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When it premiered on Halloween Day two and a half years ago, few expected the now-cultural sensation that is The Walking Dead. Three seasons in, it has become the most-watched basic cable drama in TV history and currently draws more 18-49 year-olds than anything else on TV — beating out network hits like The Big Bang Theory, American Idol, and Modern Family.

The zombie genre is not new or foreign to us. Ever since the original zombie flick Night of the Living Dead came out in 1968, zombie films have been churned out a dime a dozen, finding a loyal niche audience but never registering as more than a blip on our broader cultural consciousness.

So what’s different this time?

If we are to make any sense of The Walking Dead the first thing to understand is that it is not about zombies. Sure, the show makes a point to appeal to its zombie-loving base audience by including at least one token, grotesque zombie kill in each episode, but it departs from the glut of zombie lore at one vital point. In The Walking Dead zombies are an integral part of the setting — the defining mark of the universe in which the story takes place — but they are not its object.

No, The Walking Dead is about people, and like any good story, that’s why we love it. The show’s genius lies in how it uses a zombie-infested, world-gone-to-hell to strip away the superficial masks of suburban America and instead shows us a raw glimpse of human nature. Life in a world full of zombies puts pressure on its inhabitants, turning small conflicts into powder-kegs, tearing apart lifelong relationships. As the show takes its characters down a crooked, brutal path, it plumbs the depths of the human heart, exposing its characters for who they really are.

Consider what one of the great philosophers of our time said of human nature: "They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you, when the chips are down, these civilized people … they’ll eat each other."

In the world of The Walking Dead the Joker’s prediction turns out to be correct … mostly. We see that our civilized values are indeed only worth as much as the extent to which we hold to them when the going gets rough. If compromising our morals tempts us now, how much more in the world of the zombie apocalypse, where mistakenly assuming someone’s innocence can easily mean death? When Rick and company capture a young man in season two, they must choose whether to kill him or let him join them. Killing him would compromise the foundational values of our western democracy, where those on trial are innocent until proven guilty. But the pragmatic alternative pulls hard in the other direction. If they release him, he could easily betray them, return to his people, and cause of death of them all.

This tension becomes even more pronounced in the third season, as Rick appoints himself dictator and vows to keep his people safe at all costs. It's a seemingly noble proposition, but one that nearly leads to his undoing. By making the survival of his friends and family his ultimate goal — and bending his own moral compass to revolve around that goal — Rick falls into a sort of idolatry, growing hostile toward anyone he perceives as even a potential threat to those he loves most. As a result, he starts to lose his humanity, resisting counsel from Hershel, turning away a group of unarmed stragglers who find their way into the prison, and nearly leading everyone to their doom.

The Governor is an even more ironic case. He leads Woodbury with a fierce optimism and idealism, giving his people hope and the will to press on. Yet the whole system sits on the primitive rule of guns and muscle. In the name of preserving civilization, the Governor becomes the least civilized of them all, keeping his zombified daughter chained in his room and using walkers as instruments of execution (in the case of Glen), combat (in his first foray against the prison), and entertainment (in faux gladiator games attended by the whole town).

Clearly, the world of zombies demands a new mode of living and more cautious social norms, but a new moral code? The heartless pragmatism of Shane, Merle, and the Governor, though effective, still grates against our consciences. If there is an ultimate right and wrong, the show seems to suggest that we’re better off sticking to it. Things are simply better when one doesn’t betray Michonne even though it might save many more lives. And the golden rule of "do unto others" still carries some weight, even though those you welcome into your group may be even more dangerous than the zombies you seek refuge from.

The Walking Dead further explores what it means to be human by confronting the deeper existential questions inevitably raised by a zombie apocalypse, asking in clear terms, who am I, and what’s the point of living?

But it does more than ask. It explores the broad range of responses to such questions through different characters with remarkable plausibility. Some, like the scientist at the end of season one, give into despair, take the easy route out, and kill themselves. For others, trial by fire burns away the dross of past sins and abusive pasts, renewing their purpose and love for others. Daryl, for example, was backwoods white trash until he found a desperate widow and her daughter to stand up for, and over the course of three seasons he becomes arguably the most honorable character in the show. Still others embrace a paranoid, animalistic code that proves brutally effective in a universe reduced to the law of the jungle. Merle shamelessly owns up to it, declaring himself the one everyone goes to for their dirty work and killing without question. Shane, in his zeal to protect Laurie and Carl, tries to convince Rick that their world demands a new law: kill-or-be-killed, and he nearly goes insane.

Religion, of course, comes in to the mix too, mostly through Hershel, and the show portrays it with excellent nuance. Hershel is a man of God through and through, and even though his experiences cause him to renounce the hope that some shred of humanity remains in the walkers, and even though he backslides into his old vice of drunkenness and despair, he never gives up the faith, reading Psalm 91 on the eve of the last battle. For believers, is this not a picture of the struggle for faith? Experiences and circumstances make cause us to rethink some of our assumptions, but we continue to press on in the hope that God is still for us, alive, and at work somehow despite much evidence to the contrary.

