular at least. The last day of summer will go out with a whimper: grocery errands, haircuts and a trip to the dentist. Vacation is officially over and I'm already missing the lazy days that went with it.

--Laurel

Friday, August 22, 2008

Hmmm...Is this Justification?


I've had a debate raging through my head for years. It was brought upon me by my mother and her family traditions. The debate? Pie. Not the debate over which flavor is best or whether it is an appropriate replacement for a cake, but whether or not it can be considered a breakfast food. Yes...you heard me right. Breakfast and dessert all rolled into one.

I suppose it started eons ago on a morning after Thanksgiving. My mom's Mom (otherwise known as my grandmother) probably let her eat pie for breakfast because she was too lazy to make a healthy one. Let's see: Fruit? Check. Pastry? Check. If the pie is pumpkin you get bonus protein points for the eggs and milk.

See where I'm confused? Okay...maybe not. I do know that it's bad for you, but when a freshly baked sweet smelling pie is just sitting there on the counter enticing you to partake of its goodness in the name of breakfast...it's really hard to resist. Justifications start rolling around in the brain mulling over the nutritional positives and discounting the bad.

Really, I thought I had this issue beat years ago...until this morning. I made a pie last night for dessert later today. The boys sensed it's presence the second it came out of the box and have been hounding me ever since. (A frozen pie at that...they must be desperate!) They've come forward together as a group named: CUBS (Combined United Brothers) petitioning that pie is a breakfast food and forever will be.

Let's see who wins: I have a feeling that it'll be the pie.

--Laurel

Friday, August 15, 2008

Fish Killer

Ah, my dear friends and faithful readers. Let me spin you a tail of a dark night filled with blood and horror. It started out innocently enough when six children, ages 4 to 15 decided to fish off the dock at Big Bear Lake. The full moon was shining brightly as they cast their lines out in hopes of catching a beautiful trout or even a bass. They wiled away their time with lively chit- chat and childhood games. Their excitement reached new levels when Annie's line began to move. Annie had caught a fish. Being the daughter of a fisherman she dutifully set the hook and fought the fish. 15 minutes later she reeled it in close enough to the dock where Austin caught it with the net.


That's when the children called the fish killer in.


Me.


Annie was excited about her trophy fish. Nobody wanted to touch it...so I did. I got messy and removed the hook due to the citified nature of everyone else there. After the small operation, I stuck my finger through it's cheek and gill so Annie could take pictures with it. (I was holding on to it of course...everyone else was too squeamish.) She beamed with excitement when we measured her fish at 3 lbs and 21 inches. She couldn't wait to call home and tell her parents all about it.


You ask, what type of fish was it? Annie's beautiful trophy fish?


A carp.


A nasty stinky carp.


She wanted to keep it. Being a good friend I obliged her. The following video will show you what happened to the carp that night and terrible end it came to. (Note: after the brutality we froze the fish to show her mom the next day. Two days post mortem it became lovely crawfish bait. That's another story on another day.)


Enjoy.



Sunday, August 10, 2008

Checking In


Yes...we're still alive.  The Baker clan is holed up in Big Bear.  Our internet has been spotty at best.  (That's what happens when you pirate your neighbor's Wi-Fi...but then again, if they didn't want to share they would've put a password on it!)  We also had glorious plans to post pictures of our vacation every once in a while; however, we left the card reader for our camera at home.  Therefore, I have once again pirated something-- someone else's Big Bear pic off the net.  I apologize to those of you who are offended by my devious ways...you'll get over it someday!  (Love to you all.)


Highlights to come:
  • Video of me clubbing a fish.
  • Pictures of various and assorted children swimming in the lake.
  • Stories about Austin and his Joker impression.
  • Stories about crazy nights and neighbors.
  • Pictures of Austin night fishing.
  • And incessant whining about our traumatic 36 hours without the internet and presently 6 days without Tivo.  We're hoping that we can make it to day 10 without any major emotional damages from the lack of Tivo.  :)  Life is rough out here!
We'll be back in town Thursday.  Until then...Take Care!

--Laurel