Iceweasel and Gnuzilla

Iceweasel and Gnuzilla, the trademark-restriction-free versions of a well-known browser and browser suite, are now in Debian unstable. Downloadable tarballs are here.

(From this post in debian, which is also where I ganked the cute picture. The icon came from the Wikipedia article.)

Tracks: "Guilty Pleasures"

Recorded a clean guitar track for "Guilty Pleasures", overcoming most of the sync problems by boosting the pseudo-click track that I recorded a week or so ago using a little wooden percussion instrument that I picked up in Guitar Showcase's consignment shop about a month ago. Kind of a cheater's version of spoons, but with not quite enough resonance.

The remaining problem is a timing oddity at the very start. I think it's because I made the scratch intro a beat or two shorter than I usually do, and can't quite wrap my head around it again.

I continue to be impressed by cadhla's recording-status posts, and the way she manages to juggle recording dates, co-conspirators, and other complexities with verve and creativity. My own to.do file pales by comparison, but then it's just for me rather than a whole widely-dispersed crew.

To do today:

• Test UA25 interface and Behringer mics with the Mac laptop.
• load up the Mac with my current state
• print a copy of the setlist
• print business cards with album pre-order information
• practice anything on the setlist that I haven't been actively working on
• pack

Song: "Ta(l)king Preorders"

So, I was just sitting here at the computer thinking about making a pre-preorder flier to hand out at Loscon, and this song just popped into my head. Sorry about that.

( lyrics behind cut )

Getting ready for Loscon

After spending much of Sunday afternoon trying unsuccessfully to get my DeMuDi laptop (Debian-derived, sort of Sarge-and-a-half) to recognize my new Edirol UA25 audio interface (ALSA recognized it but Audacity, which uses OSS, didn't), I tried it on the Mac laptop I "borrow" from work. Audacity hung -- this is not a good sign. Finally I downloaded the beta for Audacity 1.3, and it worked like a charm. OK.

I've loaded up the Mac with a fresh copy of my working set. Really need to automate that sometime -- it's just a bunch of cd and rsync commands.

My underwear, socks, and shirts are in the drier even as I type, the rolly has been packed, I've practiced the dicey songs from my concert set tomorrow, and I've printed pre-preorder fliers (see next post downwhen from here), my set pages, a clean new songbook, and business cards.

As of this morning I was seriously doubting that I'd be ready. Still need to sort the laundry, pack the suitcase, package up my meds (tomorrow), and pick CDs for the trip.

I love it when a plan comes together!