Underneath it all, the characters of The Walking Dead are all driven by an innate, unflappable will to live. Recall perhaps the most hopeless moment in the very first episode. Underneath the tank, surrounded by zombies with no possible escape, Rick raises his gun to his head just for a moment before climbing into the tank in a last ditch attempt to live.

In the end, we love The Walking Dead because we find people at the center. No Milla Jovovichs a la Resident Evil, just a broken, struggling, unlikely band of brothers and sisters trying to do what’s best by them in a world gone to hell — people clinging to hope against hope in the face of an absurd existence.

People not unlike us.


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27 December 2008 @ 08:17 pm
Literary agent gone slumming?
Okay, so, this fanfic thing. I don't know what the hell. It's eaten my brain. I have a perfectly vast original fiction I've been working on since 1995**, and all of a sudden this November I randomly come up with an SGA fanfic plot, and then in the last month I developed two more plus an offshoot of the original that at this rate will be the first I finish. (And I suddenly start to understand the term "plotbunnies".) And as usual I have all these scenes in my head but getting them written down is worse than pulling teeth, mostly, though now I'm switching between the four different narratives and that's somehow helping, I don't even know.

And as the scenes move from my head to being typed out I see where the connective tissue is missing, and suddenly I'm finding ways to fill that in, and they're actually pretty cool, they're the sort of thing that normal people would be writing the thing as an excuse to do and I'm just tossing them in on a whim, and I'm randomly looking up the lyrics to "O Canada!" (and alarming one of the cats greatly with the webpage-embedded soundfile of same) or foul curses in seven different languages, or discovering that what the hell do you mean the two canon names and the random extra term I picked a month ago happen to align perfectly for that beautiful extra bit to just fall into place? and I'm reminded of a legend of Helen Keller, that she wrote books that she turned out to have plagiarized accidentally from stories she'd been read before she lost her hearing, and I look at all this cool stuff I never knew was in my head and I think hey, wait, maybe that's not me at all, maybe it's an accidental plagiarism, and that makes me sad. Or maybe it's just something akin to the Literary Agent Hypothesis and I'm just a channel for the "real" stories and that sounds a little like a form of posession and that's kind of creepy. (And yes, I did have to Google TVTropes to find the name of the concept I meant. Literature major FAIL!)

And if I ever even do finish one of these I don't know what to do with it because I don't have time to get involved in the comms properly and just dabbling in them has eaten weeks of my life, but I do want to publish them in some form if only to prove that I can produce something.

And this entry isn't exactly in the style of Dr. Rodney McKay, but his manic run-on-ness may have corrupted me forever, so if I get nothing else out of this I at least may have made my prose even more unreadable. Hooray!

And just for the hell of it:
WIP: JonChron: Near Point: 149,783 words, massively unfinished, last edited 10/2006.
WIP: SGA FF: Headhunters: 10,810 words since Nov. 11, not even halfway
WIP: SGA FF: Power: 6,181 words since Dec. 14, maybe one-third done?
WIP: SGA FF: Interface: 383 words (pfft) since 3am today, short but barely begun
WIP: SGA FF: The Mad Mechanic, offshoot of Headhunters: 12,334 words since 11pm 12/24, maybe halfway-ish?, already screaming "Feed Me, Seymour!"

And? And? The titles for every one of the fanfics just popped into my head easily within one minute of my deciding they needed titles! And in some cases before I decided that! It took me literally years to name "Near Point"! Who am I and what the hell have I done with me??

**Ohmigod, my JonChron is old enough to get pregnant***. Aaaaaaaahhh!!!

***Hey, maybe that's where all the plotbunnies came from ....

Current Mood: hyperhyper
Amy- ninja extraordinaire, bad monkeyninjamonkey73 on December 29th, 2008 01:41 pm (UTC)
The first step is admitting you have a problem...
As a recovering (read: no time to write) fanfic writer/addict, I can empathize. My great American novel has languished for more than my daughter's nearly 4 years (word count not available) and may never see completion (although I'm getting itchy to dive back in). The only stories I've ever really felt were done that weren't school writing assignments were my fanfic stories back when I wrote 'shipper and interstitial Voyager stories. And I've left the old website up as a fond memory of what I recovered from... Wait! AOL took down all our pages without telling us they were taking them down?! They are so dead if I can't find the copies of my oeuvre somewhere at home!
michelel72: GeekPridemichelel72 on December 29th, 2008 04:52 pm (UTC)
Re: The first step is admitting you have a problem...
Amy- ninja extraordinaire, bad monkeyninjamonkey73 on December 29th, 2008 04:56 pm (UTC)
Re: The first step is admitting you have a problem...
Huzzah! I now have all my pages saved! You rock!

