My Word with Douglas E. Welch

Like the LAPD scanner link I posted week or so ago, this link to LiveATC.com lets you listen in to that is happening at Van Nuys airport as aircraft arrive and depart. Van Nuys is the business general aviation airport in the US, so there is always a lot going on. You can also listen in on what other aircraft, like LAPD, are doing near the airport, as they need to stay in contact whenever working in the Van Nuys airspace. Van Nuys is also the base for LA County Fire Helicopters.

This feed could also be useful if you happen to visit the Van Nuys Airport Observation area off of Woodley Avenue. Using your iPhone or other mobile device, you could listen in on traffic as you watched the planes arrive and depart. When my son was younger, we used to visit here so he could watch the airplanes up close.

Link: Van Nuys Ground and Tower – KVNY radio feed via LiveATC.com

Living in a big city like Los Angeles, you can see and hear a lot. In such a large city, helicopter activity is nearly constant. Nearly every day I hear an LAPD helicopter orbiting overhead covering some police activity.

In the past I have often found myself wondering what was happening. Recently, though, I stepped up my search for access to radio scanner audio via the web. I had been to RadioReference.com before, but hadn’t located a scanner feed that delivered the best information. On this visit, though, I found the scanner feed labelled, “LAPD – Code 3/Hot Shots, Air/K9 and Van Nuys/Valley Traffic“. (Click to Listen)

In the last few days, this audio has proven very useful in discovering where a police incident was happening and also learning a bit about what was happening. Whenever I heard the chopper overhead, I would tune in listen for a few minutes. The quick mention of an address what usually all I needed to understand how the incident might impact me and in nearly every case, move on with my day. One of the biggest reasons for wanting to know the location of an incident is simply to avoid the location so as not to get involved in the incident itself, but more importantly for Los Angeles, not get involved in any traffic jam that might be caused.

RadioReference.com has scanner links for many metropolitan areas, so even if you don’t live in Los Angeles, you might find something useful there.

Waaaaaaay back in the 1996 we were looking for a contractor to do some small work on the house we had just bought. Being a tech guy, I headed over to the Internet to see what I could find. Brian had an AOL web page that came up in a search, we contacted him and hired him for this small job and several larger jobs over the years.

He is GREAT to work with — professional with a great crew. In every case, he was able to clearly see what we wanted, offer great advice, and make it happen.

If you need a contractor for your project — large or small — give Brian a call. I think you will be as happy as we have been with his work over the years.

Brian McCarthy Associates

Licensed and insured general contractor in Southern California – License no. 668801

We specialize in residential remodeling and room additions, and we’ve done everything from fixing a chair to building a house.  We’ve also done many select commercial/hospitality jobs.  I personally designed many of our projects and have worked with some of the most talented architects and designers in the business.

You can see examples of Brian’s work on the web site linked above and also on these additional sites.

Tell him the Douglas and Rosanne sent you!

Blog | Brian on Houzz

A good friend, and local artist, Jeanine Colini has some great Christmas Cards, notecards and posters available for sale. Here “Spyrograph” cards immediately caught my attention when she first showed them to me. Fond memories of plastic gears, stickpins and pens flooded back. You can contact her directly using the information included below.

Buy local! Buy Often!

Click for full resolution versions of these PDF flyers

Every year my friend Ric Turner does some amazing light displays for Halloween and Christmas. This year’s Christmas show is a version of Angry Birds that plays on his Christmas lights?!?!?!? Watch the video below or see it for yourself on Philbrook Avenue in Santa Clarita, CA.

Watch “Angry Birds Christmas Light Game” on YouTube.com

Video Description:

“Help! The pigs are trying to ruin Christmas. Grab the sling shot and fire those birds! From the people who brought you the Guitar Hero Christmas Light game! Running on two computers and 10 Light-o-rama 16 channel controllers, uses more than 20,000 lights and less than one cent of electricity per game. Audio is broadcast on 99.1FM, and the controller has a long enough cord for people to play in their cars on the street. Easier than the iPhone version, and bigger too.”

