i had to get some professional photography done for some art/promotional work, and again, houston is so cool for digging up artists (and deals); we had some impromptu backgrounds and lighting (which was cool because the photographer was a very loose and creative person who could go with the flow); i was veeeery sleepy though as i couldnt sleep at all the night before so by the end i was hot, annoyed, and just wanted it all to be over; it’s funny, when i helped with the filming shoot, i remember the brother showed us the preview screen and mentioned that the final would be higher quality; well, it was a similar situation - the previews were like ok but it was hard to tell much; however, she assured me that the camera was very high resolution and they would be good; she was right - they were much better when i got them on disc and as she said, a resolution is only as good as the screen you are viewing it though; some of these cameras nowadays are amazing - they don’t look that big (the one we had for the filming was so small we kind of laughed when we saw it) but they have mad amounts of space; she had like 15 gigs ready and we shot a couple of hundred times! she was a really cool person to work with too and quite professional (although much of her background was experience-based); we hashed it out in about an hour (i looooove working with professional people - i dont care about certificates, i just mean professional in results and in attitude - they get to the point and focus on work, not frivolities); anyway, you can check her out (it’s funny how many photographers have to do weddings, like how bands have to play weddings and bar mitzvahs, etc. but at least she had some art going too - so many of the photographers i had to comb through were like totally commercial or all wedding): http://www.chelseaaldrich.com/photography.html (you can also check out another photographer i liked and we almost worked together but she was in the process of revamping her studio and i needed this done fast - http://www.susiechu.com - lol i also love the way the site name sounds like the mandatory song in every blues player’s repertoire)

one thing i really love about houston is that there is a very large art community, and you can get pretty decent art stuff done at a fair price; i did the recording today - it was done by my former tabla instructor, david courtney - this guy is really cool; i mean, he’s this white guy that is so in love with desi culture, he became a master in tabla, married a wonderful indian lady (she sings by the way) - and they tour together - they’re a really beautiful couple and i always enjoy visiting them and working with them; the first time i saw him he was like salamu alaikum, and i was in shock (hah, same way i must shock people who have preconceptions of myself) - but he’s pretty much adopted the culture and knows a bit of urdu too

it went pretty quickly - the worst part of any art endeavor is to actually look at it or hear it, see it, etc. after you’re done lol; you just sit there cringing, hearing your every flaw and hating yourself - but you have to push yourself past that as long as you gave it your all; and sometimes it goes back and forth - you’ll write something, hate it, come back and go, that wasn’t so bad! and on and on

it was pretty minimalistic (not like my previous stints with artistic recording) - just plain spoken poetry, with no embellishments, just some mild reverb and the standard vocal compression; i was cracking up when he played around with the equipment and changed my voice into a man’s (that is cool! i might save that for later lol) - in general his studio is in a separate garage (oh, the software he uses is called “garageband” - i’d never heard of it; it’s a mac only app), and i really love that place and all its equipment; but at the same time it’s very cozy

they’re really hospitable too with their chai and paratha, etc. - they’re just really great people you can check them out at http://www.chandrakantha.com