I had been walking around my back yard and noticed I could not see any goldfish swimming in the pond.
The next day I looked out the window and wondered again why I could not see them. I apologize for the poor quality of the video below but it was shot through my kitchen door.
I am not surprised anymore by the unusual things I see in my yard and adjacent city park. I thought this was pretty cool until my wife said he is probbly eating the fish in the pond. I still think it is pretty cool!
I think I startled him and interrupted dinner!
I can’t find all of the fish but was happy to see quite a number finally come out of their hiding spots.
A friend of mine has a humprous response to a serious subject. Dave Young wanted to start a Me Neither Movement in support of the Me Too Movement from the time he read about it.
With my help he created a song parody to help introduce viewers to the Me Neither Movement.
Time for a llittle fun and music! Here is Dave Young’s:
Bicycle riding is something I have loved since being a kid. I get exercise, fresh air, new scenery and a little bit of escape all wrapped into one. Recently cities in Ohio and other states have purchased unused train rights of way and turning them into bike and walking paths or trails. This is perfect because the train tracks are fairly level, the perfect width, and they go through neighborhoods that are rarely connected any other way.
Case in point is the latest addition of the CROWNsection of the pathways including Wasson Way. When I-71 was built around 1966 to 1975 it split Cincinnati in drastic and unfortunate ways like every other town. Once built, many neighborhoods were completely severed from each other and in some cases from the business districts they created. This is a point in history for me as my family was renting a house on a street that was demolished and we had to move for them to build I-71. The neighborhoods I used to ride through with my friends were no longer accessible to a kid on a bike.
Strollers enjoying the Marburg Avenue section of Wasson Way
Anyway, they are about to extend that section next week so the Wasson Way path connects to one of my favorite local parks of all time! I have shared many pictures of Ault Park here and it is still a lovely place to see. When this section is completed I will be able to take bike trails (including on-road lanes) from my house all the way to Ault Park. The big plan is to have various trails in Ohio that will take you from the southernmost point in Ohio near the Ohio River all the way to Cleveland at some point in the not too distant future.
I took some pictures of the progress made to the unfinished section so you have an idea of the work they are putting into this.
Existing trail on Wasson Road
New section connecting to Ault Park
Erie Avenue overpass
They are almost ready to open new section!
Truck pouring another cement foundation for drainage
They will start planting trees along the current paths next week. As old as I am it is still nice to get out and take a ride through familiar neighborhoods like I did when much younger. It is satisfying to see the city I have lived in for almost ever finally embracing these outdoor activities and unique neighborhoods long cut off from each other.
The lyrics for “The Border” were posted earlier. There is also a little story to this song using the link above.
…….. for the nerds and geeks in the audience, I created the song in Bandlab’s Sonar (formerly Cakewalk Sonar). This is not a commercial but if you are interested in recording, podcasts, audio to video and a bunch more, BandLab bought Sonar out of bankruptcy and is making this program free to download and use!!! Argh! I paid hundreds of dollars each year to keep current and have new toys.
I am not against commercials or someone making a bit of money but there really is no connection here. If you want to download Sonar, search for BandLab and hit the download button. It is a powerful multi-track recording program with sounds and plug-ins ready to use. I could give you the link but that would seem like I am pushing it lol!
My friend’s Night-Time Diving video on YouTube under MikeR998
A good friend of mine lives in Florida and does a lot of scuba diving. I asked if he wanted music for a soundtrack to his videos and sent him a few of my instrumentals. Here is the first video he posted using my compositions. Mike filmed this night time dive at Blue Heron Bridge and it is amazing how many creatures are out and about. I hope you enjoy.
There is still much beauty to be captured in pictures if you can deal with the heat and ready to look in unusual places. I wanted to share some pictures from my favorite local park I took yesterday. You can get a feel of what is still out there. Admittedly, I have a LOT of untouched pictures to share, but this is about half of the pictures I took. I hope you enjoy some of them.
Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 1 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 2 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 3 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 4 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 5 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 6 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 7Can you see the ‘deer’ in the bushes? Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 8
I spoke with a few ladies enjoying the day and one pointed out that from a distance, three separate bushes lined up to the shape of a deer. This picture is a bit too close, but you can see the outline.
Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 9 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 10I like this one for some strange reason. Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 11 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 12 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 13 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 14 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 15 Ault Park Cincinnati, Ohio MSK 16
Last weekend I dropped in on some friends playing out. With camera in hand I caught a few minutes of “What’s Left” performing live. It reminded me how glad I am that I don’t play out any more. Performing for a live audience is fun and addictive but being my own roadie was killing me quickly! I always joked that we would play anywhere for free……. we just charge to move the equipment in and out!
This was just for fun and I appreciate the guys letting me point my camera at them for a while. I like their logo in the back.
I want to give you an idea of perspective on some of the articles I have posted and will continue to post going forward. This is the first video I have posted and while it is rather BORING, it is so informative at the same time. I guess I have recorded original tunes since the very late 1960’s. I recorded everything. I deleted a lot! But I recorded everything I could. I experimented and adjusted and re-did and failed a few more times than I succeeded in the early days to be sure! I also got into photography and then into video recording. I practiced the mundane over and over until I got the exposure right, then with video until I could zoom and focus manually. I joined the photography club in high school and learned to develop and enlarge my own pictures – something I thought was close to magic back in the day!
I shared earlier that I used (and still own!!!) what I think was the first personal computer to come out with built in MIDI ports – The Atari ST! I used a software program back then to record the MIDI tracks and I could generate SMPTE time code and send a signal from the Atari to sync it up with recording machines (I had the Yamaha 4 track CASSETTE recorder during most of this). When I talk about old technologies and how we used to record songs (or develop pictures…) It is hard for some to understand the challenges we had and the lo-fi quality of the final mix or product.
I want to use this video as an example of many things I refer to in this blog. In this video, you will see what I saw when looking at the Atari computer monitor when I was playing or recording tracks. Keep in mind this is all MIDI equipment available years ago. The song I posted earlier will now be stripped of all guitars, vocals, effects and additional live sounds you heard on the full mix. As you watch the video you will hear the sequences being played back live into the VCR input. I took the monitor video out and connected to video in of the video recorder so this is a straight feed for both. In the recording software, each “instrument” has a separate track. Drums are all on one track with additional percussion sounds on different tracks, and as a reminder, each note (as triggered from my DX7 keyboard) represented a different drum/percussion sound coming from a drum machine. You can hear the metronome from the Atari ticking away in the back ground as it is set to record. As each track plays you can see the musical notes light up depending on the intensity of the track information. You can also see the tempo of the song, the names of the tracks and the measures and beats as they click by.
The main piano sound is probably familiar to many of you even if you are quite young. It is the classic Piano Tine sound from the Yamaha DX7 synthesizers. This video should also give you a sense of quality and resolution available at the time. It might be difficult to hear the difference in song recording quality today, but we are all familiar with video resolution and HD cameras and large screen TV and computer standards available now. Just think how this applied to the audio quality back then and then play some really old songs you grew up listening to. It gives a better appreciation and perspective for some of the classic songs that seem to live forever.
MidiMike 