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Home >> Business Profiles >> No more dents, period

No more dents, period

Since 1992, customers have been trusting Dents Express with all their dent removal and minor car body repair needs. Founders Matt and Laura Wilson understand that a car is more than just the sum of its parts, so they take their dent removal business seriously and provide great, affordable service to the community.

Their services include paintless dent removal [a method of removing minor dents and dings without damaging a vehicle’s original paint finish], paint repair including scratch repair, bumper repair, parts replacement and refinishing, and hail damage repair.

“At Dents Express, we are in the customer service business specializing in hail damage, bumper repair and minor body repair and refinishing,” said Matt Wilson, owner. “Our expert technicians have more than 100 years of combined experience and most have been with us for 12 years or longer. Whether we have serviced your vehicle several times or you are meeting us for the very first time, you will be treated with respect and honesty.”

Call Dents Express today for a prompt dent repair estimate.

13836 Manchester Road • Manchester • (636) 227-5050

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The Best Fish Scaler - CJs Ultimate Fish Scaler

The Best Fish Scaler for your Catch

Catching, cutting and cooking are all the fun parts of sportsmen and women’s fishing, but the scaling part, not so much. Thankfully, there are many tools available to make the process not quite so bad. However you’ll need to know the best fish scaler from the ones that make you want to scream. There are different factors that might make one scaler the best fish scaler over another. But it takes some questioning to determine which scaler is the best for you. Scaling 50 fish is a much different task than scaling 5 to 10. And scaling a sturgeon if a far cry from a perch. We’ll get into details about what to look for in a fish scaler and our recommendations.

The Best Fish Scaler for your Catch

So, Why So Many Different Types of Scalers?

Understanding the best tool means understanding your fish scales and skin types. There are four main types of fish scales and they each have slightly different structures.

  • Placoid – Sharks and rays
  • Cosmoid – lungfish and fossil fishes
  • Ganoid – birchirs, bowfin, paddlefishes, gars and sturgeons
  • Leptoid a.k.a. Cycloid and Ctenoid – bony fishes

Placoid scales are similar in structure to teeth and are actually modified teeth which don’t grow with the fish but instead multiply in numbers. Interesting how shark’s actual teeth also replace themselves throughout a shark’s life.

Cosmoid scales are rare in later developed fish. Found only on the primitive lungfish and lobefins. Cosmoid cells evolved from placoid cells that had fused together. These scales grow with the fish and can get quite large. These scales are made from a form of dentine which is very different than the later evolved Leptoid fish scales, which have no dentine.

Ganoid scales are commonly found on gars and birchirs. The scales are flat and do not overlap. They do, however, fit together like a puzzle.  Ganoid scales are modified Cosmoid scales, but they differ in shape and lock together instead of overlapping. Ganoid scales do grow with the fish and can also get quite large.

Cycloid and Ctenoid scales, also called Leptoid scales, are found on later evolved bony fish. As the fish grows, they add scales in concentric layers. Cycloid and Ctenoid scales are almost the same except for their shape. Most bony fish have cycloid scales which are round. Salmon are a good example of fish with Cycloid scales.

Most scales of these types of fish don’t fall off or shed throughout their life and they continue to add concentric circles, so you can usually age one of these types of fish by counting the growth rings.  There are a few fish with cycloid scales that do shed them. These are called deciduous scales, but this trait is not as common.

Ctenoid scales have a toothy outer edge. This creates more of a spiny ridge to the scales edges. Bass and crappie are examples of ctenoid scaled fish. Most sportsmen will need the best fish scaler for this type of fish.

The Contenders

Now that you know a little more about the main different types of scales. Let’s talk about getting those scales off with as little mess and pain as possible.

First, it must be stated that many fisherman and woman’s favorite scaler, bar none, is the standard knife of your choice. It can be a butter knife, hunting knife or just about the first knife you lay hands on in the kitchen knife. If it’s too sharp simply turn it around and scrape upwards in the opposite direction of the scales and, voila, a time tested, tried and true fish scaler that is always ready to go.

There are just a couple problems with the illustrious knife. If you are working on particularly large fish with large scales, a knife can leave your fingers exposed to getting those nasty tips of the fingers fish scale cuts. Like a papercut but smelly.  And what about the mess? The knife works great but can send large scales flying. The worst issue with the knife is hand fatigue though.  A knife is great for no more than 10 pan size fish but if you and the friends had a large haul and you lost straws at who cleans the fish, a knife won’t cut it.

Drum Scalers are used widely for scaling larger quantity of fish. Most are best suited for small to medium size fish but there are some drums made to accommodate larger fish.  The idea is that you can scale all your fish in the span of 10-30 minutes with little effort on your part.

There are some people who think the meat gets too beat up in the drums. The degree though, on meat damage, is finding the perfect timing that adequately removes the scales but just to the point of done and not a moment longer.

There are many different brands of drums on the market ranging from homemade to high end. The best plan is to go with a high-end manufactured drum. They usually use materials that are easier on the flesh of the fish while still removing the skin. Of course, if you’re brave, try out one of the DIY versions found on-line.

