The weekend Thread

[Eric]

Someone posted a pic on facebook of the middle of our 3 Sunday performances with First Things First (the praise band), the barbecue at our church after the regular service. As you can probably tell from our attire, it was ghastly hot. My rig is my Fender SC XD chained to my MosValve 80W 1x12, which is the same rig my rhythm guitarist in Crash Pad is gonna use at the Labor Daze Fest this weekend
You know, I've never asked this before, but I've always wondered what it's like flipping back between your punk bands and church lineups. The pictures of your church groups look about the same as ones I've been involved in, which I will say are a very different feel from any punk show I've ever been to. So I just wonder if you have to keep flipping your mindset or whether you kind of put one of the styles in a box or what.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that whenever I've been in a more traditional rock band situation and church group at the same time, it's hard for me to take the musical side of the worship seriously, as the volunteer aspect plus something about the situation makes people seem pretty disengaged and awkward by comparison. I just wondered how you manage all of that from a mental standpoint since you've got your fingers in so many different musical styles.

[Brian Krashpad]

You know, I've never asked this before, but I've always wondered what it's like flipping back between your punk bands and church lineups. The pictures of your church groups look about the same as ones I've been involved in, which I will say are a very different feel from any punk show I've ever been to. So I just wonder if you have to keep flipping your mindset or whether you kind of put one of the styles in a box or what.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that whenever I've been in a more traditional rock band situation and church group at the same time, it's hard for me to take the musical side of the worship seriously, as the volunteer aspect plus something about the situation makes people seem pretty disengaged and awkward by comparison. I just wondered how you manage all of that from a mental standpoint since you've got your fingers in so many different musical styles.

I dunno, it's all just music to me. I rein it in a bit at church, obviously, but other than that, it is what it is. The other kids in the church band often call me Krash, and I think they genuinely enjoy having an old bar hack in the band. They are all pretty good musicians with one possible exception. I hope they know that despite my "musical background" I am sincere about what I do in church, and I think they do at least.

And just for the record, I really only have one punk band. My other secular side bands are a roots rock band and a keys-based pop/lighter rock band. So "praise" music is just another different genre that I play, although it has special significance beyond just being music to have fun with.

[Eric]

And just for the record, I really only have one punk band. My other secular side bands are a roots rock band and a keys-based pop/lighter rock band. So "praise" music is just another different genre that I play, although it has special significance beyond just being music to have fun with.
What's Hoyt and the Hotheads?

I get you about praise being another genre and being sincere and what not. In my experience, the musical side of things can sometimes be de-emphasized to the point where there's kind of bad musicianship and/or commitment to quality. Kind of a God-will-make-us-play-well mentality. I've also played with a lot of hacks (me included, at various points). So maybe we're coming from different experiences with it.

[Brian Krashpad]

What's Hoyt and the Hotheads?

Roots rock. The newest side band, Pedagogy, is more poppy/light rock.


I get you about praise being another genre and being sincere and what not. In my experience, the musical side of things can sometimes be de-emphasized to the point where there's kind of bad musicianship and/or commitment to quality. Kind of a God-will-make-us-play-well mentality. I've also played with a lot of hacks (me included, at various points). So maybe we're coming from different experiences with it.

Interesting, I guess I've just been lucky in the couple praise bands I've been in. They've had a couple so-so players over the years, and I'm no Yngwie, but in general the level of play has been pretty solidly decent.

[sunvalleylaw]

My weekend looked a lot like this except with one of the guitars in my hands.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w92/sunvalleylaw/IMG_0449.jpg

wifey was out of town on a back pack trip with her girlfriends. Me, the kids and the MIL hung at home. I got all my recording software working again after not having it updated (or using it for that matter) for quite some time. Figured out how to mic my Concert with two mics, set up the SM57 and AT2035, pointed the 57 an inch or two off the screen a little above center cone on lower right speaker, put the 2035 a couple feet back directed toward the top of the upper right speaker as shown. Started working on recording a cover of a Joey Ramone's punk cover of Wonderful World. Worked on it much of saturday, but with many interruptions due to Dad duties, which come first of course. Did not get it recorded well enough to post yet, but did get a lot of stuff figured out in terms of twiddling knobs and getting sounds I think I want.

I don't have a bass, but do have some recorded drums someone gave me, but I might have to re-do a portion to make it fit what I am learning. So in lieu of bass, I have been using the Hag for the main guitar part of this punk song, and using the tele to cover bass with some palm muted power chords and the tone rolled back. But other than wanting the amazing sustain of the Hag, I almost want to use the tele for the main guitar too. Way easier to control this loud and distorted. But the Hag's sustain, and when it is right, on the edge rolling into feedback tone is pretty fun. I was liking the DS-1 with the Bad Monkey later in the chain to smooth it out for this task. Volume knob dependent for sure, but was getting some old school punk tones, or at least ones I enjoy, out of that with both guitars. It was a bit loud at my house most of yesterday and a bit of today. Gonna keep playing with it. Why not? I don't know what I am doing anyway. Might as well just play with it! :D

Did get a decent mountain bike ride in today, and kept the kids on task on the stuff that needed to get done before mom got home. Had a cook out over a back yard fire with fresh corn and watermelon. Avoided media coverage of 9/11 (I certainly remember and send prayers and mojo to all affected directly and indirectly, but did not want to join the media coverage in any way), and felt thankful to have my family and a nice day to enjoy with them. :AOK

[Brian Krashpad]

Sounds like a good weekend Steve! I avoided 9/11 coverage as well.

Went down to ORL for "Family Weekend" at UCF with Mrs. K and son. For some reason the UCF (home) team was at the Radisson we were at, dunno if it was just for game-day coach-ups or overnight the night before to get them off campus and stay focused. Either way, it worked. UCF 30, Boston College 3.

Plus of course we got to hang with my daughter. She went to the game with us after a little tour of the campus during all the tailgating on game day. Kinda hilarious, my wife made me leave my Sharp's NA "brew" in the car so I "wouldn't get arrested," and of course there were people everywhere, including underage college kids, drinking real beer like fish out in the open all over campus.

Took my daughter and her girlfriend to breakfast Sunday morning. Came back to GNV Sunday afternoon.

http://knightnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/09_10_2011_NCAA_FOOTBALL_UCF_VS_BOSTON_COLLEGE_058 0USETHIS.jpg

[Eric]

That's a cool picture, B. My weekend was mostly spent on the road. My wife and I drove up to Boston on Friday to visit my sister, brother-in-law and niece, as my sister was supposed to have kid #2 by now. However, there was and still is not any baby, so we just hung around all weekend with them and my mom, who was also in town for the reluctant baby. We theorized that my sister must have a very comfy womb, as baby #1 was also late.

Drank plenty of beer on Saturday night and went candlepin bowling at a local place up there. Pretty decent weekend all around.

[Brian Krashpad]

Sound like a good weekend Eric. I don't think we have candlepins or duckpins down here.

Btw, the pic is one of UCF's official photos of the game. The sky was beautiful at sunset. By coincidence, it's taken from the same corner of the field we were sitting at, only we were up about 6 or 7 rows from the top of the stadium so we had a better perspective of the field.

[Brian Krashpad]

Nothing up Friday night, except for an early dinner at our fave local Mexican restaurant, La Fiesta.

http://www.chompmenus.com/resizer.aspx?filename=resimages/5/62LaFiesta20090820210837.M.081909_01.gif

I had fish tacos, with the fish grilled. Waaaay better than having it fried.

Saturday I was at church most of the day. Had band practice at 10. Gator Football Parking for the UT game started at 11:30, my wife dropped our son off for that. Most of our lot (the paved part, and a mulched parking lot) is all reserved, but we also have space on a side lawn that we sell. We got really creative fitting cars in (and still keeping the lawn "no block"), plus one space in the paved lot let us know they weren't going to show so we could sell their space. Made $500 for the Youth Group just from the non-reserved spaces sold. One guy in a Porsche SUV (who knew those exist?) showed up late and said he'd pay extra if we could give him a space. We moved a bunch of our cars around, and he paid us SIXTY bucks for the spot (we were selling them for $25!).

Went home at about 4:30, didn't even wait until halftime since it was so parked up and we got all the parking cones picked up early. Dropped the boy off at a freind's (who had also been at Parking) on the way home. Watched the Gators manhandle the Vols and go to 3-0/1-0 SEC. Tried to watch the FSU-OU game but fell asleep. Was actually rooting for FSU since we meet them late in the season and if they won it'd help us if we beat them, but that was not to be.

At church today we did a slightly slowed down version of a song I wrote for Crash Pad (it's in our current set), but changed about 5 words in to make it a praise song (yep that's all it took). We got away with it by doing it as pre-service music. We'll probably do a similar version of it (although probably with the original lyric) in my side band with the keyboard player. (Have practice with them in about an hour at my office.)

So that'll make 3 bands doing 3 slightly different versions of the song.

