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Highway 50, Nevada

We at CatSynth continue our highway series following the US presidential campaign, and so we turn our attention to the neighboring state of Nevada.

It was great to see Nevada included so early this time around, it is such a different place from the traditional early states. There is of course Las Vegas and all that comes with it – and to be honest, that is a refreshing change from the folksy small-town character of the early compaign. But there is also the more desolate Nevada, the authentic high desert and Great Basin.

It is the latter that we consider today. US highway 50, which runs through the center of Nevada, has been dubbed “the loneliest road in America” and many of the small towns along this route received a fair amount of attention this past week. And several travelogues, such as as “US 50 Coast to Coast” document the character and sites, including small mining towns like Eureka and Great Basin National Park. For me, one of the attractions is simply the emptiness of the highway itself, as illustrated in the photo to the right (click to enlarge).

I have never actually driven highway 50 east past South Lake Tahoe. But the quiet, the emptiness and straight-line nature of this stretch of highway are all very appealing at the moment. I tend to gravitate towards the extremes, either quiet isolation of the desert, or the intensity of a big city. And now we're moving to the city, right into the downtown. So as things calm down and the weather warms up, a trip east along highway 50, or perhaps to the desert southwest, may be just the best thing to do.

Interestingly, highway 50 joins with US 6 in the town of Ely in eastern Nevada. US 6 is also a cross-country highway, which we also saw in Des Moines, Iowa. Similarly, I-80, which we also encountered in Iowa, crosses through Nevada westward towards our home in the Bay Area, and meets highway 50 at its western terminus in Sacramento. All things are connected.

Probably the next chance we will have at CatSynth to look in on the campaign is when it comes here to California in just a couple of weeks…

Alia jacta est: the new CatSynth HQ

Well, we at CatSynth can finally say with confidence we have a new home. In just over a week, we are moving to the South of Market (SOMA) district of San Francisco. Expect to read more about our new neighborhood in coming weeks.

This will be a real “city life,” quite different from the last few years. Perhaps we will get to “live the bohemian life” like our friends Kashim, Othello and Astrid. Of course there are the many arts and music opportunities, lots of good food and drink, and friends only a few transit stops away. And I enjoy just walking down city blocks, like I often have in New York. Indeed, I have often thought about making the move to the city. And now it is happening. The experience to get there has been far more difficult and challenging than I imagined, and it's not over yet. But it is getting closer…

2007 farewell

Today we bid farewell to one of our most difficult, anxious and unhappy years, certainly the worst since 2001/2002.

2007 started quietly and optimistically, but we watched things fall apart quickly, and not just for us, but for friends and family as well. Certainly, there were high points, too. And CatSynth has been one of them. But for many of us, I think, this year could not have ended soon enough.

And while turning a page on a calendar does not change things, we hope for at least some sense of a new beginning…

Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn

Well, this past week I began an exciting new job. Once again, I'm a software engineering manager for a well-regarded music-technology company. (Some readers may even recognize the ProTools logo to the right.)

So things look good professionally speaking. But now the real challenge begins, and not just the work itself. My new job, and new life, is near San Francisco, so we're going to have to move. The idea of moving to the city is quite attractive, but challenging. We will probably be talking more about that in the days to come.

Pinnacles East

On this rather dreary and anxious day, we take a few minutes to remember a much happier day from this summer.

That day trip which included the drive down highway 25 also included a side trip to the eastern section of Pinnacles National Monument. Both the east and west sides are approached by highway 146, but they are not connected (unless you walk).

The main features of Pinnacles are the volcanic rock formations that appear out of the otherwise soft hills of central California. They seem transported from the southwest.

This was a great day to visit the park. It was completely empty, I did not encounter a single person on the trails. Surprising, considering it was just after July 4. But it was very hot, over 100F, and that probably discouraged most casual visitors. Really not so bad, though, if one carries plenty of water and sticks to the simple trails.

Actually, for the middle of summer, things were quite lush in spots, and there was plenty of shade.

Even a few small critters remained out and about:

Although the wildlife and vegetation was interesting and welcome, the focus of Pinnacles remains the rocks:

Large boulders like these form small caves and tunnels beneath which one can walk (or crawl). There are also real caves formed from lava tubes, but these were closed for the season to protect the bats.

There is something quite rewarding about solitude in a place like this (as opposed to just being alone at home or in a crowded place). There was more of that beyond the borders of the park as well. Those who have not yet read the original highway 25 article are encouraged to do so.





Bay Area travel madness

Living in Santa Cruz can be a challenge at times. One of the major challenges is getting to and from places in the Bay Area, where most of my musical, job-search, and social activities located.

For San Francisco trips, one takes Highways 17, 85 and 280 (or 101 as suggested below) into the city:

If I am not in a rush, highway 1 along the coast is always a rewarding experience.

