The Old Gray Mare

Even though I'm composing this post on something as "with-it" as my iPad, I'm feeling a little Old-Gray-Marish today. I'm scheduled to have my second tutorial with DJ Cobweb this evening. Here's the deal:

Several weeks ago a sweet friend started texting me, asking me if I would consider "spinning" at The Bonham Exchange - in the video bar, also known as The Alamo Bar - for a good old-fashioned retro t-dance on a Sunday afternoon. The texted conversation continued - and now that t-dance is this Sunday.

I began my preparation a couple of weeks ago - going through all my music, listening to a lot of music, thinking about how I wanted to mix certain songs, etc. Then I went down to The Bonham Exchange last week to find out what the equipment in The Alamo video bar was like and what I might still need to do to get ready for Sunday Funday.

An unsuspecting DJ Cobweb was enlisted by the bar management to show me the ropes. And this is what I learned: DJ Cobweb is a professional who loves his job, loves music, and works hard to stay on top if what is current - both with technology and music. Last Thursday night I watched in awe as DJ Cobweb deftly (and quickly - very quickly) turned on EQs and amps, whipped out his own personal mixer and his laptop (loaded with professional video mixing software and great videos), and started plugging things in and flipping switches and turning knobs. Of course, he explained everything he was doing as he was doing it. But he may as well have been speaking Chinese.

I would not be "spinning" anything. The CDs that I had spent hours burning were filled with compilations of the music that I thought I'd be using - those CDs were useless. I came away from our session with my eyes rolling around in my head. I was anxious. I was sweating. I had a headache. After some Italian food and a big glass of red wine and some whining, I felt better.

My dear friend Tom made me feel a lot better about the situation - well, after he stopped laughing. Well, after Tom and Wayne stopped laughing. They do a lovely dramatic enactment of me with big imaginary DJ headphones on, waving off imaginary people who are trying to make imaginary requests.

Hours and hours (and hours) with my computer have resulted in a fairly large library of a wide variety of videos, as well as the purchase of some fairly expensive (but also pretty user friendly) VJ/DJ software.

So on Sunday Funday at the t-dance, there'll be no "spinning,"per se. There'll be no scratching or any of that fancy stuff. But it will be fun. As for now, tonight I'll go back down to The Bonham to see those nice people again. This time I'm taking MY laptop loaded with MY software and MY videos. The Old Gray Mare will give it a go. It's all good.