The Still Silence of Music

It's midnight sitting here in the studio. I'm hearing the battery clock on the wall with its slight tick-tock because I have not removed the AA battery. All the recording gear is on and silent. The 4416 has a hard drive and a fan for the CD-ROM. It's notable noise but honestly I cannot say any of that noise has made its way into any recordings. The 01X on the other hand is silent and again this past week has made me very glad I bought an 01X. Fast, friendly, useful, does the job and is versatile. I'm spending more time in Logic with the current music I'm working on.

Now with nicer weather it was easy to implement increased physical activity. Walking twice a day and bicycling every other with swimming getting adding soon. The quit sugar lose weight program is still in effect and now the activity portion only makes sense. Also, I am enjoying it because the exercise is increasing my physical stamina; something I did not think I would need recording music in the studio. But, you never learn it all. At times, I find myself jamming a pencil into the side of my head trying to resolve new territory. For example I am collaborating with someone. Their voice is not in tune. This prompted me to slice up their recorded voice into several pieces and manually tune each piece. Also, the music I wrote for their vocal had to be detuned by 65 cents. In a perfect world, it would much simpler and easier to have them re-record the vocal part while they listen to my recorded click-track. Anyhow, the challenge helps me learn more about Logic; a beast of a DAW, yet elegant, in part due to it running on Mac OS X.

I daydream about eventually shooting live video in here so people can see this recording process in action. It's a magical group of live events. And having the right gear makes for a workflow that can stumble and fall yet not trip you up. First takes are some of my best work, while mistakes make up some of my finest discoveries.

This entire process from idea to recording to mastering to publishing is on a massive scale when doing it all yourself. My initial goals and timelines all have been shattered. But, I remind myself that I am working. And thanks to total recall hardware, I am moving forward step by step. The other night I was reading my own brain injury website and in noticed that I had mentioned "...late 2006 with 2007 around the corner and getting my CD done". It amazes me how many years are involved in this passionate desire.

What excites me the most is when you get to listen to my creations.


HHNET

Musical Comfort

The past few nights have truly enlightened me. Musical ideas that I've had for decades are now flowing like liquid gold. And the Yamaha gear keeps reminding me why I bought them in the first place. I think what amazes me the most right now is, anytime I am simply practicing or trying out some new musical sketch, I am hearing stellar quality audio. Gain stage isn't a struggle any more and I get to attentuating fader groups real fast. Some of this is learning and habits, but another large part of this process is workflow that is in harmony with my songwriting and instrument playing.

My new ukulele 'Jennie' is a blast to play. She is showing me another side of Harry's musical interests. I am already thinking about a ukuele folk/pop/jazz disc. Although I am busy enough as it is as I continue to track and edit the current album, I am finding that venturing off and trying a different musical canvas not only freshens my ears but keeps my creativity alive and flowing. And I adore playing 'banjo' on the ukulele! Very unique sound and style.

There is still much work ahead with regards to project details concerning this album. Right now I have all projects on rotation that is managed by my iPod. I call it distributor management because it reminds me of a mechanical automotive ignition distributor that rotates around firing each spark plug one by one in turn. I never dreamed I would grow to a point in my life managing screaming headaches that I would accomplish MORE, not less. This is truly a milestone. And to frost THAT cake, recently the USA.FDA banned one of my medications. So now, I am doing pain "raw" which is delightfully different to say the least.

In closing, I am tinkering with my websites in between the myriad of todo's I am juggling. It's spring and I am enjoying my writing workshops again. As well, I am reading John Abbott's 'Napoleon Bonaparte' and Mark Russinovich's 'Zero Day' both engrossing and good reads. I became interested in Napoleon's history while playing a staggering strategy game, 'Napoleon:Total.War' which is the best gun powder strategy game I have played to date. Also, I bought the game for $8 dollars during a Steam sale! I also plan to play Total.War.Shogun2 which is a beautiful, gorgeous, 16th century strategy! I simply do not have any available time in my distributor cap to fire more spark plugs.

Napoleon: Total War and Total War: Shogun 2 Soundtracks
http://blogs.sega.com/totalwar/2011/04/11/shogun-2-and-napoleon-soundtracks-released/


HHNET

Multitrack Sampling & Recording

New things are happening in the studio. The MOTIF.XS is a real work horse and really getting a lot of attention these days and nights. Much of the time I'm not sure which is which. I've been hanging out in Paltalk to air out my head and my ears. Come Monday I dive back ito the abyss of multi-track sampling.

I like working at the workstation. Sitting in front of the keys. Having the entire orchestra of sounds on tap in front of me. Although I have new acoustic electric and electric guitars, many times I find myself composing and recording live, playing guitars from the MOTIF. It rocks. Also, my mod.wheel techniques have improved and this really makes the electric guitars shine.


Having top-notch DSP/DYN/FX processors on board really helps to fine tune and get the exact sounds I am wanting in my songs. Dynamics mean so much and I love bringing out the punch in a song by using a particular EQ or Compressor. The beauty of the XS is, much of the time, I can use the ROMplers built-in sounds as they are! In their native form. But, having the ability to tweak sounds to my liking is a plus. And having a solid 16-track sequencer and full digital mixer on board, combined with full high quality signal processors on tap, makes the XS a joy to use.

My angle now is to use the XS more exclusively for recording songs from scratch through to their final mixed down version. All possible with the XS. I've already been doing this. However, I want to do some advanced tracking with samples along side my sequenced tracks. Also, I wish to sample the VoiceLive2 vocal processor tracks so they can mixed down along with the sequencer music.

