So what did you get for Christmas???

Damn, I love my wife. Not only is she a simply beautiful women inside and out, she also knows what I like. :D

So I got a 60g Video Ipod and the M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96. Didn't expect anything like this. So what did you guys get?

A trip to Ireland next spring!

Originally posted by shniggens A trip to Ireland next spring!

WOW! That's fabulous!

Yeah, it was from the in-laws. I guess I better make sure those tickets are round-trip, huh?

Originally posted by shniggens A trip to Ireland next spring!

Good! Come and visit!

Originally posted by shniggens A trip to Ireland next spring!

THAT'S AWESOME!!! TAKE ME!!!!!!!!!!!

An entirely new livingroom suit

I couldn't leave my kids without furniture in the livingroom once I move all my gear and studio furniture into my NEW STUDIO that isn't too far away.... The only thing that would have been left after moving things out was a Futon. I anticipate mid spring for things to be operational in the studio. Just waiting on that big check to roll in ... supposed to be before the end of this year... but the knuckleheads forgot to put our pay locations on the paperwork when they submitted it to finance. Otherwise, I would be saying NEW STUDIO right now...

A big furniture store just closed its' doors and I couldn't pass up half price on their entire selection; not anticipated, but a welcome opportunity since I would have been buying furniture to fill the area once the move to the studio is made anyway. For now, my studio has been moved into my bedroom .... I pitched my bed and will buy a new one later on. I'll be sleeping on a futon for the next few months ... but happily so...

Wow, you guys got BIG stuff.

I got a Simpson's DVD set

a shirt and belt,

And a little organizer/seat cover for my car. It fits on the back of the seat, and helps keep my my kid's wet/slushy shoes from getting dirt all over the backs of my car seats.

We have a rule in my car that I derived from Johnny Cochran; "If you got wet feet, don't put 'em on the seat"

I also got a new coat, which I like very much.

Useful stuff but nothing real exciting.

Everybody else got the neat stuff.

I got my wife a Zen Nano. This thing looks like it's going to be cool.

It's about the size of a Bic lighter

1 gig capacity

Backlit LCD

Built in FM tuner

Voice recorder

It will also record directly from a CD player and from it's FM tuner as well.

They even included an armband with it.

Roughly the same cost as an iPod shuffle.

The kids got more stuff than I can list.

They are very excited.

Hope everyone is having a great day. Everyone here is napping. I'm going out for a walk.

Later!

Christmas dinner with family. Priceless.

Yes, but not your WHOLE family.

Mrs. Blackpig got me a wooly jumper and a smashin' book about British wildlife.

Sis in law got me a tabletop easel and a shedload of acrylic brushes.

Various other folk got me some wine and sweeties and a Muddy Waters cd.

I gave them all Christmas dinner and pressies.

Jayzus I love Christmas in spite of the foul muzak in shops and the rampant drunken thuggery that seems to increase at this time of year.

In the coming year I'm going out to do stuff for poor folk as I got an e-mail from Bob Geldof to make me feel nice and guilty.

Thank you all for being such cool and groovy folks. May the joy of the new born Christ shine on you all.

Damn, I love her! :D

among other stuff.....Randy Newman 4-CD collection called "Guilty" containing compilation of 30 years of wonderful tunes....heavenly!!!!

nat whilk ii

$50 gify certificate from the local Rhino records that, deployed wisely in both the new and used racks, should yield a substantial influx of new music.

Two books by C.S. Lewis--interesting aside: My wife is a fairly devout though non-dogmatic Christian and I am thoroughly not. Yet I love--really love--the Christian apologetics and philosphical works of C.S. Lewis -- Screwtape Letters, Mere Chrsitianity, The Four Loves, etc. I can just read that stuff all day...and I will, tomorrow!

A poker for the wood stove.

An herbal microwave heating bag.

Some money from mum and a dobbs kit, which I'm always complaining about not having.

It was more a giving year for me: Nintendo DS + games for the boy and a Laptop for the wife. The house was abuzz with new and happy electronic frontiers today.

Ryst let me know how that works for you. I got an mp3 player for Christmas that has a built in voice recorder, although it's not as hi-fi as the M-Audio Microtrack. If it doesn't work out for me, I'm contemplating taking it back to Best Buy to get something more hi-fi that's more specificly for recording. It's a Phillips HDD6330.

