Last Saturday, 1-8th-2011. I was walking with a friend on the Upper level of Clackamas Town Center Mall. This Lady came up Too Me, She Look Very Professional, She Came over too me. She Handed me a business card out of her leather bag, With Her Name(Lydia Johnston) On It. She ask’t me how tall i am. I said 5 7″ or 5 8″ (cause last time i check I Was 5 7″.6cm so i was not sure.) She Seem Like she was in a hurry, She said too Call This Number 503.227.6633

Two Days Later I Told My Mom, She was Very Excited About it. We Look It Up Online www.musemodels.com Witch Their Website look Very REAL. Butt I Was Not Going to take my chances because ANYONE can SET UP OR MAKE a WEBSITE THATS FAKE, even though it looks real. So Then I Typed In Her Name On Google I New What She Look Like… Short/ Tan/ light Brown- colored eyes/ dark-Brown Hair/ mid Long. Not alot make up on her face. Clean Cut looking.

So I went on Facebook and look up her name nothing showed and for modeling you would think, MUSE modeling management in Portland would try to putt Themselves on the market to get notice. cause that’s what management places DO Or at least i thought so…anyways.

I Found A blog That A Real Model Wrights about her Starting out and how ALOT, of Modeling agency ARE SCAMS.

I Have a meeting with them at 5:30 sometime next week. I’m taking my mom with me of course. Cause I’m 16 years old. but if you our still order or younger you should take and adult or a Guy friend Just to stay SAFE. That’s The Smart Thing to DO. And DO NOT BY ANY MEANS FILL OUT A CONTRACT DURING YOUR FIRST MEETING OR PAY ANY MONEY For Photos you take for you first meeting. Always Ask Why? To Any Modeling Company. And Ask to TAKE the CONTRACT WITH YOU. And you can come back To make your final choice IF you want to stay with them or not. Or Just Drop It AT The Door unsigned. lol. um also I CALLED they phone during AFTER HOURS, I was told a good agency has Emergency Number… For when your photogher’s cancel on you or no one shows up. Then you have a number to call to rebook yourself for some, another Shoot or for a store or runway.

I Called after hours and The Machine answer to a guys voice saying offices hours and saying they get back to you, but no Emergency Number!?? And Sounded old also Cause at thee end he said happy news years which hello that was like forever ago. So Im Still on my doubts about MUSE PORTLAND. The One I Know Is real is MUSE NYC.

I lived Portland my whole life and was born here:D MUSE management ends up being a scam, its going to turn out bad for them! Cause I make sure police knows about it.

Or if not Then I would happy to model for them as long as they it says in my contract for 15% or 20% for and agency fee and the rest the money would go to me cause thats professional.

** Make Sure To bring someone with you.
**** ASK to take contract with you and say you will bring it back unsigned or signed. READ The contract yourself then have a parent read it or go have a Lawyer Look Over Small Contract, with you so they can explain more about what you should do or not do and if its a good choice…???

*** YOU can also book yourself to and be a model. you get more money and no contract. but i pretty sure you have to be 18, unless you have a parent willing to book you.

*** Don’t Take Gross Picture If they ask you to! since your under aged!

Question:

Have you had this happen to you??

If MUSE Modeling for REAL OR Scam??

DO TELL, People…

Last Saturday, 1-8th-2011. I was walking with a friend on the Upper level of Clackamas Town Center Mall. This Lady came up Too Me, She Look Very Professional, She Came over too me. She Handed me a business card out of her leather bag, With Her Name(Lydia Johnston) On It. She ask’t me how tall i am. I said 5 7″ or 5 8″ (cause last time i check I Was 5 7″.6cm so i was not sure.) She Seem Like she was in a hurry, She said too Call This Number 503.227.6633

Two Days Later I Told My Mom, She was Very Excited About it. We Look It Up Online www.musemodels.com Witch Their Website look Very REAL. Butt I Was Not Going to take my chances because ANYONE can SET UP OR MAKE a WEBSITE THATS FAKE, even though it looks real. So Then I Typed In Her Name On Google I New What She Look Like… Short/ Tan/ light Brown- colored eyes/ dark-Brown Hair/ mid Long. Not alot make up on her face. Clean Cut looking.

So I went on Facebook and look up her name nothing showed and for modeling you would think, MUSE modeling management in Portland would try to putt Themselves on the market to get notice. cause that’s what management places DO Or at least i thought so…anyways.

I Found A blog That A Real Model Wrights about her Starting out and how ALOT, of Modeling agency ARE SCAMS.

I Have a meeting with them at 5:30 sometime next week. I’m taking my mom with me of course. Cause I’m 16 years old. but if you our still order or younger you should take and adult or a Guy friend Just to stay SAFE. That’s The Smart Thing to DO. And DO NOT BY ANY MEANS FILL OUT A CONTRACT DURING YOUR FIRST MEETING OR PAY ANY MONEY For Photos you take for you first meeting. Always Ask Why? To Any Modeling Company. And Ask to TAKE the CONTRACT WITH YOU. And you can come back To make your final choice IF you want to stay with them or not. Or Just Drop It AT The Door unsigned. lol. um also I CALLED they phone during AFTER HOURS, I was told a good agency has Emergency Number… For when your photogher’s cancel on you or no one shows up. Then you have a number to call to rebook yourself for some, another Shoot or for a store or runway.

