Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Yes, but who's your photographer?
My friend Peter Fish's monthly Western Wanderings offering in the November 2006 of Sunset magazine (arriving in your mailboxes about now) talks about the true father of California wine, Agoston Haraszthy. Peter does his ususal wonderful job of illuminating a little known bit of Western history or geography in the article, which is accompanied by a picture of the author standing in a vineyard in front of Haraszthy's Sonoma home (which was modeled on a Pompeiian village). I snapped the photo when Peter and I did a day trip to Sonoma on August 16. The trip also included a visit to a number of wineries for a Sunset book that Peter is co-authoring with Sunset wine editor Sara Schneider, and a visit to the new Petit Maisons run by the girl & the fig. Where's my photo credit, Peter?
(When the article's live online, I'll link to it.)
(When the article's live online, I'll link to it.)
Friday, October 13, 2006
Brian Copeland's "Not a Genuine Black Man"
My friend Alan Phinney and I attended Brian Copeland's one-man show, "Not a Genuine Black Man," at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco last week. I can't stop thinking about the show.
To summarize very briefly, it's the story of a black kid growing up in a racist neighborhood. Nothing new there, you might think.
But there's this: Brian Copland is my age, and he grew up five miles from me.
That's why the show (and the book, which I'm in the middle of) affected me so. It's strange and amazing and sad to think that this was going on so close in time and space to my life. I think of hard-core bigotry as being something from the deep South in the 50s -- safely removed from my suburban California upbringing. Not so.
I'm embarrassed that I was oblivious to the fact that this went on.
There are places in the show that I recognize. He talks about Washington Manor (where my mom now lives), St. Felicitas Church (been to funerals there), and the IHOP in downtown Hayward. In the book he describes but doesn't name a busy restaurant in the Hayward/San Leandro area that is, I suspect, Banchero's. (Those of you who know me REALLY well know the connection there.)
There are moments in the show that struck home in other ways, too. Copeland's a fellow Trekkie (not a poison word, in my opinion). He, too, was a Boy Scout -- and he talks about hoping to go to Lake Chabot for his Fishing Merit Badge. (His story ends badly, with the white counselor signing off on his badge without asking him to complete any of the requirements.) He talks about his struggles with depression over things that are beyond his control -- another familiar topic.
The show's been held over until the end of November 2006. (Held over for the umpteenth time -- it's now the longest-running one-man show in San Francisco history. We saw the 360th performance.) I encourage everyone to see it. If you can't, get the book. And look for a TV show based on Copeland's material, produced by Rob Reiner, which is in development.
It's a messy slice of our local life that we'd rather ignore, but that we can't afford to.
To summarize very briefly, it's the story of a black kid growing up in a racist neighborhood. Nothing new there, you might think.
But there's this: Brian Copland is my age, and he grew up five miles from me.
That's why the show (and the book, which I'm in the middle of) affected me so. It's strange and amazing and sad to think that this was going on so close in time and space to my life. I think of hard-core bigotry as being something from the deep South in the 50s -- safely removed from my suburban California upbringing. Not so.
I'm embarrassed that I was oblivious to the fact that this went on.
There are places in the show that I recognize. He talks about Washington Manor (where my mom now lives), St. Felicitas Church (been to funerals there), and the IHOP in downtown Hayward. In the book he describes but doesn't name a busy restaurant in the Hayward/San Leandro area that is, I suspect, Banchero's. (Those of you who know me REALLY well know the connection there.)
There are moments in the show that struck home in other ways, too. Copeland's a fellow Trekkie (not a poison word, in my opinion). He, too, was a Boy Scout -- and he talks about hoping to go to Lake Chabot for his Fishing Merit Badge. (His story ends badly, with the white counselor signing off on his badge without asking him to complete any of the requirements.) He talks about his struggles with depression over things that are beyond his control -- another familiar topic.