It's really a joy to do all of this without having to turn on a Mac or PC. Using DAWs have their place. I won't argue that. It is easier to edit waveforms using software such as Wavelab or even editing that stuff in Tracktion3. But its more musically fulfilling to do it on the XS without the computer because then you feel as though you constructed a song using a musical instrument. Which I did. This is what I enjoy the most.

Playing real instruments such as my two 12-string guitars or the new ukulele that is getting a lot of attention. I named her, "Jennie" and she plays really nice. I am already considering recording an entire album of ukulele folk jazz.

Also, I am looking forward to getting proficient using the XS so there is no need to rely on the 01X digital mixer just to get into a DAW to record music. Actually, the MOTIF.XS is very intuitive to use for how complicated it really is. I have learned to appreciate Yamaha's effort in making this possible. Just 5 years ago this was not possible.

Meanwhile, I am working on new songs in between headaches and websites that need revising with two new websites coming soon. For now I will say this year, but perhaps late spring or after summer. I am sure people will find them useful because it is my intention to bring more CONTENT to HappyHarryNET. As for HappyHarryNET.com it is lying dormant while I continue to henpeck the design and GUI layout. That's a fancy way of saying I have yet to decide how I wish to layout the site. Also, the dot.com site's purpose is to facilitate the e-commerce of my first record album and other products which I plan to be selling eventually. So taking time to think things through on paper does just that... take time.

HHNET

Irons In The Fire

After 16 years of cold and flu-less health, I finally got nabbed. I'm on the second go-round and am doing the feel better one day and feel like death the next. I suspect this condition will improve in the coming 10 days.

Meanwhile, it is raining every day and every night. This has placed an incredible damper on my vocal recordings. But, hey! The timing is just right because I am coughing my brains out and can't sing now anyhow. God's miracles.

While I whimper around with my tail between my legs as I fend of this cold, I've been surfing the net shopping for new electric guitars to be used to record new album tracks. Upcoming blog(s) will have details and photos.

I am months behind, but I am working on my webs. Right now I am reconstructing the foundation of my sites so they will be HTML, HTML5, smartphone and iOS compatible, including animation and video. Some of my original older pages such as ABOUT ME, HISTORY, etc., will be rewritten and will no longer be contain scroll boxes for improved readability.

Enjoying iOS gaming much more than I ever imagined that I would. But, hard-core PC gaming via Steam shall remain along side Xbox360 and XboxLIVE.

My Quit.Sugar.Lifestyle (QSL) is intact and going well. I will be introducing a new HappyHarryNET Health and Fitness web site, so stay tuned. Anybody can get off sugar, lose weight and feel great. It even helps fight off colds and flu.

Let our prayers remain vigil for everyone in Japan!

HHNET

01X Swap Done

2008 kicked off my project studio with some official workspace. My KODAK digital cam died so after this and another overhead panoramic photo were taken there were no updates which included the near field monitors, a new 37" LED and the addition of the AW4416 which immediately claimed space where the 01X is shown in this photo.

You can see below the 4416 kicking the 01X out of the picture which forced me to relocate the MacBook which got moved to beneath the table where it is out of the way, provides its use in the studio and yet is easy to disconnect and "take with" as a remote notebook. However, now that I have an iPodTouch4G.32, I seldom take the MacBook OR MissToshiba out of the house.

Here the 4416 is shown in its new home with the MacBook still in its old location. The AW4416 provides a nearly unlimited mixing control and channel routing. 24-inputs, 44-channels and anything can be routed anywhere, including the handy 4-OMNI's which I use to connect TRS to 01X. They also talk to each other via S/PDIF and ADAT via the 4416's Y56K.

This arrangement was a bit tricky in its 6ft.x.5ft of space. However, the upside is a powerhouse of sound, DSP, FX, DYNamics and high quality instruments via the MOTIF.XS sampling workstation, which carries its weight without using either of the mixing boards or even turning on the Mac and using Logic. Firewire mLAN onboard the MOTIF makes for shooting discreet tracks to Cubase and Logic a snap.

Things in place finally. Although I am already trained left.handed on 01X, it had to go right because the 4416 just is too wide to hang on the right corner where the door entry way into the RV is located. I am adjusting quickly.

I am enjoying the RODE NT1A LDC mic very much with the VoiceLive2 vocal processor. However, already I will be inserting a TUBE mic.pre to warm things up. For straight digital the RODE is pretty warm, but not enough for my voice. For now I will use my ART.V3 shown below. It's only a $75 tube pre but very versatile for it miniscule price range. Soon I will pick up a Universal Audio Solo 610 to manage warming up any harsh mic levels.

The Art StudioV3 Tube MP is a nice way to go when your on a budget to get some tube warmth into your mix. Whereas I am a solo artist and am not recording anyone other than myself, there is no need for more tube mic.pre's in my studio. Perhaps down the road this will change.

The V3 sounds nice pre-4416 with the 02R-style pre's a bit stronger and warmer than the 01x preamps.

The VoiceLive2 preamp is hot, clean and bit bright. Which works well for harmony backing tracks and a live application. But used as a primary mic.pre it's a bit harsh, so the V3 warms things up just right!

I'm gearing up to purchase 2 electric guitars and a nice TC-Electronic Nova stomp box. It's exciting to get back into "plugged in" and use the acoustic 12's where they belong. The Dean.Boca.12.cherry will be a blast to implement into my album tracks. I am still shopping for my 6.string electric, but I have my eyes on a couple Ibanez models.