One last note on electric drums. They don’t work well in freezing temperatures. So, as great as they are in some places, they’re not so great in others.

Electric Scalers

Electric scalers are any electric rotating or gyrating brushes, combs, or rakes that de-scales the fish with minimal energy output by you. All the action is performed by the scaler itself.  There is a wide range of scalers that fall into this category, technically the drum scaler can be labeled as electrical or manual but for the simplification of the article, drums have been separated into their own category.

Manual scalers

The wonderful knife falls into this category, as do many hard to beat older tools and methods. It’s nice to scale at least the first fish the old-fashioned way. To actually feel the scales come off the fish. And there’s some fun manual options perfect just for that. There’s not much better than the simplicity of scaling and cleaning that single or double catch of the day, waterside, over the fire and everything manual. Somehow that fish always tastes the best.

The Best Fish Scalers – Drum

The Best Fish Scaler - Open Country TD-6065-13 Tumble Drumm Sportsman Automatic Fish Scaler

Open Country TD-6065-13 Tumble Drumm Sportsman Automatic Fish Scaler works best with small to medium fish. It truly is simple. You can add up to 50 pan fish, add water, turn on the unit and set the time. That’s it. The materials used does a good job at protecting the flesh from over tumbling and damage. The unit itself is solidly made and weighs 18 pounds. The one con for this scaler is that it can be a bear to clean and its water needs are high.

The Best Fish Scalers – Electric Handheld

The Best Fish Scaler - Bear Paw EFS Electric Fish Scaler

Bear Paw EFS Electric Fish Scaler works with fish of all sizes. It has a powerful motor and takes the scales right off.  It is a little messy and it is best used outdoors. The Bear Paw EFS is one of the most versatile electric scalers on the market. It has a 1.5 amp motor with a rotating speed of 3000 rpm. Cleaning is easy thanks to its Teflon coating. No worries about rust either since it’s saltwater resistant.

The Best Fish Scaler - Bear Paw HDEFS Heavy Duty Electric Fish Scaler

Bear paw Heavy Duty is corded for extra power but it is still a small enough unit to be easily manageable. This one is ideal for large fish but might be a little too much power on smaller, more tender fish. A nice benefit of this unit is that the head on the tool deflects all the scales downward helping to make the process a little cleaner than is typical.

FINE DRAGON Electric Cordless Fish Scaler Portable Fish Scale Remover with Handle

Fine Dragon Portable is wireless and completely portable. Operation time is about 2.5 hours without needing to be charged. For a cordless variety, it still has plenty of torque to handle a few stringers of fish.

The Best Fish Scaler – Manual

 The Best Fish Scaler - Westmark Westmark Fish Scaler - With Stainless Steel Blade For Descaling Of Fish

Westmark Fish Scaler is a heavy duty, yet small, hand held scaler with a wide special blade which works nicely! The weight, durability, and shape coupled with the hood really take scales off easily and without the scales flying everywhere. The handle is comfortable in the palm too.  This is one of the best fish scalers around.

Yoshihiro Fish Scaler

Yoshihiro Fish Scaler (Urokotori) Japanese Sushi Chef Fish Scaler is near perfection. The wood handle is comfortable and the four in line rows of teeth do a very nice job with scaling a fish.  Mess control is pretty good too. It would be nice if the wood on the handle was sealed for sanitizing and longevity but all in all, this one is one of the best fish scaler to be had.

The Best Fish Scaler - CJs Ultimate Fish Scaler

CJ’s Ultimate Fish Scaler is just fun. It works great too! The whole idea is that it’s an old school bottle cap scaler. The wood that the caps are screwed to is extra sturdy and has a great size and weight to really make the most out of the steel bottle caps. It’s easy. It’s very mobile. It’s a cinch to clean up. And it’s just fun.

So Now What?

As you’ve seen, there’s no one answer to what is the best fish scaler. The answer is, “which one is right for you?” Here are some things to consider before buying.

  • How easy is it to use?
    • Only you know your own level of “learning tolerance” when it comes to scaling fish. Is this something you just don’t have patience for? If so, skip the gadget type electrical scalers. Stick with a manual option or the large capacity high-end drum if you have that size need.
  • Do you want electric or manual?
    • Again, with electrical, if you don’t want to read the instructions then move on. However, if you like to feel the buzz of a power tool and you like keeping up with new things, then the electrical options can be both efficient and fun. With the electrical scalers, make sure you don’t mind a little higher level of cleaning needs for the tool. Otherwise, go back to manual or high-end drum.
  • How much do you hate clean up?
    • Always check out the cleaning instructions on any unit you are considering before buying the tool. There’s nothing worse than getting home, getting busy, loving the product only to find out at the end that cleaning the tool was a beast of a job.
  • How often will it see use?
    • Again, this is a “be honest with yourself,” question. If this is something you will use all the time, then a learning curve might be worth the sit down and read instruction time since you’ll soon become quite accustomed to the scaler’s handling. However, if you must re-read and re-train yourself as to how to operate or clean the scaler every six months when you use it, a manual scaler might be best for you.
  • How durable is it and does that even matter to you?
    • This question also goes back to how much will you actually be using the scaler. If the tool is going to be used daily or weekly, then it would be suggested that you go with a more durable scaler. There are some electrical scalers that work amazingly well but they are finicky to operate and break easily. That quality of scaling is completely lost in the hands of a serious daily fishman. A sushi chef, however, might find it divine.