Meanwhile, while running through the songs rehearsing between the services, playing my Dano Hodad:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/3141374077_74b1b0f4a0.jpg

The strap peg on the upper horn pulled out while I had the guitar on. I automatically grabbed the guitar neck before it could hit the floor, but the bottom end swung down to below my hand, like a pendulum, which meant the headstock swung over right into my face. Cut the bridge of my nose open. Cute. Went over to the kitchen in the other building and got a small wooden skewer (and a band-aid I ended up not using) to do the "toothpick" repair and fixed the strap peg before the second service started.

On the way home I scored a Juice Box OD pedal off craigslist. Didn't need it, but for $20 how could I NOT buy it? First gear I've bought in like 2 years.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/307536_10150323030293879_512618878_8047739_1573653 257_n.jpg

Will probably try it out at practice with the side band tonight.

So, how was your weekend?

[Katastrophe]

My weekends are boring. Started my sleep/work cycle on Wednesday (stay up all night Wed., sleep Thursday, start working Thursday night). Then it was work, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep. I'm now finishing off this rousing weekend by doing a ton of chores, so that I can sleep some more, and go to school on Monday.

I'm in a serious rut right now.

[Tig]

Ah, my second weekend OFF after working 71 of them in a row.
Spent most of the time with Mrs. Tig at the hospital and now at home after being discharged. She's doing well considering she just got a new knee.

Our youngest grand daughter has her 2nd birthday party today. No pic's, but she's as cute as they get.

[street music]

Enjoyed the 58 degrees this morning as I went to play around of golf, 76 degrees when we finished, came home and played my Carvin for about 1 1/2 hours and just kicked back after feeding the cat.Yesterday we went to festival and watched some great skateboard racing and saw a empty stage- not one person singing till after we left.

[Tig]

I'm wiped out today. I've been running around crazy taking care of Mrs. Tig, the kids and the dogs... + Swapping ice packs, setting up the leg exerciser/inquisition machine 4 times a day, cooking, administering med's, emptying the porta-potty http://markweinguitarlessons.com/forums/images/smilies/crunk_puke.gif , and 10 million other things that needed to be done.

When you look back on your life and relationship together, these moments actually stick out in a good way. As a couple, you got through a difficult, painful time and came out stronger.

[Katastrophe]

Man, I hope Mrs. Tig gets well soon!

[Brian Krashpad]

Man, I hope Mrs. Tig gets well soon!

Ditto. Take care Tig!

[Brian Krashpad]

OK weekend: most of the small limbs up from the yard at Casa Krashpad, pulled some weeds, got some of the leaves off the roof, practiced at church on Saturday and did all 3 songs on Sunday with heavy Edge-type delay, just because. FINALLY got a haircut, and good Pedagogy practice Sunday night. Who'da guessed I'd ever play a song clean all the way through, with tons of major sevenths? True. I have witnesses.

And of course the Gators beat Kentucky. 25 years straight now.

Visiting Oral Medicine at Shands this p.m. to see just how messed up that dang radiation has made my mouf. Good times.

[Glacies]

Drove up to my SiL's house this weekend for whitewater rafting on Saturday and we almost bit the big one. It was a professionally guided rafting trip but the boat ended up flipping in a class 5 rapid and tossed us all the water. I was on the high side of the boat and had the most airtime before crashing down and getting sucked under. I got thrown on the opposite side of the river as my wife, her sister and her sister's husband and had a hell of a time not drowning all by myself out there. Another raft was able to get everyone else in the boat but I was stuck unfortunately having to pass through the rapids on my own before anyone picked me up. I can't describe the elation at seeing everyone okay, even if my BiL was in almost a catatonic shock. We were all beaten up pretty well but no serious injuries. Just minor cuts and bruises. The rafting company gave us all beers afterwards and we decided to hit a bar after that for more intense stress relief.

And then i watched Yankees beat Boston. Was good.

[Brian Krashpad]

Dang! Glad you're OK.

Thanks for posting.

[Tig]

A crazy few weeks it has been at Casa Tig! I finally got some decent rest this past weekend. EDIT: Also, we have been taking care of our 7 year old grand daughter the last few weeks. (a long and not so happy story that I'll skip)

The previous week and weekend was a blur of sleepless nights and days with Mrs. Tig's surgery and return home. The poor woman has been dealing with some incredible pain (no, not me this time). Then, Wednesday night after being home for 4 days, her heart rate was holding at 120 with some hypertension and she felt like cr*p. The step son took her to the ER while I left work and rushed there by 11 PM. It was a very long night in the ER. They couldn't get a decent IV in her arms due to all of the failed IV attempts from the previous hospital stay. It was like watching a torture session with the RN's taking dart practice on the poor gal.

Finally, the ER doc comes in and gets an extended jugular vein in her neck with a honkin' huge 12 gauge IV needle. He gave the area a local to deaden the pain and hit the vein like a pro. Even though she had been drinking enough fluids to kayak in, her med's dehydrated her severely, causing the heart rate problem. They dripped a huge bag of IV fluids in her to restore everything, and we finally went home later. I had to call off from work due to no sleep.

So, rested, I took her to various doctor, lab (more blood draws) and a rehab appointment Monday morning, interrupted by a call from the school nurse... Our 10 year old grandson who we are raising has a fever. I pick him up, dose him with some kids tylenol, and he tells me he was dizzy, short of breath and felt pain in his chest (heart?!) and back (meningitis?!). I check his pulse. 124! Off to the ER!

5 hours later, they were about to send him home with a "looks like he's just catching something" excuse when the chest X-ray comes back with pneumonia. After a shot of antibiotics in the rump, we take him home, all of us exhausted. He'll be fine with more rest and antibiotics. He was perfectly fine earlier and then, bam! I'm happy we acted quickly.

I get a quick meal, catch the bus into downtown and have been working since. No nap today. I prey all goes smoothly for some actual sleep Tuesday. :help

[Brian Krashpad]

Holy cow! Prayers and mojo Tig.

[Glacies]

Wow Tig, Sorry to hear about that man. Mojo your way...

[piebaldpython]

Damn Tig.........YOU need a vacation. Sorry about the Mrs and your grandson. Especially sorry about your granddaughter and her untold story. One can only imagine!

Mrs PBP hasn't been feeling so hot herself lately. Right sides cramps and stuff like that, some pretty severe and almost bad enough to go to an ER. She saw her gastro doc yesterday and he said she may be working on a gall-bladder problem. Blood testing and X-rays later this week as she is feeling OK right now.

[Brian Krashpad]

Dang, what's up w/all our missuses? Prayers and mojo, PBP! Mrs. K informed me this morning that instead of getting single stomach spasms in the night/early morning, she's now getting like 5 in a row.

Sigh.

[R_of_G]

Best wishes for your wives Tig, PBP and Krash.

[Tig]

Damn Tig.........YOU need a vacation. Sorry about the Mrs and your grandson. Especially sorry about your granddaughter and her untold story. One can only imagine!

Mrs PBP hasn't been feeling so hot herself lately. Right sides cramps and stuff like that, some pretty severe and almost bad enough to go to an ER. She saw her gastro doc yesterday and he said she may be working on a gall-bladder problem. Blood testing and X-rays later this week as she is feeling OK right now.

Thanks, everyone! In all honesty, I can't remember the last vacation I had. A nice weekend camping sounds like heaven to me, once the weather cools down a little more.

I hope Mrs. PBP gets the cause of her pain handled. Hopefull it is something easy to treat. Gall stones and the like can redefine someone's "10" level of pain.

[Tig]

Dang, what's up w/all our missuses? Prayers and mojo, PBP! Mrs. K informed me this morning that instead of getting single stomach spasms in the night/early morning, she's now getting like 5 in a row.

Must be somethin' in the water... At least they aren't all preggers! :poke

Having the occasional crippling pain gut problems, I feel for Mrs. PBP and Mrs. Krash. The main thing is for them to get tested and treated. The different causes rarely stay away or get better on their own.

[Eric]

I hope Mrs. PBP gets the cause of her pain handled. Hopefull it is something easy to treat. Gall stones and the like can redefine someone's "10" level of pain.
I had my gall bladder removed last Thanksgiving, and though the procedure wasn't too bad, the pain leading up to it was pretty brutal. I felt like my abdominal region was spontaneously combusting.

On that note, PBP, I think gall bladder pain is usually in the middle (from side to side) top (from top to bottom) part of the abdomen, kind of between the lower reaches of the rib cage. I hope your wife feels better soon. That last part applies to all of you guys with ailing ladies!

[R_of_G]

It's been a very cool guitar-related weekend for me so far. I got to play the teacher role in a couple of cases.

Friday night my neighbor (the bass player) called. He bought an acoustic guitar last week and has been trying to learn to play. He wanted me to come over and answer a few questions and show him some stuff. Having played bass for a few years his fretting is more advanced at the two week level than mine was. He's having issues moving smoothly from chord to chord but the chords sound right (except when he inverted his D accidentally). He knew D, G and A so naturally I felt compelled to teach him "Dead Flowers."

