What is it that I do do?

The optimist says, "The glass is half full."
The pessimist says, "The glass is half empty."
The engineer says, "The glass is twice as big as it needs to be."

I do a lot, more these days than ever. When I used to work at regular full-time jobs, that used to take up nearly all my time, and I'd find time to squeeze in other activities, mainly music. But since I've been working free-lance, managing my own time, I've been doing more of whatever interests me, usually finding I'm pretty good at it whatever I try – sometimes for money, often just for satisfaction. Here's some of what I do:

Computer & video technology

I got degrees in Electrical Engineering way back when (Cooper Union & Stanford U), specializing in Communications. Computers weren't really a big part of the curriculum at college, but during my five years at Bell Labs I wrote a lot of FORTRAN code on punched cards to analyze my Picturephone subjective test data. When I moved to the broadcast industry in 1972 to manage the first computer-assisted video editing systems, including the world's only random-access video system, the CMX 600. I learned about minicomputers, machine control, and user interfaces. I customized a number of commercial video editing programs at the time, and designed the first computer-assisted system for color-correcting film-to-tape transfers, eventually becoming known as something of a "guru" in the field. You get some idea of this in these 1980 interviews in Backstage and Business Screen, and a Backstage article I wrote. My professional résumé gives a fairly exhaustive listing of everything I've done in that area.
Downloadable PDF Résumé

At my last full-time job at MTV Networks, I was the engineer at a lab set up to explore new production methods, mainly controlling graphics software with motion-capture devices and MIDI for producing animations in real-time. We produced great results, some of the most interesting work I've done. But MTV wasn't interested in supporting ongoing research with no immediate profitability, so they turned the lab into a cartoon factory for Nickelodeon, and evaporated my job. So much for the illusion of "security."

I subsequently worked free-lance at various video facilities (e.g, Du Art Film & Video and Tobin Productions), installing and configuring computer systems and programs so as to streamline the creative work process.

Web Site Design

Since first poking my head into this area in 1999 with my own web site, I've done a number of others, either creating them from scratch or improving existing sites, learning more about the process each time. I get a lot of good feedback on the sites I design, mainly from folks who say they find them easy to navigate and well-organized. Thirty-five years of experience designing user interface software has no doubt helped prepare me for this. Here are some of the sites I've created and/or maintain:

DJ'ing

I've been spinning from my unique collection of a few thousand tunes in a number of clubs for the past few years. Besides the Don Hill's LUNDORAMA nights where I also book the bands, crowds have been pleased at such venues as Motor City Bar, The C-Note, Pussycat Lounge, CBGBs, Continental, LIT and others. The iTunes software on my MacBook Pro makes it particularly easy to create theme-oriented playlists for special occasions, and to maintain a mix of styles covering many decades.

You can see a list of the music in my collection listed by artist or by genre.

Photography

I have no actual training in this field as many professionals do, but I take lots of pictures, mostly of rock band performances, as you can see in the Band Pics section of this site. At shows I use a small camera so the event doesn't feel like a "shoot." Many people tell me they think I capture the feel of a performance very well. I get totally into the spirit of the music, and interrupt the flow only momentarily to catch a shot now and then. Let it become a "media event" and something is lost.

Music

Another area I'm trying to find more time to devote to. I started out singing a capella "doo wop" in the streets as a teenager; then went off into classical music in college, studying piano and organ, and spent a few years as a church organist and choir director. I built my own harpsichord, and besides playing baroque classics, I used it in a group I played in for about seven years, Perfect Strangers, kind of classically-influenced rock. A long period of inactivity followed a 1982 hand injury, but I've been getting back into performing lately. Every time I've sung a number with the band at various shows, people have told me I really ought to get a band together. I recently started playing keyboards again occasionally, and started playing with Acid Rayz in 2007; this is yet another thing I've got to find time to pursue. Can't believe I stayed away so long from something which gives me so much joy, but life is life.

Writing

I've gotta do more writing. Lots of folks tell me they like my style, and my monthly New York Waste columns, and that I should write more. When I tell stories (as I often do), people quite often wind up urging me to write a book, which I'll hopefully get to one day.