My You Tube stuff.

Not everyone's cup of tea, by any stretch of the imagination, but my music tastes tend to lean towards the so-called "Easy Listening" genre (although I do consider myself to have rather eclectic tastes in music).

Being as I am from the Vinyl Age, I do have a large collection of these 12" discs from the 1960's and 1970's - the pre-CD era in the progression of mankind.

I have (and continue to do so as time allows) made digital recordings (MP4's) of many tracks from various LP's and uploaded these to my channel on You Tube, where you will find arrangements from such notables as Dudley Moore and his trio, Andre Previn, Joe Harnell, Percy Faith and others, some well known, some obscure (such as Jonathan & Darlene Edwards).

If this is your thing, then you are welcome to meander into this You Tube address. 

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For those who may be interested in the "how does he do it?" technical stuff associated with the recording:-

The vinyl is played on a conventional turntable (1970s to 1980s versions)...I have a couple.

The analogue signal is then input via a NAD PP3 USB Preamp to my PC and the incoming sound is recorded as a digital WAV file using VinylStudio.

That digital file is then converted to an MP3 file using either GoldWave or Audacity editing suites.

Finally, to create a file format acceptable for You Tube, an MP4 audio/video file is created with VideoPad video editor or Microsoft's "Movie maker" before uploading to You Tube.

Practising the 'P'-plate motorcycle test.

(Click on image for larger view)

Today I spent a couple of hours with a group of like-minded 'L'-platers as we were taken through a practice session for the standard test for the  'P' (Provisional) license.

Under a perfect clear blue winter's sky and nary a breeze we assembled at the EPIC (Exhibition Park In Canberra) car park at Mitchell as instructor Heidi put us through the paces.

The 90-degree turn; accelerating to 20kph and stopping with the front wheel within a fixed-size rectangle; the cone-weave; followed by the emergency stop and, finally, the dreaded U-turn.

The Honda CM400A was my steed for the day (I really feel comfortable with this bike) and I think that I managed a successful U-turn (staying inside the lines) twice from about ten attempts, so have some work to do in that area. But all the others seemed fine and it is just a matter of practising until I can do it all without thinking about it.

Then, come September or October....or maybe November.....I'd like to do the test for real.

The Renaissa's back!

Eight weeks after the damage occurred, repairs were completed this week and the bike was available for collection yesterday (Thursday 3rd.)

Having only ridden less than 3 kilometres on it before the accident, I am somewhat nervy about riding it, so will be taking it easy over the weekend and then only if the weather is dry.

I'll update next week.