Good point Wedgeduck, sometimes we forget our priorities. I will be offline for a while.

 

Almost got dad a pair of Altec VotT speakers way back in the early 80's. Grew up using Garrard table (also a Dual), Tannoy 1969 12" dual-concentric Gold monitors and various tube amplification. Dad was indeed into Leica, audio, and even built his own airplanes from plans and balsa wood (he let us kids 'help' him make them so we learned). He is also incredible with math and science. Dad taught me to solder at age 5...

Never was much into tape though did have an Akai top-line 35 lbs recording studio deck (3 head, dual cap closed loop and liked it better than the Nak Dragon for usability and YES it had better sound quality than the Nak too imho). Yes, also recall using the Ampex in the recording studio back in the days when to edit you'd cut and splice the magnetic tape and to do certain effects you'd loop a piece of magnetic tape... Also VERY MUCH remember being 'scared' as a drummer when the music store invited us studio guys to introduce the new MIDI technology and, yes, the Linn drum machine and other devices that worked off the Atari or Mac to store/playback your MIDI commands.

Now it is all Pro Tools and pitch correction and throw in even more effects that'll even make talentless good-looking 'singers' into top-notch performers (provided they can shake their assets and look good while doing it). Oh, and remember to wrap up the performer's story in some human interest sob story or 'shock value' wrapper for better schtick and with the aim of increasing the artist's sales. Who needs talent when you look good and can dance while lip-sync'ing (or play the role of GANGstar or whatever is in vogue)?

 

I was a great remote control glider pilot at a very young age. There is a bluff in Long Beach that everyone flies gliders at. Hence the backgrounds in Areonautics. I designed and built my own gliders and they were not what was available on the market mines were super light and tiny. And with very little lift, I can fly and do major acrobats Love the Akai. I think my brother kept a few of those for his house system. Right Steven, what talent. The technology in sound engineering is beyond. They can make me sound good and I can't really sing. And then you have the Gansta rappers. It sold well in the 80s and 90s. I never realized that the violent subliminal messages still destroy communities and youths of today. Plus, believe me, very few of those guys were real gangsters.

 

OMG, colour me shocked. SHOCKED i tell you

Have avoided 'normal' TV for many years yet my gal likes shows on mainstream media and so we watched 'The Voice' yesterday. Nice to see some actual talent occasionally and hopefully their talent is able to reach a wider audience. Am sure it will provided the revenue from each artists is still viable. The whole circus of 'human interest' and commercial packaging bored me to death tho. Still, can easily see how the show is a great way to entertain the audience while nurturing future interest and of course bringing a very nice revenue stream to the producers.

 

Yeah, there has been a lot great acts evolving here in the states. And yes, it's all about marketing and packaging the product as a producer. And then it's who you KNOW. It's a gamble. You can lose a lot of money, even if you thought that your investments will make the top 40.

 

Yup. It's who you know or who you know knows. You know?

One of my funniest moments is when this whole 'circus' really hit me was at the 43rd Grammys (2001) and was hanging out on the red carpet for about 2 hours. Am a casual guy, non-offensive in the tux and gave a few cigars to grease things...

Anyway, so there i am hanging out, having great discussions with various musical artists about things they love NON-music/business. Eventually someone wearing a Bluetooth device glued to their ear came to me and said such-and-so (a female artists) really likes you and would like to see you after the event. So this Bluetooth lady handed me her card and said, and i swear it was sooo funny, she said to me "Have your people contact me so we can arrange things." Ummm, "my people"? ROFL!!! i AM "my people". Still makes me LOL to this day.

Just went to my database and pulled a few pics i took (seen below). WOW, look how young Christina is!!!

 

My god, Christina really looked young The LA crowd, music and movies alike, are a unique breed. It's like living your wildest dreams with that much income being made and lost. And the cars up in LA are amazing. A lot of super cars and exotics just driving around Sunset, Melrose, Santa Monica Blvd like its a norm. OC has some nice rides also. With Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar, and Laguna Beach being more on the conservative side when it comes to exotics and modifications. There are a handful of guys and gals with one-off exotic rides in La. Some of those darn things are really sweet. Oh, unless you have one or two personal assistants in tow, people will look at you like you have not climbed that ladder of success yet. All image out here Steven.

 

(Sigh)

This is why living in my current location is so enjoyable (for me). Of course, from time to time, it is fun to hop on the plane and visit various places. Was in Newport this May and we had a great time. At first my girlfriend loved it (her first time visiting Newport. She's literally a farmer's daughter always lived in same small town NEngland), then like anything 'plastic' the reality of the scene started setting in for her.

This whole thing is all new to her. It was almost just like she saw on TV for all those years. Was enjoyable to see how she reacted to it all with awe and amazement. Like watching a child look on with awe and curiosity and smiling. At first it was a truly amazing time for her, yet over time once the veil was pulled back... Almost reminds me of the old Lending Tree commercial... sort of. Hope it makes sense to you too.

 

Oh yeah, all my Ex girlfriends from the East Coast loves it out here. But eventually they mature and head back home to their family and the four seasons. Now they just would love to only visit or I guess if I would have gotten married to any of them, they probably would have stayed. . You know, it's really a love/hate thing for me in So Cal. I love the weather, sun, surf , snow. Hate the smog and traffic. The high crime rate, unemployment, and other things I can't stand will wear you down out here. And this is on a daily occurrence. I just picture myself in my happy place and hope life is not all that bad. If I am too stressed, then I am on a plane or in a vehicle going far far away from Disney plastic land.

 

Wedgeduck, may all your wishes come true. It is a big world out there with so many incredible places to live for a few months, a few years.... or forever. Have faith, plan smart... work smarter. You seem a bit bummed out so hopefully the below pics will relax you a bit. Take some time away from the go-go right now world we live within.

 

Thank you Stephen. I do love long vacations. I love short ones too. One day I will have those dreams come alive. Yes, plan smart and work smarter is the key. There is no place for laziness in my world. I wake up at 4am to work out, read or surf. Then off to the rat race(it's really not that bad, I just sit around on my IPad and gossip like a little girl)

 

You all obviously didn't click through to the product page. They know nobody has Android tablets so they sell them with the device as an add on if you want to control your ride hight with one. I'm still trying to figure out why these simple little electronic devices need to be so stupildy expensive. Its about $20 in parts and assembly, plus some R&D, but most of that was worked out years ago by the guys at Ross-Tech.

 

And THAT is how companyies get started. Get pissed off at Enzo due to his arrogance, you start a new Italian exotic car company, etc. Sounds to me like you have found a new business idea and look forward to your $40 device.

According to Forbes 8/22/12 article, "Just released its Q2 2012 mobile sales unit report, ranking vendors and operating systems for mobile devices. Over this past quarter, of the mobile devices sold, 64.1% are powered by Google’s Android and 18.8% are operated by Apple’s iOS."

 

There is a surf break in Newport Beach at the end of Balboa Pennisula. The waves there can exceed 25 feet plus. The momentum and pounds per square inch on that wave can really hurt and even kill you. People have broken,dislocated, crippled, gotten killed because of that wave. A Wedgeduck is a h20 junkie that either literally lives for that wave everytime a swell hits. Hence the duckie label. But it's an older lingo. The new generation are now nicknamed Wedgewarriors.

 

The waves at Galveston, Texas, 30 miles from where I live are 26 feet high. Things are just naturally bigger in Texas.