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April 28, 2005

Concert Set List, April 24


Concert Set List, April 24
Originally uploaded by Luke and Sarah.

"Totally sweet!"

Greatest Legislative Action Ever!

No kidding, this is for real... The filmmakers who brought us Napoleon Dynamite were commended for their work by the Idaho State Legislture. You have to read this!

April 26, 2005

U2 concert... "hello, hello... hola"


Where's Waldo... I mean Bono
Originally uploaded by Luke and Sarah.

Nick and Jen visited this past weekend. Sarah and I would say it's probably one of the best weekends we've had in Seattle so far. All the fun we had ended with an exclamation point (!) - U2 at Key Arena.

Here's the set list. They played "The Fly" from Acthung Baby on the encore, so I was content... amazing lights, amazing sounds, great time had by all.

This is short... maybe I'll expand later this week....

Oh right, the photo, this is of our section of seats. We are in the next to last row. Nick's head is obscuring the "2" in the "210" sign. I am 2 heads to the left from him. This was taken by the tour's IT guy, who our wives had befriended outside of the arena. He was going to post these at U2.com, but I'd be surprised if that happens. Cool story, anyways :)

U2 En Fuego


U2 En Fuego
Originally uploaded by Luke and Sarah.

Check out the above post... Shot from Nick's Blackberry phone.

April 19, 2005

Woo-hoo, it's almost done!


Woo-hoo, it's almost done!
Originally uploaded by Luke and Sarah.

This shot is of my computer bouncing (or at least at the time) the final track before going to master the next morning. It was about 12:15 am Friday morning after a few nights of sleep-deprived work to get the mixes finalized.

By 12:30 I had burned a CD of the tracks, and then popped it in the CD player to make sure it all worked. The first chords of "My Redeemer" pulsed through the speakers, the bass enters, and the 3rd note is late! Earlier that day (Thursday), Luke Morton had caught the mistake that had been overlooked for so long, and I thought it had been fixed. Well, through a number of steps, I guess I never put it aright.

So, no problem... I pull up my computer again, spin the hard drives, but it won't read audio from the drive!

"WHAT?!?!? YOU CAN'T READ AUDIO FROM THE DRIVE?!?!? IT WORKED 20 MINUTES AGO?!?!?"

Well, quite frustrated, I can't even work around the issue. It's not the end of the world to have a note off, but in the first 20 seconds of the opening track, it kind of says something about the rest of the project if you leave it alone.

Fortunately, the next morning I came in early before meeting some guys for breakfast, and used my trusty IPod to remedy the problem. Apple does it again! I got the note fixed, the track bounced, and even had time for a splendid "Triple-Double" from Charley's on Capitol Hill (which I highly recommend for those of you who are looking for a good breakfast establishment).

April 05, 2005

Homeward Bound

The recording project is finally coming to a close. I will be done at the end of this week with the final mixes, and then Friday the 15th I will be mastering at Seattle Disc Mastering. We should have the CD back in early May. I'm also doing final edits on the artwork (which looks amazing by the way), and Ed is having his 'welcoming quote' edited by Stefanie.

I'm feeling a bit like Samwise towards the end of the Return of the King, well at least the end from the books, not from the film... and a bit from the film, I guess. 3 or 4 chapters towards the end of the book, they're heading home from everything: having cast the ring into Mount Doom, seen the battle at the field of Pelennor, said goodbye to Aragorn. They've gotten through the "hard" stuff, but they still have to make it to the finish line, which for Sam is returning home. He doesn't realize yet that there is hardship still ahead to reach his beloved Shire, namely from the waning powers of Saruman and Wormtongue. There is a sense of relief that rest is just around the corner, but a knowledge that perseverance is still the duty for the day.

I've kept saying that "the CD is almost finished", "it's almost done", "just a few more things to get to tape". Well, that's been going on at least since January. I've probably recorded the better parts of two-thirds of the CD (well, the parts that make the songs unique, in my opinion). And mixing, don't get me started! But as of this week, there are only a few pieces left, and they are very manageable. I have been very blessed by the work on this project, I hope to recount those experiences more on this blog in the future.

For now, I'm on the road home, I'm not there yet, but it's only a few more bends till I can rest contentedly in my Hobbit hole, relax with my wife, perhaps with some fine pipe weed, and a great many stories to tell.

("Homeward Bound" is also a great Simon & Garfunkel song, which has been a musical inspiration here in rounding 3rd towards home... but that would be a whole different metaphor for a whole different post!)