My weekly trip to the art class comes around so quickly. I always intend to do a bit of practice during the week but never get around to it. This time we were painting a landscape from a black & white photocopy of a photograph. It was not very inspiring and I found my self going into far too much detail and replicating everything in the original. This is not what I want to do. I must try to simplify things and paint with a loose style. Anyway here is what I actually painted. I must admit that if I saw this painting by some-one else that I would think “I don’t like that”.
To make it even worse, when Mrs Peewit saw it, she said “I like the moo moos”. Well there are no cows in the picture, they are supposed to be buildings. Maybe I will find the time to have a practice before my next lesson.
In the evening I went to a demo at the University of Surrey. This was a demo covering the capabilities of the Apple computers and software in conjunction with various I/O devices and guitars. When I arrived I had the opportunity to get into the lecture theatre just a bit before the hordes arrived. Here is the presentation stage.
There were also some demo stations where you could get up close and try out the equipment.
Note the clever way in which all the seating in this half of the hall folds away onto the back wall.
That’s a Gibson Les Paul guitar.
Once the session started there were demonstrations on how to record using the Garageband software that is apparently standard on all Mac computers.
Later when the presentation moved onto the Logic Pro software that simulates a professional recording studio, the guest player Bernard Butler arrived. Apparently he used to be the lead guitarist in the group called ‘Suede’. These days he produces tracks using a lot of the technology we were seeing.
I was impressed with the demo session and the software looked excellent for those wanting to record tracks. There were also presentations from Line 6 (Interfaces between guitar and Mac, plus software) and Godin (guitars).
The whole session lasted two hours and was concluded with a prize draw. I guess there were about 80 to a hundred delegates there and the feedback forms were used to make the draw. There were three prizes so the odds of 3 to 80 did not look too bad. The two Ipod Nano’s were handed out to happy recipients and the last item to be drawn was a Variax 300 guitar and the associated Toneport. By now the odds had reduced to 1 in 78 but alas I was not the winner. I suppose I should be happy as I already have a PRS electric guitar (I got it on Ebay) and a Line 6 Guitar Port that is plugged into my PC. The Guitar Port simulates a long list of different amps and cabinets and effects boxes and I am really happy with it. It is great to just be able to pick up my acoustic guitar when I want a quick practice, but using the PRS and Guitar Port is a lot of fun. By the way, I am just a beginner but I am making slow progress.
Flying news.
Well next week I have my Class 2 medical that is due for renewel , and then I plan to fly to a field with a grass landing strip. Having never landed or taken off from grass before, I will be doing this with an instructor on board. I’m thinking about Sandown on the Isle of Wight as a destination.
Share dealing update.
Over the last three days, prices on the London Stock exchange have been sliding. So it has been an opportunity to buy cheap shares with the hope of selling them when the prices go back up. At least that is the plan. Time will tell if I made the right decision.
That’s all for now.
Peewit
No comments:
Post a Comment