Haines His Way

Look!  Page 6!!!

Hmm...

DR Cason - So, you're already talking about you and Heather as an "old married couple"... Hmm...



Mazel tov

Back from a breakfast meeting at Hugo's.  And who should I run into but ASCAP's Michael Kerker (always a delight), who's telling me he is loving his Brain CD, and also Stephen Schwartz, who tells me he'll listen to it when he gets back to NY tomorrow.  He had planned on listening to it in his rental car last week, but a CD got stuck in its player and he couldn't get it out to put the Brain in.

I know exactly what he's talking about - certain CDRs are made thicker than normal CDs and they simply don't come out of car or computer players easily.  I had one get stuck in the car player and I had to jimmy it out with scissors - and it has happened way too often on the laptop.

Well, Heather and I are voracious and avid readers, so I'm hoping it should be too painful...

"readers" - Is that what you "kids" are calling it nowadays?

RE: Last night's "Lost"

I liked last night's show, but I had to wonder what the big deal was - well, at least whatever they were hinting at in all the promos?  Were they just referring to the last 5 minutes?  Or were they referring to what came before that?

And as for the "new attractive couple"... Me likey him a lot.  

Today is the day of the year in which I journey in my automobile to the heim of anA to attend the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress (recongress.org) an event I do each year.  It's a fantastic weekend and quite the energy booster for another year of teaching and ministering.  I'll be leaving in a few hours and one of the first things on my drive (6+ hours) will be to listen to "The Brain From Planet X"  it's all very exciting.

But now, laundry....

DR Matthew - Have a good drive, and a wonderful conference.

General well-being vibes to DR Jose

Thank you.

I got a letter in the mail today. They let him out on Monday night.

DR JOSE did you see your Dream Interpretation.


Free today only for you.  And really concentrate on the New Moon Full Eclipse on Saturday....the moon is in VIRGO....so we can really get some stuff done...if we set our minds to it.

No one answered my question yesterday about Finale so I'll ask again:  is it a good software package to create midi files by copying notes from sheet music to a staff view?  Is it overkill--I see there's a skinny-down version called Finale SongWriter, but according to reviews for that product, it's limited to eight staves, which wouldn't have worked for something like the FOLLIES overture.  What can you Finale users tell me?

Oh, sorry... I actually did mean to answer your question yesterday, but since I didn't, I shall answer it now.

Finale is primarily a music layout/engraving program.  Yes, you could use it for creating MIDI files, but if that's your primary reason for getting Finale, I'd suggest looking at another program.  Cakewalk does have a staff view and note-entry mode - although the easiest way to create a note-by-note, staff-by-staff MIDI file, would be to play/record the notes into the program.  And there are other sequencer programs out there too.  *If you're a Mac person, you could also use Band-In-A-Box if you have the orchestral instrument sound packs.

As I've explained to other people before - and even to myself - Finale works best if you treat it as a graphics program and not necessarily a music program.  But if you don't have a keyboard/MIDI set-up, and will be 'step entering' all the notes, Finale may serve your needs (too).

I'd suggest going to www.finalemusic.com, and downloading the free NotePad software.  It's a very basic, stripped down version of Finale.  However, it will give you an idea of the user interface and the process involved in getting the notes from the page to the computer.  Then you can decide from there if you want the full-blown program.  However...

You mentioned SongWriter.... I'd look into the next step up, PrintMusic.  More staves, more voices.  However...

*If you understand the whole "voices" function, you can place more than one musical line on one staff (like a countermelody).  And I believe you can place from 4-6 voices on one staff, so... That may be a workaround.

So... I think that answered your question, and it may have confused you too.  But it's a start.  Hopefully.

DR JOSE did you see your Dream Interpretation.


Free today only for you.  And really concentrate on the New Moon Full Eclipse on Saturday....the moon is in VIRGO....so we can really get some stuff done...if we set our minds to it.

Yes, I did, DR JRand.  And Thank You.

I really was thrown for a loop this morning.  I woke up feeling very tentative, and actually a bit scared.  And it's been a long time since I've any sort of dream like the ones I had last night.

The worst part about the one where I found about my friend's death, was that it followed through to his funeral, or at least some gathering... And someone was bad-mouthing him.  Again, most unsettling.

And then when all the little children came out of the wall, covered in mud and blood(?) and started screaming and running around...

I spent a good amount of time right after I woke up trying to figure out exactly what would have triggered such dreams.  Was it the Mexican food I had last night?  In any case...

Thank you for the dream interpretation.  And the "warning" for this weekend.

RE: Last night's "American Idol"...  -And actually the night before too... And the preliminary rounds too...

So... I'm just wondering how many of those contestants and potential contestants know that the song "Feeling Good" is originally from a Broadway show (Newley & Bricusse's The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd).  Yes, Nina Simone covered it, as did Michael Bublé (which everyone seems to be copying - AJ's rendition was Bublé's all the way).  But would anyone dare sing it like it appears in the show?

...And they were also putting up a couple of new sculptures in Bryant Park this morning.  They're large 'heads' with some very cool "hats".  -I'll have to take pictures of them once they're fully installed.

Alas, the lawn at Bryant Park was non-existent - looks like they were getting it ready for a new lawn this spring.  It was all dirt.

Re: a question a couple of days ago about everyone having a myspace page.

I actually have a page.  There is basically nothing on it except a picture.  But if you want to view other people's pictures or correspond then you must be registered.

RE: Last night's "American Idol"...  -And actually the night before too... And the preliminary rounds too...

So... I'm just wondering how many of those contestants and potential contestants know that the song "Feeling Good" is originally from a Broadway show (Newley & Bricusse's The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd).  Yes, Nina Simone covered it, as did Michael Bublé (which everyone seems to be copying - AJ's rendition was Bublé's all the way).  But would anyone dare sing it like it appears in the show?

I would.