Monday Meanderings - 4.10.2017

In addition to the time I spend at the Learning Alley studios recording audio books, I also do checking from home.  I have a copy of the same software we use to record with, only in this instance I use it to play back a book that someone else has recorded. I follow along in the text and if the reader flubs a line, or adds a word, or deviates in some fashion, I select the offending passage in the waveform and write a note that stays associated with that error until it is corrected by the reader.

It looks something like this:

And yes, that is a Harry Potter book that I'm checking. Which is interesting, because I have never read any of the Harry Potter books. I've seen only one HP movie, and that because my son-in-law was using it as a discussion starter with a group of college students at WVU one weekend when we were visiting. You do remember, don't you that we see a movie on average of every 3 years? I would have a lot of catching up to do with Harry Potter.

You might think that the Harry Potter books would have already been recorded - and they have been, but Learning Ally is always upgrading its library, and the Austin Studio happens to have a real-live Brit who reads in a marvelous British accent, so they are re-recording them.

In addition to the venerable American-Statesman, Austin gets an alternative view of the news in the form of the Chronicle, a weekly free newspaper that thumbs its nose at the establishment in as many ways as possible. I usually pick up an issue for the entertainment value. Last week I glanced at the "Back Page" which features small, uh, alternate ads, like:

 TAP DANCERS WANTED - Performance group age 50+

or

KID ENTERTAINERS - Will Train

or

TAROT READINGS - Clear Answers

or

RECORD LIKE JACK WHITE - Magnacord Studios

or 

MOTORBLADE.COM - Poster dude puts fliers in 200 legal spots

Plus, there are a couple more that don't meet the family values standard of this log. You gotta love this town!