Jeff Wexler

I just heard that Chris Newman has died, February 3rd. My father gave Chris one of his first jobs in sound on the movie "Medium Cool". Chris had done some documentary work and my father had already decided that "Medium Cool" would be shot very much in a documentary style during the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968. Chris was helpful in the beginning of my career in sound but I realized in hindsight that I learned a lot more about the politics of sound mixing than I did about actual sound mixing. In retirement Chris was a great teacher and was very generous, even throughout his working career, with his knowledge and experience (and opinions!).

I am very sad to report that the love my life, my sweet Carol, has passed away. Many of you know her and have worked with her, Unit Still Photographer Carol McCullough, retired for many years now but never on Facebook. She had a fall, one of many, and was in rehab getting Physical Therapy and had a stroke from which she did not recover. We were together for 35 wonderful years with no loss of love, through wonderful times and not so wonderful times -- I miss her so much.

Thanks for the report. I think we may have fixed everything -- let's hope!

Still trying to sort this out. We're working on it. - JW

The site is experiencing problems now after a software update. It may be affecting Safari primarily as I am using Chrome now to make this post (I do not typically use Chrome). We're working on a fix. Sorry for the disruption if members are having problems. - JW

We have a section "Want To Buy - Want To Sell" which is used by members on this site. It is not a general auction or classified ads type of section and is restricted to members who have made at least 5 posts. If you contact me and I can verify you, I might be able to give permission for you to post an ad.

I am surprised that you did not find me on the list of StellaDAT users -- I was one of the early adopters way before Sonosax had anything to do with the recorder. Just as you had stated, one look at the StellaDAT and I was in love -- easily the most "Nagra like" DAT machine ever produced. I actually went through 2 machines and finally had to give up on the StellaDAT. The first problem was the dreaded sunlight problem --- light getting into the machine and tripping the optical sensor and shutting the machine down. The other major problem was heat. The machine would get so hot you could barely touch it. I had to abandon it in. favor of the HHB PortaDAT that proved to be the most reliable of all the DAT machines I used (and I think I used them all). I never fell in love with the DAT format and was so pleased when I was an early adopter of the Zaxcom Deva, the first file-based production recorder that revolutionized the industry.

I do not normally single out individual members who have donated, but I'm making an exception with a special shout out to Philip Perkins along with a thank you for his incredibly generous donation. Philip is certainly one of the founding members of JWSOUND signing up just under a month after our launch. Philip's participation here has been so wonderful, so thoughtful and helpful for so many, his generosity sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience is a cornerstone of the site. We have all benefitted from the huge variety of jobs Philip has done over the years, developing the art of sound recording for everything from commercials, documentaries, feature films and live concerts. Thank you!

Thank you Jim for offering guidance for Donations. -- and huge thank you to all of our great members who have so generously donated without me even asking! JSWOUND continues to be one of best online communities and this comes from all of the thoughtful and generous participation of our members. Thank you !!!

Nice!

I made a brief post which helped me deal with the current situation. I do not encourage nor discourage anyone else making comment. We do have an unwritten policy of trying to keep most political discussions off this site (we retired the Society and Politics section years ago) but no one should be critical of a few comments at this time. What has just occurred in this country is way beyond just "politics". So, to all our great members of this online community, monitor and moderate yourselves as you have always done, one of the main reasons JWSOUND has endured.

I'm in shock, still cannot fully understand how this happens.

My only experience with this was in 1988 I was audited for the first time by the State of California where they claimed I had failed to sales tax to the State for my equipment rental. With a lot of back and forth I explained that I did not charge sales tax on my rental to production companies because they just would not pay it. Well, you still owe it to us (and it was a lot of money). Finally it was explained to me that if I paid sales tax on my purchase of the equipment I had put into my rental inventory, I did not need to charge and collect when I rented it out. So, that 's what I did -- paid sales tax on all of my purchases. All of this requires of course the golden rule which is never refer to the equipment as kit rental or box rental and keep it as far away from any money you receive for your services. The rental of equipment is its own standalone business and you need to run it that way.

That's wild! I have seen the Aaton - Stellavox unit but never this Nagra conversion. I was well aware of the other conversions mentioned but not this one. Very interesting.

Thank you to all those who have just donated to support JWSOUND -- I truly appreciate every one of you, for your donations, of course, but more importantly for your participation in our long running online community. I believe that JWSOUND is still a special place even in today's world of massive proliferation of social media.