The problem today is copying DVDs. The manner it is done means the computer must, unlike most applications such as word processing, run steadily in perfect form for up to as long as it takes. A single glitch, even as fleeting as printing a label or the anti-virus update kicking in, and the entire copy process is ruined. The blank disk is also wrecked, of course waiting until the very end of the hour to inform you, so as to waste your time as well. (These computers are top of the line, custom tweaked to work with video.)At the shop I did a quick survey to find if others had searched for booklet printing software. Yes, and their results were the same as mine. There is nothing decent out there. Even the few software outfits that knew what was needed were very clear that they refuse to put such a product on the market. Again, the spec is for a simple piece of software that takes anything you word process and prints it out so you can fold it over and make a booklet. Everything available is “page publishing”, a system that makes sure that every print job becomes a major project.
Same deal with the drum box suggested by Guitar Center. It is a complex maze of buttons and settings, none of which are directly useful for stage work. Unless you opt for one of the semi-useless built-in beats, you have to be a technician familiar with loops, decays, attacks, generally all the nonsense you set out to avoid by getting a drum box. In both cases (booklets and drums), I slap myself for not keeping up with my programming, but hey, it was one career or the other and my choice was right at that time.
The drum box quest reveals something else irritating about “modern” musicians. They can’t think much. That is, they cannot conceive of a drum box that you don’t have to fiddle with. I clearly explained to the Guitar Center dude that I was not looking for a programmable machine, rather one that already contained hundreds of rock and country beats. He swore the Groove Agent did, when in fact it had just four. Obviously the average musician around here is too narrow-minded to conceive of anything beyond their own recording studio fantasies which I’ll bet you fifty bucks will never go anywhere in the next five years.
Which brings me to thinking about the logical question: if I can’t find the software I need, why don’t I write it? Actually, that is an example of a dumb question (if you can’t find the blog you like, why don’t you write it?). The strange part is I do know how to program, but I don’t know how to tie it all together and make it work on a PC. My programming was done on a mainframe. I’ve got two bookshelves of programming books, none of which teach what I need, and in years of asking, I can’t find anyone who will give me an honest answer where they learned it all. Time for another close look, I’d say.
Okay, who recalls the “instant tenements”, that condo project on the southwest corner of Dixie and Hollywood? The very same units that were supposed to flip for a million each are now “starting at $105,000. I’ll see if I can get a jpeg of that sign. That’s a quarter of the original asking price, if I recall. Let me count on my fingers. They wanted 10% down for a “preconstruction” unit, or $41,500. Somebody is getting desperate. Folks, just wait another year. Tell you what, give me $50,000 and I’ll take one off your hands. The slum that hype built along the railway tracks and now you know why I like to watch it so. Typifies things if you ask me. Stick around, I promise you a photo soon.
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