For the east bay (Berkeley, Oakland, etc.), one instead follows highway 17, which becomes I-880, along the east side of the bay:

The trick is avoid the bridges. Sometimes this is unavoidable, and one ends up making a “grand circuit” to and from Santa Cruz around the bay.

The trip is about 70 miles each direction (slightly longer on the east bay side), and about 90 minutes unless one hits bad traffic. Really, it's not so bad, and I have been doing trips like this for years for music and art events, or to see friends, family, and such.

But when it becomes several times a week, and nearing every day, it starts to wear on you. Almost all of my job interviews are in the bay area. Then there is the upcoming performance schedule, back-to-back shows in SF and Oakland followed by the tour.

And this weekend will top them all:

Saturday. Rehearsal for Polly Moller and Company. Then br'er performs in San Francisco that night. It's quite a coincidence that br'er is touring the west coast right now, just as I am about to go on tour. Indeed we will also be crossing paths again in Seattle when we both play on October 20th.

Sunday. Rehearsal again. Then the :plug3: headphone festival in San Francisco. I have a solo set at 7:30PM.

Monday. The tour's kickoff show at 1510 8th Street in Oakland. I have a solo set in addition to our group show.

Tuesday. I need to stay overnight so that…

Wednesday. We leave on tour from SF and Oakland bright and early.

This is out of control. Not because of the activities themselves, which are manageable, but the fact that it is far from CatSynth HQ every day. I have options to stay overnight to make things easier (and will likely do so some of the nights), but that means being away from home, away from everything that needs to be done here, away from Luna (which also means setting up more cat sitting arrangements).

Living in Santa Cruz is becoming one huge liability. It was fine when I was working every day here and going up to the city once a week or so, but now my life and all the action in it seems to be back in the bay area. How long can I keep this up?

Bruckner Interchange, again and again

In writing about my trip to New York, where better to begin than with our old friend the Bruckner Interchange:

Most of my trips to New York pass through this interchange, which connects to and from JFK Airport via I-678 (the Whitestone Bridge and Van Wyck Expressway); and north into Westchester via Hutchinson River Parkway. However, this trip involved more encounters that most, and indeed a “complete” tour of the major connections. First, north via Whitestone Bridge via the Hutch on arrival. On departure, we came east along the Bruckner Expressway (I-278) and again to the Whitestone. Our family events involved travelling from Westchester to Long Island, again via the Whitestone Bridge. For the return trip, we took the Throgs Neck Bridge (I-295) and the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-295, I-95).

I almost always use the Whitestone for travel to and from Queens and Long Island, so it had been years since I travelled on the Throgs Neck Bridge. It seems in dire need of maintenance. Big rust spots do not give one a sense of confidence when travelling on a major bridge 150 feet above water. I would expect folks to take maintenance very seriously after the Minneapolis bridge collapse this summer. Especially after I find articles like this…

Preparing for Woodstockhausen 2007

It's only two days until the return of Woodstockhausen.


Woodstockhausen

A tiny, esoteric
outdoor festival of experimental
music and visual
spectacles.

September 22, 2007
7 PM
Glen Alba Gardens
12250 Alba Road
Ben Lomond, California 95005

Gates open at 6 PM
Tickets: $20 (plus $2 service charge) per vehicle in advance,
$25 at the door

I am going to try and keep things simple, given that the performance is out in the middle of the woods, and a total of 12 minutes in length. In fact, I am going for something very similar in setup and programming to the performance we did at the Skronkathon back in July:

It's just the MacBook running Open Sound World (the new version), the keyboard, mic, and the E-MU 0202|USB interface. The program is the same series of wavetables, with several minor modifcations to make the FM patch work without going unstable. For the math and DSP geeks: I simply changed the modulator from a sine function to a sine-squared function, and added a hyperbolic tangent to control the output levels. For the rest of you: I made it so the sound doesn't blow up constantly.

The input sources will be my workhorse Indian string instruments the ektar (on the left) and the gopichand (on the right). In addition, I am using these “acoustic” sources:

That duck has been a great instrument, and a mainstay of my live setup the last couple of years. I'm worried that the batteries will run out one day, and I won't be able to replace them unless I figure out a way to safely open the poor ducky without destroying him in the process.

So we've tried everything out, and should be ready to go. We'll have to make sure this is still the case tomorrow, and again on Saturday. My first performance at Woodstockhausn in 2002 (and at last year's related “micro-hausen” event) have been plagued by unexpected technical problems, so I'm a little cautious. Actually, I will probably make reference to that fateful 2002 performance on Saturday…

For those who are in the Bay Area, or anywhere in California for that matter, and wish to attend Woodstockhausen, the information is printed above. You can also visit the official website for more information.