Yesterday we went to a birthday party for our best friends' 14 year old son. We've known him his entire life and he's growing up to be a very cool kid. He recently got one of those First Act 222 starter guitar packages with the little practice amp. He's also taking classical guitar as an elective in middle school (which I didn't know they offered in a public school here and was pleased to find out otherwise). He likes a lot of current and more recent punk/pop bands so I made him a CD of the stuff I listened to at his age (basically a starter kit of classic 70s New York punk). He knows A, G, E, and D so I showed him how many things he could do with just those. If he listens to the CD he should get the point.

EDIT: I also found a pick that'd been missing for several months. It belonged to Adrian Belew until he dropped it onstage one night and left it there after the show. My friend who'd been standing in the front row grabbed it after the show and gave it to me.

[Brian Krashpad]

Sounds cool R of G. I always enjoy showing new players stuff.

Friday: dinner at fave local Mexican restaurant, La Fiesta

Saturday: yard work in morning, praise band practice at 3, Gator Game Parking also at church, 4:00-8:15. Went home and watched Gators get crushed after losing their QB.

Sunday: 3 songs at church, nap, side pop band practice at 6:00-9:00

[Eric]

I made a cameo appearance at my old church this weekend. They were in dire need of a bass player, so I was able to try out my fancy-pants Ibanez bass in public for the first time. Everything went pretty well and it was fun to be back up on stage. I wish I could find a situation like that again, but circumstances dictate otherwise right now.

Had some friends over on Saturday and I won the game of Settlers of Catan. I like to live on the wild side, that's for sure.

[Tig]

The temperature finally stayed cool this weekend, so I got my sorry carcass back on the bike for a 1 hour and 10 minute ride. I took the fixed gear since the geared bike needs a new chain. I rode to the local group ride (about 70-80 riders total) and went with the 18 MPG group. I turned around early since I knew my butt and body would be sore enough. :bootyshake

I'm surprised I did so well. The legs didn't forget much and I rode very smoothly. I was pretty sore the rest of the weekend, so I'm glad I didn't push it. This will be a slow and gradual return to fitness, thanks to age and health factors. I'm very happy to be moving again. :agree

[Childbride]

we are both officially naui certified. today, texas got [FINALLY!!!] drenched in rain; did our last two checkouts looking up at the surface with spreading raindrop ripples. it was really awesome. went in and out of a scuttled boat, checked out an old cooling station... the water was chilly at 75, but we are card carrying scuba divers!

[marnold]

we are both officially naui certified. today, texas got [FINALLY!!!] drenched in rain; did our last two checkouts looking up at the surface with spreading raindrop ripples. it was really awesome. went in and out of a scuttled boat, checked out an old cooling station... the water was chilly at 75, but we are card carrying scuba divers!
Congrats, CB (and Shiner)! Does Shiner's diving gear include a small barrel of Shiner bock around his neck like a St. Bernard? I was happy to see you guys get rain. Would figure that it wouldn't rain there all year except when the Tigers are in town :)

My folks moved to the greater Milwaukee area and I helped them move in on Friday. My mom called at 2:30 that morning to tell me that my grandfather passed away at 94. He was my pastor and one of the main reasons I'm in the ministry. His last few years were a little rough from a health perspective. Thankfully I got to have one last good conversation with him when I was home last summer. Going to sprint home for the funeral at the end of the week and sprint back for Sunday.

[Eric]

My folks moved to the greater Milwaukee area and I helped them move in on Friday. My mom called at 2:30 that morning to tell me that my grandfather passed away at 94. He was my pastor and one of the main reasons I'm in the ministry. His last few years were a little rough from a health perspective. Thankfully I got to have one last good conversation with him when I was home last summer. Going to sprint home for the funeral at the end of the week and sprint back for Sunday.
Sorry to hear about your gpa, marnold. That's sort of amazing that he was still around so long into your life (mine are all gone), but it's tough nonetheless.

[Katastrophe]

See comment posted below.

[Katastrophe]

Outstanding, CB and Shiner!

Matt, I'm very sorry for your loss. Prayers sent for you and your family.

[Tig]

Congratulations, CB and Shiner! Now, go have fun in the sun (and water). Keep it safe. --The local hyperbaric chamber people I know say they have treated divers that were within the dive tables, so go with what your body also tells you.

Marnold, you have my deepest heartfelt sympathy for your loss. The good thing is he was such an important influence in your life, and you wouldn't be the same without him in your life. Carry on his love and values, and he'll continue to live in the lives that you touch.

[Childbride]

thanks for the well wishing you guys... we really took it slow and learned this carefully, b/c we want to make sure we are safe doing this. i'm proud of us. we started back in august and really took our time. i did half of my skills yesterday with my mask flooded and blind.... i am a hardheaded woman. if i make up my mind to do something, it will happen.

Marnold... no barrel, but he's making up for it tonight. and Marnold, my deepest, deepest sympathies. you know how close i am to Gram. i cannot fathom your loss. my grandfather was a huge impact on the direction my life took. he taught me to be a good woman. hold tightly to everything about him, close your eyes and he will be with you. my prayers are with you and your family.

[luvmyshiner]

Marnold, thoughts and prayers sent in your direction my friend.

[marnold]

Thanks, one and all. It was tougher when my grandma died because it was so sudden. She was at my alma mater's Christmas concert, went to a party at my Aunt and Uncle's house, and then died in her sleep. By the way, that's the way I'd like to go if given the choice. It's hard to feel sad when he lived a long, full life and the last few years have been filled with the typical medical problems. My Arnold grandparents died before I was born, so I never knew them.

The summer before last (I think it was) I wasn't sure how many more times I'd get to talk to him so when my family was done visiting I stayed behind in his room and thanked him for encouraging me into the ministry. He just got a wry grin on his face and said, "No charge." I always wanted to make my grandparents proud of me. The reality is that unless I became an axe murderer, they would have been. I was their first grandchild and the fact that I was going into the ministry was icing on the cake. My youngest cousin just started at the Seminary. We are the "bookends" of this generation. I'm sure they would have been thrilled to see him graduate one day.

[Eric]

Friday: Spent some male bonding time with my drummer friend, playing Halo and drinking beer.

Saturday: Went to an Oktoberfest in Bethlehem, PA hosted by Yuengling. Obviously, most of the beers there were in fact Yuengling, but they also had Hofbrau original, so my wife and I downed a pitcher of that. Score. The real reason we decided to go up to the event was because part of the event included a concert by Here Come the Mummies, so we got tickets to see them and closed out the night by watching them. They were ridiculously tight and had tons of energy. I think they played for at least an hour and a half with no breaks whatsoever (like not even a pause between songs) and they were jumping around on stage the whole time. Pretty amazing for a quasi-gimmick band.

Sunday: After church, basically just hung around and watched some football on the computer, with some napping and beer-drinking multi-tasking. I guess it was a pretty beer-ful weekend. I can't complain.

[R_of_G]

Saturday: Went to an Oktoberfest in Bethlehem, PA hosted by Yuengling. Obviously, most of the beers there were in fact Yuengling, but they also had Hofbrau original, so my wife and I downed a pitcher of that. Score.

I have a lot of fond memories of Bethlehem. I spent my freshman year of college there.
Incidentally, there's a Yuengling plant here in Tampa not far from where I live. Not my favorite beer but not bad.

[Tig]

It was a wonderful weekend! Just being at home with my family is priceless enough. I played guitar off and on as the mood hit.

Saturday morning, I got in another road ride. It was just over 1 hour, but it kicked my butt. The rest of the day was with family.

Sunday, we enjoyed being lazy, watching football. Mrs. Tig loves NFL.
Glorious rain all day! We got at least 4 inches, which our trees and foundation desperately need.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OxhkKviNOow/TmjCIFbjr8I/AAAAAAAAAXY/H9BXc_vIS5s/s1600/rain1.jpg

[sunvalleylaw]

Friday: Took my oldest son to Boise for his junior blackbelt test on Saturday morning. Got there with time to go to a book store as he wanted, and had planned to head over to GC so he could try some guitars to see what he likes. He is playing a borrowed Ibanez ARC300 now, and has a cheap "Fullerton" strat copy, but will need to upgrade to that Ibby or something else.

GC is having an excellent October sale, and is really blowing some stuff out. We are not buying just now, but some good deals are out there. I selected some guitars I thought he might like and the guy set us up with cables and etc. I picked a Squire Vintage Modified Jaguar, an Epiphone "Traditional Pro" LP model with two coil taps, Fender Blacktop series both Tele and Jaguar. ( missed finding a jazzmaster), and for grins, a Fender '72 thinline HH tele. I also threw the blacktop strat at him later too.

Bottom line, he wants an offset shape, with tappable buckers, and a tremelo bridge. The Squire VM came close, but we would need to mod the pickups to tap them. Plus it is a squire. He liked the Blacktop Jag, but wanted the tremelo, so maybe the jazzmaster would be a good bet, and then we could tap the bridge if he wanted. I think the combo of bridge bucker and p90 in the neck could be really cool for what he wants. May require another trip. A build up from scratch would be cool, but I think we gain a lot of ground starting from one of these existing guitars.

He was not that impressed with the Epiphone. He liked the tappable buckers, and control layout, but just didn't bond with the guitar. Between the teles, he liked the thinline since it was semihollow. I was surprised he didn't like the blacktop more than he did but there you have it. The Ibby remains what he is playing for now, so we shall see. He has to keep playing if we are going to invest anyway.