The final advice on buying the best fish scaler in the world is, “Buy the best scaler for you.” Do you usually fish for perch or brim? Or are you more a bass or crappie fisherman or woman? How lucky are you on most days? If your hauling in 30 fish at a time, then you have much different needs than if you only catch 5.

There are two factors to consider most when buying the best fish scaler. Those are: fun and efficiency. And this is serious stuff! Scaling a fish can either be quick, easy, and enjoyable or laborious and awful.  If all else fails, remember the trusted knife. Always ready, easy to clean. It doesn’t matter if it’s your hunting knife or a pairing knife. If it’s sharp, turn it around and use the dull side. You’ll find it works wonders every time.

The Best Fish Scaler 2018 - Don't Waste Time Cleaning Fish
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The Best Fish Scaler 2018 - Don't Waste Time Cleaning Fish
Cleaning fish isn't fun no matter how you look at it. Use these tools to make it much faster however. Check out the best fish scaler you can get today!
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Entrepreneur, Explorer, Angel.

Sometimes all at Once.

19TH February 2016

Food - Leadership - Uncategorized

Set the table. I’ll take care of the rest.

Photo Nov 26, 12 24 09 PM

Oh mother @#$%^&* that’s hot.

Yes, but it has to be, to put the right edge on the fish.

And so began my re-immersion into a professional kitchen after some thirty years hiatus. But this wasn’t any kitchen, this was a NYT Extraordinary Rating run by a teutonic teddy bear named Thomas here in Greenwich. And this wasn’t just any job, it was, by all accounts a therapy that got me through a rough patch.

Theresa and Thomas knew me a bit. I had been a guest at a few dinners a year. And I convinced them once to allow me to cook dinner for thirty of my friends and family on a special birthday a few years ago. That was another time, entirely. I say convinced, because Theresa gave me the third degree about my “skills” in the kitchen, explaining the Brigand system to me as if I was a third grader. In her presence, I usually am a third grader, actually. They allowed me to try to prove myself, and I convinced them I could do a seven course Birthday menu. And that was it… or so i thought.

Fast forward a few years and I was working through some changes in my world (doesn’t every chef say that). I went back, and pleaded them to allow me to cook again. Thomas could not have been more gracious, and the team could not have been more … perplexed. Ok, you don’t clock in. You’re not paid. You CAN cook, but you would rather chop and learn. WTF are you doing here dude. Every chef, a story, right?

Well, after a few months of hanging with Thomas, I’ve earned in. My repetoire has doubled. My knife skills are sharp. I’ve been part of a nearly a thousand plates (ok, a third of those were thanksgiving day). And I’ve also begun doing private dinners for friends, booked three months out. But mostly, I rediscovered Flow, at least when it comes to dinner. I’m eternally grateful to Thomas and Theresa for the chance to be in their kitchen.

So please set the table. I’ll take care of the rest.

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Toast Floorplan

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Toast Studios - Interview with Producer Craig Silvey

For the launch of Toast, we carried out an exclusive video interview with the man behind the studio, Craig Silvey. Through his prolific work over the years with the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Editors, Anna Calvi, The Horrors, The National, Arctic Monkeys, The Arcade Fire, Magic Numbers and many more, Craig has become one of the most in-demand producers and mix engineers around. Find out about his ideas behind the studio, his amazing collection of vintage gear, and his career to-date by clicking  on the link below. A full interview transcript is beneath the link....

Click here to view the video on Youtube

Full Interview Transcript

Hi Craig , so give us an introduction to the studio we're in now...

This is the Toast, or Toast 're-visited', which is a reincarnation of my studio I had in San Francisco, and a hybrid of my other studio, The Garden in Shoreditch, London.

Where did the centre piece Neve come from, and what model is it?

So we're basically centred around this, the Neve 8026 circa 1972. It started life in California and was first commissioned for MCA Records in Los Angeles, and then in the late 80s it found itself in a place called Coast Recorders in San Francisco run by Dan Alexander who's a famous gear nut. He was going to leave the building and I was going to take over his space. With the desk staying it ended with us negotiating the console. Whilst it was in Coast it did some great records such as Neil Young. It was part of the San Francisco scene for a good portion of the late 70s, 80s and through to the 90s. I had it in my studio until about 2002 when the dotcom boom crushed the ability to have a recording studio in San Francisco - our landlord wanted quadruple rent so we were just like, 'byeee'!!. So it then sat in a lonely storage space for about three years. I finally brought it over here and it was first re-commissioned in The Garden, where I had good fun for three years, but unfortunately I'm a west London guy and this new location is about 3 minutes from my house, meaning I'm a happy man.