I Called after hours and The Machine answer to a guys voice saying offices hours and saying they get back to you, but no Emergency Number!?? And Sounded old also Cause at thee end he said happy news years which hello that was like forever ago. So Im Still on my doubts about MUSE PORTLAND. The One I Know Is real is MUSE NYC.

I lived Portland my whole life and was born here:D MUSE management ends up being a scam, its going to turn out bad for them! Cause I make sure police knows about it.

Or if not Then I would happy to model for them as long as they it says in my contract for 15% or 20% for and agency fee and the rest the money would go to me cause thats professional.

** Make Sure To bring someone with you.
**** ASK to take contract with you and say you will bring it back unsigned or signed. READ The contract yourself then have a parent read it or go have a Lawyer Look Over Small Contract, with you so they can explain more about what you should do or not do and if its a good choice…???

*** YOU can also book yourself to and be a model. you get more money and no contract. but i pretty sure you have to be 18, unless you have a parent willing to book you.

*** Don’t Take Gross Picture If they ask you to! since your under aged!

Question:

Have you had this happen to you??

If MUSE Modeling for REAL OR Scam??

DO TELL, People…

Cashcreate is a website to take surverys and make money. I just now saw a link to cashcrate and it was off a website that gave me a bad feeling. Like it was a scam. I never got past the 1st page and didnt want to.

How does it work?
When and how do I get paid. How much?
Is there some other sites like this thats legit?
Do certain companies that I know of have something like this (ex: Coke)?
Does it give me spam?
Do I have to give certain info like credit card?
Does it cost money to join.
Do they have paypal?

all sorts of things like this i’m wondering. I dont want to get ripped off. So is this for real or just a scam basically? And am I able to do this at 13. Please just put me at ease. I havent joined yet and dont plan to unless i have a relable source or secured website.

OK, so I guess some background here would help.

I’ve been playing around with a friend’s little studio setup for the past year or so and decided to start my own when he moved out of state. I have currently:

iMac 24”
Logic Pro Studio 9
2 KRK Rokit G2 8” mixing monitors
M-audio fast track pro usb audio interface
Assorted dynamic/condenser mics

I plan on using the setup mostly for recording 1 instrument/voice at a time. I might expand that to multiple instruments/voices in the future if I can work my way around Logic a bit better (I’m sure you can record multiple tracks simultaneously?), in which case I’m fully aware of the interface’s limited capabilities.

My basic question is this, and if you can expound or offer additional advice please feel free (you can safely assume that I am completely unsophisticated in regards to recording/mastering):

Is the interface holding me back?

That is, my monitors, though obviously plugged into the wall, are currently turned up close to the max for volume. My interface is turned to the max on all pertinent knobs. The Mac defers to the interface so I have no volume control there except for the particular program that I’m running (I have to turn the master volume on Logic pretty far up, and in iTunes the volume dial is always near the top). Considering the fact that my hearing is perfectly fine, what’s the issue? Is the interface simply not drawing enough power? That is, is phantom power used only for powering non-dynamic microphones? Or will it give the whole setup a power boost if I had an interface that plugged into the wall as well? Do I need to throw this interface in the trash and get a new one that isn’t usb-powered? I mean, I know it only has 2 outputs and Logic has the capability of recording in surround, so I would need a better interface anyway if I ever taught myself enough about the software to use that function. Is that even worth it though, on an unrelated note? And how can a mixing board help me? Is that only for live performace?

Also, I was messing around with the guitar track that my friend laid down last week with his acoustic electric, and there seems to be a fair amount of noise/hiss. Since I’m not at the Mac at the moment, I’ll resort to sounding like an idiot and say that I was playing with the audio track in isolation at the bottom center of the Logic screen. Normalization and so forth… Is that noise a function of a crappy interface as well? I’m not a guitar player so I don’t know if that’s the guitar’s fault, but this guy is big money and a fantastic musician at that, so I know he’s playing with the best.