On Saturday, though very nervous, he worked into the test, responded and self corrected to the examiner's demands, and passed very well!! I am very proud of him. He is a quiet, shy kid at this point, and the examiner wanted big "YES SIR" type responses and loud yells with each punch and kick. He is not wired that way, but he went ahead and gave the guy what he needed after a couple reminders. He sparred well with an advanced adult black belt, and then a kid who outweighed him by 20 or 30 pounds and is a shover. In a tournament earlier this summer, the kid kept shoving my son back and my son did not know how to react. This time, he moved well, made space with his kicks, and outscored the guy hugely. No contest. It was testing and not a tournament anyway, but good to see. His forms were really good too, particularly his upper body. Like I said, very proud of him.


Then on our way out of town, I stopped at a homebrew shop, and got supplies to add to some that I have to make a black "double" or higher alcohol, IPA. I have not brewed in a long time, and am excited to do a batch again! I posted in the homebrew thread about that. I got an early evening MTB ride in to close out the day. Had kids over last night for a cookout and marshmallow gun war, concluded with a viewing of MP and the Holy Grail.

Sunday, Need to help with the Scouts color guard for a sheep festival parade today in Ketchum, then hope to get a MTB bike ride in. How 'bout you guys?

[Tig]

On Saturday, though very nervous, he worked into the test, responded and self corrected to the examiner's demands, and passed very well!! I am very proud of him.

Like I said, very proud of him.

You have every right to be proud. He certainly earned it! Congratulations.
He sounds like a great kid with a good head, well on his way.

[deeaa]

Paul's 2nd birthday was over the weekend...dressed him up as a li'l devil. Wouldn't hold on to the pitchfork for picture no matter what, though :-)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pL_dZ68uSgs/TpVuB3J_3sI/AAAAAAAAEQg/01lkd1_dbjM/s640/ep.jpg

[Brian Krashpad]

Steve: congrats to yer shortie! And good luck w/the guitar hunt. My daughter got whatever was handy and cheap (a Peavey USA Foundation) for her first bass when she turned 16. But now she's got GAS for a Jazz. I should just give her mine, but it's the bass I played with Bo Diddley and I don't know if I can manage that. Sigh.

Dee: Pablo es un diablito! Too cute.

Tig: got the same rain you did from that stalled tropical depression or whatever it was.

Rained all weekend. Band director at church had lost his voice a bit from a cold or something, so we got the week off, and I played hooky on Sunday, took one of the cars in for an oil change during the time I'd usually have been getting ready for church. Did a lot of indoor stuff Saturday, tons of laundry and house picking-up, and watched the Gators get mauled by LSU. Tough to win on the road against a Top 5 team when both your starter and backup QB are out. :(

Had a good Crash Pad practice on Sunday night, after taking several weeks off after our show on 9/4. Our former bassist Ronnie came by with our rhythm guitarist Mitch (they were high school buds, and in fact were still in high school when Ronnie was playing with us) and just hung out for the practice listening. He really likes one of our "new" songs (the 9/4 show was the first time we played it; though it'd been in the setlist for our preceding show I think it was scratched at the last second), "Laura, Pale and White." It's not really a "new" song but rather a very old one that was on the very first Crash Pad DIY "release" (meaning you could buy it at shows and a couple record stores in town, ha!) cassette album, c. '97 or so. Even back in the 90's when it was in the setlist it did not get performed very often, mainly because back then I could get Mrs. K to go to all our shows, and she didn't like hearing that particular song because I nicked the subject matter from a story from her childhood. (Which just goes to show you to be careful what you say to a songwriter, I suppose.) Our bassist/backing vocalist is still working out his harmony part on the choruses so it will mesh well with the melody. I'm letting him do that on his own as I have zero knowledge of how harmony works, and know he'll get it eventually. It'll be worth the wait, as it's one of my better "serious" lyrics.

[deeaa]

Well, Sunday evening...luckily next week is holiday!!! Gonna do my best to do much music stuff.

Wife's parents visited for 2 nights so we got to go out to town for a change...but before that, my father-in-law persuaded us to go see a game of hockey. I have never watched a game before, not live or on TV. First hour or so was pure hell, there were thousands of people there and noisier than a rock concert...I was thinking along the lines of wtf is the idea here, watch grown men play with a piece of rubber and it's supposed to be interesting? But when I kept staring I did get a sort of idea what it is all about...I don't think I'll be attending any sports events any time soon in the future either, but still, I have some appreciation for the stuff. By the end it was kind of interesting to watch how some situations developed actually. I decided watching sports may after all be a little more sensible a hobby than I had originally thought.

Also been toying all weekend with my phone, as some may have noticed on my Android post...changed the win mobile 6.5 to 7 on my HTC and it didn't work very well, so I installed Android and now the phone really rocks hard! I was already starting to eye new phones, as this is two years old already, but hell, now it's back in the game better than ever, and even the specs are quite on par with the new phones still :-)

[Eric]

It's true that most hobbies that seem pointless can have some merit if you get sufficiently invested in them. I guess it's just a matter of picking the ones that seem natural to you, but nobody really has a problem doing that.

Yesterday I did some work on our boiler, draining it and replacing the relief valve and fixing the pressure gauge. We had bought a new gauge, but it was a tiny bit too big for the threaded port, so I managed to resurrect the old one. Today has been church and football. If the person who lives upstairs ever gets back, I can bleed those radiators and be done with it.

[Tig]

Another great weekend with the family.
Watched the annual airshow today from a park below some of the banking action.

B-17 "Thunderbird"
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6153/6251867854_41794ac12d_z.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6054/6251892338_c0cd83a922_z.jpg

B-25
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6166/6251867864_767774792f_z.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6171/6251867886_773c0fec5b_z.jpg

P-40 in AVG (Flying Tigers) paint scheme
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6033/6251867868_d96272a293_z.jpg

P-51
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6226/6251867878_07d7c71c89_z.jpg

Zero's (converted AT-6's)
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6173/6251867870_09c57c4d36_z.jpg

[Tig]

More...
B-24
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6041/6251892326_40fe223326_b.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6174/6251892334_739e572b4d_z.jpg

The Japanese invasion
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6222/6251892350_5625daf3ae_z.jpg

Kate torpedo bombers
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6223/6251892360_347c7c936b_z.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6104/6251892364_1b26737cf1_z.jpg

Heavy Metal Jet Team formation (MiG-17 in the middle)
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6119/6251371873_0dcd566eae_z.jpg

MiG-17
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6168/6251371881_ffd633f242_z.jpg

[Katastrophe]

Cool, Tig!

Do you know what kind of jets the Heavy Metal Jet folks were flying, besides the MiG?

[Tig]

Their website says L-39's, which I'm not familiar with.
http://www.heavymetaljetteam.com/


http://youtu.be/V0_ucxOyHY0

Also, we've seen all kinds of aircraft leaving today, including A-10 Warthogs, F-15's, etc...

[R_of_G]

We took our daughter to a Fall Festival at a local nonprofit horse farm. She got to see and/or pet horses, pigs, sheep, llamas, snakes, lizards, and many other animals. There were hayrides and a hay maze she enjoyed quite a bit. The best part was that she got to take her first pony ride. We weren't sure how she'd do. She loved it.

http://i51.tinypic.com/2ugl89w.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/2elv6mq.jpg

Also got to play a good deal of guitar this weekend. Went to my best friend's to play some acoustic Friday night, the usual "Dead Flowers" and such. I got home around 1:00, just in time for my neighbor to come out and tell me he and my other neighbor just started jamming. His nephew was also there. The guy is a very good vocalist.

[marnold]

Busy weekend! Left early on Friday morning to drive home for my grandfather's funeral. We got to the Mackinac bridge moments after it was closed because of an accident (http://www.detnews.com/article/20111014/METRO05/110140443/-Truck-hung-over-railing-after-fatal-Mackinac-Bridge-accident). We were initially told it would be 4-5 hours before the bridge would reopen. From that point, there is no other way to get to the lower peninsula. Had it been five hours, we would have returned home instead. It turned out to be about 2.5 hours for us. We stopped and ate and had an unguided tour of St. Ignace. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, we made it across. We got to the funeral home with only 1/2 hour left in the visitation. Got to spend some time with family on Friday night. The service lasted until 2:30 on Saturday. At which point we immediately left and got back here at about 10 P.M. local time. Then of course I had the usual Sunday work while enjoying an oncoming cold.

My grandfather was a major influence on me. He was my pastor. He was 94 and hadn't been in the best health recently. Hard to be too sad when I know where he is now and that I'll see him again. I'm glad that I got to have a good conversation with him when I was home this summer. I only broke down at one point and that is with a hymn that makes me cry when we sing it on a random Sunday, much less at my grandfather's funeral. I'm getting to be an old softy in my advancing age.

[Eric]

I only broke down at one point and that is with a hymn that makes me cry when we sing it on a random Sunday, much less at my grandfather's funeral. I'm getting to be an old softy in my advancing age.
Which hymn would that be?

