Capturing the Sounds of Ireland...and Maybe Bono's Pot of Gold

Many know I'm a fan of the Inside Home Recording (IHR) podcast. It's for people who like to record the sounds of stuff. I like capturing moments, so naturally, home recording is interesting to me.

A few weeks ago, I wrote to Derek and Paul at IHR asking them for the best method for recording music in the pubs in Ireland. I hear the pub music is rad, and gerg and I thought it would be cool to bring some home with us.

Maybe I can even record an interview with Bono! Think I can bribe him with smiles...and killer dance moves?












Our hope was that we could record bits and pieces from our upcoming trip and create a soundtrack from our trip. Not only would we have photos, but we'd have sound bytes as well, to keep the memories as potent as the whiskey. *hiccup*

On their latest podcast, Paul and Derek responded to my letter. Click here to listen to the entire podcast and their response to my question. I was about to get sassy cuz Derek assumed I was a "he" on the podcast, but quickly corrected himself and said "or she, I guess." Also, since I've been called Reetsyburger my whole life, I was surprised to hear his fugged pronounciation of my nickname. It is a strange name, I guess.

As for their recommendations, personally, I liked the Belkin Tunetalk option. It's definitely the most cost-effective option for it's size. However, it didn't work with either of our iPods. DRAT.

Here's their written response to my question "How can I record pub music in Ireland?":

"Very difficult, unless you can get permission from the venues you
attend to plug into their mixing board (if they have one).

If you don't mind the background noise (which gives you a good live
vibe), a portable recorder like the Zoom H4, Edirol R09, M-Audio
MicroTrack, or an iPod with a recorder like the Belkin one I reviewed
last fall -- the built-in mics will capture a lot of background noise,
but will give good stereo images (the links below go through our
affiliate programs, so if you buy through them we get a small
percentage):

You can also plug cables into them if you do get permission from the
venue to go straight from the board. If you're using the built-in
mics, you can get close to the stage so you can get a good balance of
sounds. (Incidentally, using a video iPod with the recorders' built-in
mics tends to pick up hard disk noise -- remote mics or a flash-based
iPod nano might do a better job.)

If you don't mind more gear, you can bring two more-directional mics
to plug into your portable recorder (the H4 works best for that, since
it has XLR connectors), but you'll need to be more precise in how you
position them.

Regardless, to get the best sound you'll probably need to be obvious
enough that you'll have to get permission from the artist and/or venue
to record what they're doing. If you don't mind somewhat poorer sound,
you can probably be more hidden about it.

And make sure you either have fully charged batteries or access to a
power plug -- and an appropriate power adapter for Irish 220V sockets."

Derek K. Miller

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As luck would have it, good ol' Lodahl has a mini-disk recorder, and is letting us borrow it for the trip. We want to wait to buy our own digital recorder until the Zoom H2 is available.

So with the mini disk recorder, and some Irish luck, we'll be coming home with music, and hopefully some interviews.

Thanks Lodahl!

Is Razor Burn Bad Karma?

YUCKY.

I tried to take a pic, but luckily it didn't turn out, so you'll just have to trust me when I say I've got some wikked awful razor burn on my calves and just above my knees. YUCK.

It isn't as bad today, since the weather is cooler, but yesterday it was fierce. Ew.

I think the surprising warm weather this weekend combined with shaving too quickly did me in. Or bad karma for telling scarlet she was "too picky" this weekend.

I'm going on vacation tomorrow and these legs DON'T look or feel like vacationing gams.

I'm gonna try aloe tonight and see what happens.

The good news is that I won't be bare legged much over the next few days, since Ireland isn't known for warm weather. Still, you know...razor burn...gross!

Did you know that Muslim men and women are required by the Sunnah to shave their pubic hair and armpits? I didn't know that, until today.

Passing Stones

I passed a milestone today.
I passed my stats class. *whew*

Some stones are painful to pass. I have a friend who passes kidney stones regularly, and apparently it's painful. I heard gall stones are pretty f-ing terrible too when they start to move.

Well, to me passing stats is a milestone....one that was QUITE painful to pass.

With Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis in Public Administration under my belt (or skirt), I am closer to my master's degree, and I can now enjoy my vacation feeling like I've earned it.

Kenneth J. Meier, Jeffrey L. Brudney, and John Bohte can kindly excuse themselves from my nightmares now.

Shhh....We Have a Quiet Partner

We've got a new partner for our house, a QUIET partner.

We found our new partner in Linden Hills this past weekend. You know how sometimes you just get lucky, and a deal is made?....well, gerg's Irish lucky led us to our new arrangement. Our moms should be proud. We've really stepped it up. La de dah!!

So we remain the major operations managers for the house, and our quiet partner lurks in the shadows with a robot for a companion.

You can learn more about our Quiet Partner here.

I Fixed it With Tape

scarlet was in town this weekend, which turned out to be a whirlwind of driving around to shops. scarlet wanted to shop.

But first, I insisted on partying. Spent Friday night in North East Art-A-Whirling. Hit the Minnesota Center for Photography's juried member show, Photocentric, and I saw one photograph that totally captivated me by Aron Gent called Guest Bathroom.

Followed that with cocktails at 331 and the Peacock Lounge.
















Then off for more art and good times at the vita.min party at casket arts. A bunch of people attended. I spotted Steven Brown and alexis at the party. I also spotted that bartender in the purple shirt, who had the same matt and nat wallet that I have!


We stood near the bar area and drank free Schell's.










We looked at art.












































I met these people, apparently, and promised them I'd put their pic on my blog.
























We hosted an afterbar at our place. scarlet passed out with adorableness.










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Saturday morning came too early, as we hit the sales in Linden Hills. gerg scored a like-new dishwasher from a family that had just remodeled. I found some gignatic pink sunglasses to rokk for the show on Saturday night.

Dressed in a hurry to hit the Dallas Orbiter show at the Heliotrope Festival cuz we lolly-gagged too long at the shops that afternoon. Naturally, I ended up ripping my new eyelet dress right before we went out, but I quick-fixed it with packing tape. We met the band at the Modern before the show. They raved about the pot roast. scarlet said her chevre appetizer had "too much flavor"...I have no idea what that means.

ROKK! The new Dallas Orbiter songs sounded RAD.











also, gerg was dead sexy.




























Sometime during the night, it went from like 80 degrees to 40. That was totally lame. We were cold. The band came back to our place to unload their gear, and we ended up partying at our house again. scarlet passed out adorably again. I remembered how much I love the Billy Nayer Show.

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Finally, on Sunday, scarlet had her nachos, thanks to IIII's recommendation. We headed to the North East Bulldog and met up with IIII.

Obviously, I didn't shower that morning, as I was still rokking the faded handstamps from the night before from Heliotrope and another brief visit to 331.





scarlet. eats. nachos.














gerg and I also dominated IIII and scarlet at shuffleboard.

The champions!!!















check out our pics from Art A Whirl and Heliotrope by clicking here.

Help me Readers! Help, Help me Readers!

Reetsyburger's Readers, I need your help.

Scarlet is coming to town this weekend. It rules when she comes, and it sukks when she leaves. I want Scarlet to move here, even if kitty will scratch my eyes out for trying. Kitty should just move here too. Then we could triple threat up and down the main drags.

Scarlet














Scarlet's happiness: vintage dresses and lipstick, rock shows, nachos.

Vintage dresses and lipstick ain't a problem. I know a few boss shops. I might take her to Cliche or gh2, to show her other options around here. Depends on where we go Art-A-Whirling. I know she'll find something she can't live without.

I've got the rock show for the weekend under wraps. Scarlet adores Dallas Orbiter, and they're playing the Heliotrope Festival this weekend. Dallas Orbiter goes on at 9pm on Saturday; an $8 cover and a whole night of bands sounds rokk-tastic. I know for a fact they're rokking a new set list of badass uncategorizable spacey pop tunes. They did a tribute to Raymond Scott at the Heliotrope Festival last year, and I held hands with the drummer afterwards, which was wikked hot. *wink*

Dallas Orbiter rokking Heliotrope last year.












