Something New

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Modular synthesizer display at Moogfest 2016 in Durham, North Carolina

Welcome to MoogFest 2016 in Durham, North Carolina, and the main event of why we flew to Georgia late last week. With concerts, gigs, talks, classes, and workshops all centered around technology and electronic music, this sounded like an interesting way to spend some time on vacation, and with Caroline being up for attending with me, we took a few extra days to travel some of the Blue Ridge Parkway we’d not driven before. Last night, upon arrival in Durham, we finished up our registration process and received the wristbands that would give us access to the various venues and events that are planned for the next four days. Our first stop was at the “Pop-up Moog Factory” at the Power Plant Gallery on the American Tobacco Campus, which is a GREAT place to hold this event.

Within minutes of our arrival at this “Factory” shop, I set something in motion that was going to make a huge impact on my future. I bought a Moog Mother-32. It was only $499 and self-contained; with it, I wouldn’t need anything else. I could plug headphones into it, and it had all of the modulation and sequencing abilities of anybody who was starting out in the exploration of synthesizers. Sure, I had an old simple Moog back in 1981 or ’82, but I wasn’t serious back then like I am now. Mind you that we did NOT come to this event with any intention of buying any equipment. A year or so before, I had just started exploring the world of the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) with Bitwig and was completely satisfied. Matter of fact, if you’d talked to anyone I knew they’d have told you that I was adamantly anti-hardware and absolutely pro-software. The leak in the dyke was just blown open, but I didn’t quite know that yet.

Erogenous Tones Eurorack modules at Moogfest in Durham, North Carolina

Rick Burnett was about to play a corrupting influence on me due to his graciousness in explaining how certain modules could complement the Mother-32 I had just acquired. First up, though, was me passing Peter Edwards of Bastl Instruments who had recently joined the company over in Brno, Czech Republic. Earlier in the morning, while still at our hotel, following a link from some literature emailed by the organizer of today’s festivities, I watched a video of a hairy man in the woods introducing the Bit Ranger self-contained battery-operated mini synthesizer that looked fun. At only $159 and the fact that I’d be the first person ever to buy one, I couldn’t resist my early adopter nature and gave in to the impulse to own this thing. Turns out that they made a mistake in charging me, and upon seeing me later, asked if it was okay to cancel the payment and charge me the real price of $259, I agreed.

Now, back to Rick Burnett. He patiently took his time and repeatedly, over the course of the day, educated me about aspects of Eurorack I had no idea about. While this stuff looked interesting, it also was incredibly difficult to get my head wrapped around and so I ended up having more questions today than any more desire to purchase stuff beyond what I had bought in the first 20 minutes of MoogFest.

Algorithm known as gradient descent

The people from the IBM Watson Center were featured in a talk about an introduction to cognitive technology regarding art and artificial intelligence. Great talk and precisely why I wanted to visit MoogFest. Not just this talk but many of the programs seemed interesting. One of the people talking this afternoon gave us this formula above and a link to this story: The Algorithm that Will Save Humanity… or Destroy It.

Caroline Wise learning to play the Theremin at MoogFest in Durham, North Carolina

One of the classes Caroline had wanted to attend was this one for learning the Theremin; I took a pass and was off doing something else or talking or maybe looking at those Eurorack modules I shouldn’t have been looking at.

Floating Points live at MoogFest in Durham, North Carolina

Went over to catch Gary Numan at a venue next to this one, but it was jam-packed, and there was a line a mile long to get in. That room was at capacity, and they were only letting an equal number of people enter as compared to how many were leaving. At the outdoor stage, Floating Points were performing so we caught them for a bit.

Robert Rich's Sleep Concert at MoogFest in Durham, North Carolina

We’d gotten lucky and snagged a couple of the cherished few spots for Robert Rich’s Sleep Concert that was to start at midnight. Unfortunately, we were asked to leave because we didn’t have the intention to stay for the duration of the performance due to my sleep apnea and not being able to hook up a CPAP conveniently. To say I was pissed would be an understatement, and for a minute, I had a pretty good idea of what it’s like to be discriminated against for having a disability. Supposedly the request came directly from the artist; you might say I’m bitter about this shit treatment.

Afrikan Sciences at the Pinhook during MoogFest in Durham, North Carolina

Afrikan Sciences was at the Pinhook and was off the hook, but he almost didn’t make it down from New York and barely got set up before his set was supposed to end. In that short time, he was able to bring us into his music and imagination he’d won me over. This guy was amazing.