[marnold]

Which hymn would that be?
The last verse of this one: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/t/i/ltilwamh.htm

They sang it at my grandma's funeral too. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go home at that time because the funeral was on Christmas Eve (or the day before, I can't remember anymore). I just couldn't leave.

[Eric]

The last verse of this one: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/t/i/ltilwamh.htm

They sang it at my grandma's funeral too. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go home at that time because the funeral was on Christmas Eve (or the day before, I can't remember anymore). I just couldn't leave.
Huh. Don't know that one. Sounds mega-old-school from the wonderful midi backing. There are some ridiculously powerful hymns out there, but as could be expected, my personal faves are the ones I always find to be most affecting.

[marnold]

Huh. Don't know that one. Sounds mega-old-school from the wonderful midi backing. There are some ridiculously powerful hymns out there, but as could be expected, my personal faves are the ones I always find to be most affecting.
It is. But then I'm a seriously old skool pastor (my metal leanings notwithstanding). It's always been a family favorite.

[Katastrophe]

My grandfather was a major influence on me. He was my pastor. He was 94 and hadn't been in the best health recently. Hard to be too sad when I know where he is now and that I'll see him again. I'm glad that I got to have a good conversation with him when I was home this summer. I only broke down at one point and that is with a hymn that makes me cry when we sing it on a random Sunday, much less at my grandfather's funeral. I'm getting to be an old softy in my advancing age.

Nope... not a softy at all. I still tear up a bit when I hear "Amazing Grace," much less play the melody on the guitar. It was one of my grandmother's favorites, and it brings back fond memories of her and the congregation singing a capella (with different harmony parts) in church (her particular church didn't believe in music during services).

Had a good weekend. My sister in law and nephew came in to spend time with the fam this weekend. She's dropped about 100 pounds in weight, and looked great. We're all really proud of her, and her discipline in keeping with eating right, and exercise. Got to see Mrs. Kat, too (of course). Usually, she goes out of town on my work weekends.

[Brian Krashpad]

Lots of cool reports kids. Thanks for the pics Tig and R of G!

Friday: side band practice for Pedagogy gig after work

Saturday: skipped church band practice, did laundry, gig that night, see thread here:
http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/19341-gig-report?goto=newpost

Sunday: 2 songs in late service, unloaded everything at the office on the way home. "Mowed" some of front yard w/grass whip in afternoon.

[Katastrophe]

Got to spend Sunday afternoon with the whole family... It was great! Took Older Kid Kat back to her other house today, as she had a school holiday.

[Tig]

My weekend made me feel old! Physically, at least.
Took an 1 hour 10 minute ride Saturday that left me tired and achy Sunday and today. This return to fitness is gonna' be a looowng road!

Took the kids (my son and the grandson and granddaughter) on a bike ride Sunday along the paths in the former golf course, but had to abandon due to mosquitoes. Our whole area is suddenly infested after the rain a few weeks ago.

Mrs Tig is still on her long road to recovery. She thought she could just tough it out and be in good shape by now, but major surgery is a funny thing. Took her to a stat vein ultrasound today to make sure she doesn't have a clot in the leg with the new knee. Poor woman is tough, but this is messing with even her.

[Eric]

Mrs Tig is still on her long road to recovery. She thought she could just tough it out and be in good shape by now, but major surgery is a funny thing. Took her to a stat vein ultrasound today to make sure she doesn't have a clot in the leg with the new knee. Poor woman is tough, but this is messing with even her.
No joke. I've only had a couple of minor surgeries, and even those put me out of commission for longer than I care to admit. I hope the rehab goes well for her.

[Brian Krashpad]

No joke. I've only had a couple of minor surgeries, and even those put me out of commission for longer than I care to admit. I hope the rehab goes well for her.

+1! Get well soon to her.

I'm not sure whether my neck surgery would be classified as minor or major, but it looks like the nerve damage it did will probably be permanent. In addition to simply not having any feeling along my left jawline and neck (makes shaving quite the adventure, although the radiation killed a lot of the hair follicles there anyhow), my neck/shoulders pretty much feel stiff and sore 24/7. But again, beats a dirt nap.

[Brian Krashpad]

Slow weekend. Daughter came up from ORL but went out both nights and was up cleaning her room (the reason she came home, my inlaws are coming in a couple weeks) all day Saturday, so I hardly saw her. Saturday I watched the Gators lose a FOURTH STRAIGHT game, by only 3 points. Grr.

Sunday I skipped church since we weren't playing, but took Jack (14) in for Boar's Head practice at noon. Here's a story on what Boar's Head is:

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20091209/articles/912091001

Here's a pic from an advert for last year's show:

http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs010/1102549393342/img/342.jpg

That's my daughter Hannah as Mary. My son's probably in there somewhere too, as a shepherd. This year, as last he has a dual role, 1 in each cast. He's a shepherd in the Biblical cast and a boar's head bearer in the Medieval cast. Last couple years I did some minstrelsy before the show, here's me with my bandmate Joel (that's Hannah sitting in):

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs090.snc3/15756_1274385332236_1008012468_30829412_243882_n.j pg

I appear to have dodged that bullet this year though, hopefully.

Should be a crazy week. Way behind at work, have a show with Joel's band Pedagogy in a local club on TH night, then I'm taking Jack out to Boo Fest for Crash Pad's show there on FRI. We'll camp out overnight, then back into town for a wrestling team garage sale Saturday morning, then Gator football parking briefly at noon, then I (and maybe Jack) will go back out to Boo for a second night of bands and camping out.

And you?

[Eric]

Friday I went to go pick up a new guitar from my wife's office, but it ended up being the wrong guitar. Working on fixing that now. Slow night overall with dinner at home and a beer or two.

Saturday I went for a walk in the rain/snow/sleet for fun while my wife was out doing a training run. Came back and mostly lounged around all day and cleaned up the house, also doing a little googling and/or work on the boiler, trying to figure out why it keeps dripping through the relief valve. Hopefully we've resolved that by now. Went to see Moneyball that night and stopped at a bar for a little while afterward.

Sunday went to church, took a nap while watching some football, and then went to see the Eagles beat the Cowboys, thanks to my cousin-in-law having an extra free ticket. That was pretty sweet. Got in at about 12:30 that night and had to get up at 5:00 the next morning. Oof.

[R_of_G]

Cool that you got to go the game Eric, especially the way the game turned out for the Eagles.

Saturday night we went to our friends' annual Halloween party. I dressed as Walter/Heisenberg from the tv show Breaking Bad. What I learned from this costume was that not as many people I know watch that show as I had thought. The ones that did thought it was a good costume, particularly the blue rock candy "meth."

I enjoyed the irony of our costumes. My wife's costume was a math joke though math was her worst subject in school. My costume is a high school chemistry teacher, the only subject I ever failed in high school.

http://i44.tinypic.com/dpk2nb.jpg

[sunvalleylaw]

Pumpkin Pi. LOL! I love it!

Bike riding, playing guitar in Open G and learning Brown Sugar (thanks R_of_G for the prompting), carved pumpkins while watching Charlie Brown and Fat Albert. It was a beautiful fall weekend!

[R_of_G]

Bike riding, playing guitar in Open G and learning Brown Sugar (thanks R_of_G for the prompting)

I have my strat pretty much in that tuning all the time now. It's pretty much my go to rhythm tuning. Everything sounds like Richards.

[sunvalleylaw]

I have my strat tuned that way right now too, though that may switch to my tele once it comes home from the office. The fender into the fender with a bit of overdrive for bite was really enjoyable! Very Richards/Stones sound.

[R_of_G]

I have my strat tuned that way right now too, though that may switch to my tele once it comes home from the office. The fender into the fender with a bit of overdrive for bite was really enjoyable! Very Richards/Stones sound.

Yeah, if I had a Tele, I'd use that for the Stones stuff I play.

[Tig]

I have my strat pretty much in that tuning all the time now. It's pretty much my go to rhythm tuning. Everything sounds like Richards.

My Strat was tuned to open G, but I recently tuned it to DADGAD, which opens up all kinds of fun.

Other than getting the house ready for Halloween and a few chores, I was a lazy dog this weekend. Chronic pain is an energy draining be-atch.

I enjoyed watching the Eagles finally live up to their potential.

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, if I had a Tele, I'd use that for the Stones stuff I play.

Kinda glad I tried it first with my strat though. Sounds great! I love that guitar. It is just so comfortable. I am glad I didn't use the tele first and get immediately stuck into thinking I had to use the tele to play some Stones.

P.S. I am glad I did not waste time watching the Seahawks this sunday. The Great Pumpkin and Fat Albert were much more enjoyable.

[Brian Krashpad]

My weekend @ Boo covered in separate thread:

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/19359-B0011!-11-4-6-11?p=216879#post216879

[Eric]

Basically I just packed and moved stuff all weekend long. We're supposed to be closing in a couple of weeks, so we need to clear out. There's surprisingly little to pack, as we already did a ton of preparatory packing beforehand, but it always takes longer than you think. Hopefully we'll be done by Wednesday or Thursday.

