No matter how prepared you think you are…
I got to my first show to observe/record. I brought my video camera, my questionnaires, pencils, notebooks, pens and a digital recorder.
I’m setting up my camera, and I realize that I forgot a video tape. Shit, but oh well I’ve got my digital recorder.
The show starts and I press record on my dr. It flashes “Memory Full”. Fuck.
I furiously page through the different folder options. Nothing works. Somehow my recorder has recorded 8 hours of shit while sitting in my bag for the last few months. Meanwhile, I miss the first suggestion and the opening monologues while I struggle with my recording device. I go through various menus searching for some sort of delete or erase option to no avail. The crowd is laughing, and I’m in a life or death struggle with a device that is a little bigger than a pack of gum.
In frustration I just flop it into my other hand. I notice a small red button on the side of the thing. It says “Erase” in raised letters on the black plastic. Hallelujah. 3 minutes later. I have full memory, and I’m recording.
Note to self: don’t just bring the equipment, know how to use it too.
Brad Fortier 