In-Between

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Floyd's Barbershop and Snappy Lunch in Mount Airy, North Carolina

While it was set in Mayberry, the one and only Snappy Lunch and their famous pork chop sandwich was and is right here in Mount Airy, North Carolina. This was the birthplace of Andy Griffith and the inspiration for the fictional Mayberry on his TV show called “The Andy Griffith Show,” which ran for most of the 1960s. Not only did it put small-town America on center stage, but it also propelled Floyd’s Barbershop into a cult status that has endured for the past five decades. We were able to have breakfast at Snappy Lunch, but it was too early for a pork chop sandwich, and although the sign says open at Floyd’s, it wasn’t yet as someone apparently forgot to flip the sign before locking up the day before. Two weeks before our arrival, the real Floyd the Barber passed away at age 92, Don Knotts passed away in 2006, and Andy Griffith died just four years before. Only Jim Nabors and Ron Howard were still around the day of our visit to the town, which catapulted their careers.

Caroline Wise and John Wise in front of a Welcome to Virginia state sign

Here we are on the Fancy Gap Highway at the Virginia and North Carolina state lines. We’ll continue north to Fancy Gap, reconnect with the Blue Ridge Parkway, and meander across southern Virginia to see what its countryside looks like.

Near The Saddle overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia

This was somewhere near The Saddle Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We’ve moved up into the clouds.

The Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia

It’s beautiful out here in the solitude and quiet that the fog helps create. Without much of a horizon and the fact we are here before the summer season on a Wednesday, it feels like the world is ours and ours alone. The great thing about days like this is that when we come back someday it will appear as an entirely new place.

Moogfest wrist band

Yesterday, I mentioned that this was a pivotal 48 hours in my life, so here’s another part of that change. On May 4th, I was diagnosed with diabetes. On that very day, I made an appointment with a dietitian for May 12th, the day before leaving on this vacation. In the eight days between diagnosis and my next appointment, I made a radical change in my diet and started walking. Over those days, my blood glucose went from about 300 down to the 140s, and with that, I told the dietitian that I was refusing to go on insulin and that I asked her to bear with me as I showed her trending graph of where my blood glucose levels appeared to be heading. Reluctantly, she agreed but asked that I go get a Fitbit and start tracking how much physical activity I was getting. Caroline got one, too; as a matter of fact, you can see it on her in the background of this photo.

Caroline initially didn’t want to spend the extra money on a Fitbit for her, but while we’ve been back here, we have been making a game of getting more steps than each other. When we stop for gas now, she’ll jump out and pace back and forth to accumulate more steps, which prompts me to set the tank to fill and then start racing around the car myself. While we may look like loons to others as we walk around in circles, we are hoping it will continue to have a positive impact on my diabetes. All of the BBQ also plays well into this, as I’ve cut out sugar, rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, and, to a large extent, fruit until I get this under control.

Speaking of BBQ, dinner tonight was at The Pit in Durham, North Carolina. [Now closed]

Tomorrow’s blog entry will detail the third part of this monumental change in my life.

Bathrooms and Business in North Carolina

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

All-Gender restroom sign in Asheville, North Carolina

Just a couple of months before we arrived in North Carolina, the state’s governor attempted to make the people of this state the laughingstock of the world. With all of our other problems, the state legislature decides to focus on who can use which bathroom. The enlightened people of Asheville and Durham took matters into their own hands and simply turned bathrooms into All-Gender Restrooms.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Mt. Mitchell in North Caroline which is the highest point east of the Mississippi River

Here we are at Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina, which is the highest point east of the Mississippi. Seeing we’ve also been to the peak of Cadillac Mountain in Maine, which is the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard, this pretty much wraps up our need to visit any more mountains out this way. I know it’s just bragging now, but we’ve also been to the lowest point in the United States at Badwater Basin in Death Valley. I should add we’ve also been to Cape Flattery, Washington (farthest northwest), Lubec, Maine (and the West Quoddy Head lighthouse – easternmost point in the U.S.), Key West, Florida (southernmost incorporated place), and Lebanon, Kansas (the geographic center of the contiguous 48 states).

Espresso News coffee shop in Boone, North Carolina

Had to pull off the out-of-the-way road where we had zero phone signal and head into a town where I could join a conference call. My call today was with a couple of investors who would ultimately play a larger role in my life as they were about to invest in my virtual reality company. Not only would this ultimately lead to TimefireVR LLC becoming TimefireVR Inc. with publicly traded stock, but it would also result in me firing my entire staff and finding myself with the sour taste of corporate divorce left in my mouth after the various entities parted ways. It’s surreal to me that so much in my life was shifting during this trip, but while it was happening, I couldn’t have a hint of what was about to occur. To commemorate this fateful sequence of events, I’m noting that it was the 48 hours starting at 16:30 on May 17, 2016, until about the same time on May 19th, 2016 that would be the pivot. Hello, big change with my small company that was about to morph and an encounter with synthesizers that was about to morph my mind into adopting a new language.

