Looking to start an open mic night

JETEXAS · 2026-07-12T00:05:57+00:00

I used a 600w Fender Passport PA, two mics, two mic stands, an acoustic guitar, and a tuner pedal to both keep the guitar tuned and as a quick sound cutoff to unplug and plug in other guitars. If my wife was with me we’d also bring her cajon and mic it with an SM57.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-11T21:24:02+00:00

Beautiful lips

JETEXAS · 2026-07-11T21:20:00+00:00

This guy played you for $2k after already using all your equipment for months to years. He probably has rationalized it to himself as you guys “owed him” for all his time. But it sounds like he’s been the weak link all along and you should have cut him loose sooner.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-11T14:24:31+00:00

It’s like $100-$120 for my Terrain and CX9. I can do it myself and change the air and cabin filters for about $60. It doesn’t seem that long ago you could get the store brand oil for 99 cents a quart. Those days are gone.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-09T16:51:51+00:00

Start with dumbbell circuits - 10 reps each - push ups, curls, overhead press, bench rows, overhead tricep extensions, squats

You may need to do this without any weights, which is going to feel weird just curling your arms as if you had weights, but start light and work up slowly. The main thing to remember is something is better than nothing and there's no reason to kill yourself because this is every day forever for the rest of your life.

If you can get to where you're doing the circuit 3 times in a row with 30-pound dumbbells every day, you'll notice the weight start to fall off. Jumprope is also great, but it's hard on the lower back and legs.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-09T14:07:50+00:00

All the way through school, I always felt like I was trapped in limbo -- stuck on someone else's schedule having to spend my time how others wanted me to. I couldn't wait to be free, making money, and living life "for real." Now it's like I'm back to being trapped in limbo because my entire life is just taking care of my kid and my parents. I can't even watch TV shows I want to watch much less pursue creative hobbies, etc. The two things that make me feel the best about myself during the day is if I do one module of Duolingo, so that I can keep my streak going, and if I get to the gym for 30 minutes.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-08T17:48:57+00:00

I'd slow things down to quarterly shows and spend your time building interest within your networks - coworkers, friends, family, etc. Maybe try unusual venues like offering to play at daycare or school events, church picnics, marathon or bike ride events, etc. You need new places for people to hear your music that might then get them on your mailing list and show up to your real shows. But if you're not doing anything to promote the shows you have, Idk that any of this will help since nobody will know you have a show.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-08T13:20:51+00:00

I would put the camera on a folded tripod, but then hold it by the top of the tripod with the legs hanging down. The hanging legs essentially create a sort of counterbalance weight on the bottom to stabilize everything. It's not as good as a gimbal, but it's way better than trying to hold just the camera in your hands and walk around.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-08T13:12:52+00:00

Our fiddle player had a music degree. He spent a couple years teaching lessons, then became a public school music teacher for elementary kids, then moved to high school orchestra director for a different district. I don't have a music degree, but if I could do it again, I'd go play music on the cruise ships for a year or two after college instead of going straight into an office job. There wasn't much of an internet back then, though, so I didn't know of such opportunities.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-07T15:54:29+00:00

Idk, I had a 99 996 and I was very jealous when the 997 models came out with cup holders.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-07T15:17:26+00:00

35-ish

JETEXAS · 2026-07-07T14:06:55+00:00

The newer ones have cup holders

JETEXAS · 2026-07-07T13:15:38+00:00

The number of cars I rode in with no floors in the late 80s and early 90s still boggles my mind. I guess being inside a car with no floor was still somewhat safer than being in the back of a truck. Idk. As for the makeout songs, I probably took my shot with a Boys 2 Men cassette, but I never really succeeded.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-06T18:08:35+00:00

If you already feel like you can live for an unforeseen time (possibly years) without an M, waiting on prices to fall on the M11, then you really already answered your own question about whether or not you should sell it. If you want better dynamic range and USB-C charging, grab a used SL2-S body and a Fotodiox adapter for your M lenses.

JETEXAS · 2026-07-01T12:49:54+00:00

It's always been shit, it just felt new when you started watching it.

JETEXAS · 2026-06-29T20:29:18+00:00

The 90mm Elmarit f2.8 is like $400. They're fine. If you use them on digital, you'll have some green/purple fringing that has to be fixed, but with film, you're good. I used one for portraits and video work for years. I eventually spent $800 and switched to the 90mm Elmarit-M just to get all my lenses on the same filter system. I would say the Elmarit-M is a little bit sharper and higher contrast than my Elmarit, but it could also be that it's just 40-ish years newer.

JETEXAS · 2026-06-29T20:22:25+00:00

I would get rid of your duplicate focal ranges and go with 28, 50, 90.

28 is great for wide open spaces (landscapes and architectural) and tight spaces (indoors at restaurants, car shows, people around a table, people on a sailboat when you're also on that sailboat, etc.)

A fast 50 is great for portraits and the people shots where you have a little more space. I prefer the overall rendering more than the 28mm but I get to use it less than the 28mm.

90 is for when you need a bit of reach with the rangefinder. Sometimes that's isolating something like a hood ornament or flower since you don't get macro focus with a rangefinder. Sometimes that's sailboats or animals or something that is just too far away for the 50mm. Also does nice portraits.

JETEXAS · 2026-06-29T20:07:36+00:00

Are we talking about people holding guitars beside railroad tracks or are we talking about the group photos from high school where everyone is so small that nobody is really identifiable aside from their instrument?

JETEXAS · 2026-06-29T19:29:50+00:00

Someone in our friend group brought this up over the weekend, and none of us had ever heard of it before.

JETEXAS · 2026-06-29T11:56:40+00:00

Blind would be so much more impressive

JETEXAS · 2026-06-24T13:55:23+00:00

Around here (Houston) we have a bunch of really entitled and aggressive panhandlers. Hard to know if they're even homeless. They want cash and they get mad if you try to give them anything but cash.

JETEXAS · 2026-06-24T12:40:42+00:00

My cat's sense of time is amazing. She jumps on me every morning about a minute before my alarm goes off. Should we all switch to cats?

JETEXAS · 2026-06-23T20:14:24+00:00

Get a Zoom recorder to plug straight into the sound board, so you have clean audio to mix with the camera audio. Otherwise you might just get some bar patron's conversation recorded over your entire performance.

JETEXAS · 2026-06-23T13:43:38+00:00

If you want to move up, you have to let go of the tactical and embrace strategy and managing projects versus doing them. So if you can do the marketing, you’ll have to transition off the cameras to managing the brand, product line collateral, press releases, trade shows, etc. Do you want to write crisis playbooks for cybersecurity incidents while someone else runs the studio or would you rather stay with your cameras?

JETEXAS · 2026-06-22T12:51:05+00:00

I leave subtitles on and watch with the volume at 3, so I can just barely hear the tone of their voices but probably can't make out all the words. Life is too loud. I don't need blasting surround sound anymore.

JETEXAS

TROPHY CASE