Gordon B. Hinckley - 15th President of the Church passes away...

President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints passes away at 97 years old in Salt Lake City, Utah.

KSL in Salt Lake City has a story at

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=2560294

I heard the news about 2 hours after it happened. Dad was talking to Andy and told me from the top of the stairs, and I came to the base of the stairs just shocked at the news.

President Hinckley has been the most amazing wonderful prophet in this dispensation. I know that I personally have had revelations as a result of counsel he has given that has changed my life. I will truly never forget the impact that this man has had on my life. He was truly God's mouthpiece and an honest, humble, servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be sure to pray for the family of the Prophet in this time of hardship. Love you all.

Orientation day last week on Saturday...and first day on Monday this week.

Wednesday January 23, 2008
8:45pm

I had orientation last week on Saturday and it went great!

I did a tour of each studio with a group of 4 other guys. First we went into Studio C which has an API 24-track console. Danny is playing around with a track that a student band had recorded some time before that. So we listened to him solo certain portions of the song (strings, acoustic guitar, vocals, etc.) and EQ it.



I then moved on to Studio A which has a NEVE VR-60 Console with Flying Faders and Total Recall

Here's a picture of Shannon doing his thing with a track he had pulled and had been working with from tape that morning.

We then went into Studio D which is the mastering, or ProTools studio. That's where all the mastering is and some MIDI- Audio production is done.

One nifty thing about the console inside studio D is that it, similar to studio A's NEVE console, has fader automation (or flying faders)

This is a little video of what the engineers like to call "Vegas mode". It is mainly for testing lights to make sure there aren't any lights out, and they really don't know of any other purpose for that button, than a really showy display of lights and fader movement. Here's the video...

We continued our tour on to Studio B which has an SSL 4048E/G Console with Total Recall. This studio is also similar to Studio A in that they both have Total Recall. Total Recall is a nifty little feature where you can set all the settings exactly as you want, and then save that to a disk, and take it to another studio that has a board with total recall, and it will set their board exactly as you had it on the board at the originating studio. It's really cool!



After studio B we went on to the MIDI-Lab where Larry works. He'll be teaching me the Audio Production Techniques class (APT) where I will learn how to sequence and construct my own music with a synthesizer and a number of different external sound engines. It's way cool. I'm really excited for that class. Anyway here's another couple pictures of the orientation day. (these are the last couple pictures I took during the orientation day- they're in the MIDI lab)




Anyway, I've got a lot of reading to do before my first class of the Career Development Program tomorrow. So I'll update again as soon as I can! I hope this gives you all a little taste of the environment I'll be in for the next 10 months! I love you all!

Truman...How's School?

I am expecting some fun pictures and a whole download of info...Lucas was recording with a guy and was thinking about you and how you are doing, so let's hear it!

Completely out of nowhere!

Thursday January 17, 2007
2:45pm

I took Mom and Dad to Reagan International Airport this morning at 5:45. We got there at like 6:15. I dropped them off and then headed for home. I got home by about 6:35 and went back to sleep.

2 and a half hours later . . .

I woke up, got up, showered, and then was in the office checking my email. Around 10 or 10:15, I was walking from the office to the kitchen for something. I glanced out the dining room window at the cars in the drive way...and ::gasp:: guess what I saw...

This reminds me of Narnia with the lamp post... hehe.

Soooo ya, we have like 3 inches of snow on the ground, and its stopped for the moment. I took some fun close-up pictures too! (you know me, I enjoy playing with my macro setting on my camera)

Anyway, I just thought I'd take a minute to show those fun pictures of the snow. I hope everyone's having a wonderful week! I'll update again with the first day of school as it comes around.

Update for the new year!

Saturday January 5, 2008

What a fabulous year it has been, this past 2007. I have many fond memories, but also many that I am happy to leave behind.

As some of you know I spent most of the holidays down in Williamsburg, VA with family. My parents own a timeshare down there, so we went down there on the 30th, and stayed through Wednesday the 2nd.


On our first day down there (Monday the 31) we went in to Williamsburg, running through the visitor's center to catch a bus so we could get there in time to hear George Washington give an address.


We wouldn't want to keep the president waiting now, would we?



After hearing him give his speech, we made our way around to the left of the stage where he was speaking, to a hedge maze where we quickly found ourselves lost in the greenery. It was a lot of fun running around and trying to find our way to the center. I took a little video and a couple pictures along the way...


Watch the entire video, the ending frame is the best part...lol.


I had fun taking pictures while we were wandering around the maze area after we found our way to the center. I have found that I enjoy taking close-up pictures of plant life, and such. I like the detail that can be captured with the macro setting on my camera...in pictures such as this:


or this..

Moss growing on the wall that lines the perimeter of the Governor's Gardens.

I took this cute picture of Michaela looking through some of the shrubbery...

The last picture I took that day before we got on the bus is I think my favorite picture that I took the entire time down there. I'll show you the one that I tried getting the first time, and then the one I finally got which turned out perfect!

This is the first one I tried taking earlier in the day...

(Notice how the focus is backwards, everything in the

back is in focus, and the seed itself is out of focus.)

But this, ooh yes, this is the one that turned out
just beautiful! I am very proud of it. *big smile*

I couldn't help but take this next picture.


I felt joy as I hit the shutter, knowing that I had just happened to be looking at that part of the Governor's Green at that moment. I captured the innocence in that little girl; so happy and blissful twirling in her colonial dress. It brought a smile to my face as I saw the moment unfold before me...

Soooo, there is more to the stay that we had (this is just day 1) but, I am going to post this for now, and then head to bed soon. I'll update the rest of the story soon!! Keep an eye out and an ear to the ground! Love you all!