Gary Diamond!! What can I say. He spent quite a bit of time with me. Audacity wouldn't record in stereo. Only one track showed a graph. We thought my 5 month old Mackie 808S was defective.

After several test Gary says your adapter is the wrong kind. We I'm a Cajun and green right? I says to my self, really? I was worn out by then. I'm getting old. We called it a night.

The next morning, I'm getting the adapter off the computer to bring back to Radio Shack to be laughed at,(is what I'm thinking). I notice a little 8" long 1/8" stereo to a two end 1/4" female that I used last year or so to record to my little 3" square Sony mini disk player recorder. It looks identical to the one I'm going to return to RS, other than it's a lot shorter. I put it in the sound card, got up audicity, and I have stereo.

The 2 foot long adapter I returned to Radio shack is to allow two people to listen on separate headphones. Hey! I didn't know what I was buying. I told the kid at Radio Shack what I wanted to do and that's what he picked out.

Cut me some slack OK! I've been a bricklayer for 35 years. I quit playing music before some of you were born maybe. Except DonM. He could be lying. He might be older than me. Opps again! He's big, big, big, at least 6'5" and looks mean. Sorry again Don.

Man I feel real smart and better now. I'm taking off today. Tomorrow I'm gonna learn to record and to set the imput levels etc. Then after that I'll see if I really want to change my sax sound with effects at all. I may prefer to leave it bone dry.

Let's face it, sax is pretty just being played solo on the corner down at the park. Ever pay attention to a sax being played on some TV shows like on a street corner in the evening all by itself. Man, if people didn't want to dance so much everybody would want to be a Saxman!

Right now the most important feature to me is punch-in, punch-out to correct improvised mistakes. Playing live after 2 or 3 tunes, I won't make as many mistakes all night as I do when I turn the recorder on. Especially when I don't know what the heck I'm doing with the recorder or the software.

Thanks to everybody in helping me here with the many problems of an old fart trying to learn new stuff.

Maybe now that I have confidence in Gary and others I won't have to suck up to Dave so much.

Ha! Ha! Gotcha again Dave. Boy this is fun again. I was getting down. Now Dave is real close to getting my laptop going. If he can get a decent soft synth to work on it, I can do some picnics and such with just the Laptop, the Carvin and my sax. I won't have to carry the keyboard for little one hour get-togethers.

Man! What a great day, eh? Now I'm going to go make breakfast. I may have the opportunity to get in a cooking contest with Gary. Now don't sell me short on the cooking part. I've been cooking longer than I laid brick. I got a feelin I'm gonna get Gary out west here to do a fish story once more before he gives that up. He's going to be the easiest to talk into coming out to "Magnificent Western Colorado" home of many a western movie.

Boy I feel good!

Thanks for the invitation Boo. Western Colorado is neat, been there a few times, and maybe later in the year, I can take off on another vacation--that's what us old people do when we get tired of working 80 hours a week.

As for the cooking, I know you're a chili fan, but there are lots of others out there who probably wouldn't wolf down a bowl of chili if their lives depended on it. Most chili recipes are either too spicey or just awful. The following is one that took several years to perfect and will be published in a book I'm in the process of finishing up called "From The Kitchen of Gary Diamond." I'm hoping it will be a best seller.

NO ALARM CHILI

You've heard of 5-alarm chili and 10-alarm chili, but I call this one no-alarm chili, and for a good reason. For the life of me, I've never been able to figure why some folks want to make some dishes so spicy that after that first spoonful, you can no longer feel your tongue, let alone taste the food. I've come to the conclusion that the spices may be used to conceal the taste of a dish that isn't at all very tasty. Here's a chili recipe that after the first spoonful, everyone will be asking for more.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. lean ground beef or venison
2 small cans mushroom stems and pieces (drained)
2 cups water
2 14-ounce cans stewed tomatoes (preferably Italian style)
1 12-ounce can tomato paste
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 tblsp. chili powder
1-1/4 cups dark brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
pinch cayenne red pepper
2 cans dark kidney beans
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar/mozzarella cheese
1 small pack sliced pepperoni

DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, saute ground beef, chopping with spatula to keep particles separated. Drain off any grease, then mix in all but the last three ingredients, mix well, cover and simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes, mixing frequently. During the final 15 minutes, add kidney beans and continue to stir. Place chili in a large baking dish, top with shredded cheese, garnish with pepperoni slices and place in a preheated, 400 degree oven and bake until cheese melts. Serve hot with fresh baked garlic bread. I served no-alarm chili at dozens of parties, and everyone said "This is the World's best chili."

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..Chili!!!

Tomorrow night it is chilli for supper.
This is a lot like I make but with some additions that I can see will make a big difference.
Thanks a bunch for the recipie.
You are appreciated
BEBOP

Kinda' though you folks might like this one.

Enjoy,

Gary

1-1/4 cups Dark brown sugar???? Sounds like a dessert. A spicy dessert.
I'm not allowed to sugar in my diet for another 6 weeks. Maybe I'll try putting in some Stevia the next time I make chili.
Very interesting.
Starkeeper

The dark brown sugar kills some of the tomatoe taste, but when combined with all the other spices, it's a real assett to the overall flavor.

I also use dark brown suger in a brine solution that I use for smoked salmon. In fact, I just made a 5-pound batch a few days ago and it's a great snack that is really good for you. You know, all those Omega-3 fatty acids and stuff to keep your heart pumping.

Cheers,

Gary