calendar February 2nd, 2010 by Romack

I hardly update my blog anymore, which is a bit sad seeing as I pay good money to keep it online. So, let me catch you up on how my life has unfolded over the past month or so.

I finally graduated! Ridiculous, I know. And, quickly I became another tally in the line of unemployed Americans in this struggling economy. I’ve been calling around, searching online, networking, and praying hard that a job would come my way. As of now, I have no definitive leads - but, who does right now? It’s hard to find a job for folks who have been working for the past 20 years, let alone a recent college grad. I’ve been working on my “Ten Commandments for Individuals with Disabilities”, which is currently in a proposal to be published. And - that leads me to some other big news.

Some of you know, over the past few months I’ve been working some with my buddies, Josh and Ben, of Clairmont in Bryan/College Station. Clairmont is an indie alternative rock group that has had a ton of success over the past couple years, and has a phenomenal sound. I was thrilled to get the opportunity to work with them for that short time, but quickly realized that I thoroughly enjoyed playing with them. So, as of last weekend, I made my commitment to the band as their new drummer. It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity for Angela and I, and I’m thrilled you guys can be a part of it with us.

So, what does that mean for the Romack’s? Well - it means a lot of traveling on weekends, but a ton of new experiences to share with our friends and family. Being about 150 miles away from the guys has been a tough situation for us over the past couple months, so our ideal scenario would be a move to the BCS area this summer - but no solid plans have been made as of yet. We know that we need to be there for the most favorable conditions for the band’s success, but want our move to be just right for us. If you can be praying for what that looks like - we’d appreciate it!

OK - so how do you all fit into this? Well, a band needs fans, right? Simple enough. Here’s a couple places you can check us out at:

(a) The official website for Clairmont is at www.clairmontonline.com. You can find out all sorts of info on what we’re up to and all that jazz. You can also subscribe to the Clairmont newsletter, which has info about events, exciting news and opportunities, contests, and much more.

(b) MySpace - The Clairmont MySpace page can be found at www.myspace.com/clairmont. There are details about the band, some audio demos, videos, pictures, and much, much more. Become our friends, and spread the word about our music.

(c) Facebook - Become our fan on FB. It’s easy - just visit www.facebook.com/clairmontmusic.

(d) iTunes - You can purchase the latest Clairmont record, “Strength Like Lions”, on iTunes.

(e) Fill us in on places you think we should be playing at. If you want us on your local radio station, drop us a line at info@clairmontonline.com and tell us which station or venue we should be contacting.

I’m incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity and look forward to sharing details as they happen. I’ll still be playing with folks like Todd Wright, Christie Cook, Daniel Vencil, and others, so you’ll get an assortment of musical mead from me over the next few months.

Thanks for popping in on the blog!

~romack

calendar December 7th, 2009 by Romack

We’ve all heard it - that “romantic”, jazzy Christmas tune, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. There are enough variety in arrangements and performers to play a different version every day all year long, but they all bug me. Here’s why - the song has some rather overt sexual overtones. I know, surprise, surprise. I will let you take that one in for a second…

Whether it’s the version with Harry Connick Jr. or Barry Manilow, there will always be some sultry, seductive woman echoing some response to a desperate, lovestruck male’s sexual advances. It is quickly evident that both have had too much to drink, and that the frosty air outside is a perfect excuse to get a bit more comfy. But, what did Harry Connick slip in her drink? GHB? The songs screams date/rape. The woman always insists that she cannot, and plainly answers “no” to the repeated attempts to get her undressed. But why does the man not take her response at that? Is there some mistletoe laden walkway that they recorded this under and the male is insisting that the woman not disregard her social obligation? If that is the case, maybe we should all draft an additional verse for the song and let the guy off the hook here. I might be more willing to overlook the rape theory if the man would at least tone his hormones down a notch…

And, another thing - is that woman old enough to be running around with older men? I mean, she remarks about all the people that will be waiting up for her at home. Her mother will be waiting at the door? Her father will be pacing? How old is she? Sounds like something a sixteen-year-old’s parents might be doing, but there’s a version recorded with Rod Stewart, for pete’s sake. Gross. Running around with older men is never a great idea. Maybe the woman is not as innocent as I have perceived. Can we say “gold-digger”. I mean, she does not need to be home past her curfew. They might take away her cell phone or car keys - or something like that. Sounds like a pretty invasive family, if you ask me.