The show's been held over until the end of November 2006. (Held over for the umpteenth time -- it's now the longest-running one-man show in San Francisco history. We saw the 360th performance.) I encourage everyone to see it. If you can't, get the book. And look for a TV show based on Copeland's material, produced by Rob Reiner, which is in development.
It's a messy slice of our local life that we'd rather ignore, but that we can't afford to.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Horrible Transporter Malfunction
Captain, the Heisenberg Compensators must be out of whack.
Photographed with a Palm Zire 72 at the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament display at Longs Drugs in Castro Valley.
Photographed with a Palm Zire 72 at the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament display at Longs Drugs in Castro Valley.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Foot-pedal Transcription using the Mac
I did my first long (20+ minutes) transcription today, so it seems appropriate to write about the software/hardware combination I'm using.
To recap, briefly: I'm recording phone conversations onto my Mac using a variety of inexpensive parts from Radio Shack and a Griffin iMic. The resulting file is Quicktime audio (a .mov file).
To handle hands-free playback (so I can transcribe as I control playback), I looked for a foot-peal controller for the Quicktime player. There aren't a lot of options out there, but fortunately the one I chose seems solid: the pedal unit is from VPedal, a mysterious company (there's no "about us" link on their site) that makes a good-quality foot pedal with a USB connector. The VPedal cost about $75 (shipped; the usual price is $75 + $15 shipping, but I caught a sale).
The software, a free download called VPedal Omni, controls Quicktime playback. The software works exactly as advertised, and I really like all the aspects of playback it can control -- not just the playback speed and length of rewind when you take your foot off the pedal, but also the fast forward and rewind speeds. The only bad thing I can say about this software is that it has the absolute ugliest dock icon imaginable.
One other quibble, if not a complaint: I plug the VPedal into a cheapo Targus USB hub -- one that has a flashing LED on the USB port when it's in use. When the VPedal is plugged in -- even when it's inactive -- its port is flashing. For that reason, I've taken to unplugging the VPedal and setting it aside when not in use. That's probably a good strategy anyway, just to keep it off the floor and out of the way.
I found transcribing from a digital file to be a little bit different than working with tape. Faster play does not add a chipmunk effect to the tone; because of that, fast-forward can sort of be understood, so getting through pleasantries and embarrassing ramblings by yours truly -- which don't need transcription -- should be easier and faster. (Rewind is still unintelligible.) I'm looking forward to doing more transcription with the new setup.
To recap, briefly: I'm recording phone conversations onto my Mac using a variety of inexpensive parts from Radio Shack and a Griffin iMic. The resulting file is Quicktime audio (a .mov file).
To handle hands-free playback (so I can transcribe as I control playback), I looked for a foot-peal controller for the Quicktime player. There aren't a lot of options out there, but fortunately the one I chose seems solid: the pedal unit is from VPedal, a mysterious company (there's no "about us" link on their site) that makes a good-quality foot pedal with a USB connector. The VPedal cost about $75 (shipped; the usual price is $75 + $15 shipping, but I caught a sale).
The software, a free download called VPedal Omni, controls Quicktime playback. The software works exactly as advertised, and I really like all the aspects of playback it can control -- not just the playback speed and length of rewind when you take your foot off the pedal, but also the fast forward and rewind speeds. The only bad thing I can say about this software is that it has the absolute ugliest dock icon imaginable.
One other quibble, if not a complaint: I plug the VPedal into a cheapo Targus USB hub -- one that has a flashing LED on the USB port when it's in use. When the VPedal is plugged in -- even when it's inactive -- its port is flashing. For that reason, I've taken to unplugging the VPedal and setting it aside when not in use. That's probably a good strategy anyway, just to keep it off the floor and out of the way.
I found transcribing from a digital file to be a little bit different than working with tape. Faster play does not add a chipmunk effect to the tone; because of that, fast-forward can sort of be understood, so getting through pleasantries and embarrassing ramblings by yours truly -- which don't need transcription -- should be easier and faster. (Rewind is still unintelligible.) I'm looking forward to doing more transcription with the new setup.