A lot of people's go-to will be an SSL or a Neve VR, or even in-the-box, but what does the Neve 8026 bring to mixing for you personally?

You've got it a lot now where people are recording in the box, albeit with one or two really nice mic pre's, but you've got a lot of projects where they've kinda done it themselves and they're coming to you to at the last moment to mix it.

The summing on the Neve 8026 and the way when you hit it coming off Pro Tools is really different to anything else. It seems to give a warmth and a stereo width that I really can't seem to be able to get off anything else. I mean, I get that from recording projects where say, if you're recording in a house using external pre's and you're monitoring just through Pro Tools. So you run out the stereo mix, and when you're recording the monitor mixes are done that way, and as soon you just split it out you put everything at zero and you can just feel it open up.

Also, when you use the line amps on the 1272, when you hit them hard with Pro Tools it gives a different sound. Usually you find that with Pro Tools – you can vary the level you send your kick drum or snare drum out of Pro Tools, and then hit this desk. Sometimes I'll just mess with that to see how hard you want it to hit the line amp. That gives it this colour that really no other desk does.

Are you primarily mixing here or are you going elsewhere to work still?

It's hard to do everything here because you do get artists who want to record or mix somewhere else. That's fine, but you find when you've got your own place, that's what you know and love. You don't have to listen twice, you don't have to listen to it in the car because you just know it. Because you've done so much work on it, you get an extra 10 hit points for being on your own home turf. I just did a record in Electric Ladyland, which was great and a good experience, but it's just a completely different room and initially it takes a week just to get your head around the monitoring. Even if the monitoring isn't that bad in the room it's just different to what you're used to. I think I'd prefer to stay here for as long as possible. In the building here, it's a little hard to record a full band. I'm only doing that a portion of the time and when I am there's a great space upstairs that's got an old Trident A Range with a big recording space, so if you do drums you go up there and then you come back here for overdubs and mix.

We've got a pretty good small collection of backline at Toast for people who want to come and do overdubs. I've pretty much got everything covered. I've got a set of amps, a couple of guitars and some great mic's. So we can pretty much do everything when it comes to overdubs. We can actually record a drum kit in here but it'd be in a tight space.

You've previously worked at Skywalker ranch. Did that inform you of any specific ways in which you work now, or is there anything that's a reaction to what you did there? Do you ever deliberately avoid using methods they used there?

When I worked at Skywalker Ranch it was a time in the early 90s where they built the room to do film scores in. Because it was situated outside LA it was difficult for them to bring scores there. This meant we only did around 4-5 films a year, which only took up a month-and-a-half to two months at a time. So, for the rest of the time due to the acknowledgement of what a great studio space it was, it was used for rock and roll, pop and classical recording. So, for the rest of the time we were doing a lot of either classical records or really big pop records. As a result, I ended up with a weird hybrid of learning film scoring with that high speed high energy pace; learning classical film recordings with the slow detailed specific elements; and finally having the LA masters of the 70s and 80s coming up to do big rock and roll projects. This gave me a really well rounded knowledge of recording.

At the same time I was really into early Hip-Hop, listening to artists such as Public Enemy who were throwing all those things out the window. It was really nice learning all these things whilst also not having to be dogmatically, slavishly thinking that that's the way to record. In fact I even remember getting into arguments with the guys, regarding Public Enemy specifically, saying, "man you gotta hear this album, you gotta hear the energy of this record". One famous producer would say, "this is not music, this is just terrible, this is ruining the music industry" and I was like "yeah but do you not hear the power and energy of it?" to which he replied "no this is terrible!"

I just remember afterwards being like, okay I see that your brilliant in what you do although there's a very one-direction outlook that you think is right. It helped make me think that if you have the full toolbox then your ability to make interesting, different records is more useful.

Speaking of toolboxes, you have the vintage stuff, the new stuff, the clean stuff and the dirtier stuff that all part of your outlook. You're clearly a fan of vintage gear...

If you have the full toolbox then your ability to make interesting and potentially different records is more. But I guess the concept of having combinations of everything gives you this philosophy of recording, which has then turned into the way my gear is – I've got mic pre's like the Hardys which give a purely classical recording element, but then things like the Roland Chorus Echos which sound so scruffy, so you print things into that and put it back out, and it's not actually used as a delay, that's the actual tape pass. Those two worlds sometimes never used to meet. I'd call it a concept of Mid-Fi recording – not too Hi-Fi but not too Lo-Fi...

My love for vintage gear stems from that time working with these guys, the masters of the 70's and 80's. Especially in LA and California, they never let go of this stuff, even when you had that point in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's where old equipment wasn't worth much. There was a core group that realised the quality of old gear. I got trained into that and recognised it early on. I guess that's my philosophy, and it was built around that. I got into the signal path.