Why has this song become a Christmas classic? It seems like an attempt of captivating the romance of the season in a four-minute, mid-tempo swing number, but I think they missed the mark. Maybe society was so much more innocent back when the song was written. Either way, we honestly do not need any more renditions of this song. So, to all of those who might be stretching for a classic track to put on your “Christmas Hits” CD, skip this seasonal smut, please. We have plenty to scrub from our brains - thank you.

calendar October 28th, 2009 by Romack

RSS peeps: Click here to view the video in a new window. Please visit my site to give your feedback.

~romack

calendar October 21st, 2009 by Romack

Please take a moment to review and answer the following questions. It might be easiest to copy and paste the questions into a word processing program and then copy and paste your answers back over to the comment box when you are ready to submit them. Thanks for taking the time to answer our survey and we look forward to receiving your feedback.

1. Which social networking services are you currently a user? (Ex. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blgging, texting, etc.)?

2. Which social networking tools have you used in the past? (Ex. Xanga, LiveJournal, ICQ, CollegeClub and HighSchoolClub, etc)

3. Do you believe Facebook is a “college-driven” service? Explain.

4. Do you access social media tools from your cell phone?

5. How frequently do you access your social media services? Please specify - 5+ times a day, 3-5 times a day, once or twice a day, a few times a week, or fewer than once a week.

6. What do you utilize social media for? (ex. school, business, friends and family, etc.)

7. What or who influenced you to use social networking services?

8. Do you feel more confident or comfortable online? Explain.

9. Do you believe social media has influence on current events around the globe? Explain.

10. Do you feel services like Facebook and Myspace should restrict access to convicted criminals?

11. Do you believe social networking is “just a trend”? Why or why not?
12. Please specify your age range - 13-17, 18-24, 25-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, or 60+.

13. Please specify your gender?

calendar October 20th, 2009 by Romack

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calendar October 19th, 2009 by Romack

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Check out Stephen Guerra and his radio show at The Guerra Show page. Thanks to him for an opportunity to share my vision for video editing for those with sight impairments. I look forward to sharing with both Stephen and his listeners new developments and insights as we continue to learn this video editing thing together.

This video took 35 minutes or so to edit. I played around alot with the music bed and splitting the music track to manipulate volume throughout the vlurb. The entire process is accessible with my screen reader, and it will make for a great advanced tutorial topic in the “No Eyes Needed” series.

~romack

calendar October 18th, 2009 by Romack

Tonight at 8PM/CDT, I will be a guest on Stephen Guerra’s, The Guerra Show, where I will be discussing the “No Eyes Needed” video editing series. I encourage you to check this show out by clicking here.

~romack

calendar October 17th, 2009 by Romack

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`romack

calendar October 8th, 2009 by Romack

This is a big deal for me. I’ve been interested in video editing for a while now, but never got into it until my vision began to decline. And as soon as I started digging into the technical details - it was practically all gone. But, I have been determined to continue learning and doing more with video. We’re entrenched in a society that is incredibly visually-oriented and a culture that thrives on YouTube. I think the blindness community does not have to take a sideline view in this phenominon.

I’m starting the “No Eyes Needed” series. It’s basically a series that shows how you don’t need the physical ability to see things to enjoy life and be a functional part of society. I intend to show you techniques to accommodate and adapt mainstream products and services, as well as demonstrate adaptive technology. But I don’t want to share this in audio. Why? Because the blindness community knows about all of this. Yes, my videos are for folks who are visually impaired or blind. In fact, this Windows Movie Maker and video editing series is geared directly for our segment. But, I don’t want to shut out the audience that relies on visual detail. That’s what “No Eyes Needed” intends to fulfill.

Let’s dive right in. Click here to view the feature story I have been working on that started this whole process. It contains an basic framework for the “Movie Maker” series, and gets you started making videos in no time. The video accompaniment will be in multiple installments. It will allow me to elaborate on my ideas and give additional detail. Feel free to comment on these videos or contact me if you want further explanation.

I’m excited about this. I want to learn more together, and I think in no time you’ll see, you won’t need eyes where we’re going.

RSS peeps: click here to view the video in a seperate window.

`romack

calendar September 30th, 2009 by Romack

RSS peeps: click here for some video action.

~romack