It's 30 gig, so it has a lot of storage. It has other features like storing and displaying pictures.

Since the M-Audio Microtrack has two tracks, can you play one track while recording your singing voice in the other? I'd really like to be able to do that.

I don't know. Maybe I should just keep the 30 gig Philips, since it seems rude to return gifts.

Blackpig, did you get a new keyboard for Christmas?

Sort of - I sent off to England for a new laptop keyboard and when it arrived I put it in myself. It wasn't a major job to fit.

We'll have to keep in touch. Give me some pointers. Maybe you can point me towards the "Amsterdamian Imports".

Too much to mention but the best part was watching my 3 year old. He was so overwhelmed with gifts at one point he was circling around just looking, not knowing what toy to play with first.

I know its not about the gifts but watching kids get so excited is incredible.

Originally posted by Mr. Donovan Ryst let me know how that works for you. I got an mp3 player for Christmas that has a built in voice recorder, although it's not as hi-fi as the M-Audio Microtrack. If it doesn't work out for me, I'm contemplating taking it back to Best Buy to get something more hi-fi that's more specificly for recording. It's a Phillips HDD6330. It's 30 gig, so it has a lot of storage. It has other features like storing and displaying pictures. Since the M-Audio Microtrack has two tracks, can you play one track while recording your singing voice in the other? I'd really like to be able to do that. I don't know. Maybe I should just keep the 30 gig Philips, since it seems rude to return gifts.

Hey Mr. Donovan!!

The Microtrack is basically a stereo recorder meaning that it records left and right channels at the same time. It's not a stereo multitrack recorder where you play one track while recording your singing voice in the other. If it does do that I do not know how. I like it so far. I am not interested is super high fidelity recordings although it sounds great to me. It does record very nice sounds with the included "T" mic. Although some people on here have complained about certain issues with it, I find it to be perfect for what I need.

I am selling my Kork Triton and from now on I will be making all my own electronic instruments and samples for my music (no more stock sounds). For instance, I recorded the sound of a blender crushing ice and transposed it, mangled it, and {censored}ed it up and made a new soft synth pad with Kontakt, Live, Battery and a {censored} load of plug-ins. That's what I use the Microtrack for. Everything I record with it will be mangled anyway so it adds to the uniqueness of it. I am hoping that i can eventually make a whole library of electronic instruments and drum kits. Tomorrow, I go back to work and I will be recording the train station. :D

I am also making my first movie next year and I will be using it for dialog recording. It should work just fine if I get a good mic. Let me know if you have any other questions.

The best gift I got was watching my 8 year old daughter open up a wrapped book called, "How To Play Guitar". Then looking across the room at the guitar sized wrapped box and running over to it to get inside.

A Black Little Martin. She picked it up and started strumming. I quickly showed her a 1 finger G chord and we rocked!

I'm the cook of the family so my wife got me a... potato? I look at her with a "huh?" expression and she says, "you're going to need something nicer to cook it with, go look in the garage". A brand new gas stove/oven to replace my much hated, broken down electric stove. Odd gift to some, to me... .

And... a portable DVD player w/screen! Perfect for when the wife and kid just have to watch the new Hillary Duff flick. I'll put on my 7506's and watch something good... like that Count Basie documentary I've been meaning to get to.

Originally posted by Lee Knight I'm the cook of the family so my wife got me a... potato? I look at her with a "huh?" expression and she says, "you're going to need something nicer to cook it with, go look in the garage". A brand new gas stove/oven to replace my much hated, broken down electric stove. Odd gift to some, to me... . .

That's not odd at all. That kicks ass!!!! I wish I had a gas stove.

How easy will the conversion be?

Well... I'm hoping easy. I bought my place new and opted for the cheapest stove at the time, the electric. As I recall (thinking back 12 years) there was a gas hookup already there. "AS I RECALL".

If not, well, do you know anything about routing gas?

Originally posted by Lee Knight If not, well, do you know anything about routing gas?

Well, my friend just remodelled his kitchen . . . got a sweet-ass gas range with a flattop and grill and all that. He had to have new gas lines run. He paid a contractor to do it. Seemed rather painless. His gas supply/furnace room was directly below his kitchen, though.

That would be nice for you, though, if the gas is already there.