So, I bought this new laptop…  A great deal…  Dual core, lots of memory, big LCD screen.  It was the display model, but the only one left, so we took it.  It looked brand new without even a fingerprint.We get the thing home and love it.  Unfortunately, the same day my wife discovers that the same model is being sold for $250 less at a competitor!  “Oh, no,” we said, but we ended-up being able to match the price and all was well.

And they all lived happily ever after…  NOPE!

Huh?  Yeah, you read right…  Eating itself.  In fact I would describe it as a growing ink blot.  First a pixel or two, then 50, then thousands!  I had never seen anything like it.  Don’t worry though, because that superhero called Mr. Warranty was still protecting us, if not the store post 14 days.  I looked up HP’s generous pixel policy and decided that there would be no problem getting it serviced.  Then I discovered that my wife had lost the receipt and that the store only keeps receipt records for two weeks (sounds like bull to me).   :’( …But then my wife miraculously found the receipt in the back of our stroller.  Duh, I mean that’s where everything we can’t find ends up.  Once, I couldn’t find one of my kids…  Guess where they were…  Just kidding…  Turns out HP didn’t even need the receipt anyway!!!   Shoot, HP even sent me a shipping box free of charge.  Their customer service was top-notch….

Apparently there was some sort of internal crack in the LCD screen that was gradually exposing pixels to oxygen, which is what makes them turn inky-black.  I can’t possibly see how this was anything but an obvious manufacturing defect, but they refused to service it none-the-less… That is, unless I was going to fork over $430!  Aaaaah, HP, I hate to tell you this, but I bought the thing for $500…  Oh, and I’d rather hack off the LCD screen and just plug in an external monitor than pay you $430 to fix a manufacturer’s defect that should be covered under warranty.

I decided to call the store, even though 2 months have elapsed, and very calmly and politely explained the situation asking “if there was any recourse.”  To my surprise and delight, the store has agreed to replace the computer with an equivalent model!  Wow, what a relief….

Wait for it….   My wife lost the receipt again!  Unfortunately, it is nowhere to be found this time.  Personally, I think one of the kids ate it.

So, in a day or two, when we get our laptop back, I guess we are going to hope that a credit card purchase statement will be good enough for the store to go ahead and still replace the model.  Otherwise, I’ll be stopping by Lowe’s soon to pick up a hatchet and maybe Best Buy for a cheap monitor.  I don’t even know if there is an appropriate emoticon for that…

Posted via email from Music Tech Talk on Posterous

Generally speaking, it is probably a little lame to blog about something someone else just posted on Facebook…  But the thing is, this is so amazing that there are other people out there who are not on my Facebook account that might be interested to see this.  Anyway, I’m not a violinist (unless you count when I was 5) nor have I ever played or wanted to play the accordion…  Unless I could play like this guy.  Clearly, he is a virtuoso, as this is the first time that I have listed to an accordion and didn’t think about beers and Polkas.  What amazes me about his performances are a few things:

1.  Musicality – It would have been cool enough to pull off at all, but the quality of music he is producing is really first rate…  For any instrument.

2.  Sound Quality – I guess I never realized that an accordion could sound so good…  I mean it has an orchestral “feel” to it.  You even get a good violin solo impression juxtaposed with an orchestral-like accompaniment.  I don’t know if that’s just the way he plays it or what.

3.  Age – Lets face it, most musicians who are remembered as great prodigies didn’t wait until they were adults to be discovered.  While watching kids do things you couldn’t possibly dream of doing even if you spent an entire lifetime trying can be a little discouraging, it is still awesome.  I’d love to see this live.

FYI, for those of you who have made it here on other services that may not have posted the video correctly, it should be posted correctly on my main blog.

It looks like there are several other videos on YouTube out there.  Oh, and thanks, Bill, for bringing this to our attention.

Posted via email from Music Tech Talk on Posterous

Also, I should note that Posterous posted these videos correctly to my Wordpress account, even though I only used links (not embedded code) to the videos!

Well, we made it.  Though the temperature in the balcony soared and a lot of us were losing our voices toward the end, it was a successful presentation.  All the performances were well attended, and we even had to make a couple extra rows for some of them.  I tried watching my daughter in her scene while we sang the final Hallelujah Chorus.  Unfortunately, I got a little lost, so I hope it wasn’t too obvious to anyone.  Overall, I think the choir, actors and everyone involved did an excellent job.  We were happy to hear that many people felt this was one of the best performances of the Gallery, because they sensed a genuine “passion with which we were singing.”

We had a visitor from Atlanta that really didn’t know what to expect from a “Gallery of Living Art.”  Later she said that she really began to understand what it was all about during the performance and was even moved to tears.  I think I experienced a little of this when I saw the Gallery for the first time last year.  The music and the scenes seem to bring the audience closer to the events described in the Bible, making it more tangible and real.  Just to know a story or believe a thing does not always make it understood, mentally or emotionally.  It’s kinda like hearing all the stories about the earthquake disaster in Haiti.  Every knows about it.  People may even feel a bit sad about it…  But a lot of it just seems like news.  Now imagine a play about these events depicted in the same way as the Gallery of Living Art.  Suddenly you realize…  These aren’t just words or stories….  These were real events involving real people experiencing real emotions.  Any event that you did not personally experience will not have the same meaning or impact until it is put into its proper context.  Setting scenes/events in a performance such as the Gallery puts events into a context that everyone can understand.

On a funny note, our choir director shared with us a quote that we all found rather amusing.  Someone in the audience approached her and said,

Posted via email from Music Tech Talk on Posterous

We are very blessed to be a part of the Gallery this year.  Last year, we were part of the audience and thought it was amazing.  It is difficult to describe, but seeing the still art reproduced in exacting detail by real people and hearing the choir sing and instruments play from the balcony…  Well, it immerses the audience in one of the most unique Passion Plays one can experience.  Adding a true, life-sized 3rd dimension to the “paintings” is quite stunning.

Laura and I are alternating performances (in the choir), and we are particularly pleased that our daughter gets to make her debut as an angel in the last scene.  While a little nervous with the prospect of performing in front of such a large audience, she is even more excited about having the opportunity play the part.   I won’t get to see her until tomorrow, but I know she will do a great job.  One other cool (and very humbling) thing this year is that we are performing a piece I wrote last winter called Joseph, Look and See. While it was originally written for a friend in Omaha, this will actually be its premier performance.

So, I am never sure whether to refer to the Gallery as a performance, presentation or service…  To me, it seems like a good balance between the three, making it “something even non-religious types can appreciate.”  No matter what your background, if you have a healthy appreciation for life, art and music, you will enjoy the 2010 presentation of the Gallery of Living Art.

Posted via email from Music Tech Talk on Posterous

I’ll be honest… I don’t think this picture was actually taken out of a window, but it is very similar to the views that we did have from our hotel. Either way, it is a breathtaking view. Colorado Springs is beautiful and certainly not without award-winning mountain vistas, but there is just something special about Austria.

FYI, I removed our friend’s image from the photo, just in case he doesn’t want it posted for the world to see. I did, however, keep his awesome hair.

From The Archives – Euro Tour 1996:  Post IV

Posted via email from Music Tech Talk on Posterous