Have you got any favourite pieces of equipment here at Toast?

That's a tough one. If you look at the gear I've got there's not a lot of filler. For example, sometimes you go into a studio and there are 19 Dynamite gates, which takes up a lot of rack but your not going to use them. But in my bag of tricks, everything in here fulfils a purpose that is a kind of go-to box; when you go "I need something that does this" and you've got that.

So you've got the desk for its summing and its EQ which is very specific, but I've got some other EQ's that I use when you think you need something different. Having the SSL EQ is great because it's the polar opposite of the 1084's and 1073's. Then I have the Helios that give you another flavour. In some ways in the mix it gives you a depth where you can use the different EQ's and compressors as elements to make everything standout in the mix in its own way. None of these compressors and EQ's sound like each other.

Having had Toast MKI and then The Garden, was there anything that you learnt when making decisions about creating Toast MKII?

I wouldn't necessarily say having those two studios was the only factor in making my decisions on how the arrangement should be in this place, but I would say it was helpful to make the mistakes before. Having been a vagabond, going from studio to studio for years, you quickly learn what you like and dislike. Also, having a studio helps you make your mistakes and you know not to do that. I guess The Garden was a place where it worked very well.

Is this place set up in a way you like to work, or in a particular way that might be unique to you?

I guess this studio really works for my own set up that has been honed over a long time having gone to many studios over the years. But certainly, since having my own studios and having the original Toast and then especially The Garden - having a lot of time where you could tweak it to the way you wanted it to be. I definitely had it that way at The Garden.

In some ways Toast is a transplanted Garden. Before being there, there was a fair amount of equipment that I didn't have that The Garden did, and that is now here as well. It's tailored to a specific way I work, but that's not to say it's not flexible. You do go to other studios where people work in their one certain way, and when you go in to try and work in your way it goes ape shit. I hate to go into a studio like that, so I try to make it so it's set out for anyone to enjoy.

Did you bring the Boxer T2 monitors from The Garden?

Yes. Those are the Boxers from The Garden. I became a real Boxer fan when these were at Whitfield Street, Sony Studios down in the West End, which was a great studio. Then they went to The Garden and I fell in love with them there even more, so I demanded them here! Miloco Builds put them in and they sound great.

Was Toast already a studio or did you convert a unit?

It's different to what it was, but in theory it was a mix room for Martin Terefe who has Kensal Town studios, and this was a part of that complex. This was his mix room but he decided he didn't need the added stress. It worked out well that I bumped into him and we talked about doing a record together, and I also said I'm looking for a place and he said "oh what about here" and I thought great I live just over the road! So it worked out really great.

We had Nick Whittaker and the Miloco Builds people come in to tweak the acoustics because it was little more rough and ready as a mix room before. But they did the front wall, which really tightened it up and made the acoustics exactly the way you want from a mix room.

So working with Miloco, this is your 2nd partnership venture with them. What do you like about that model?

I think Miloco have obviously been doing this for a long time – being both studio owners and also doing the studio management side. I think they've really managed to hone it to be exactly what you want from studio management, and that's to be efficient but not in your face. Trying to get that balance is always difficult, but they've been doing it for so long they know how, so it worked out very well at The Garden and now here, too.

Craig Silvey was talking to Miloco in July, 2013.


