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ptalsky

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Everything posted by ptalsky

  1. James, where/how do you mount your antennas?
  2. Philip, Graham and Jim have described how it works pretty well. I have some time this week if you want to meet and I can run through it with you. Let me know. Phil
  3. Richard, Try emailing Take Vos - he's always really responsive to any questions or issues that come up. Phil
  4. I've had many interesting encounters, but my favorite (and most embarrassing) was in a theater in NY. I was talking with this very nice woman sitting next to me, very distinguished, very proper. We were talking about shows to see, and I asked her about one show, and she didn't know the answer and said she would ask her husband, who was sitting on the other side of her. When he leaned over to answer my question, it was Paul Newman and the woman (of course) was Joanne Woodward. I hadn't recognized her, which she realized - and told me to keep chatting with her the way we had been since our conversation had been so enjoyable. But, the one I remember most was at the Circle In The Square Theatre in NYC. I was there to see Arms and the Man with Kevin Kline and Glenn Headley. I was in my seat before the show with several empty seats around me. All of the sudden there was a hush in the theater, and men in suits came in, one sitting next to me, one behind me and following them was Jackie O and John Jr. I can honestly say I was totally star struck for the first time in my life. The most fun encounter was at the final preview for Jerome Robbins Broadway - I ended up sitting next to Arthur Hershfeld (sp?) the artist that did all of the broadway sketches for the NY Times. I had a hard time watching the show because he was sketching through the whole show - I kept alternating between him and the show. He autographed my program at intermission. :-) (I used to travel for business to NY a lot and often ended up going to the theater by myself, and ended up in "protection" seats, which is why I had such great seats). Phil
  5. Hi all, I'm going to be doing some upgrading again shortly and am thinking of switching from my standard Venue to a VR Field - it's either that or a bunch of Rx's for my bag. I like the form factor of the VRF for my cart better than the full venue, and of course then I don't also have to buy a bunch of additional Rx's for my bag. How have people's experiences been with the VR Field so far? Also, how are people running antennae to it when in the bag - especially with mixed frequencies (I use block 21 and 25)? Have they added a battery meter (I saw this issue come up in earlier posts)? Any other thoughts and/or considerations? Thanks! Phil
  6. I also use BoomRecorder as my primary recorder and have never had any problems (other than those I created myself). While I haven't used MC, it sounds like they are pretty close in features. Two additional points to make. First I understand that MC requires a hardware dongle in order to run. I've never been a big fan of hardware copy protection. If it is lost, misplaced, falls out, breaks, etc. you're SOL. Second, I've heard many say that the dedicated hardware recorders are much more reliable than computer-based systems. I strongly disagree with that with a caveat - you should treat your BR/MC machine as a dedicated recorder - no internet, no shareware, no porn, etc. :-) Then you will have a platform that (IMHO) is as stable as a Deva, SD, Fostex, Cantar, etc. And for those that are reading this and thinking "I can't afford to have two computers, so I'll just ignore this suggestion" - think about it - you'd buy a $5K to $15K recorder (788 to Deva) and you still have a computer, so why not buy 2 $1500 laptops - one for your recorder and one for your porn. LOL Phil Phil
  7. Crew, I'd love to know what your system is for identifying each track on your mixer - looks like interesting hieroglyphs. :-) Phil
  8. I think everyone has said it very well above. Kris, I want to commend you for not naming names. And I want to thank Jeff for giving us all a safe place to vent when we've had "one of those days/weeks/jobs" etc. (which we've all had). BTW, if this wasn't over with, I would have said to offer to replace the snake - sounds like that would even be less than the $300 you offered. :-) And, if I owned a snake worth $600 I certainly would make sure it's loaded before I ever left a site. Phil
  9. Sorry, jumped into this thread late - but with my Macbook, it stopped burning DVD-/+R's and basically it needed a replacement drive. Symptoms sound very similar to what the earlier poster was experiencing. It kept acting like the media was bad - I had been using the cheap GQ DVD-R's from Fry's but tried all of the name brands, too just to be sure. A visit to the Genius Bar solved the problem - with a replacement. BTW, the burning software that comes in OSX is really slow because it does a verification after every burn and you can't turn it off. On a big day when I had to burn about 4.5 GB of stuff, it took more than a half an hour at the end of the day - I had wrapped everything else and the Mac was still chugging along burning. Toast is supposed to be much faster. Phil
  10. Okay, need to comment on this. As someone who is now embarrassed to admit that he voted for Rosenberg last time around, I cannot believe how utterly narcissistic his little cabal has become. They use a parliamentary procedure to block the majority and then get outraged and file a lawsuit when a different parliamentary procedure is used against them - again to do what that majority of the board wants to do. Am I the only one that is utterly amazed that the president of a union can sue his own union? If nothing else, I'm sure someday this will make a great mini-series. :-D Phil (A very embarrassed member of SAG)
  11. Paul, Sorry, I had to laugh when I first saw "noise control" on your list - my first thought was a cattle prod for noisy crew members. (Kidding of course). I'm no where near as well equiped as you - but I see a couple of things I carry that you don't: 1. Corn pads for lavs (I get the generics from Target - they're a lot less than the Dr. Scholl's) 2. Tums and/or some other antacids - for the noisy stomachs on set 3. Extra Lectro screw drivers (I keep these hidden all over my cart so I always have at least one) 4. Listerine breath strips - several batches on my cart. My personal supply in my pocket - I'm not much of a germaphobe but I hate having people use their dirty fingers to take a strip out of mine. 5. Speaking of germs - Purell type hand sanitizer (for after removing sweaty lavs). :-) Phil