Mayberry Inn in Mt. Airy, North Carolina

Up near the Virginia border, we checked in to the Mayberry Motor Inn in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Yes, it is exactly that Mt. Airy where Opie, Floyd the Barber, Barney Fife, Gomer Pyle, and Sheriff Taylor would show America what small-town life was like. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the town and I’ll spend one more oblivious day as to the magnitude of change that was occurring in my life.

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway & More BBQ

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Weaving samples at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

Out on the Blue Ridge Parkway, our first stop was at the Folk Art Center, home of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. These are weaving samples that Caroline requested photos of so that one day she may take inspiration from them and try to duplicate their pattern.

Caroline Wise at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina

This could well be the largest collection of craft books ever assembled in one place here at the Folk Art Center. While Caroline may have wanted to stay for hours, I think we were able to spend less than two hours here before getting back on the parkway.

12 Bones Smokehouse in Asheville, North Carolina

Hmm, maybe we were at the Folk Art Center longer than I think because before I know it we are hunting down our lunch, or maybe our lunch is hunting us? We are drawn back to more BBQ (in case you were wondering, we couldn’t find a place with BBQ for breakfast), and it was 12 Bones Smokehouse that brought us in. President Obama ate here, so it had that going for it; by the way, I’m fairly non-partisan when it comes to food and eat at TeePee Mexican Food in Phoenix where George Bush ate.

Plate of food from 12 Bones Smokehouse in Asheville, North Carolina

Smoked pork ribs, green beans, coleslaw, and a piece of cornbread for $23 was a bit on the pricey side, but we didn’t care as the only thing important during these days is that we get the widest sampling of BBQ humanly possible.

French Broad River next to 12 Bones Smokehouse in Asheville, North Carolina

Right next to the outdoor seating, the French Broad River slowly passes by and seems to help set the speed at which we are enjoying our time decompressing from the grind of Phoenix and our careers.

Caroline Wise on the streets of Asheville, North Carolina

We’ve been enjoying our leisurely visit to Asheville with no need to hurry along or be anywhere in particular. Caroline is in front of an obelisk set as a monument to Zebulon Baird Vance here at Pack Square.

Caroline Wise drinking a bourbon cheerwine slushy at Buxton Hall BBQ in Asheville, North Carolina

If it’s dinner time, it must also be time for more BBQ; this visit is at Buxton Hall BBQ. The drink is known as a bourbon Cheerwine slushy, and the Cheerwine part of it is a Carolina cherry soda.

North Carolina to Tennessee

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Biscuit Head in Asheville, North Carolina

We were told that Biscuit Head for breakfast was popular but not 20-minute-line popular. Was the wait worth it? Of course, it was. After we ate, it was time to get on the road for a bit of driving.

Caroline Wise and John Wise on the Tennessee state line with North Carolina

This is where things get sketchy in our photographic history because it appears I only shot three photos all day. I had my DSLR with me, and on other days, you can see the black strap on my shoulder, but searching high and low we do not find any other photos of this trip. While I may have opted for the convenience of my smartphone to snap the majority of the photos, it just doesn’t seem possible that on such a beautiful day that took us from North Carolina over to Tennessee into Gatlinburg and back into the Smoky Mountains that I wouldn’t have any other images from the day. So it goes, at least I have this one of us in front of the state which I should point out that the “e” on Cocke County is silent.

The Admiral restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina

A break from the rush into BBQ with a luxurious dinner at a place called The Admiral. On the left are frog legs, and on the right are sweetbreads (pancreas chunks). Whatever we had for our main course is lost in time, like the details of our daylight hours wandering around a National Park and another state. One thing I’m certain of is that we surely had a great day.

North Carolina

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise and John Wise at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina

On my shoulder is my Canon DSLR with an amazing lens that wouldn’t have been out of focus with the blown-out sunlight over the left of my head, but I was feeling lazy and decided to shoot this entire trip with the camera in my phone that while it was okay for Facebook is shit for my blog. Oh well, some blurry reminders are better than none at all.

I’m posting this two years after we made this momentous trip that would have serious implications regarding a change in direction in my life, more of that as the blog entry progresses.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina

This was our second visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park but our first visit to the absolute southern end of the park. These chickens had southern drawls and tasted like pork; it was the weirdest thing.

Caroline Wise at Luella's BBQ in Asheville, North Carolina

Guess what we had for dinner? BBQ, that’s what we had! By the time we got back to Arizona, we likely were emanating smoke from this meat indulgence themed around the smoker. Tonight’s meal was at Luella’s BBQ in Asheville, North Carolina, where we will stay and call home for the next few days.

Caroline Wise and John Wise at Firestorm Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina

Amazingly smart bookstore and coffee shop here in Asheville called Firestorm. By the time we were done shopping here during our stay, we’d leave with at least half a dozen books and a sticker for the computer slung over my shoulder. It’s great to be on vacation, and it’s our first in six months, which is nearly a lifetime measured in John and Caroline years.