Due to complications with song #4, I scrapped it entirely and am starting from scratch. Currently I am 30% album complete.

HHNET

I'm Back... I Think

Again, time flies. Jee, another glorious picnic basket of morbid headache to enjoy for days on end. This recovery time is when I find myself most cynical.

Amazing how many blog comments I just erased. Mostly spam and dumb-fucks that have less than a thimble full of sperm to talk about. It just rubs me the wrong way. I hear people compliment my blog from time to time, yet NONE of them ever have left a comment.

I think the Internet creates this false sense of celebrity-disesase. For example, I have several websites. Most of them serve a purpose being useful to others. And, although I it is not my goal to become an Internet celebrity, it would be nice if people were not so chickenshit about leaving comments. I mean, Christ, they play FARMVILLE for hours on end on Facebook, but they can't leave a comment on my blog? I don't care where you come from. That's fucking sick.

Oh, did I mention? I have declined to maintain G-rated content. Let the ESRB manage that crap. Maybe they could sleep with the folks over at the RIAA and they could all have an orgy with all of our so-called "representatives" who are members of the CFR, which by the way is not people.friendly so you best avoid them.

What's with the periods between my words? It's the ONLY guaranteed way to keep words together using any text entry field located on the Internet. I've used underscores since CP/M before DOS, but _they cannot be trusted to keep two words together. Same goes for hyphens. Perhaps using Microsoft.Word Ctrl+- (control + hypen) will keep those two words together as long as they remain a Word .DOC file. I think that is where that ends. Women have periods to get through life. I use periods to keep words together. See, we truly are symbiotic!

For those of you who even bother to read my blog anymore, I hope you can appreciate the shear volume of facts that I am representing here.

As for my music. Recording is back in motion. I'm working with Drumcore3 which helps tremendously writing and arranging drum parts. (which I always hear in my head) This is a songwriters dream come true. Or, at least a songwriter who does not have a dedicated drummer who has his kit set up and mic'd ready for recording. Still, I'm ironing out the kinks with my Ibanez.12-string. Get what you pay for would be suitable. And cutaways suck compared to dreadnaughts. Period. (there's that word again)

I've nearly finished what I call "the initial real idea" of NASAV_studios. Spent the first 18.months using inferior reference monitors (sorry KRK) which now is blatantly obvious with the Yamaha's in place. No doubt, I will flush out this system to full 7.1 surround after I decide on 01V or LS9. One is majorly affordable and the other isn't. Will deal with that later.

Anyhow, recording 10 songs is going much slower than I ever anticipated. Still, thanks to having total.recall.hardware makes it all possible. Especially when I factor in these massive headache strikes that pummel me and consume my time.

The cold(er) weather makes life physically hard for me. So what Harry, shut up! Otherwise, life is good. But frankly (whoever Frank is) I've grown tired of hearing, "Life is good". It's like that picture of the cat hanging upside down with the slogan, "Hang In There". It's stupid and it has nothing to do with saving your ass for a nickel!

In closing, the holiday season is upon us once again. Yet, again, I cannot help feeling Scrooge. Public.Reasons won't allow me to open THAT can of worms here, but if I say "fuck it" enough, perhaps in a future blog I shall treat you to these personal details about my life.

Wow! I didn't say "period" again. Now I should enjoy some sex.

HHNET

Tell Santa What You Want

It's that time of year again.

Hey! Take a minute to rekindle your Christmas spirit and visit http://happyharry.net and click on Tell Santa What You Want.

As many of you know, the ultra elites and international bankers are destroying our economy here and in every country on this planet. The few countries who are not being squeezed out are in chaos by design via our military operations! It's a pretty sad state of affairs.

So, I suggest you tell Santa what you want for Christmas. Afterall, this may be your LAST Christmas as a free person.

HHNET

Some Things Don't Change

Although I have many of days like today, I don't speak of them or write about the much. Way back when, it was one of my goals to stop talking about my pain. It was a milestone when I got to the point where I no longer truly had the need to tell others how badly I was hurting. Now 17 years has passed and I qualify for sharing whatever the heck I wanna share about my life.

Some of you know this all began on August 6, 1993. And to this day, I am coaching people on the side who are suffering with MTBI, closed head injuries and screaming haeadaches which have contributed to their lives becoming unmanageable. I just received a letter from a new customer just last week. She is suffering more than I am; if that is perceivably possible right now in my state of mind. However, I know pain is relative and she [in fact] is suffering greatly and in some ways that I did not have to deal with. But until we learn to cope and manage insane chronic pain, it is one wicked demon to contend with.

For me today, I woke to much of my body feeling in a "cramped" state. Along with that, the back of my skull was just screaming like a banshee in harmony to what I call the flying.saucer.disc headache slicing my brain in half and obliterating my thoughts.

My first course of action is to get "basic meds" into my system. Afterall, I have a 50/50 shot to even get onto my feet today. So I took the daiy usuals which also include water pills for edema, fish oil, B, Centrum Silver, 50,000 units D3, 3.Glucosamine and then swallowed them down with 2 cups of Breeze™ which also scores me 2 points of fiber in the middle of a blistering headache. More on this later.

I continued in bed, using my Homemedics 4-head Percussive Massage to try and break down some of the muscle cramping both in my neck, along the base of my skull and inside of my head. Today's massage workout was about 20% effective which is not as good as usual. This tells me that this headache will drag into the day. How long and how strong, I don't know yet. But, I do know that I can count on 16 hours of morbidity.