NACHOS. Here's where I need your help, Twin Cities. Where do I take Scarlet for the best nachos in the Twin Cities? I've had Herkimer's nachos, but I usually make my own, since Alton Brown showed me how. Tell me where to take Scarlet for nachos. Please!?!

BRATSYBURGER: New Menu at the Town Talk

On Tuesday, the ladies (Bobbi, Diddy, Cassie, and I) headed to Town Talk Diner for libations and to check out the brat burger rumor. It's no secret I'm a fan of Town Talk Diner. They're in my neighborhood, they have a great staff, and they have a committment to local and organic foods, which I appreciate.

The ladies sipped wine and beer. I ordered a 40oz of Schlitz Malt Liquor.

We were amped that the Town Talk released their new menu last night. It's official; there is a brat burger on the menu.

I asked the boys if I could slap the menu on my blog, since it prolly won't be up on their site for a couple more days. They gave me the green light.

So here it is - the new Town Talk Menu!

Some oldies and some newbies. I'm looking forward to the vegetable terrine, the revised chopped salad, the risotto, and the strawberry-rhubarb crisp.

(click on the image to see a larger version)

Suzy Tagged Me

I've been 'tagged' by my friend Suzy to do '5 things'. Suzy loves me so much that she wants MORE REETSY.
The rules are as follows:
1. someone tags you,
2. you post five things about yourself that you haven’t already mentioned on your blog,
3. you tag people you’d like to know more about.

Five things about myself that I haven't mentioned on my blog?

1.) In 1984, I made up a Pogo Ball/jump rope routine to Madonna's "Lucky Star".
I was 7. I loved my Pogo Ball. It was yellow and black with tiger stripes. I've always followed Madonna. I won't say she makes great music, but she and I click.

2.) For several years as a kid, my bedroom was in the attic, and I used to imagine that Anne Frank and I would have been friends, based on this fact. I climbed a ladder to my "room", so if I had to pee at night, I had to climb down the ladder and run down the staircase to the first floor.

3.) I dig laundry chutes. Every house with a laundry area in the basement should have a laundry chute. My grandma's house had a gaint laundry chute. My cousins and siblings and I would jump down the laundry chute when we visited...until we got caught.

4.) Rhubarb is awesome. I will eat it raw, cooked, sweetened, unsweetened, warm, cold.

5.) I love The Peanuts. When I was a kid, I read Peanuts digest books without limit. At least 100. There were the smaller digest books, and the larger collections. I read as many as I could find. I know the Peanuts. Linus is my soul mate. I related to Sally and Peppermint Patty's math anxiety. I especially liked the old strips when Sally was still in a baby carriage, Charlie Brown had a HUGE head, and Snoopy looked like a puppy. There's so much more to them than the Christmas special.
















Now I have to pick people to tag? I'd like to see what they'd write. We'll see if they respond.
Professor Batty?
david foureyes?
gerg?

St. Kate's Katwalk 2007

On May 12, gerg and I headed to St Kate's to check out the Katwalk 2007 show.

Click on an image to view a slightly larger version - go to our flickr site to see the largest images available; it's linked at the end of this post.

Friend and designer, Michelle, was showing her latest collection, which was kick ass.








Inspired by the 1920's, Michelle's collection was the bee's knees!

Dre modeled a hot number. Check out the amazing pleating around the pockets on the skirt.









Dapper Deedot.














Emily's pants suit with sexy cami was HAWT.












Sally modeled a black UBER flirty flippy dress.












Other shots from Michelle's collection:

Wikked adorable!!






















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More shots from the show (not Michelle's collection)

Minneapolis's own Project Runway star, Katherine Gerdes.












It's a plaid, plaid world.































I love this jacket. It has petite tux tails in the back.














This Clockwork collection was off the chain.

Check out her robot doll!!




























Crucial pleating at the waistline.













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Out dogs were barking by the end of the show, so we headed to the Happy Gnome for an afterparty.

Our foreheads are sunburned from riding the motorcycle all day sans sunscreen.










Paula said this was one of the best side cars she'd ever quaffed.










Hanging out with models reminded me of American Psycho. NO...I didn't want to kill her and eat her.










Check out the rest of our pics here.

Check out the video of Michelle's collection; it takes a couple minutes to load. Patience, s'il vous plaît.

