Studio Curtains - Not Cheap!!

Hey People:

I have finally recovered from psychological impact of the cost of the studio curtain project enough to take some pictures and show you all how they turned out. It will be some time before I recover financially. For the most part they are breathtaking. Gorgeous color, fantastic texture (some kind of velvet), and neatly attached to the walls. I decided to include some valances because I didn't really want the top of the drapes to show because I didn't think the mounting system would be attractive (I was wrong) and because I needed a square corner to butt the forthcoming bass traps in.

I enlisted the professional help of a friend to overcome my lack of knowledge with drapery, fabric, and sewing. The sewing is impeccable. The finished product had the problems I was trying to get resolved before we committed to putting it together and up. I was repeatedly told that I shouldn't worry so much and that the drapes would billow out and cover the trouble spots I had pointed out. Photos will show this didn't quite go as planned. Neither did the price.

I was told it would be a certain number of yards of fabric, and a certain cost for labor. The fabric purchase was nearly painless but when the sewing commenced the person doing the professional consulting declared that they needed more fabric. To the tune of twice what we had gotten. That decimated the budget in one fell swoop. I still paid the person what they asked for (and more) because I know how hard it is to survive but I'm thinking I may have cost myself more than I should have in that regard. Particularly because I had outlined the problems that surfaced in reality anyway.

So sparing everyone the full blast of bad planning drama I'll just post the pictures and let you see for yourselves.

I do hope that nobody else has a similar experience with insanely expensive drapes.

Paul

NEED DJ Gear in VEGAS for the 7th of July

Hey People:

A friend of mine is opening a new photography studio in Vegas and I need to borrow or rent (very inexpensively) sound and turntables. My needs are modest;

2 turntables
mixer
cables
(amplifier(s))
monitors or tops

I can manage without a cue monitor so you don't have to include that. I have my own headset. I hate microphones.

This is for Vegas so the closer to that city, the better. I will take utmost care of your equipment if I'm taking it with me but, if you're willing to hang out in Vegas, (or you're already there,) I'm more than happy to let you set up your own system. I can provide references who will validate that I know how to operate gear if you request them.

I'm told the space is about 2k (2,000) square feet. Mostly concrete. I don't expect to need rave level sound reinforcement and the gig is more of a ~cocktails and networking~ thing than a dance party.

~PLEASE~ contact me ASAP with your requirements and/or demands.

Lates,

Paul

New Track(s)

Hey People:

I'm not sure if you've been paying attention to my stuff or not but I've got some tracks that you may or may not have already heard. The most recent addition to my library is RainMan. I'm really quite pleased with it because I actually did sing on it. I actually had to get more space on my server to accommodate this new piece because I was already at capacity and I didn't even know it.

www.tripseven.com/music/NoA...ainMan.mp3

I also have another track called Lullaby. It already seems dated to me but you might like it.

www.tripseven.com/music/NoA...ullaby.mp3

A track I wrote while numerous people were wandering through my house in Riverside called Wandering Guest might get your feet movin'.

www.tripseven.com/music/NoA...0Guest.mp3

I was jonesing for pizza when I wrote PizzaFiend. It doesn't strike me as having anything really to do with pizza but the name is fun to me so I'm keeping it.

www.tripseven.com/music/NoA...aFiend.mp3

I wrote flakey flake for a certain someone who shall remain nameless. Let's just say I wasn't too happy that I kept waiting around to make music with someone who kept flaking on me. I wasn't about to not make some music so I did this without him.

www.tripseven.com/music/NoA...0Flake.mp3

Garden Reflection is a track I wrote thinking about my koi pond. I think that the raw file for this was lost so I'm unable to actually master it. I will probably recreate it at another time to eliminate the distortion from my levels being too high. It's still very listen-able and I really like it anyway. Mellow and rich.

www.tripseven.com/music/NoA...ection.mp3

I am saving every penny I get so I can treat the room I'm using for a studio. The space I have my gear in is much smaller than when I was at the Magnolia House in Riverside. Donations of cash are always welcome but gift cards for SweetWater.Com work just as well. I believe that my compositional skills have improved a great deal. I'm looking forward to correcting the audio problems in my sound space to create final masters that sound good on any system. Hopefully I've managed to get close enough that your listening experience isn't awful.

Much love to you all.

Paul / T7

Bad Thoughts

Lots of things on my mind right now. None of them good.

Isolated.

Forgotten.

Alone.

Out of sight, out of mind. Can't be more true. And I keep thinking about the reality that no matter what, life will always go on.

Seeking House - 700 to 800 a month and willing to take Section 8

Hey All:

The landlady I've been working with for quite a long time (five or six years now) is selling the house I'm living in. I'm in the Inland Empire (Riverside County) and prefer to stay here as I'm finally at the end of the Section 8 process and should be seeing a voucher approval here in a few weeks to a couple of months.

I am specifically interested in a house because I have a small studio that I make music with. Having a subwoofer in an apartment isn't appropriate. I'm aiming for a one bedroom but if we can claim a two bedroom is really a one bedroom with a den for the same price point I'd be even happier because I'd have space for my studio without having to expose it to company.

I am intensely stable as I hate to move and my income is damn near guaranteed (permanent disability and section 8). I just need to find someone willing to work with me who has the resource I need and I need to find them quickly.

Thanks.

Save The Internet

All of our Censorship issues with Tribe may escalate far beyond this silly site. If we don't quickly and loudly react to the impending loss of network neutraility, we'll be back in the dark ages when an artist or a speaker had to impress someone with the power to allow them to express their ideas.

PLEASE ACT NOW

www.savetheinternet.com/

Motorcycle and Disappointment - Buyer Beware

The original thread can be found at the URL included.

people.tribe.net/tripseven...0#comments

I finally had a shop inspect the bike. Turns out the engine isn't getting enough compression. The guy told me flat out that to rebuild the engine would cost around two grand. Well beyond my means and considerably beyond the value of the bike.

As I mentioned in the last post I made on the original motorcycle entry I cannot help but wonder what friendship means. I am looking at the real situation of owing 1200 on a bike that needs 2000 dollars in repairs and is only worth 1200 (1400) at best. Even if I were to completely rebuild it I'd have a problem insuring it for what it will eventually cost to get it running. Maybe I forgot to mention that I also owe someone else around 1300 for the initial costs of registration, insurance, gear, and a couple of minor repairs (that were clearly a waste of time and money).

Life is grand when ya feel like a sucker.

Grand total of getting this bike working is around $4800 (including the 300 I've already paid him). For that I should be driving a brand new bike or at least one that works and has newer technology. So now what do I do? I have no transportation (still), I have 2500 dollars in additional debt, and no credit left to borrow from. I'm out of ideas at this point and even if I had a couple I'd be wary of exploring them due to my horrible track record this past few years. My judgement doesn't seem to be accurate (I suspect desperation may have something to do with the decline in my judgement).

Jobs what jobs?

Today I got a notice in my mail that told me that GM was outsourcing 15 billion dollars worth of jobs. With a conservative salary of 35 thousand a year that's nearly 86 thousand jobs for the next five years that aren't going to be in America.

The original article is available through ZD-Net.

news.zdnet.com/2100-9589_22-6034214.html

The brands to avoid are listed at the site but I've also included them here. I'm keen to know what "big business" plans to do when America can't afford to buy their products.

www.gm.com/company/corp...rica/usa.html

Chevrolet - - - Pontiac - - - Saturn - - - Hummer - - - Buick - - - Saab - - - Cadillac - - - Holden - - - GMC - - - Opel - - - Oldsmobile - - - Vauxhall