Nevertheless, I will be productive today and this is what can distinguish the difference between me and you. I suffered in bed, in fetal position for many, many years before I began to learn distractive therapy techiniques. It was years before I even got out of bed and into a chair. But, I won't bore you with that story today. For all I wanted to share today was, what it can be like for me [still 12 or more days a month] when I awake to start each day.

Now about 3 hours into my day I am sitting up. I've swallowed headache assistance twice since becoming conscious and buzzin' my skull with the massager got me sitting up. Now, I proceed to getting a cup of coffee going. If Kathy hasn't already left me a half pot of fresh brewed coffee, I opt to making my instant.fiber.coffee which will also be debuted in my upcoming Diet Tips & Tricks PDF. Today I got lucky and warm coffee was present. This means 2 minutes in the microwave and I'm on my way. My coffee cup is a low profile [5-inch wide, soup-like] which contains 3 cups of coffee. Also this cup design will never tip over. Something which is paramount for me and my condition living around high-end laptops and expensive recording equipment. Many days this coffee won't get much attention and there will be 50% of it remaining 20 hours from now. Today this will not be the case. I'm drinking it as we speak and I have consume half of it already.

With my neck, base of skull, skull and internal pain consuming much of who I am today, it is obvious that once I finish my coffee and this blog that I need to get myself onto my TotalGym to do some muscle stretching and to gain some range-of-motion. This in itself helps tremendously even when suffering with extreme levels of on-going pain.

I'm disoriented and don't know where my bluestrip is. This is a bright blue, locking box which holds about a week of my chemical toys. I had possession of this when I first awoke and need to locate where I put it after taking my initial 2 rounds. Aha! I had to stand up, but my bluestrip was where I usually keep it. I don't have any memory of my putting it there today. I know I put it away yesterday, but today, Kathy prolly stuck it there. My last visual was having it in my hands when I was laying in bed.

Just this process of "where are things" was the first 5.years of agony in life since 1993. Since then, I have learned NOT to lose things. I did learn [around 6.years post injury] that sometimes my brain does not photograph everything my eyes scan in the picture. So, to me, I don't see what I am looking for. This is not to be confused with losing things. Still, it took me almost 3.years post injury to phycially reach out and feel, for many times what I was looking for, such as keys on the table, were in fact there, yet I did not have a visual for it. Sounds unbelievable? Research it yourself. I don't time here today to do that.

As we mosey on into my day, I am thinking about working on flushing out the general user interface for my upcoming HappyHarryNET.com websites. Tinkering today will be my theme. There is no point in pressuring myself with this physical level of pain going on in my head today. Also, now that my brain is processing other pain sensors in the my body better, my spine is sore and my joints are stiff. Fall is here. Again, its TotalGym time, so I will insert my usual walk into my phsical program before getting onto the gym.

Back to thoughts. I'm working on a country song which now focuses mainly on the lead vocal which I am writing from scratch and inserting into the existing song which has harmonies. This is a bit of a backwards process and a new way to compose music. I accepted the challenge and the results are nothing less than stellar and I am proud to include this country song on my upcoming album in late 2011. But the point being, 17.years ago I would be laying in bed [in fetal position] with this blistering headache, I would not be going to work nor would I be sustaining any job anywhere. And to frost the cake, I surely would not be accomplishing anything, let alone working on new website designs or arranging and recording music!

So, those of you who knew me back in 1993 can appreciate what I am asaying here. But for the people who never knew me and are reading now, perhaps this will shed some light on chronic pain and distractive therapies. Also, maybe you know someone who is suffering and they could use some help. Feel free to send them my way. I am coaching over 612 people now. Mind you, not every day. But they e-mail me or Skype me or phone me and we talk. It's amazing to hear of their successes which have been accelerated by my sharing my techniques with them. But, as I always tell people, it's your success. You're the one doing the work. We all lean on and utilize methods used by other people which enable us to improve, conquer and move on with our lives. To this day I still break out my Anthony Robbins materials and listen to them every other year. There are "others" I read and listen to as well, but Tony has helped me a lot. Two other mentors in my life have been instrumental in my progress, but I have not seen one of them in 13 years and the other one has chosen to ignore me somewhat. Still, I lead myself now. And this is what we all must [eventually] do. Lead ourselves.

Remember that slogan, "You come in alone... you go out alone". I believe there certainly is some truth to that. However, it is important to enjoy the people around us. From all walks of life. Enjoy the people you don't like as well as the one's you love to death. This was one of the best parts of my sustatining a brain injury in 1993 -- I joined the human race.

And now, I shall stand up and get on with my day.

HHNET

Summer, Winter, Autumn & Spring

Some might say Fall is here. Well, I say Fall was already here and now is nearly gone. During the tail of the actual Summer season, one afternoon the wind kicked up and spun some leaves and the air, "changed". Immediately I recognized that Summer was over and that Fall had begun. The very next day the various animals began changing their behaviors. It is quite noticeable when you pay attention to them.

The warm temperatures and breezes are gone and my bones ache again. Waking up is like the TinMan from the Wizard Of Oz. I should have an oil can on my night stand. Or at least a can of WD40. But, with this new diet and lifestyle which I began on June 25th, pushing myself onto my feet is easier than in the past. I have more energy and generally feel better even when I have a blistering headache. The weight loss benefits keep paying off with every pound that I lose. Yesterday I clocked in at 38 pounds down from 250 which is wonderful. It's not a miracle. It simply is the results from making better decisions and life choices.