I don’t have any friends at the moment who are studio owners/real professional musicians with lots of recording experience. Just amateurs like myself. So it’s kind of been like the blind leading the blind so far… And I don’t really have full reliance in the opinions of employees of big-box music stores. If you aren’t able to help, could you maybe point me in the direction of an online community for musicians? Thanks in advance! Please don’t slam me too hard. I’m just a poor musician trying to make my way through this crazy maze…
Yeah, I’m not quite sure about the level at which I’m recording. When my buddy was over laying down the guitar track, I don’t think he ever clipped. So you mean the low-ish level at which he was recording may have led to the noise? Any suggestions for finding that balance?
And to answer your other question, yes, all playback is through headphones when recording. Which leads me to another question. Would a non-USB powered interface help with headphones that have high impedance levels? To specify, I have AKG K 601 headphones (http://www.akg.com/personal/K_601,pcatid,4,pid,2,_psmand,1.html). However, I’m not using them because the volume is crazy low when I try to use them in my current setup. Therefore I’m using crappier headphones with less impedance… But the volume level is fine with those cheap ones. I can get all I want. But with the AKGs I can max everything out (interface levels and Logic volume dial) but still not get much sound. It’s the same when I tried using them with my keyboard. Do I need some kind of amp or something to give the headphones enough power? I mean, I would like to use those headphones for mixing, but I just can’t seem to get enough power.
I guess an overall question is why do I have to turn everything up so much to get the volume that I’m looking for? Is that normal? Or is there some weak link in the chain? I mean, when I set the monitors at 0.0 volume and the interface at mid-level volume and also mid-level for whatever computer program I happen to be running (iTunes or Logic), I expect mid-level output from the monitors. But I don’t get that. I get basically nothing. I turn up the interface to max levels, still not much. Then the software program volume dial all the way up, then the monitors to just below max levels, and I finally got decent sound. I’m not the kind of person to blow out my speakers and go deaf for fun, but I like a fair amount of sound. I guess I just feel a bit confused/upset/uncomfortable with all dials at 9 or 10 and what I feel to be sound output at like 6.5 or 7. Does that make sense?

I’m a tax noob and would like to learn some tax basics. I am from the US, live in NYC.

From what i was told i need to make at least $600 or more then i will need to do taxes. I am clueless though. So here are my questions:

1. is it always over $600 in a year that i need to make, then i need to do taxes?

2. what if i make money from multiple places. For example. I work two different jobs. Do i pay taxes for only the 1 job that made me over $600 or once i’m over $600 do i have to pay taxes on everything i made so far in the year?

3. What’s the start and end date of taxes. If i make money on Jan 1 that is over $600 when am i supposed to pay the taxes, what date? & can i pay the taxes i owe at the end of each month to get it over with? (Is the answer to this question different if i work a real job that i go VS self employment?, will the date i need to pay change?)

3. Do i have to keep a record of every payment i get. (check, paypal). So say i want to go get help with my taxes, do i just bring a print out of my paypal money received and copies of checks to help them see what i made?

4. Can i make my own excel spreadsheet and just keep track of all the $ i made from different places and just print that out to give to someone to help me do taxes?

5. Where can i go to get help for taxes? H&R block is the only thing that comes to mind but my taxes aren’t to complicated i made over $600 through paypal, and under $600 from non-paypal things. So is it something easy i can fill out and do on my own or should i take it to get done still?

6. How much does it cost to get help with my taxes from say H&R block?

7. How can i find out if i ever owed money, and how much i owed. Is there a way to check all that info so i can check anytime i want?

8. Is there a online chart that can show me the % of money i would owe depending on how much i’ve made so far.

9. What if i do taxes and i accidently made a mistake and was short from the real total i made. Will i get introuble?

10. What is a good, easy to use tax software that i could use to try and do my own taxes.

11. I know i asked about the tax date, but is it just a once a year thing? & if i make $599 and the tax deadline comes and i make $1 after the deadline, does that mean i don’t have to pay the taxes on it?

12. When is the deadline for money i make? Is it different than the deadline to pay? so like if i make $600 and need to pay taxes what if i made more money on the deadline date to pay but i never included it into the taxes. So is there a different deadline date , money made from start date to end date and then deadline of when to pay date?

13. Working a real job and online making money through paypal and also from affiliate online companies. Do i need to ask paypal, the online affiliate companies and the place i work for in person, for tax forms to fill out?

14. If i buy stuff from stores and collect receipts of everything i buy. Can i save that for my taxes? do i have to make copies of all the receipts? Does the receipts only apply to those things that my own business needs if i work for myself? or can i buy anything like say a jacket and keep the receipt to get money back or take out some $ that i owe?

15. So with all those questions asked, what are the paperwork and whatever else that i need to have ready when i pay my taxes? Do i need to have any documentation, drivers licence, etc.. ready?

16. Where do i go to pay the taxes? (in nyc) & can i pay online instead?

17. How will i know if i did everything i did was correct or if i messed up? Will i get a letter in the mail to tell me everything went fine, or that i still owed more money?

18. I don’t live alone, with parents still. They pay the bills (rent) etc. Should i have to give them my tax stuff for them to include into their own tax info? In case they put me down as someone not making money but i made enough to owe taxes. Should they know about my tax stuff?

19. If i were to get free insurance from medicare while i was unemployed and still worked doing online work, making money through paypal (over the $600 mark) at what point will i not be able to keep using the free insurance? Being that my online job is not a set income it’s just random made. So i may not make much money or i could make more money. It’s hard to say.

TONS of tax questions. I’m a real noob with taxes as you can see. It may take multiple people to answer all these questions. I hope people can help me with all my questions.

Thanks in advanced!