  12. Not sure if anyone else has gotten a Storm besides me, but an OS upgrade came out yesterday - 75. It takes a long time to install but does feel more stable. Phil
  13. Philip, Yep, I'm using two now - a Mac for Boom Recorder and the Asus for the other stuff. I'm not sure the Asus would be powerful enough for consistent playback - it sometimes lags a bit when I run my iTunes on it (I use the Asus as my traveling computer for the day job - and I run all my iTunes on it instead of an iPod.) But, they just came out with a couple more powerful models that are about the same size and price - the eee 1000 and the S101. Phil
  14. Daniel, I've been using an Asus eee 901 (http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=24&l2=164&l3=0&l4=0&model=2283&modelmenu=1) on my cart and it's been great. Similar price point to the g1g1, with more power, and it runs standard Windows XP (yes, XP, not Vista - Yay!). On my last project, I was running the Lectro Venue monitoring software (LectNet?) which was really a great way to be able to configure each of the Rx's as well as monitor battery levels in the Tx's. I also was running Hauppage's TV device as my monitor - both fit on the same screen easily. Phil
  15. Philip, I've been working with Boom Recorder on a MacBook with just the original 1 GB of memory and it has worked very well for me. I just finished a feature where I was recording 8 tracks almost all the way through, plus a mix track and it held up very well (turned in 178 GB of sound files...a new record for me.) :-) Phil
  16. Sorry, but I do need to jump in here to correct one thing - a majority of SAG members will not be getting residual checks if there is a strike because they/we are not getting residual checks before the strike. While I have not seen specific numbers, I would venture to guess that less than 20% of all SAG members would be getting any kind of a check during a strike. Possibly a higher number if you include commercial residuals (commercial work will continue as I understand it - that contract is still in effect). While I personally will probably not support a strike (still undecided...not happy with the current contract offer, but even less happy that a strike will put way too many people out of work in a time when no one can afford to be out of work). But I also have to wonder what is really going to happen - especially when you look at the potential details of the new IA agreement. Looks like all of the unions are ultimately getting the sharp end of the stick. Okay, now send your flaming arrows my way - asbestos suit is now on. Phil
  17. Alan, If you want me to take a listen and give you feedback, I'd be more than happy to. (Also would love to know who the producer is so I know who to avoid - you can tell me privately if you're willing...) I hate hearing (again, no pun intended) about these kinds of bad experiences. I just wrapped a feature last night where every actor came and thanked me personally for my support during the project and the co-directors basically said that the project could not have happened without me. Why can't all directors and producers be like this? It would make our world a much better place. (Okay, so I live in a complete fantasy world...at least that's what the voices in my head keep telling me. LOL). Phil
  18. So, I just picked up a repaired B6 from Countryman (actually, they replaced it for free instead of fixing it - I love Countryman) and realized, hey, they may know what works best. :-) They recommend basic rubbing alcohol. They were very specific though to keep the head clear of alcohol. Just use it on the cable. Looks like Brent wins the prize. ;-) Thanks all for the feedback. Though I do like the idea of baby wipes...sounds more gentle on the cable. Maybe Countryman is just trying to sell more mics. :-) Phil
  19. Hi All, I thought we had a discussion on this, but couldn't find anything. What's the best way to remove tape residue from lav wires? Thanks! Phil
  20. Yep, I picked mine up today. It's pretty cool...little bit of a learning curve. Short quick review: It's not an iPhone killer, but for Verizon customers and Blackberry users/addicts, it is a huge leap forward. The only thing I don't like so far is the accelerometer (sp?) is a bit slow on the Storm. Other than that, so far, so good. I even used the BB desktop manager to copy everything over from my Pearl and it worked great. Phil
  21. Hey all, Verizon just posted their site to sign up for info on the new touchscreen Blackberry called the Storm. Initial hints and reports are that they address some of the issues with the design of the iPhone (especially around the virtual keyboard). This will be the only option for those of us that are with Verizon and have iPhone envy. :-) You can sign up to get announcements at: http://www.verizonwireless.com/storm There is also a boatload of info at http://www.crackberry.com Phil
  22. If they're new and/or under warranty (even if they're not), you might want to give Countryman a call. They have always been amazingly helpful to me (though in all fairness, they are also about 5 minutes up the road, so when I need something fixed, I just drive it over). Rosa is the head technician there and is great, when you can get her on the phone. :-) Phil
  23. The reason I asked was I actually sponsor two of the cats at Tippi's preserve (she went from breeding for Roar to rescue). I go down there a couple of times a year to visit with my kitties (a black leopard and a Canadian lynx). It's turned into a pretty amazing place. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to mix Roar (but I can imagine some of the production reports: "Lion ate Sennheiser 416 - needs to be replaced".) ;-) Phil
  24. Crew, are you talking about the "Roar" with Tippi Hedren and a host of big cats?
  25. RVD, wasn't it called Sensurround or something like that? And there were the rumors (never did find out if they were true) that at Graumann's/Mann's Chinese Theater they had to put nets up because pieces of the ceiling were falling down during the earthquake scenes. :-) My favorite though was when I first saw Star Wars at the Avco (not sure if it's still there or if it's still called that) on Wilshire. This was when they were still willing to really crank the THX opening. We were in the theater upstairs, and about half way through the movie we could feel the THX opening vibrating the floor from the theater below us. Ahhh...good times. :-) Phil
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