Beating the rain to the finish line is important now. The RV is getting its Fall maintenance per se and I am a pretty good judge of character when it comes to MotherNature and I know I don't have much more time. I still have the roof to finish and I suspect perhaps another 10 to 20 days and then its time to get wet. Once that happens, its too late to do "dry repairing" to anything that requires it. So this weekend through next week will be the final steps to completing the chores needed to secure our home for the winter.

A few nights ago I solved the arrangement challenge that I was having with a song. I get hung.up differently than I used to. My creativity is flourishing like a waterfall. Now the larger challenge lies with arrangements. Both pre and post recording. But, this is an area that I am glad that I am experiencing. I can recall not too long ago when I didn't have a project studio, nor did I have the quality recording gear that I have now. The days and nights salivating over the equipment that I was researching prior to purchasing. And now, scratching my head when I get stuck on an arrangement. Talk about growth.

With 2011 coming, I am summing up my plans for website overhauls. I've had a lot of ideas on legal pads the past two years and while I am not going to leak any ideas here now, I do plan to improve the overall look, user interface and bring more content to my sites. Then, there is the dedicated website for my record album. That is another iron in the fire. It's not hard work. It's just work that takes time and when you wear all the hats, it takes longer.

Most of my days I live with urgency. Not because I will be 57 years old come December 20th, but rather, there is so much to do in life and so little time. Being excited about life [in itself] is simply not good enough. You can be happy and passionate in everything that you do. But it still takes TIME to get things done. Wasting time is also a precious past time that can be enjoyable. Admittedly, I don't dabble much in this category. However, I'm not going to lie about it. Everybody [including me] wastes a little time now and then. I think it's healthy and I don't think goofing off is a waste of time either! We're all human. Fiddling around and kicking a can should be a priority on your ToDo list. You gotta spend time playing no matter how much work you have to do. But, if you can blend the two of them so working becomes your playing, now you have something to really get excited about. And when you place urgency on THAT then you will get more done in the same amount of time you originally had. Don't hold your breath or stare at clocks... poof, you're dead.

I look forward to seeing SOME of you in Heaven.

HHNET

Nice Summer

Well, besides the fact that I have lost nearly 35 pounds of weight, and continuing to lose, summer 2010 has been pretty nice.

Recording music slowed down a bit. A combination of headaches, getting stumped on song arrangements and collaborating on a country song that I will be including on my up and coming album in 2011.

Conduit, the code-developers for my HappyHarryNET Toolbar, wrote an article about me and posted to their blog.

The Pursuit Of HappyHarryNET
http://blog.conduit.com/2010/07/10/the-pursuit-of-happyharry-net/

Most of the information was taken from my biography and history of HappyHarryNET that is on my website. Originally, Conduit had planned to do a video interview of me and for some reason, they dropped the ball.

I am still enjoying MissToshiba. She was a good purchase. The MacBook is a workhorse for daily computing, along with everything that I throw at it in LogicPro9 and Tracktion3. And, it goes without saying that Yamaha_01X is such a wonderful digital mixer and really makes life a breeze having hardware DSP and complete mixer automation at the hardware level.

Have made time for PC games again, now that the Qosmio i7 is on the scene. I am rearranging the table space for a replacement refrigerator and a 27-inch Apple iMac i7 that is coming. The Xbox360 is collecting a little dust, as is my original Xbox. There simply is not enough time to play them all and get good bedrest. Something that I never [in the past] gave any priority.

HHNET

31 Pounds Today

Amazing!

Today I officially clocked in at 31 pounds lost since June 25th. Besides losing belly fat and losing over 8 inches of body mass, I am muscularly improving and getting stronger every day. Now mountain-biking and walking a minimum of 1 mile or more and drinking nearly a gallon of water per day.

Headaches are still in the mix, but I am feeling so much better, it is a nice offset.
Amazing!

Today I officially clocked in at 31 pounds lost since June 25th. Besides losing belly fat and losing over 8 inches of body mass, I am muscularly improving and getting stronger every day. Now mountain-biking and walking a minimum of 1 mile or more and drinking nearly a gallon of water per day.

Headaches are still in the mix, but I am feeling so much better, it is a nice offset.

Life is good!

— HHNET

The Weight Is Coming Off

It is amazing now that I am actively participating in this new diet that I am shedding weight and belly fat pound by pound by pound !!

A few short months ago I weighed 250 LBS when I was at the VA Hospital in San Francisco. Now, I am 27 pounds down, and I have lost at least 6-inches! I am not bloated anymore and I can even grab all of my belly with 2 hands! This statement may seem a bit silly, but 2 months ago, I could not do this for I was more pregnant than a woman at 7 months!

Also, I am feeling tremendously better. Physically. I wake everyday with good energy and a sense of well being.

I am also enjoying daily exercise, whether it be walking or riding my mountain bike.

— HHNET

Very Busy Summer 2010

Hello Everyone,

These are very busy times for me.

The neurobrain doctors and I are experimenting with new medication to combat the headaches. Their most recent analysis seems to hold some water, so I am giving it my best. So far, it appears that I am not going through any side effects and there have been improvements worth noting on my calendar.

Recording music took a major slump months ago due to dizzy spells and equillibrium issues which led me back to the brain doctors at the VA. Thanks to having a "total recall studio" I was able to jump right back into the fray of my most recent project. Very glad I bought O1X. I simply cannot imagine producing music without one.

In April I began writing workshops for personal growth and improvement. This has grown into such an on-going project that a dedicated website became necessary for organization. Additionally, I plan to publish my works via hardcopy book using lulu.com online publishing.

