Stout hearted

Stout hearted, originally uploaded by billaday.

On a trip to Portland two years ago, I discovered that stouts are amazing. As luck would have it, I also discovered my favorite beer ever: McMenamin's Terminator Stout. It's creamy, rich, and dark, with a smooth coffee finish. If you're ever around Portland, go visit. You can't find it anywhere else.

Dedicated to Kristin, who sent this to me.

Year 3, Day 52

wtr sptlght

wtr sptlght, originally uploaded by billaday.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage...

Year 3, Day 51

unShure

unShure, originally uploaded by billaday.

I bought the Shure KSM32 10 years ago, when I was recording 9 bands for my senior project. It's a killer vocal mic, great on acoustic guitar, nice on a guitar amp, and works really well for a drum overhead. Basically, it rocks. I plan on using it much more often with some upcoming podcasts.

This looks nice large on black.

Year 3, Day 50

Rules of podcast engagement

Rules of podcast engagement, originally uploaded by billaday.

After much thought, time, and research, I have decided that this book, Podcast Solutions, is everything one needs to know about how to podcast.

Dedicated to Pat the Sound Guy.

Year 3, Day 49

iLife

iLife, originally uploaded by billaday.

I love the new iLife '09. So far, I've really only spent time with iPhoto. Faces & places are amazing. Here's why.

Faces is a new choice in your library. You click on a few picture of people, a square shows up around their faces, and you type in a name... like on Facebook photos. This is FAR from automatic, but it helps organize picture by person, which is a fantastic tool. I've spent hours typing names in photo by photo, but it's been worth it. In a few software updates, this should be beyond impressive.

Places also rocks. I've been using HoudahGeo to geotag my photos before sending them to iPhoto and Flickr. And I still love and use HoudahGeo. But now, I can see my photos on a map in iPhoto. I used to have to go to Flickr to show people my maps... no longer. As with Faces, Places is still a little tricky to navigate; I expect it to also be amazing quite soon.

Year 3, Day 48

fenced in

fenced in, originally uploaded by billaday.

I like selective color. Only the fence is green here. On that note, I have been using the hue/saturation adjustment layer much more recently. It gives me control over 6 different color ranges. I've been just tweaking the saturation in this adjustment layer.

On a tangent, my new favorite Photoshop shortcut is Shift Plus, or Shift Minus (Shift +/-). When you've selected the move tool (v), push shift plus, and you cycle through layer properties. Very cool.

Year 3, Day 47

rllr cstr

rllr cstr, originally uploaded by billaday.

Sorry I haven't uploaded photos this past week. I've been prepping for my new class EDUC 515. Look for upcoming photos of podcast-related stuff.

Year 3, Day 46