Majority of Americans just want to go back to Pizza Hut like in the old days

(Denver, CO) A recent survey found that 9/10 Americans just want to go to Pizza Hut, order a pan pizza, and relax in a booth with comfy padded red faux-leather seats. "I don't even mind doing halvsies with my sister if I have to," said Jenny during a recent Zoom interview. "As long as no pineapple touches my side ... honestly I'm fine". The fatigue Americans are experiencing from the coronavirus pandemic and the tense political landscape has frayed nerves. "Remember the lunch buffet?" asked Dan through his mask as he waited in line for groceries, "when the vaccine makes it safe to get the all-you-can-eat special, I'm totally going to pig out. I might actually put some lettuce on my plate from the salad bar once things are all clear". As for whether he's worried about emotions running high once people are allowed to mix again, Dan says, "nah, it'll be just like high school. You see some dips*** wearing a confederate flag logo on their hat, you just make jokes about him. Out of earshot, of course. Way on the other side of the restaurant."

Hi there! It's me, Leslie

Hi everyone! So you'll notice a three-year gap between my last blog post and this one. I got really angry at Bark Suckerberg's refusal to hold the president to task so I am signing off of Facebook for a while. In the meantime, I had some other stuff to share, which I'll do shortly. I'm still getting used to my schedule since the kids have returned to school. Everything's weird.

If you miss following me on Facebook, then subscribe here! I'll try to keep it interesting.

Recording Session at the Keep

Ah yes! I will tell you all about it. But not quite yet. I'm just saving this place in my webpage.

50 things every audio engineer should have by age 50, in no particular order

I saw that "50 Things Every Woman Should Have by Age 50" and it said a bunch of crap about shoes and clothes and having a bank accounts in your own name. It waxed poetic about old boyfriends, jewelry, and loving your wrinkles. What the actual hell. I don't need to acquire self confidence about aging, I need to make more music and get more gear to record it with! I will be 50 soon and I have just about everything on this list, so if nothing else I'll be motivated to finally upgrade to Pro Tools 12. 

1. At least one microphone that costs more than $600
2. Soldering iron
3. SPL meter
4. A working turntable and preamp
5. A working cassette deck
6. Reference monitors
7. Sealed headphones
8. Unsealed headphones
9. An analog mixer
10. Firewire or USB interface
11. At least 2 channels of decent mic pres
12. 100’ snake
13. An XLR to ¼” snake
14. Fishpole
15. Shotgun mic
16. Stereo mini to ¼” adaptor
17. RCA to ¼” adaptors
18. Barrel type XLR turnarounds
19. Seven computers (2 PCs and 5 Macs)
20. Eight computer monitors
21. Pro Tools 10
22. Pro Tools 11
23. Pro Tools 12
24. Adobe Audition (to troubleshoot opening OMF files)
25. Logic
26. Reason
27. Max/MSP
28. 2 channel graphic equalizer
29. At least one decent reverb plug in
30. MIDI controller
31. Video camera (ie a digital audio recorder that takes pictures, too)
32. Patch Bay
33. 20 hard drives
34. A decent subwoofer in your car or at least a system that goes to 30 Hz minimum
35. Card reader
36. A gaming console (Xbox, PS3), you don’t have to play it but you need it to compare streaming audio quality
37. A headphone amplifier
38. MIDI cables
39. MIDI to USB cables
40. Clients
41. Acoustic piano
42. Guitar
43. Bass Guitar
44. Choose one : Melodica, harmonica, recorder, dulcimer, thumb harp, or anything someone visiting you will be prompted to say “what’s this?” when they pick it up
45. Active DI
46. Passive DI
47. A webpage showcasing your work
48. Up-to-date CV
49. One formal outfit for the awards ceremony
50. Sneakers to go with the formal outfit

The food allergy saga continues

So here is the sequel (read the previous chapter here):

On Wednesday, I ate small "doses" of a muffin and my back started to itch. But I didn't break out. During the day they increased the serving size and each time my back started to itch but I didn't get break out. So my doctor observed that I am allergic to either wheat, baked egg, or both. She gave me the option to continue with our plan to exert the next day. I absolutely wanted to keep going with our experiment, I am tired of breaking out at random times.

The Treadmill. The Muffin.

So today, Thursday, I ate a muffin and ran on a treadmill.... and I got hives. Yay! (?)  It is actually good news because it's no longer a mystery.  So now I know if I eat wheat and baked egg (and possible any of my other dozen allergens) and exert myself I will break out. Of course, I could break out without exerting, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

And wait a minute.

HEY PEOPLE. I ran on a treadmill for 30 minutes without stopping at an average of 2.8 miles per hour. Can we just take a minute and reflect on that?