RV life remains wonderfully private. Things are a bit noisier due to the summer crowd and vacationeers. The weather has been a solid 90 to 100 degrees by noon. And, I repaired our air conditioner twice and will be replacing the motor before Fall.

Enjoying my new Ibanez AEL2012 12-string acoustic electric guitar. I am going to put it into the shop again to try different brand and type of strings. Also, to have the neck adjusted and a few frets filed to my personal tastes. This guitar plays pretty well for an acoustic electric, and when plugged in it is a very capable instrument. Still, I find myself wanting another dreadnaught 12-string because of playability issues. Martin is a little too pricey for my taste. If I am going to spend $3,000 dollars I would forgo the guitar and plunk my cash down for a Tyros3. Time will tell. We shall see. When I go shopping for banjos again in San Francisco, I plan to try a few dreadnaught 12's too.

MissToshiba has found a niche in my life. I did not advertise her here in my blog. MissToshiba is my new PC laptop. She comes standard with a near-19-inch screen, Core i7 processor and 6GB DDR3 RAM, 7200RPM 500GB HDD, 64GB SSD, nVIDIA 360M 1GB DDR5 VRAM, 1920x1280 (1080p), Blu-ray, Bluetooth, Firewire, PCIe /54, LED backlit keyboard & 10-key numpad, SDHC memory slot, harmon/kardon surround speakers & subwoofer built-in, and she's a perky 10 pounds in weight. MissToshiba plays top of the line PC games with ease and chews on productivity applications without hesitation. This is the best desktop replacement PC that I have owned. Impressively, she can also accomplish quite a bit from her 12-cell battery and 10-Amp power supply including; burning a DVD or watching a full-length DVD movie. Blu-ray requires jacking into 110V AC power to complete watching an entire movie. Tisk, tisk. Anyhow, I am pleased in all respects and it is wonderful I was able to purchase this beauty at QVC.com on 5-easy-pay payments.

Life is good!

— HHNET

eBuddy Wins Hands Down!

A few years ago, I became acquainted with eBuddy when I was wanting to run a chat-app on my NintendoDS using its built-in wi-fi capability. And, eBuddy did the job well. I liked how well eBuddy worked on the DS. So, I started using eBuddy on my PC and Mac.

Now, eBuddy has been overhauled and runs BLAZING_FAST. Not only does the client run fast, it also "logs into all your accounts faster than ANY other mobile chat-app". I've tried them all and eBuddy wins hands down.

eBuddy also provides a online browser client that is FAST. Give eBuddy a try and let it manage up to 7 of your chat clients. You'll be glad you did. http://www.ebuddy.com

--- HHNET

Finally Enjoying Blu-ray

We have been enjoying "high quality" home-theater for five years now. We initially started with a 32-inch "flat screen" CRT, connected via component video cables to a progressive scan DVD player, then "optical TOSlink" (ADAT) to a "positional" 5.1 surround system.

Although we live in a smaller space now, we are enjoying a larger and better 37-inch HDTV (1920 x 1080) with a Blu-ray player connected via HDMI. Our audio output is S/PDIF digital coaxial which is fed into a AC-powered S/PDIF to TOSlink converter. Then, the TOSlink is connected to the surround amplifier.

There are a few distinct differences between our 1st system and current system:

FIRST SYSTEM

• Sony 32-inch flat-CRT. Very flat CRT. Gorgeous picture quality, yet could not display true high definition, so other than cable TV, everything had downsampling or what most people refer to as those black bars on the top and bottom of the picture. Some people might call it "not full screen" or "widescreen". And way back, it used to be called "letterbox".
  
  
• After a year, we sold the Sony with a 4-year in-home warranty to our brother-in-law and replaced it with a Syntax Olevia 30-inch LCD which was 1080i and could not display true high definition which is 1920 x 1080. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the Olevia for many years using it for both home theater, gaming and connecting our computers to it.
  
  
• Our surround system was not optical, so although the sound quality was excellent, there was a ever-so-slight background noise. Mind you, we're being critical here. The hiss I am referring to is so minor MOST people would never audibly hear it.
  
  
• Also, our surround system was a "positional" surround, meaning that the speakers are setup in the typical 2 satellites in front with center channel between them, 2 satellites in the rear and a sub-woofer in the room corner, or perhaps behind the TV screen or even behind your viewing couch. Positional surround sound, assumes the listeners will be sitting approximately in the center of the entire speaker arrangement, thus, experiencing full surround sound all around them. So if you don't sit relatively in the middle of the room, you are forced to ADJUST your surround settings so your surround sound experience is not compromised.
  

CURRENT SYSTEM

• LG 37-inch LED HDTV, 1920 x 1080p connecting video via HDMI to a Phillips Blu-ray player with coaxial audio output connecting to a powered S/PDIF to TOSlink converter. Then the TOSlink feed connects to a SphereX "spacial" optical 5.1 surround amplifier system.
  
  
• Having true high definition resolution offers "full screen" viewing for video materials that are true HD or 1920 x 1080p. This avoids seeing those "black bars" at the top and bottom of the video area.
  
  
• Blu-ray video quality is superior to DVD. Colors are vibrantly gorgeous with incredible details. Blu-ray movie menus use Sun Microsystems' Java for fluid, animated interfaces.
  
  
• In my opinion, it is Blu-ray AUDIO that is most impressive. Blu-ray audio is 24-bit/192kHz while DVD audio is 24-bit/96kHZ. What this means is the audio is MUCH better than DVD audio. DVD can also play 24-bit/192kHz, but only 2-channel stereo.

