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Recordings from the road

MP3 File

Recordings from the road

MP3 File

Recordings from the road

MP3 File

This post was left heading south out of Omaha on the way to Austin, Texas for the 53rd annual convention of the Esperanto League for North America. I talk about the rental car and Andy’s away baseball game at Northside Little League in the shadow of a coal-fired power plant.


MP3 File

Excitement descended upon the house, quite literally, when I heard a loud noise from the area of my son’s room. He often makes noise for no seemingly apparant reason, so I wasn’t concerned. Almost immediately, Andy rushed into my study and asked breathlessly, “Dad? What was that?”

I knew that a thunderstorm was in progress, so I went outside to investigate. I assumed that perhaps a tree branch had broken off the neighbor’s maple and hit the roof. As soon as I opened the door, it was obvious what had hit the roof. We were in the midst of a hail storm. Chunks of ice were falling everywhere. However, the sound of the impact was quite loud, so I was hoping to find a sizeable hailstone in the yard.

I didn’t find any bowling ball-sized hailstones, but I did witness a few almost as big around as a golf ball, but in more of a disc shape. These made quite a noise as they hit the roof of my and my neighbor’s houses.

I came back in to get my microphone, but almost as quickly as it came, the hailstorm tranformed into an ordinary early summer shower. Captured in this recording is the end of a hailstorm. You’ll hear only a few tiny hailstones hitting the roof, car, and sidewalk. There is a little bit of thunder and traffic noise from a nearby highway. Finally, at the end of the recording, you’ll hear the birds come back out from wherever it is they go during a thunderstorm.

Listen to the MP3

Recordings from the road

MP3 File

Next week, my daughter and I will be on the road for our first ever Esperanto convention in Austin, Texas. I figured this is a good chance to try out blogging; audio blogging by phone, specifically.

I will use my cellphone to call into my Audioblog account and leave updates. The recordings will be instantly rendered into MP3 files and made available in this blog.

These are primarily communiqués to my wife, who is not going, so that I can remind her how much fun she is missing by not attending a convention where everyone talks in an engineered language.

Wish us “bonan ŝancon!” (Esperanto for “good luck”)

Memorial Day 2005 saw us at my in-law’s house where my wife’s mom, Rose, keeps a beautiful backyard garden. This garden attracts many birds, including rare hummingbirds and orioles.

While recording the sounds of a circulating water pump and bird chatter, my eight year-old nephew, Christopher, came out to chat. Listen to Christopher talk about the aural acumen of robins, the intelligence of (and sometimes lack thereof) crows, and the strength of bald eagles. You’ll also hear the sounds of a military jet flyover, as my in-law’s live in the same town as the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command base.

Listen to the MP3

The second song I recorded by the Irish/folk singing quintet at the 2005 Nebraska Renaissance Faire was “Wish I Was Back Home In Derry.” The twelve-string guitar and accompanying fiddle really round out the sound of this sad song.

Listen to the MP3.

Note that my microphone cable malfunctioned resulting in a monophonic recording.

I found a quintet of musicians performing traditional folk and Irish-ish tunes at the 2005 Nebraska Renaissance Faire so I sat down with microphone in hand and recorded “Riley’s Daughter” (aka: “One Eyed Riley”).

Listen to the MP3.

For some fun, load up the lyrics and read along.

Note that my microphone cable malfunctioned, causing the recording to be monophonic.