[insert ray of sunshine]

So what to do next? Well, the hives episode is an anaphylactic reaction. I didn't have the swelling of face or lips, nor did I have breathing problems, but the reaction is actually anaphylaxis. Scary shit, right?? So she is going to put me on a regimen of four different daily antihistamines. And then we are going to try a drug called Xolair which seems to be effective for chronic hives. A really fucking expensive monthly shot for which I have to dedicate 90 minutes each time. Worth it? YOU BET. I never again want to rush to an emergency room with my kids in the back seat of the car wondering "what's wrong with mommy". Never again. Been there, done that, got the scar on my heart for life.

The other good news is that this condition could be temporary and resolve within 2-7 years. So maybe it's just a hormonal thing...??

And that, my friends, is all I have to report. Thanks for peeking in on my journey with food allergies. It's embarrassing and it's gross, but hopefully now you'll understand why - if I am ever fortunate enough to dine out with you - I only end up eating a piece of lettuce and some carrots.

EPILOGUE: FOODS I CAN EAT SAFELY
Here they are, in no particular order:
Fish, beef, potatoes, carrots, apples, rice. Oh - and lettuce.

* * FIN * *

Leslie's food allergy saga

Right.

So I have allergies, lots of them. And today I am taking a food allergy challenge. And I get to have an IV. And I am not enthused.

Where to begin? To quote from the caterpillar in "Alice in Wonderland": "Begin at the beginning, continue through the middle, and stop when you get at the end".

Here goes.

Mom and I used to go to Elder Beerman's (a department store in Dayton, OH) to get mixed nuts. I loved sitting on the couch cracking nuts with my mom. Cashews, pecans, peanuts, coconut mixed in, almonds ... I ate them all.

One day I started grunting and my ears were itching. Mom mentioned I might be allergic.  Sure enough, I started noticing every time I ate peanuts, cashews, raisins, etc. my throat and ears would itch. The list began to grow: raisins, celery, figs (Fig Newtons), oatmeal (Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies!), peanut butter, grape jelly, grape juice. Over time it wasn't worth it to go through all the itching so I just avoided that stuff.

Later, when I was 11 years old, at Easter, I ate hard boiled eggs. Six of them. And I had the mother of all rashes that lasted for months. I tried special soaps and cremes and nothing got rid of them. Add to list: boiled eggs.

Now that I had assembled a list of foods to avoid I was good for the next 30 years. Occasionally I would have something touch something else - for example, I had a piece of birthday cake at Benihana one year and my lip became swollen. I figured maybe some peanut oil had gotten in there. Shrug.

THEN. Then for the love of God. THEN.

After I had my second child in 2012, I remember it was Easter again. Surely I could have one hard boiled egg.  NOPE. For the first time in my life I had hives. I drove to the store to get Benadryl. Because that is what my dad used to do.

Oh yeah --- my dad had hive breakouts. It was fun. I would be sitting watching MTV (probably around the time Tommy Shaw's solo career took off) and dad would call me. "Leslie, I want you to see something". *Groan* So I would trod back to where he was in bed after he had taken Benadryl. "I think it was green peppers", he said one time. Another time it was "There were anchovies in the worcestershire sauce". Gross, dad.

Well, as fate (and genetics) would have it, I am manifesting allergies in the same way. Hives. Fucking hives. And what is worse, my poor dad eventually had an anaphylactic episode after eating green peppers that were "hiding" in some gumbo. It was really, really scary. He is okay now. Carries an epi pen everywhere (DON'T YOU, DAD.)

F.M.L.

So back to 2012. Had a boiled egg, broke out, fuck boiled eggs forever.

But then I started having other reactions. And here they are for your reading pleasure. By the way, what are you doing today you have time to read this whole thing? Well God bless you.

Meals that have caused hives since 2012. The trick is there is no way to know for sure what set it off.

• Single hard boiled Egg. White shell. Home.
• Le Peep: Scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast
• Corner Bakery: Chicken Pomodori panini (suspect mayo)
• Panera: Frontega chicken panini (suspect mayo again)
• P.F. Changs: Pan fried shrimp dumplings (sesame oil?)
• Cassano's: Cheese Pizza (wheat? Tomato paste? cheese?)
• Infinitus Pie: Cheese Pizza
• Amy's Organic Cheese Pizza
• Random pizza shop in London
• Whole foods uncured beef hot dog (organic), hostess white bun (wheat? celery salt?)
• Auntie Chun's teriyaki chicken noodle bowl
• Chik-Fil-A chicken nuggets, waffle fries
• Qdoba cheese and chicken quesadilla

So from this list we have added sesame, celery, mayo, eggs (at restaurants) to the list of foods to avoid.

Which brings us to today. There are some common ingredients in the list above: wheat, eggs, and chicken.

