From Jack To Mac: A song is born

Having just emerged from my self-imposed cocoon of composition, it's now time to confess yet another addiction I have appeared to pick up in the world of technology. I've just submitted my first ever youtube clip - I've been on before, but never uploaded myself (that sounds so Matrix...)

So here it is, the youtube clip: installation, composition and production from the point of arrival at my doorstep. The chaps at Absolute Music were as good as their word, and happily the Mac Pro arrived with Logic 8 Studio fully installed, and the sound card already configured. Some might wonder where the challenge was, and I say it's enough to know how to do it, and much more satisfying to just get down and write -what a pleasure that was!



(Rss Viewers/Can't see the Vid? please click here for the link)

I made this by taking photos at every stage of installation, from opening the boxes yesterday right up to the upload a few hours ago - one of the most revealing pics is the look on my face just before I open up twitter on the browser to blog the instant happiness I felt at that point - you can see the complete contentment I'm feeling at having a system I've pretty much dreamt about for many moons. I only slept 4 hours last night, dreaming of Mac.

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My last system, although state-of-the-art in 2002, was just not fast enough - the tech got in the way of composition, and the computer couldn't keep up with the kind of processing power demanded of it. It's so wonderful to be able to play with this every day - after some difficult times in the last few years, I can't begin to describe how it feels to realize such a dream that felt so far away for so long.

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Or, as I put it [much more concisely] on twitter, "Woohoo!"

Oooooh! Mac Pro in Transit!!

"Pimp My Mac" update:
I just found out how heavy the system I've ordered is...

Mac Pro : 30kg
Mac Screen: 25kg
Fireface 800 Soundcard: 3kg
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...this thing weighs more than I do!! It's a monster!
Tomorrow is M-Day. I can't wait.

Thanks to icanhascheezburger.com for the lolcat above, and thatcanadiangirl for introducing me to lolcats in the first place... it turns out that cats (and other animals/children) can actually caption their own pics, although the spelling/grammar is generally a bit off (because cats etc don't normally type?) Anyhow, it's an incredibly amusing site. I have wasted an entertaining amount of time here and humbly warn you of the dangers of clicking through and voting on each of these pictures; you may notice huge swathes of your day disappearing.

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I also got my moo cards today which I'll be taking with me to various events and occasions... I might take a pic of them and post them up here when the mac fever dies down somewhat...

Snow Day in April

Sometimes the unexpected happens - take this morning, for example - on opening the window, the view that greeted me was like a picture postcard from somewhere much more expensive than East London.

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There is something so cleansing about urban snow, I'm not sure what - perhaps it's the acoustic effect of laying a blanket of absorbent material across normally loud and jarring city noises, or the mental concept of the world looking soft and fresh and ready to reboot - all I know is that the feeling I got from this scene was unfamiliar to me. I felt... tranquil.

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I did my stint on TV yesterday, just before the snow started. In between shows, I had a nice big plate of Chinese food with one of the camera operators, then a lovely cup of tea with Keeley from Elemis in the QVC cafe. We talked about the new social media aspect of the Internet and managing your online reputation.

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Tonight I watched the last episode of Torchwood season 2. Don't worry, no spoilers. Blimey though, what a finale, can't wait for the next season... makes what I get up to on TV rather tame...

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And so, to this week - with great unexpected joy, it seems that my diary is gloriously, wonderfully, deliciously empty apart from a mad dash round London town on Wednesday. I can't wait - it's the perfect week to get some admin sorted while chugging through Season 3 of DS9 (for my sins - Star Trek keeps me in one place while I enter stuff into MS Money, and as I didn't see them all first time round, it's all I have). I'll also try and get some gadgety video stuff filmed for internet release as well (watch this space), but - most unexpectedly of all - I might just attempt this thing called "tranquility" before the frenzied madness kicks back in. Wish me luck.

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"Pimp My Mac" Update: Proper obsessives modding their Mac computers: witness a golden mac, a demon mac, and some serious paint jobs, I'm excited now, counting the days in an almost disproportionate manner.

Geek Chic: Dream Machine on its way!

Happy Days! I have ordered a seriously ridiculous music studio which is currently in the post - it's been a good few years since I've upgraded my then-state-of-the-art steam- and pedal-powered music computer, so I can't wait for my Mac Pro, stuffed with Logic 8 to play with. I'm going to be in a pleasurable compositional vortex once this baby arrives, so it's now a race to get everything else sorted in advance of my delivery! My first system was at the time, a top specced PC system, however my friend and LBC Radio host Anthony Davis would be delighted to see I've gone over to the dark side.

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I must confess, it seems like I should have bitten the bullet a long time ago and bought my dream system, but I think part of it is having enough faith to put your money where your mouse is, which is what I've just done - incredibly frightening, but necessary. Thinking about it, the other part of it was not spending on anything frivolous for a year to save up enough dosh. I'll keep you posted on the spec, as the nice people at absolute music in the UK are hopefully taking pics of the machine as they are customising it, so I can post the piccies here.