Darien's Doodles

It was good to get down to Penang the week before last at our annual Microsoft Malaysia company offsite. These days I don't get the chance to share that many light moments at work, but the Penang trip, together with around 100 other Microsoft employees, was a string of lighter moments all tied together. Case in point, getting pounced upon by Michael Ang, our senior PR guy, whilst trying to check in at the hotel after a long drive.

What started off as a friendly hello, and a nice photo opportunity...

soon turned ugly.... ;-)

Have no idea what caused it.. something about me spilling secrets... couldn't quite get the details as I was getting choked. ;-) Anyway, all good fun, and quite a spectacle for onlookers in the lobby of the g-hotel. Good one, Mike. Lol!

I came across this a a while back, thanks to an AES Malaysia fellow, the Zoom H4 Handy Recorder. This is an amazing device for those of you looking to do a 'quick and not-so dirty' portable stereo recording for editing later. You get 2 electret condenser microphones in an X/Y configuration, so there's no mucking about with placement, and you'll get an excellent stereo image every time. Plug in a couple of AA-sized batteries (for about 4 hours of life), a healthy sized SD card (at least 2GB), and you're off recording 24bit, 96KHz digital audio in either raw WAV format or MP3 format.

Imagine the scenarios.. in the practice studio jamming... you arrange the band, take an overall X/Y stereo mix (this is gonna sound rough for sure, but it will hold the whole thing together), then you can take a direct input from the lead singer through the phantom powered direct XLR inputs, and the other XLR input?... maybe a direct feed of the bass guitar (which you can run through an onboard simulator to fatten it up before going to tape... er, SD card). Nice. Oh yeah, for those wanting to inject a bit of discipline into those jam sessions (always a good idea), it comes with a built in tuner and metronome - fire up that click track boys! ;-)

Or, how about this... Big Band recording... put the Zoom up high on a stand, X/Y the whole band, then reinforce it with a direct feed from the double bass, and direct input from the vocalist. Nice. And later, just upload the audio via USB (or direct via an SD Card reader) into your Nuendo/ProTools/Cubase (actually it ships with Cubase LE)/Logic/Sonar etc.. workstation and mix it sweetly (if you must, there are also the onboard effects and simulators, so you can add them in real time too as you record).

Oh yes, firmware is updatable too. Classy. Be sure to get the latest firmware here (Version 2.10 includes support for 4GB SD Cards, increased font size, WAV to MP3 conversion etc..), you can also get the ASIO driver for Windows XP too, so you can use it as an external Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)... way cool.

Finally, portable, high quality digital recording is a reality with devices like the Zoom (the M-Audio Microtrack II might also be something you could consider). Get a Zoom (it's about USD$500 retail). Start doing decent stereo recordings. Edit them up. Change the world with your music! Let me know how you get on.

Last Sunday was indeed a special day for us being Renelle's Baptism at Our Lady of Fatima in Brickfields; special for many reasons.. it's a significant day in her life.. it was the church we were married.. the ceremony was performed by a long-time friend of mine, Fr. Clarence. Here's a summary photo chronology of the day:-

Renelle with Mum sleeping in the car in her baptism dress (which we had made for the day in white satin with lace) just before going into the church for the ceremony.
"The white garment symbolizes that the person baptized has 'put on Christ', has risen with Christ." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)

God-mother Sr Rosalie, fsp. Although she couldn't be physically present during the ceremony she certainly was present spiritually, and we are beyond thrilled that she consented to be Renelle's God-mother.

Fr. Clarence giving the reading.

  

Renelle during the sign of the cross.
"The sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the grace of the redemption Christ won for us by his cross" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)

Renelle during the anointing of the Holy Oil.
"The catechumen now makes the triple renunciation of Satan, his works and his pomps, and he is anointed with the oil of catechumens on the breast and between the shoulders: "On the breast, that by the gift of the Holy Ghost, he may cast off error and ignorance and may receive the true faith, 'for the just man liveth by faith' (Galatians 3:11); on the shoulders, that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he may shake off negligence and torpor and engage in the performance of good works; 'faith without works is dead' (James 2:26)", says the Catechism." (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm)

The pivotal moment... Renelle during the rights of Baptism.
"[Baptism] signifies and actually brings about death to sin and entry into the life of the Most Holy Trinity through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ. Baptism is performed in the most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water. However, from ancient times it has also been able to be conferred by pouring the water three times over the candidate's head" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)

Renelle during the anointing with sacred chrism.
"The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one anointed by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet and king" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)

 
All very happy. Dad, Mum, Fr. Clarence and Renelle after the ceremony.

Some great videos we just shot. Yeah, yeah, yet another "daddy" post, but the Internet is really allowing my remote family and friends to stay in touch - so the "daddy" posts are here to stay.  

This first video shows the success of a baby carrier we purchased. It's less than RM40, which is amazing because we were checking out Amazon and the one we liked was nearly RM400 - bit of a difference compared to that. Anyway, turns out she's super-happy and relaxed in it, and for me, I can walk for hours carrying her around. Winner.

Renelle in the baby carrier at MidValley

   
Video: Renelle in the baby carrier at MidValley 

This second video is a candid moment of Renelle getting up from sleep. She's honestly a little angel when she wakes up with a smile. Here's a look...

Renelle getting up from sleep

  
Video: Renelle getting up from sleep