So today I am taking a oral food challenge. A skin prick test revealed that I am, indeed, allergic to wheat. But to what extent? Is that what is causing the hives? And why - in most cases - have I been able to eat these foods in the past but not now? And why - in some cases - can I eat a food one week and have a reaction with the same exact food the next week? Why can I eat scrambled eggs every morning and not have a reaction? Why can I eat chicken at home (usually organic of course) but not out at a restaurant?  I can have toast or a grilled cheese sandwich at home. It's a stupid puzzle.

One cause could be exertion. In many cases I have a reaction after I have done a lot of walking.

I could also "just have hives" (idiopathic hives). Fortunately there is a drug called Xolair that might help.

But first things first... I'm at National Jewish Hospital and I am going to start by ingesting tiny doses of wheat.

TO BE CONTINUED
(read the next chapter here)

MEIS Study Abroad 20-22 May

Zachary and Kira

Our family arrived in England on May 14. We headed to Woodbridge right away so that we could all get situated at my in-laws' lovely home. The kids could get used to being with their Nana and Granddad while I prepared for the Maymester course.

This also gave me a chance to adjust to jet lag. I need energy to keep up with the students!

We took the kids to the neighborhood park, where some really nice locals commented on my children's lovely "American accents".

I headed off to London to meet our tour guide, Drew Young, and get acquainted with the hotel. The students were all on different flights, so I anxiously awaited everyone's arrival. Once we got settled in, we went out for food and a brisk walk. The following day we were bound for Liverpool!

Study Abroad students

We departed from Euston station and took the approximately 2 hour journey from London, arriving mid-day, and checked in to our hotel which is right across from the main train terminal in Liverpool.  We stored our luggage and set off to pick up our conference registration.

Along the way, we found a newly revitalized shopping district. This area shows how much Liverpool has grown from the rather depressed, industrial town it was the last time I visited in 1998. It now appears to be thriving, although I wonder about the effects of gentrification.  At any rate, it was good for the students to see where they could shop and find ATMs, all walking distance from the hotel.

The Liverpool Sound City conference is a four-day festival consisting of concerts and workshops for music industry students and professionals. The sessions were held in dark rooms with blue lights - not exactly great for recovering from jet lag. As a technology professional, I would have liked to see more technical demonstrations, but as an artist I did find the talks about surviving in today's music industry to be enlightening. Perhaps I will offer to present a "DIY recording" talk at next year's conference!

My colleague Stan Soocher is joining me to teach a section on music business; unfortunately we missed his moderation of the panel which discussed the "Blurred Lines" case and its impact copyright. He did tell me afterwards that there is an appeal in the works.

I visited sessions on artist income and social media strategies with an impressive list of panelists, including Nick Calafato from LastFM, Rakhi Sina from Eventbrite, and Ari Stein from Gigmit. The conference also featured "roundtables": group discussions held in a "speed-dating" style where attendees would swap tables with a featured host every 15 minutes.

Leslie with Nick of Last.fm

From these sessions, I wasn't surprised to discover that some artists make more money busking than on the bar circuit. People will pay for a (unique) experience, but not recorded music. Opportunities exist, however, in the broadcast/netcast area, where artists flock to get airplay/netplay. One example of this is a young woman named Eileen. She is a poet but also has a radio show and musicians constantly approach her for airtime.  Another French student works for a company who grant money to artists from her country gain traction in the UK. Artists have to prove they have a track record and strategy - no mention of their talent and ability.

Nick from last.FM foresees streaming services becoming demographically splintered in the coming years. He posed the question: Will streaming services appeal to certain demographics? Will Tidal, because of its founder (Jay-Z), be oriented towards hip-hop? Globally speaking, Spotify has become "trendy" in France, while CDs are still more popular in some countries.

In the Marketplace area of the conference, Wez Priceless gave (very basic) lessons on how to DJ. Props to this guy for wiping CDs on his shirt and tossing them, very nonchalant and label-side-down, around during the demo. Those were the days.

I visited the table at Liverpool John Moores University and was crestfallen to learn that they had cut the music program - ironically - at the Lennon School of the Arts. How could this happen!

There was also a main stage that featured performances; in particular I liked She Drew the Gun and Steed.

Late on Friday, the festival at Bramley-Moore dock was pleasantly packed and equipped with rides, food vendors, and at least 8 stages. Some massive, some tiny. I saw Everything Everything (highly recommended from student Josh Kern) and a band called Taffy.

Everything :||

Taffy

Dogshow

The act "dogshow" was bizarre and novel - yet somehow ordinary in terms of sound. Their act was on a self-contained, mobile stage. The lighting guy was on an attached golf cart and very into his job. Complete with fog machine, Korg analog synth mod, at least two Macbooks, drum controllers, cymbals - this was very damn loud and the crowd was very into it.

Altogether, a pretty packed 48 hours here in Liverpool, and still two days to go in the festival. You can be sure I will blog about it.