MORE ABOUT SURROUND

Having a surround sound system to watch movies is wonderful. Optical surround is clearly better because there is NO background noise present in the audio track. The only time you will hear digital hiss is when the optical track has lost SYNC. Usually all that is required to rectify this is turning the surround amplifier off and then back on. Then the surround LOCKS and you have SILENT high-quality surround sound.

It has been my observation that over the past 5-years, people don't seem to watching movies at home using home theaters. Yes, more and more people are buying larger, high-definition TVs. But, most people are not LISTENING to them via surround amplification. Many people are watching HDTV and listening through the built-in speakers OR perhaps they connect their audio to a STEREO amplifier.

GAMING WITH SURROUND

Gamers tend to be "up to speed" with surround because they play their games using surround sound systems. If you want to jack your Xbox360 or PS3 into your surround system, purchase a surround amplifier that has at least 2 or more TOSlink inputs. This is standard on upper-class surround amplifiers. For PC gamers, all modern sound cards now have a OPTICAL output connector which will feed surround systems. It is my understanding the best "no-brainer" surround system for a PC is the Creative Labs brand surround. You take it out of the box and connect to your PC and plug-in all of the speakers and Voila... surround PC gaming.

CLOSING NOTES

OPTICAL surround is plainly superior to any other type of surround. It is quieter and the sound is cleaner. A 300-watt, spacial optical system is much better than a 1000-watt, positional optical or coaxial system. Optical is better. But, if your Blu-ray player has coaxial audio output and your surround system is TOSlink, don't sweat it. Simply purchase a powered-converter. When shopping, be sure to LOOK at the back of BOTH the surround amplifier and the DVD or Blu-ray player to see what type of AUDIO OUTPUT CONNECTORS they use.

SURROUND MUSIC CD LISTENING

Most music CD albums (Redbook) are also encoded in surround, meaning you can listen to your CD music in surround. Usually, you will need to make speaker adjustments using your surround amplifier remote control. Once you have them set to your liking, you will simply adore the audio experience of listening to your favorite music CD in surround! Also, it has been my experience that the remote control settings for playing your music CD are not remembered. This means every time you play a music CD in surround, you MUST use the remote control to adjust the surround volumes to your liking.

Hope you enjoyed this HappyHarryNET Surround_Seminar.


--- HHNET

Added 8 Input Channels

Up until now, my AW4416 only had 8-1/4-inch TRS balanced inputs. The 4416 is a 24-channel input mixer, feeding a 16-track hard disk recorder, followed by a 16-channel monitoring mixer, all feeding a stereo bus. So only having 8 TRS inputs is a disadvantage, especially during a live recording session such as mic-ing a set of drums and still having enough inputs for the rest of the band. The Yamaha MY8AD24 pictured above, is an 8-channel, 24-bit analog input card, giving the 4416 a total of 16-1/4-inch TRS balanced inputs. This card still sells for $360 dollars, but I got lucky on Ebay and got one in mint condition for $150. And, the photo below shows how the card fits into one of the 2 available I/O bays.












The slot to the left of the one shown is where the 20GB SCSI HDD is located and they can be swapped out. The slot to the right is where I installed the Waves Y56K DSP and 8-channel ADAT card.

Shown below is the deck-view of the AW4416. This is a very capable mixing and recording console that does not wither amongst modern recording technologies. Although the 4416 is now 9 years old, it is still top-class recording equipment any gear-head would want. The 01X takes things a step further, in that you can connect the digital mixer to any PC or Mac for unlimited-tracks of recording via one firewire cable.

Long live the AW4416 and 01X.

— HHNET

Glad Summer Ain't Here Yet

IDK is a great way to begin my blog today. I've lost a lot of time over the past couple months. Between the usual screaming headaches and spinal pain from broken tailbone, I've not been a real happy camper. I will be attending my first pain management session at the VAMC_SF next week, so we shall see.

Needless to say most of my other projects have taken a back seat. I have been relaxing more and taking care of Kathy since her laproscopic surgery which went well and she is home recooperating well. I am barely getting 5 days of recording music into a month. So, I am disappointed.

Web sites. Hmm. Now with iPhones, Droids and iPads, I am totally redesigning the life of a website on paper. HTML5 and a handful of other web technologies are a must have to get under my belt. As it is right now, my sites will load on smartphones and iPad, however navigating them is another thing. My plans to bring new content to my sites demands that I redesign my websites to accommodate these new devices that everybody are using. This is old news already!! Sort of reminds me of the days when people's websites suddenly were not compatible with PDA's and Palm OS. But, their lifespan was so short, a lot of web designers didn't blink.

This won't be the case for iPhone, iPad, Droids and the bevy of touch-pad devices to come from Google, HTC, Samsung and many other companies.

Been walking and bicycling more with the nicer, spring-like, maybe-summer-is-coming-like weather. My bones are aching and the heat and humidity of Florida is the only solution that I know which has a positive impact.

Still, I plan to dive back into recording music. Some additional items that I ordered are all on back order. So, I'm waiting for them. This has been a continual hurry up and wait kind of project. I'm still very jazzed about Yamaha_01X and the AW4416 console. They both carry their weight and get the job done. In the computer DAW world Tracktion3 and LogicPro9 are the bomb on Mac OSX Leopard. I bought SnowLeopard also, but my mLAN firewire is only 10.5.8 compatible. Not a bad price to pay for the 01X's footprint of power.

-- HHNET

A Lot Going On

Wow. Months pass like weeks now! In any case, I am keeping myself busy with several projects, along side recording music.