text:
A capital weekend – 3 days in Edinburgh

We thought it would be a good idea to go to Edinburgh for the Scotland – Wales six nations match. Turns out that was a mistake, but the rest of the weekend was great. I’ll pick up from 75 minutes into the rugby. Probably best as everything before that was a bit disappointing. Anyway, we had enough and decided to steal a march on the rest of Murrayfield so nipped out early. A long walk at a brisk pace brought us to Zizzi before any other rugby fan and we managed to secure a table for two where we sat and watched the baying hordes arrive a couple of minutes later and be turned away. We decided to do Zizzi on Saturday night because we’d eaten there before and it was on our way back to the hotel anyway. But my disorganisation meant we hadn’t been able to book. Also with it being a chain we could look at the menu in advance and be confident there was plenty that Angela could eat (this enforced low-fat diet is on its last legs thankfully). A bread platter to start, using it to soak up large amounts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar before we moved onto the main event – a massive pizza. The mare e monti pizza was cooked on their rustica base, thinner and bigger than the standard base supposedly with more room for toppings. I think the kitchen took it as an excuse just to space them out a bit more. Half the pizza was tiger prawns, courgettes and mozzarella while the other half was spicy sausage, tomato sauce and chilli. It also had rocket lobbed on the top once it came out of the oven and, bizarrely, dollops of crème fraiche on it as well. The pizza was pretty good, cooked perfectly with a nice crispy base. My only complaints were that adding creme fraiche is just weird, it doesn’t belong on a pizza. Also there wasn’t enough spicy sausage on that half and it could have done with some more cheese. You really shouldn’t skimp on the mozzarella, it makes me sad. Culture was on the menu for Sunday. National Gallery of Scotland and Calton Hill in the morning, then the National Museum of Scotland in the afternoon. In between we had the search for somewhere to eat lunch. Unfortunately we met the same problem everywhere. Very little low-fat options on the menu. Disappointing. Eventually we settled for a pub on the Royal Mile called The Albanach. It offered a grilled chicken breast as one of its burger options which might not be exciting but it was something Angela could eat so she went for it. I liked the idea of a burger and a pint so went for a cheeseburger with a pint of Deuchars on the side. The burger would never win any awards but it was decent enough with good chips Halfway round the National Museum we decided we’d done enough walking for one day and sprinted round the last few exhibits we wanted to see and made a beeline for a pub near the hotel. We ended up in the Mitre on the Royal Mile which looked like a great pub with loads of real ale taps welcoming me to the bar. Unfortunately they’d also welcomed most of Wales to the bar and despite having some great looking beers on the taps, including the new Alpha Dog from Brewdog, they were all off. Except, bizarrely, for the Welsh national team’s shirt sponsor Brains SA. Maybe their fans had enough of it at home. Dinner was booked at a place on the Grassmarket that I’d seen a few times when in Edinburgh but never been to, the Mussel and Steak Bar. The menu looked great, really playing to the name with mussels, oysters and steaks making up the bulk of it. We’d checked it out online and decided it looked pretty safe as a low-fat destination. It was a shame then that it fell at the first hurdle. The only starter Angela liked the sound of was the soup of the day, a lentil soup. Unfortunately after asking the waitress it turned out they used oil, butter and cream when they made the soup so it was out of the question that she could eat it. However I had no issues with the starter. A special of black pudding and apple salad sounded great and it looked amazing when it arrived. Warm black pudding, sweet apple and crunchy green beans. A great combination and very simple. It’s a dish I’ll need to try at home some time. Onto the mains and there was only one option I was considering. If a restaurant calls itself the Mussels and Steak Bar and puts a surf and turf option on the menu then I had to give it a go and check they could do it. A sirloin steak served with a pot of mussels, langoustines and calamari in the sauce of your choice (white wine and shallot on this occasion). Angela opted for a large mussel pot and it was here again that the restaurant failed her. We’d naively assumed that the sauces for the mussels were made per order. Sweat some onions, add splash of cider and some spice etc. Sadly not. The waitress told us most of the sauces were prepped earlier and contained oil with only the cream added at the end. She did suggest the white wine and shallot sauce would be a safe option and so Angela ordered that with the specific understanding that no cream would be added to the pot. Unfortunately when our mains arrived I noticed that my sauce was missing any cream and sure enough Angela’s was the one that had cream added to it. When we brought the mistake to the staff’s attention they were very quick to fix the error and offered to re-cook both dishes, though I decided as I’d started eating and didn’t mind the lack of cream I would just keep mine. However when we’d made a point of discussing the options with the waitress and had made sure they understood is it was for a medical reason that we were asking not just a dietary preference it’s really disappointing that the error was made in the first place. Moving on from that, the mussels themselves were delicious. Massive portions with plenty of sauce and lots of bread to mop it up with. The langoustines were huge, juicy and delicious. If a little fiddly to get out of their shell. I’m sure there’s a good technique to it that I’ve yet to master. The steak as well was cooked perfectly to order. Pink in the middle and well seasoned my only negative for it was that it seemed a bit unnecessary with all the seafood I still had to eat. I certainly didn’t need the side of new potatoes I’d ordered and they were left barely touched. Despite stuffing my face so far I still decided to try to fit some more food into my by now full stomach. The cheesecake of the day was ordered and looked amazing, tasted pretty good but the biscuit base was strangely chewy. I guess it was from whatever they used to bind the base together with but it was an unexpected texture when I was hoping for crunch. All in all it was a bit of a flat note to end a mixed evening. The starter was great, the mains were superb once the error was fixed but the dessert wasn’t quite right and the service from the kitchen just wasn’t up to par for us that night. I also hated the TVs mounted on the wall showing adverts for other local businesses and live feed from the kitchen. We found it really distracting and kept being drawn to look at it once we realised it was there. The next morning we walked up to the castle for the last of our tourist activities before getting the train back north. You have to do Edinburgh Castle and it is certainly worth seeing but it seems Historic Scotland know that they have a fairly captive audience and have ramped up the prices and hard sell accordingly. Nevermind. One last thing to mention was a brilliant bright spot of our weekend. We hadn’t chosen the breakfast option at our hotel, thinking there would be plenty of places nearby to enjoy breakfast. Round the corner on the Royal Mile we found a place called Always Sunday which seems to almost exclusively sell breakfast. It was perfect, with a large choice of options. Set breakfasts (full Scottish, full veggie, continental and a few others) and an a la carte choice offered loads of variety with excellent coffee. I can thoroughly recommend the almond croissants and the massive standard croissants. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

1 thought on “A capital weekend – 3 days in Edinburgh”

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