Keep Those Fingers out of the Sherbet!!!

On Sunday night, gerg almost gave me a heart attack.

gerg had never tasted raspberry sherbet, so he wanted to try it. I was game, so we bought some.















After we got home, I took a shower. Later, when I opened the sherbet to have some, gerg started freaking out over my shoulder, "Someone opened it and ate some of it!!! EWWWW!!"

So I got all startled because I didn't even notice it at first and was about to eat "finger" polluted sherbet. Earlier in the weekend, we had witnessed a GREEZY-looking dude eating rotisserie chicken out of a bag in an aisle at the store, and we got all grossed out by him. He just kept chewing with his mouth open and licking his fingers, and it was GNASTY. I couldn't help but imagining him eating the sherbet with his GREEZY fingers with it melting all over his chin, and then putting the container back in the case. *gag*

Gerg peers at the top of the opened sherbet, "Wait....Does it say something?"

I start trying to figure it out:

"J ♥ w?"

"W *blob* I?"

"I have no idea! GROSS!!"

Then I pause....

"I ♥ M!?!?!?"

and gerg starts laughing.

While I was showering, gerg ate some, carving "I ♥ M" into the top of the sherbet, with the plot of totalling freaking me out with his cute message of LOVE. It worked. Kudos, gerg. Kudos.

Let's Fly Away...to Galactic Pizza

I remember when I first moved here, I saw people driving around in wacky 3-wheeled cars wearing capes. I was all "gerg, what up wit dat?!?"

And he was all, "Oh, that's the Galactic Pizza delivery driver."

photo swiped from their web site.























So one night, gerg and I wanted to grab a slice, and we called Dre.

The officialist pizza-lovingest chic in town (this girl LOVES za).











Dre recommended Galactic Pizza, which neither of us had tried. We hopped on the Nighthawk, parked by the VFW, and sat inside for some za and a caesar salad. And let me tell you, we weren't disappointed. Plus, we saw the flying pizza dude come in a from a delivery wearing a cape. SCORE!

From their menu to the methods they use for disposing waste, Galactic Pizza is ahead of the curve when it comes to being green.

Native ingredients are a priority.
THE PAUL BUNYAN PIZZA - "This is a very special pizza. The first of its kind. All of the toppings have been selected based on the fact that they are native to the Minnesota ecosystem, giving it a unique flavor that is truly Minnesotan. It starts with our homemade tomato sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese, morel mushrooms, wild rice, and bison sausage."

Activity within the community is a priority.
SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND PIZZA - "Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, roma tomatoes, garlic, and fresh organic basil. Every time you order this pizza we will donate $1 to Second Harvest Heartland, Minnesota's largest hunger relief organization."

Community supported agriculture is a priority.
THE CSA PIZZA - "We have contracted with the Natural Harvest CSA to buy their fresh seasonal crops for this pizza. The crops rotate so this pizza changes with the output on the farm. Please ask what the current CSA pizza is. Also, if you would like information on what Community Supported Agriculture is, or how you can join the CSA program at Natural Harvest, please ask us and we'll let you know."

This past Friday night, we rode our bikes down to Galactic Pizza for a second visit via the Greenway (it's directly off the Greenway on Lyndale) to meet up with Reed and Sarah. Once again, the pizza was tasty. Their awesome green approach to business, a nice crispy crust, a zesty tomato sauce, the goofy outdoor seating with grass umbrellas, reasonable prices, and the variety of pizza toppings will keep me coming back.

Galactic Pizza - "Pizza with a Conscience"
2917 LYNDALE AVE. S.
UPTOWN MINNEAPOLIS
612-824-9100

If it Comes Near me, I'll SCREAM

People are scared of all kinds of wierd crap. My greatest fear in life is stray dogs.

I was never attacked by a dog, although I was once chased down by two wild rottweilers while I was riding my bike in Oshkosh. This was a wikked terrifying moment for me. Fortunately, the owner came and called them back home. Meanwhile, I had to pull over under a crabapple tree due to my shaking limbs and my possible need to vomit.

When I say I'm absolutely terrified of stray dogs, I'm not exaggerating.