[Brian Krashpad]

Saturday in the studio, separate thread here:

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/19469-Studio-recording-report!?p=217284#post217284

Sunday: skipped church because I was in studio so long yesterday, needed to cleanup Casa Krashpad as inlaws are coming this coming weekend. So took the leaf blower to the family room (literally), did lots of laundry, dishes, and finally painted the wallboard panel above the built-in microwave.

Good times.

[otaypanky]

Saturday in the studio, separate thread here:

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/19469-Studio-recording-report!?p=217284#post217284

needed to cleanup Casa Krashpad as inlaws are coming this coming weekend. So took the leaf blower to the family room (literally),

Good times.

'sounds like my hero, Bill Murray, in Caddy Shack.

Today we had a benefit jam for a friend who's a single mom of several kids. She's had no heat since her home was flooded out this fall and trashed her furnace beyond repair. It was a good time, some good music, and we were able to do a little to help out a friend. She was the one that was supposed to be on the receiving end of things, but all of us who made donations were rewarded with the joy that comes from giving ~ That's a real win / win

[Tig]

'sounds like my hero, Bill Murray, in Caddy Shack.

Today we had a benefit jam for a friend who's a single mom of several kids. She's had no heat since her home was flooded out this fall and trashed her furnace beyond repair. It was a good time, some good music, and we were able to do a little to help out a friend. She was the one that was supposed to be on the receiving end of things, but all of us who made donations were rewarded with the joy that comes from giving ~ That's a real win / win

Sounds like we have a real hero among us. Nice stuff you and the other jammers did.

As for Caddy Shack, we must have watched it ten's of time back when cable TV was new. I still get a kick outa' it!

[Katastrophe]

'sounds like my hero, Bill Murray, in Caddy Shack.

Today we had a benefit jam for a friend who's a single mom of several kids. She's had no heat since her home was flooded out this fall and trashed her furnace beyond repair. It was a good time, some good music, and we were able to do a little to help out a friend. She was the one that was supposed to be on the receiving end of things, but all of us who made donations were rewarded with the joy that comes from giving ~ That's a real win / win

That's awesome!

Had a decent weekend... Handled mah bidness at work, and Mrs. Kat and I had a little alone time today. Baby Kat was taken to see Disney on Ice by her aunt and grandmother, and apparently sat still for about two hours during the show, moving only to clap along with the music! So, what, you ask, did Mrs. Kat and I do with our alone time? Well, I got a little extra sleep to recover from the night shift, and she and I played some Call of Duty MW3, which I got a few days ago for a fraction of the cost (turned in some old games and cashed in our "reward points" from buying our cheapy used games).

Got in a solid hour of guitar playing this weekend, too. It seemed that my ear really wanted to hear high gain, Zakk Wylde type tonez coming out of the Mustang. That's weird, because I've been playing squeaky clean for a while now. Good times!

[Eric]

Got in a solid hour of guitar playing this weekend, too. It seemed that my ear really wanted to hear high gain, Zakk Wylde type tonez coming out of the Mustang. That's weird, because I've been playing squeaky clean for a while now. Good times!
Nice. I was doing a little Mustang jamming over the weekend too. I'm now in a separate house without close neighbors or people upstairs for about a month, so I cranked it way up while my wife was out, set it on the JTM45 model, and let it rip. It sounded really good at loud volumes; there's something about Marshally tones that just does not come through properly at low volumes.

We moved out of our house on Thursday and put everything in storage, and did the final cleaning yesterday in preparation for the settlement on Thursday. I have my fingers crossed that it goes well and we can close out the deal. That will be a huge relief once it's in the rearview mirror.

Otherwise, just hung out, took a walk on Saturday, watched the Eagles collapse earlier today / yesterday, and then headed in for my last week of third shift.

[deeaa]

We had the father's day (do you have that there now?) and we had a relaxed weekend...I made myself a cake and expected for the family to wake me up w/coffee but no such luck, ended up waking up first with the wee one anyway, so it turned quite a normal day after all. It's OK, I haven't celebrated my birthdays either in like well over a decade, if nobody sees it fit to give me a party I won't bother. Maybe it still irritates me some despite I always say I don't want no fuss. Getting old I guess :-) I did get a sweet coffee mug and some arts and crafts from my boys and the wife got me a huge bottle of XO Cognac :-)

Anyway, made some EMG comparison videos Eric mentioned (at the scale is where it's at?) thread, go see it & comment, hope it sheds some insight into the pickups despite the raw sound due to mic clipping just a tad...and put on some spiked tires on last car:

http://static.iltalehti.fi/autot/nastarenkaatetu0111MZ_au.jpg

Feels stupid to have these on yet as there's no ice or snow even nearby yet; temps remain around 40-50 with no change it seems...but it has to change soon, and I'll be ready then. Snow tires are only mandatory from December onwards unless the weather requires.

[Brian Krashpad]

Good onya, OTP!

Break a leg with the closing Eric.

Dee-- sounds funny to be hearing about snow tires, it will probably hit 80 F here over the next couple days. (Obviously that's not true in the rest of the US.)

We have a Father's Day in the US, but it's the third Sunday in June.

[deeaa]

Still no snow...kids playing in the drive in front of our house.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECNs4BEc2JA

[Brian Krashpad]

Brr. Going to be in the 80's F here this week.

Had band practice and parking detail @ church on Saturday morning, Here's a pic from the latter. And no the hat's not mine. The things I do to amuse the kids.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/391778_10150410339403879_512618878_8506609_1670296 761_n.jpg

Inlaws rolled into town Saturday afternoon but both were kinda sick so I sorta kept my distance.

This morning was supposed to do two songs on guitar and one on mandolin. Scrapped the mando at the last minute and played guitar instead. On that song, there were 2 parts during the chorus, one for the men and one for the women. After running through the two parts separately, we got to sing as a round in the third verse, with guys/gals singing the two parts simultaneously.

But the girls' part is way more fun. Since I was singing off-mic [the ludicrous natural volume of my voice notwithstanding, that's what singing at the Hardback (the local original punk/indie club, 1990-200, RIP) for years will do for you], I sang the girls' part anyhow.

For the postlude we just did a jam over some chords with me rocking out the whole time. However, the bulletin had said we were going to do a hymn for the postlude, haha! Surprise! Leader hadn't noticed the bulletin. Will probably catch flak for that. Stayed after until 3 p.m. for practice for Boar's Head (Christmas pageant) my son is in. Got some work done while they practiced. Stopped by the mall on the way home and son bought "LA Noire" at a video game store where he had some credit. Later I took him to a friend's for a few hours and then my wife and I and our little dog went to pick him up at 7. Fell asleep after dinner.

[deeaa]

Snow fell on Sunday...we went for a bicycle trip with the whole family :-)

Today I cycled to work with my son who goes to nearby kindergarten. It's an adventure for a 6-year old to cycle in the snow in the pitch dark hours of the morning!

[Brian Krashpad]

Snow fell on Sunday...we went for a bicycle trip with the whole family :-)

Today I cycled to work with my son who goes to nearby kindergarten. It's an adventure for a 6-year old to cycle in the snow in the pitch dark hours of the morning!

Again, brrr

[deeaa]

It's funny, it does always feel freaking cold at first...now it was only -5 or so...but when there's next to no snow on the ground and air is still moist and all, it always feels extra cold. Plus you always forget to wear enough clothes. We spent maybe 45 minutes at a playground on the way, and I had like thin gloves only etc. and I was freezing.

However, later in the winter, it can be -20 -30 or whatever, and it doesn't even necessarily feel so cold, because not only you're used to it, you've already gotten all the proper winter gear from the back of the closet by then, AND the air is so dry and the soft snow is all around, plus it's seldom windy midwinter...it's not bad at all. -5 is just perfect for a day outing then.

[Brian Krashpad]

I think 30+ years in Florida, even though it is north Florida, have thinned mah blood.

[Eric]

It's funny, it does always feel freaking cold at first...now it was only -5 or so...but when there's next to no snow on the ground and air is still moist and all, it always feels extra cold. Plus you always forget to wear enough clothes. We spent maybe 45 minutes at a playground on the way, and I had like thin gloves only etc. and I was freezing.

However, later in the winter, it can be -20 -30 or whatever, and it doesn't even necessarily feel so cold, because not only you're used to it, you've already gotten all the proper winter gear from the back of the closet by then, AND the air is so dry and the soft snow is all around, plus it's seldom windy midwinter...it's not bad at all. -5 is just perfect for a day outing then.
Yup, I definitely agree with this, particularly how the moist air makes it feel extra cold.

We closed on the sale of our house on Thursday (woo hoo!), so we're completely done with that. I feel like celebrating a house sale seems kind of counterintuitive, but to get out of a house that has needed lots of work, in a neighborhood kind of on the way down, when you're looking to move out of the area, in a crappy housing market was a big thing. I hope it works out well for the buyer. We pumped a lot of work into making the house look good, so she certainly seemed happy about buying it.

Friday I had my semi-regular get-together with my former church bandmates, where we played video games and talked about music mostly.