Our 6th Annual LIVE Reading of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol will take place on Sunday, December 18, 2011 at 6pm EST/3pm PST.

Our annual holiday reading of this classic Dickens’ story. We bring together frends and family to read sections from a condensed version of the story — said to be made by Charles Dickens himself — for his own live, public readings. Follow Scrooge, Bob Crachit, Tiny Tim and all the familiar characters as they both teach and learn what Christmas is all about.

Tune in while you prepare your Christmas cookies or wrap your Christmas presents. Join the “spirits” of the season!

Click Here to Watch/Listen Live to A Christmas Carol

Consider having your own reading of A Christmas Carol, or other favorite story, as a way to gather friends together and share a unique experience. You don’t have to broadcast it like we do, but why not share it with the world!

This year’s show is sponsored by WelchWrite.com, Eclipse-1 Media and New Media Interchange.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Enjoy more Christmas Carol in your own home!

Free download of “A Christmas Carol” – Text/ePub/HTML/Kindle versions available

The audio CD of Patrick Stewart’s one man version of A Christmas Carol is absolutely amazing. We saw the show several times here in LA and met Patrick one evening. His version of “A Christmas Carol” was the driving factor in starting our own yearly reading of the story.

More “A Christmas Carol” on Amazon.com

LOS ANGELES SONGSALIVE! SONGWRITER’S WORKSHOP

GUEST SPEAKER – JOHN BRAHENY
Author of The Craft and Business of Songwriting

TOPIC:  Are Song Structures Flexible, or Set In Stone?

WHEN: THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH
NEXT: Sunday, November 20, 2011
TIME: Starts 12:00 am SHARP. Ends at 3 pm. Please be on time.
WHERE: THE FINNISH CENTER10701 Magnolia Blvd.North Hollywood, CA 

COST: Free for Songsalive! Pro Members. Non-members pay a donation of $10.

John Braheny is a top consultant for songwriters and writer/artists. He was one of 5 nominees for “Best Music/Performer/Artist Development Executive” in the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP) “Best In The Biz” list for 2011.

The author of The Craft and Business of Songwriting, which has sold over 80,000 copies (now in its 3rd edition), he co-founded and ran the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase  - a non-profit organization that for 25 years provided a weekly showcase and early exposure for writers including Diane Warren, Warren Zevon, Wendy Waldman, Stevie Nicks and thousands  more. He’s a consultant and screener for Taxi, the worlds leading indie A&R company and has interviewed more than 600 songwriters and industry pros. A unique perspective!  More info at www.johnbraheny.com.

TOPIC: “Are Song Structures Flexible, or Set in Stone?”

What’s the value of song structures? Are they really rules? Are they the same in every style?  Can you break the rules if you’re an artist? Can you stretch them in live performance? Though an understanding of song structures can make or break the commercial potential of a song, if you learned there were only 3 or 4 structures that are acceptable, you may have more creative latitude than you think!

I won’t be able to make it to this event, but I will certainly keep a watch on when they do it again. — Douglas

Homebrew demo: This Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., learn how to make your own beer at Eagle Rock Brewery. Spruce up your brewing skills and acquire new techniques and recipes as co-owner and brewer Steve Raub demonstrates homebrewing with his very own Full Moon Bock. The cost is $10 per person and includes lunch and a pint of one of Eagle Rock Brewery’s house beers. 3056 Roswell St., L.A., (323) 257-7866, eaglerockbrewery.com.

Read entire article from Daily Dish

It is that time of year again and my friend, Ric, has set up his annual Halloween light show. As in year’s past, this is an interactive video game you play on the Halloween lights of the house. Punkin’ Chunkin’ pits the player against flying pumpkins as they try to catch as many as they can in their characters mouth. The show plays through Halloween night on Philbrook Street in Santa Clarita.

Check out Ric’s past shows and games on his YouTube Channel

Liam John (@editorLiam) got this nice shot of me during the Techmunch Food Blogger conference.