On Thursday night, gerg and I took a walk with the mighty Kota-Dog.





















As we reached the corner of 31st and 31st, I almost lost my lunch when two Doberman Pinschers came barreling at us from around the corner of a house. When I realized they had no leashes on, I froze. They were off the chain and ready to mess us up!!!

These are not the actual dogs. The actual dogs were running at us with their fangs exposed.






I froze, STAT. SCARED SHITLESS. They started circling and barking with foamy spit at Kota-Dog, who was pretty helpless and barking as well, being leashed and all. "One of them bit Kota-Dog on the tail!" was all I could spit out, amidst the barking.

Gerg was trying to control Kota-Dog because Kota-Dog was FREAKING out, justfiably. Then gerg smartly yelled in his gruffiest macho man-voice "Get out of here! Go away!" And the dobermans ran off.

Gerg was my hero.













We made a beeline in the opposite direction of the freaky dogs. I finally started breathing again (I think I held my breath for about 2 minutes, unknowingly). Gerg called animal control, who had already been notified about the two dogs prowling the neighborhood. From a distance you could hear other dogs in the neighbohood freaking out, as the dobermans prowled through other yards. Kota-Dog was alright. No permanent damage ensued. *whew*

Bikes Attack in Uptown!!!!

gerg and I were out for a motorcycle ride a couple weeks back and an intersection in uptown was attacked by renegade bicyclists. I snapped some photos on my phone from the back seat of the motorcycle.





















They first congregated in the center of the McPunk intersection at Hennepin and Lagoon. Then they spread out among the gasoline powered evil ones.






















gerg and I were pretty charmed by the shenanigans. One girl yelled at us as we sat on the motorcycle smiling, "Still not a REAL bike!!" I almost decked her, just on reflex because I was wearing a bike jacket and boots. Then I remembered that I thought their display was pretty cool, so I let her get away with it.





















There was this one guy on a really tall bike. I thought that was pretty cool, and I thought it would be funny to shove a stick in his spokes just to see him fall, Tom & Jerry style.





















Not cuz I have anything against bicycle protesters....I think the cause is legitimate (even if some of them are just plain rude). I just think falling down is funny.

Reetsy's New Ride

The Corsica died. It was FFS (far from sustainable).












This is not my NEW actual car, but it is the same year and model as my new car.










This is my actual new car.














After a little bit of searching, this lil' beaut fell in my lap from gerg's fam. 1999 VW Passat. Green. So now I drive this wikked cool car. It has a dreamy moon roof, leather seats, bun warmers, and even brights. It has a 4-cylinder engine: the 1.8-liter double overhead cam engine has been turbocharged and uses five valves per cylinder. It also has this neat Tiptronic mode, a design licensed from Porsche. I can slide the shift lever over into a separate area to the right of the normal shift gate and that permits manual shifting. A forward push on the lever causes upward gear changes, with a light pull back for downshifts. VROOM! The Corsica lacked these features.
















gerg and I drove back from Wisconsin on Sunday after picking up my new car. I forgot the fm tuner for my Ipod, and I also failed to bring cds, which meant a 5+ hour drive through western Wisconsin with the radio as my companion. Imagine my surprise then, when I hit 107.1 and hear one of Dallas Orbiter's newly unreleased tracks playing! So I grabbed my cell to call gerg and tell him to tune in. NO DICE. He wasn't answering the phone. I'm waving my arms and holding my cell out through the moon roof, freaking out. I'm surprised I didn't total my new ride.

gerg finally answers the phone, and I'm like, "Dude! You missed it!!! Tune in to 107.1!" Then, another Dallas Oribiter song starts playing! He tells me that he was blasting the jams in his car and didn't hear his phone. So he hangs up to listen, and then calls me back.

gerg: "107.1? that's my Ipod."
me: "huh?"
gerg: "I'm tuned in to 107.1 on my Ipod. Did the song just change?"
me: "Yeah!"
gerg: "again?"
me: "Yeah."
gerg: "So you're hearing my Ipod from your car."

And we laugh. No pre-released Dallas Orbiter on the radio, but at least I was able to listen to his Ipod the rest of the drive instead of commercial-riddled classic rock.