Saturday I went to play for this conference thingy at my old church (where these friends are from), the thing I've been playing at every other Tuesday for a while now. Unfortunately, there was no time to warm up and everybody was eating dinner in another room at that time, so we played for 1.5 hours for roughly one person at any one given time. It sucked.

During that playing experience, I started wondering if I should be looking for a better DI option than my little Tech 21 Sansamp GT2 that I've been using for years. I'm always questioning my tones when going direct and doing headphone monitoring, and it's tough to get things really clicking. I talked to my drummer friend about it later, and he thinks it's a product of me not having command over what everything on my pedalboard does, which I tend to agree with. He recommended simplifying and learning to use one pedal at a time. I guess I'll be doing that for the forseeable future. I might keep using the reverb and tuner, but I think I'm going to lay off the dirt boxes and delays for at least a little while. I would go get a POD or something, but as he said, that's just more complicated and might not help with the core issue(s).

It's not that my tone(s) is/are bad, but I feel slightly out of control and out of touch with getting the exact tone at any one given time.

Saturday night said drummer friend came over to where we're housesitting for dinner, then after he left we went to bed early.

Sunday I got up early and loaded my bike into the car, then trekked down to the city with my wife for the Philadelphia marathon, which she was running. I biked around to a bunch of different locations to see her during the race, which worked pretty well. She finished and felt pretty good afterward. Went home, watched some football, and ordered pizza as a super-healthy celebration meal.

A busy few days I guess, but it's nice to have things getting wrapped up.

[sunvalleylaw]

Ran in the snow with my girl for a Girls on the Run 5k. It is a girls's running program that I helped out with this year.

otherwise, mostly hung out, did a little work, and swapped out my pick guard on my strat. See here: http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/19478-Should-I-do-it?p=217671#post217671

Once I found out that my guitar still worked, it was time for bed!

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats on the house Eric!

Same to you on the refurb Steve.

[R_of_G]

Eric - Congratulations on selling the house. Selling in this market has got to be a challenge. Glad you were able to do so.

SVL - I like the new pick guard much better. Nice work.

I had a mostly quiet weekend. Played a little bit with the neighbors Saturday night. Had a decent jam on "Statesboro Blues." After that it was all songs I either didn't know or were not at all the kind of thing I listen to, so I could follow the changes, but I wasn't really feeling it. Still, fun to play electric with other people.

[deeaa]

Yep congrats Eric! For a change, I'd suggest keep the GT and just add a dirt pedal or something to it?

[Eric]

Yep congrats Eric! For a change, I'd suggest keep the GT and just add a dirt pedal or something to it?
I made a new thread for this topic, but I'd appreciate your thoughts over there as well.
http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/19511-Which-Pod-to-buy?p=217803#post217803

[deeaa]

Finally just a little snow. This is what I expect to see every morning from now on when it's time to start the car, only this time it's only 2" not 10" or whatever:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-w_z5oEme7BU/TtSiKb_yxPI/AAAAAAAAEds/CWJMR4wZuXo/s640/IMG_20111128_074408.jpg

[deeaa]

This weekend was bliss....we dropped the kids off to granny's and went to Vasa (Which is opposite Umea in Sweden BTW)...just to get some sleeping done.

That's what we've done...both nights had a bottle of wine and a sauna (the room has its own sauna) and slept incredibly well and long, from like even before eleven to nearly nine in the morning both nights...it's so rare to get to sleep so well with kids always waking even before 6 usually...sweeeeetttt...

But now it's over so off to pick up the rascals and the long drive home...just a quick sauna once more in the morning before we checkout....

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s320x320/375350_10150428846849749_552214748_8284621_2017743 692_n.jpg

[Brian Krashpad]

Busy day yesterday. Church band practice for some concerts in January, to Sam's Club for blank CD's, jewel boxes, and glasses repair, picked up new headlamp for van, new haircut, back home did some dishes and chores.

A couple shots of the Rockmobile loaded for bear:

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/378485_10150440222608879_512618878_8604905_3912474 37_n.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/388485_10150440222843879_512618878_8604907_1874641 171_n.jpg

New haircut:

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/389413_10150440234508879_512618878_8604936_4689574 38_n.jpg

Today Crash Pad will be in the studio all day from noon on, doing rhythm tracks for 5 or 6 songs. The control room walls are covered with art by the bands that've recorded there, here's a cartoon of us by our rhythm guitarist's gf:

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/166919_10150441384573879_512618878_8609622_1828276 898_n.jpg

[guitarhack]

Acted in a play Friday night, Saturday on the board for a Christmas Festival remote broadcast, watched the UK-UNC game (go Big Blue!), then an evening Chamber of Commerce Christmas party, and today on the board this afternoon for a charity radio auction.

[Eric]

I'm in Pittsburgh this weekend, as my wife has a job interview. We're checking out the town to see how it'd be for living. Turns out this job probably wouldn't work out since they don't have a position open at the moment, but the city seems nice. Very hilly.

Our car sprang an oil leak on the way out here, so tomorrow we'll find out how bad it is. Right now it's in Harrisburg and we're renting a Ford Fusion. The Fusion actually hasn't been to bad, but the tiny rear window is kind of difficult to work around, particularly when parallel parking.

[R_of_G]

Acted in a play Friday night, Saturday on the board for a Christmas Festival remote broadcast, watched the UK-UNC game (go Big Blue!), then an evening Chamber of Commerce Christmas party, and today on the board this afternoon for a charity radio auction.

I watched that game as well. My wife's family is from Lexington so we root hard for UK basketball.

[deeaa]

Hopefully the car trouble wasn't bad Eric!

This weekend I'll take it easy. I just received the new Cubase 6 package in the mail yesterday, and finally I have a completely 64-bit DAW now. Last night I installed a bunch of plugins already and bought JBridge software to allow using some of my old lecagy plugs in 64bit Cubase as well.

Only tested it briefly, but all seems good, and it feels like an improvement over the old Cubase for sure, plus this is now a full version with loads of plugins built-in and no restrictions to track numbers etc.

Just itching to order a new, bigger SSD drive now, though...only have like 4G free on my C drive...

[Brian Krashpad]

This should be a rocking weekend for me!

First, I'm going to my son's performance of the Boar's Head Fest at church at 7:30 (shot from rehearsal):

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/316562_10150376040896107_562091106_8543671_3773896 40_n.jpg

After that I'll go over to my show (having dropped by the club before Boar's Head to backline our amps there):

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/377251_256841921040008_117815748275960_741570_1215 271596_n.jpg

Tomorrow morning I have a 10:30 rehearsal @ church, not only for the service the next day but also for a series of concerts to be given in January.

Sunday I play the 11 a.m. service @ church as usual. Then @ 1 p.m. I'll be back at Goldentone Studios all day doing guitar overdubs and vocals:

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/389971_10150443030518879_512618878_8615734_1102116 371_n.jpg

Rawk!

[Tig]

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/389971_10150443030518879_512618878_8615734_1102116 371_n.jpg

Rawk!

I see you're going for your "signature sound" in the studio! :socool

[Brian Krashpad]

I see you're going for your "signature sound" in the studio! :socool

Haha, touche'!

[deeaa]

Not very xmasy weather round here:

http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/Noin+170000+taloutta+ilman+s%C3%A4hk%C3%B6%C3%A4+T ampereella+ja+Helsingiss%C3%A4+kehotetaan+pysyttel em%C3%A4%C3%A4n+sis%C3%A4tiloissa/a1305552090736

If you click on the square pictures under the main one it starts a slideshow. Not a patch of snow in sight...can't remember the last time it's been so warm round xmas here.

[Eric]

Not a patch of snow in sight...can't remember the last time it's been so warm round xmas here.
I'm at my parents' house in MN for Christmas, and it's the same way: no snow in sight. I was hoping for a white Christmas, but so be it. It's not that cold either.

[Tig]

We had a very rainy Christmas weekend here. We were 25" below average for the year, so it was welcomed.

Christmas Eve was spent with most of my relatives at my uncle's house. It was easily the most fun and friction free family gathering in a long time. My uncle makes seafood gumbo for Christmas, which is excellent. We destroyed it!

[Tig]

Family:
Granddaughter enjoying her new play tent
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6579996299_5c46f88bf9_z.jpg

My goofy son, being, well... goofy
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6579996303_75dbfc883a_z.jpg

5 generations of guys in the family, from my 92 year old grandfather to my grandson, plus a cousin, dad, uncle, nephews, a brother, and brother in laws
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6579996311_b7d7741d12_z.jpg

Grandson in his new Mexican wrestling mack my son gave him, opening up a new game
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6579996307_62fb2d600c_z.jpg

[Brian Krashpad]

^Luchador!

Played a set on the Bo Diddley Community Plaza today, for an early voting awareness rally:

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/399422_3084768275694_1158505554_3407368_289596867_ n.jpg

After our set, I was interviewed by the Alligator (the largest student-run newspaper in the United States, with a daily circulation of 35,000 and readership of over 52,000) and the local television station, ABC affiliate TV 20. Crazy that with all the activists there they bothered to talk to me.

