November 15, 2004 - 11:24 AM

Spendthrift and Spend Swift

I had been doing so good with my money. Very fiscally responsible. And then I began to let this whole "steady paycheck" thing go to my head. I was become drunk with money in the bank (and this was money in the checking AND the savings account). But then the little things started adding up. And the bigger things. And now I just splurged on myself.

This past Friday, I finally, FINALLY pulled the trigger and bought a really nice microphone and the attendant accessories. I'd been planning to buy a microphone for several years, with the seriousness of my quest bumped up a few notches 2 years ago when I bought my Mac G4 for the sole use of recording music. Of course, I didn't actually have any software for the computer or the appropriate hardware to record anything until 1 year ago, when I bought the Pro Tools Digi 002 recording package. I was able to take it in to work at the studio, or do some minimal stuff at home on it, but I wasn't able to record anything at home without a microphone. I waited, and waited, and saved money.

In the meantime, LDBL and Mer asked me to provide some cello music for the cocktail hour before the reception at their wedding next year, and they wanted some stuff that would require an ensemble, so I offered to arrange the songs for all cellos, then to record all the cello parts except for the main melody, and play the mix of cello off a CD while playing the melody live. This provided the perfect excuse to get a microphone, so that I could diddle around on the cello at home, working out the parts without any time constraints.

So after work, I picked up my cello and stopped by the Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks to test out some microphones. An hour later, I had settled on the Groove Tubes GT-67, a very nice, medium expensive Tube microphone. Listing at $999, their actual retail price is $499, and the sales person knocked it down to $474 because I also had to buy a microphone stand, a cable, and some good studio headphones which bumped everything up just north of $700.

To just plunk down that much money in one shot was such a shock to the system that I still can't get over it. I haven't even tested the mic out in my apartment. I've just pulled it out of the box, petted it a few times, and then put it back. So shiny. So purty. I hope that I'll be able to get some good use out of it, maybe even setting up a little "home studio" where I can bring people in to record vocals or guitars or something. Of course, I'd have to do some sound-proofing to the room, which would cost more money. Argh.

For now, though, the microphone's a perfectly proper investement. Perfectly extravagant, too. With the holidays coming up, I've got even more expenditures waiting for gifts (but not on plane tickets home for Christmas because the family is all converging on Las Vegas for that, and I'll just be driving there); and I also have to look for car insurance now that my policy through my parents is all used up. Why'd I have to go and get cable and the sweet, sweet cable modem two months ago? WHY?!

**********
Good weekend for me. Dropped by Yankee Doodles on the 3rd Street Promenade Saturday morning to watch the Amherst/Williams football game. The Amherst contingent was woefully smaller than the Williams horde, but we got to lord it over them when our Lord Jeffs smote their Ephs by a score of something to something. I don't remember. I was busy trying to not die from consuming a huge breakfast (pancakes, toast, eggs, sausage, hash browns) and an even huger 34 oz. beer. I rolled out of the bar with Flori and a Lady Jeff named Micaela around 12:30, and we took to perambulating about the open-air gallery, doing a little window-shopping along the way.

We wiled away a few hours and then caught a 2:30 showing of I Heart Huckabees which was directed by an Amherst graduate. Excellent movie...I liked it more than his previous movies (Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings), probably because it didn't make me squirm in my seat. And also because it was funny and absurd and pompous and gratifying...very much in the vein of a Wes (Royal Tennenbaums) Anderson movie , a happier Paul (Magnolia) Anderson movie, or a more-grounaded-in-reality Charlie (Eternal Sunshine) Kauffman script.

That night was spent with the Usual Suspects where we had savory fajitas and watched They Live, a classic campy sci-fi/horror flick from the late 80's starring Rowdy Roddy Piper and Keith David. The movie is (in)famous for two things: Roddy entering a bank, shotgun in hand, and uttering the immortal lines "I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum"; and the longest action sequence of the movie, a brutal hand-to-hand fight between Roddy and Keith over Keith's refusal to put on a pair of sunglasses.

If you watch this movie, you will be as confused as I was the first time I watched it. Confused at how such an awesome movie could ever be made!

Sunday night, Tony, The Wondrous One, Eddie, and I went to a jazz bar called Cinegrill on Hollywood to see Susan Werner do her chanteusy thing. It was a pretty expensive night ($30 tickets, $12 appetizers), and a bit disappointg because her set was shorter than usual, and the sound was atrocious. I talked with her road manager, the incomparable Jane Paul, about it, and the look on her face was priceless. She wanted to kill the soundman during the show, but resorted to martinis and copious constitutionals outside of the showroom to stay sane. Apparently, he had all the microphones running through some processing gear that chopped off all the low end and squashed the high frequencies so that we were assaulted with piercing bursts of mid-range sounds, and he refused to change anything.

At least it wasn't so distracting as to keep Susan from winning over new fans, including Eddie. My hope is that she returns to the aural comfort of McCabe's Guitar Shop the next time she swings through L.A.; then, Eddie can experience a real Susie Werner show.

Now Listening To: Carina Round - Disconnection

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Random Thought : You're a funny fella. *sniff sniff* What's your name? doink doink doink

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