Slowly patching up and recording new help videos. Now with Windows7 being so popular, it only seemed befitting to redo and make some new video help for this new operating system.

Spring is here and summer is not far away. Again, another year and it’s time for RV maintenance. We had a fairly uneventful winter and NASAV is in pretty good shape. Boy! A ton of leaves this year!

People keep asking me about the toolbar. Well, I do have plans to add new content to the toolbar. I have been watching its usage and analyzing the statistics to decide what content users would like the most. I also found a really good video service that works well all around the globe. However, it is not free. Still, I try to include quality content, not just the usual junk that can be found everywhere on the Internet. I hope you appreciate that.

I’ve been enjoying the Iron browser. Iron is slimmed down and runs well on legacy hardware with Windows7, but there are a few features it comes up short on. So, I still find myself wanting to use Flock for larger browsing affairs. But, Iron will stay on my hard drive.

Am shopping for a banjo, electric guitar and amplifier. I want to play publicly this summer. Also, I hope I win my Ebay bid on the 8-ch I/O card for my AW4416 recording console. Parts are getting harder to find as time creeps along. I really want to have 16-ch of balanced 1/4-inch inputs.

Meanwhile, my 01X digital mixer is right at home with both LogicPro9 and Tracktion3 on MacOS.

Will update again once I get some of these irons off of the back burner. I LQQK forward to a hot summer!

HHNET

Trying Live Writer Again

Well, back in the days of Vista, per se, I gave a whack at Windows Live Writer and my Blogger blog.

At first, I was dazzled by its simplicity and WYSIWYG user interface. But, after attempting to post a handful of blogs I began to experience detail issues with my blog and worse yet, when I would click the button to publish my blog, it would do nothing!

No need for me to say I wasn’t impressed and I quickly returned to using Blogger and what I call, “manually doing my blogs”. May be a tad more work, but it is solid and I can count on the results.

So, here I am again trying Windows Live Writer. But, this time I am using Windows 7. Ah, the glory!

How many operating systems must we live through in order to achieve our daily chores?

Actually, I was looking through a Windows magazine at the grocery store when I stumbled upon an article about a plug-in for Live Writer, called Zemanta. It’s a free download and it enables Live

Writer to analyze and follow your blog writing by offering relevant links, photos and blogs which you can immediately incorporate into your blog. The idea of this sounds amazing. The actual usage of it so far is not my cup of tea.

I think it’s important to add graphic elements to your blog. But, being a blogger myself, there is absolutely nothing wrong with writing a blog that has no graphics at all. Let’s get this cleared up right away… it’s not a right/wrong thing. But, is a blog with graphics more appealing than a blog without graphics? Yes. But, I blogged for years before I began adding graphics to my blogs. And, when I do post graphics into my blog, they are more than just relevant. I’m not real crazy about the idea of using graphics that sorta-come-close to what I am talking about. To me that is luke-warm at best. And with search engines like Bing, finding SPECIFIC graphics is not difficult at all. Which brings me to my question. Why didn’t Microsoft integrate Bing’s graphical search engine into Live Writer?

Okay, I’m gonna try clickng the publish button.

HHNET 

March 2010 Already Here

Seems like yesterday when I was only 7 years old. Life was much simpler and I had a wonderful childhood. My parents were married 53 years before mom passed. So, I had both my parents my entire life, including many years of my adult life.

Anyhow, I've got a lot of irons in the fire right now. Of course, it's important to me to accomplish things which hopefully secure making some of my dreams come true. To assist me in that process I am again listening to Tony Robbins, Personal Power II, now for the 3rd time. It's really great inserting a CD and hearing Tony again. So that's my motivational program right now.

It appears some people on the Internet don't approve of my new method of managing online drama and personality profiling. Whether it be facebook, myspace, paltalk or some other TCP/IP chat client, I have grown to a new place in my life. Life is short and regardless of how much happiness you have, you never can get enough. I am sick of people who are literally freaking out about their lives, and If you mention something about it, then they in turn disrespect you in kind. Whether it be drama or these insideous posts of profanity, consider yourself history. I won't tolerate it. I don't have to tolerate it and losing your online friendship (whatever that was) won't cause me to lose any sleep if you up and disappear out of my life. Mind you, most of you (so far) have removed yourselves from my friending. Meaning, I have not befriended anyone, or removed or banned anybody from any of my accounts. So, consider your little acts of immaturity your own doing.

Meanwhile, I am beginning to dabble with drum programming. The MOTIF_XS takes a little more work than I initially expected whereas it's a music workstation. But still, the end results are satisfying. Better yet, connecting my Korg_i3 to my XS renders instant, very cool, arranger automation. The Korg_i3 and MOTIF_XS are both nuclear_MIDI machines, so they pair well together.

Still, I am saving to buy Drum Core 3 which is an astounding virtual synth tool for creating solid, dynamic drum tracks in a pinch. Very easy to use and the drums sound top notch. You can mix and match using samples and/or MIDI so there is lots of flexibility.

The new 12-string guitar is a pleasure to play and it's good to be spending more time playing guitar than I use Paltalk. That's a good switch IMHO.

My tailbone is still bothering me enough that sitting isn't the most enjoyable thing to do. So, recording music has slowed down quite a bit. Luckily, I bought the right gear that allows me a lot of flexibility. And always the option of coming back to projects at a later date with total recall.

Spring seems like its already here. I look forward to more outdoorsy, walking, exercise and bicycling now that warmer weather is here.

HHNET