32 Sun-Laps

On Friday the current amorphous collection of cells (and more importantly their digital replication instructions) that make up me passed a milestone: the completion of their 32nd lap around the giant mass of incandescent gas that brings life to the planet Earth.

Or, to put it somewhat more concisely, it was my birthday.

My Dad and my Congo-family had sent me some money in celebration of this momentous event, and despite my inclination to pay some bills, my Wife insisted that I spend it on something for myself. It's pretty rare for me to have some money that I have to spend on fun stuff. You know what? I discovered that if you check out the shops, there are a LOT of things you can buy. I mean a lot. And they all look really cool. So, after much prowling and perusal, I had narrowed my purchasing field down to the following.

a) some kind of digital camera,
or
b) some kind of musical instrument.

In the end, I decided I couldn't afford to buy the kind of camera I wanted, and yet I still hankered for some kind of digital do-hicky with that fresh Chinese warehouse smell...

So I bought one of these.

A Novation RemoteLE 25 midi USB controller. What's that you ask? Well, I'm not still not quite sure... But when you couple it with a PC, and this software from Sweden, you can play and record nearly every instrument in the world, and several instruments from other worlds. In short, it's the most entertaining thing I've discovered to do with a computer since Boppie's Great Word Chase.

The ability to create unlimited synthesizers, effects racks, samplers, sequencers and drum computers is impressive, but the 'virtual patching' where you flip them all around, and are confronted with a mess of cables, just like real life is absolutely inspired.

I had hoped to be able to post some intriguing and wonderful music, but the sad reality is that I'm still trying to figure out how to make it work. Maybe later.

Lap 33 progresses, accompanied by weird and creepy goblin noises.