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Late-night thoughts on DIY, cow-milking
StoreTags: farming, music, DIY
Author: cosmod on July 16 2006 Viewed 3017 times. 11 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
People who enjoyed reading this: jdg, Roshi, minisystems, astroid, Zanf, Fredo, crabster, kidko, mrpanda, ignatius, lilt
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About six years ago, my then girlfriend and I were staying on her family's farmhouse in rural Vermont, near the Mount Snow ski area. Though the house itself was detached from the farm, which specialized in dairy and maple syrup, we were close enough to watch some farming action. It was a few nights before New Years Eve. It was late, you needed snowshoes to get around and most of the houses were already lights-out by the time we set off to explore. One barn's lights was on and a whirr of activity could be heard as we drew close to its doors. We had arrived at... the milking barn.
We stepped inside, hand in hand. A row of about twenty cows were "hooked up" to tubes that went to a centralized vat. These cows seemed oblivious to what was happening to them, being milked electronically. The farmer overseeing them looked about 60, had a huge grey handlebar moustache, and carried a whip. He said his shift would go til 5 am, then he would "unhook" all of the cows and turn in. There was a special talk show that came on at 4 in the morning, the AM frequency 1050, all farmtalk. He wanted to catch the show before he unhooked the cows, but that was going to be all the evening excitement for him.
The farmer told us that his job is all about efficiency. The automation of his machines keep him focused on other tasks. Like what, I thought, sitting around waiting for his radio show?
I cannot relate to these farmers just yet. My CDs are still made... by hand.
I get a certain satisfaction out of burning the CDs, printing directly on them with my printer, cutting the liner notes on a cutting board, putting everything together then heading down to the post office to mail out the goods. It's all done with a special love and care reserved for making blueberry pies, pottery and three-tier snowmen. Ideally, I'll look forward to the time when I can just charge some disc-manufacturing company to make the goods for me, but for now, I'm happy to DIY until I probably shouldn't. I did cut myself on the blade yesterday, but what if I was milking a cow and it kicked me in the face? Such are the risks of the DIY way, I'll take 'em for now.
Cosmo D
www.cosmod.net
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07/16/06
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minisystems
wwwwwwwwwwwwwww
word.
dddddddddddddddddddd
07/16/06
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astroid
lol
all the first 80 googleplex cds were handmade, printed up the liner notes and everything myself- and i think that's the reason it's been "out of print" for a good year solid
07/16/06
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Zanf
If all your cd's were pumped full of hormones to increase their milk yield and then they were sent to the knackers yard after a few years because they were only good for glue, then worry about catching your 4am farmers radio prog.
07/16/06
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Fredo
yeah, I make mine all myself too, there's something nice about creating everything from scratch. I used to do one with two pieces like you, but it got to be a pain... it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to make any cd, or, during periods of high sales it becomes a weight on your back to make them all. Actually, I recommend you looking into the slim cases...they weigh less, so it will only cost .83 to mail in the us, and there is only one cut piece and one fold involved. You can put all the back sleeve info on it's reverse side, and even reflect that info on the cd, turning the cd around so that it faces out when the case is closed. That way also the paper will fit a bit more snug into the cd case and the fold will hide the make of the cd paper you have purchased.
How much was the cd printer, by the way? I always buy the paper labels, and I have had one complaint that the result was a cd so thick it got stuck in a car stereo. 
It's a great cd, cosmo d. Best of luck with sales!
07/16/06
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crabster
As long as you don't identify the most with the cows all is well I guess.
07/16/06
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soft
i just bought one of these printers off the guy i work with link for 30 quid
i havnt tried it myself yet, though i have seen some prints of his photos, taken on a canon d20 and they look brilliant!
it comes with a little try thing that you slot a cd into to print directly onto it. you need special cds that cost more than normal ones.....but not that much more.
im looking forward to printing cds on this.....when i have enough stuff to put on a cd
edited: Jul 16 2006
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kidko
One advantage of purchasing said DIY products is that sometimes you get a cosmod arm hair trapped under the clear plastic CD tray. The handwritten note that says "thanks Robert" is a nice touch too. My girlfriend says you have "serial killer handwriting". She does love your CD though. I handed it to her just after she bought a CD of classic cello pieces. The timing was impeccable.
I also don't drink cow milk. It's mostly due to my not following along with common practice and instead looking at things for what they are. When forced to choose between drinking a glass of water and drinking a bovine bodily fluid that's specially formulated for baby cows, I go with the water. There are plenty of other places to get the vitamins and minerals that cow milk overdoses you on.
I sure hope that's an armhair. That's what I'm calling it. I didn't even think of it as gross, as I would with another persons hair on something I own, because I love your album so much.
07/16/06
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lunatinker
Fredo said: "How much was the cd printer, by the way? I always buy the paper labels, and I have had one complaint that the result was a cd so thick it got stuck in a car stereo.
"
your CD worked fine for me many places/stereos....now that yiou mention it, i see it.
i think there is a Yamaha DVDRW with a laser etching deal for the labels on CDs....anyone heard of 'em?
07/16/06
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kidko
lunatinker said: " Fredo said: "How much was the cd printer, by the way? I always buy the paper labels, and I have had one complaint that the result was a cd so thick it got stuck in a car stereo.
"
your CD worked fine for me many places/stereos....now that yiou mention it, i see it.
i think there is a Yamaha DVDRW with a laser etching deal for the labels on CDs....anyone heard of 'em?"
I have a LaCie one at work. it's pretty weak looking
07/17/06
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lilt
ummmm isnt he doing the same thing as you?
lets the machines (cd presses etc. in this case) take care of a large part...then only a small part is done by hand (printing labels and applying them)
sorry...it just seems rather similar to me
07/17/06
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soft
kidko said: " lunatinker said: " Fredo said: "How much was the cd printer, by the way? I always buy the paper labels, and I have had one complaint that the result was a cd so thick it got stuck in a car stereo.
"
your CD worked fine for me many places/stereos....now that yiou mention it, i see it.
i think there is a Yamaha DVDRW with a laser etching deal for the labels on CDs....anyone heard of 'em?"
I have a LaCie one at work. it's pretty weak looking"
yup.
and it takes about 12 hours to print a crappy b&w pic with a bit of text. and the disks cost more.
07/19/06
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energygiant
those poor cow teats! they must be tender from all that suckling.
07/29/06
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lunatinker
back to that cows.
mmm.mmm......moo
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