About 8 p.m. a girl that'd been to the event (daughter of a friend from church, her folks both came too) posted on my facebook page that she'd seen me on the 6 o'clock news. Having my usual attention span of a gnat, I'd forgotten to watch. So I made a point of staying up to watch the 11 p.m. re-broadcast, and as they open the show, the first thing all of Gainesville sees is me on my knees playing guitar, having lept off the stage for the solo at the end of our closer.

So then they do a couple headlines and then the piece about the event. They re-show the footage of Crash Pad playing, including a shot from earlier in the set (all 4 of us onstage), then some crowd shots, then they talked to one of the speakers. And then they talked to me, haha. Just a few seconds of course, but a closeup and with my name "Brian Crashpad" on the screen.

Ah, the life of the rockstar. Just hope I didn't come off as too stupid, haha.

Tomorrow someone else is playing guitar in church for the first time in forever since our bassist is out and I'll be subbing for her. That should be interesting. I missed practice today because of the Crash Pad gig. Will just wing it on a pre-service run-through.

[Tig]

Very cool getting so much publicity, Brian!
Groupies in 3, 2, 1... :socool

[Brian Krashpad]

Very cool getting so much publicity, Brian!
Groupies in 3, 2, 1... :socool

Haha, wouldn't know what to do with one!

It is funny seeing oneself on the telly.

[Eric]

That is pretty cool, BK. It's been interesting seeing your Crashpad pics and watching your rhythm guitarist get older. It's more noticeable with him, since he seemed like he was 16 or so in the earlier pictures.

Whatcha playing in that picture, anyway? Some Peavey guitar?

[Brian Krashpad]

That is pretty cool, BK. It's been interesting seeing your Crashpad pics and watching your rhythm guitarist get older. It's more noticeable with him, since he seemed like he was 16 or so in the earlier pictures.

Whatcha playing in that picture, anyway? Some Peavey guitar?

You're two for two, good observations all round. Mitch was about 16, certainly not more than 17, when he joined Crash Pad some 5 years ago. He's grown up a lot, is now a dad, and engaged to his son's mom. Should be a fun wedding. ;)

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/398031_288768341180699_117815748275960_823326_1087 8552_n.jpg

Guitar is the Peavey T-60, the world's first mass-produced guitar made with CNC technology, c. 1980 or so for this particular one.

http://static.flickr.com/20/71021519_a6a90ee6d3_o.jpg

These have a unique tone circuit I think most people don't understand. From 0-7, each tone pot works regularly, making the tone get more and more treble. After 7 (-10), it begins taking out the second coil until it's a single coil. Really neat if you know how to use it.

[deeaa]

This weekend we had some grand plans but the weather is about to spoil them.

We were going to go to the cottage on Saturday and do some ice-fishing for Burbot which makes a delicious soup and is just now in season, and on Sunday the idea was to go skiing...but alas, it seems it's gonna be -20 or so this weekend, which is too low for so much outing.

I got my eldest son, who's six, interested in downhill-skiing, which is great since we have a slope a mile away from home, and we bought three sets of skis; new, hourglass-shaped ones for the kid but the boots are used, and I and wife got second-hand ones...you can get quite OK skis for like $13 or so...all in all, three sets with boots and all, helmet & goggles for the kid and whatnot cost easily under $200. So they're like from the 90's and nicely neon colored and old-style more like straight shaped, but that's the kind of skis I always had when I was a youngster in the 80's...these are anyway much better than what I had back then. Sharpened the edges some and they're quite OK. If the hobby picks up later, I'll buy some new ones I guess, and I suppose I'll have to get a ski box for the car roof as well. I used to do a lot of skiing in my teens.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z7F_YdY_K90/TyDdEFfKI_I/AAAAAAAAEoA/rtic41V6sH4/s512/620caa1ece63c0a4169c2dd1fd93084d_b.jpg?gl=FI

Now we just need to figure out where to put the 2-year old...I figure I'll get him started on skiing next winter if we all get into it.

[Brian Krashpad]

Nothing Friday.

Mrs. K had to go to her school to work all day Saturday so I stayed home and did chores: laundry, dishes, cleaned leaves out of the gutter at the street with a shovel. Came in and watched the Gator b-ball game, then fell asleep and when I woke I had to jump in the van and go to church practice. Came home, finished up the street cleaning with the leaf blower, took a shower and crashed exhausted.

Sunday played late service, bassist was out of town so our extra electric guitarist played and I filled in on bass. Since there is no bass monitor, wore cans for the first time in forever. Kids in band wanted to take a silly pic before church, so as usual I obliged:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/417555_354145861276422_100000430333491_1259574_370 316963_n.jpg

After church, ran son by place he'd stayed on Friday night to pick up his backpack he'd left there, but his host's mom had left with it in her car. Fortunately he'd already done all his homework, so he just picked it up in school Monday.

Sunday night watched the Super Bowl, don't really care about either team but glad to see Belichick lose.

Tonight have an unusual practice at church for a funeral tomorrow morning. :( It is gonna be packed.

[Eric]

Tonight have an unusual practice at church for a funeral tomorrow morning. :( It is gonna be packed.
Huh? Care to expand on that?

[Brian Krashpad]

Huh? Care to expand on that?

For the longest time there've been 3 people on the church "prayer list" under "cancer:" me (even though I haven't had any for over a year, and actual treatment stopped about a year ago), and two ladies, Stephanie and Diane. Stephanie is the mom of a girl who's my son's age (14, as well as a second younger daughter), she's probably in her 40's. She and her husband owned a funky little music store/package store/venue that they had to close about a year ago due to her illness. The other gal, Diane, was younger still, married with 2 boys about 4 and 6 I'd guess. She'd been very sick for a long time and died last week, I think she got pneumonia.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/430710_10101839943106081_2040654_85286444_45347313 5_th.jpg

I didn't know her well because she was seldom well enough to come to church, although I did at least get to meet her last Christmas because we went caroling to her house. But most every Sunday her name was mentioned next to or near mine during prayers, Diane, Stephanie, Brian. She had previously asked the band if they would play at her memorial service, so of course we are. Only two songs, but this will be a bit tough. Glad I don't have to sing or do anything solo.

[Tig]

Kids in band wanted to take a silly pic before church, so as usual I obliged:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/417555_354145861276422_100000430333491_1259574_370 316963_n.jpg


:dance LOL! I love it!

Fri and Sat - endless rain, so mostly hung out at home and ate at Chuy's

Sunday - bought a new 15 gallon shop vac.
Cleaned house until the Super Bowl.

[Eric]

For the longest time there've been 3 people on the church "prayer list" under "cancer:" me (even though I haven't had any for over a year, and actual treatment stopped about a year ago), and two ladies, Stephanie and Diane. Stephanie is the mom of a girl who's my son's age (14, as well as a second younger daughter), she's probably in her 40's. She and her husband owned a funky little music store/package store/venue that they had to close about a year ago due to her illness. The other gal, Diane, was younger still, married with 2 boys about 4 and 6 I'd guess. She'd been very sick for a long time and died last week, I think she got pneumonia.

I didn't know her well because she was seldom well enough to come to church, although I did at least get to meet her last Christmas because we went caroling to her house. But most every Sunday her name was mentioned next to or near mine during prayers, Diane, Stephanie, Brian. She had previously asked the band if they would play at her memorial service, so of course we are. Only two songs, but this will be a bit tough. Glad I don't have to sing or do anything solo.
Yikes. That's rough. I guess we can count ourselves as blessed that you made it through okay. Good luck with the service.

[Brian Krashpad]

Yikes. That's rough. I guess we can count ourselves as blessed that you made it through okay. Good luck with the service.

Thanks Eric.

Just got back. We ended up only doing two songs, and only one was in the actual service, the other was pre-service. Apparently she'd left a list of like 25 hymns and 4 contemporary songs.

At any rate, it was a good service and our two songs came out fine. Although I had a little trouble keeping it together during the actual service song, so far as I could tell none of the vocalists did, during either song, and the probs I was having during the second song didn't really manifest themselves audibly.

Just a little hard to read a lead sheet when you're tearing up.

[Brian Krashpad]

Wednesday morning I played a memorial service at church, Thursday night I had a practice with my old college party band, Band of Fools, to prep for a house party in March sometime, today I have church band rehearsal, Sunday morning I have the usual 11 a.m. service, and Sunday evening I have Crash Pad rehearsal for an upcoming Leap Year Day gig.

[R_of_G]

Had an interesting weekend guitar-wise. For the first time, I sold one of my guitars. My neighbor is going to be doing some gigging in the near future. He has some concerns about using his expensive American Fender Strat in local bars he's not too familiar with so he was looking to buy an inexpensive Strat for these gigs. He enjoyed playing mine and we ended up brokering a deal that puts me 2/3 of the way to buying myself a Tele. And, if I ever want to play the Strat again, it only moved two houses down the street.

[Brian Krashpad]

Had an interesting weekend guitar-wise. For the first time, I sold one of my guitars. My neighbor is going to be doing some gigging in the near future. He has some concerns about using his expensive American Fender Strat in local bars he's not too familiar with so he was looking to buy an inexpensive Strat for these gigs. He enjoyed playing mine and we ended up brokering a deal that puts me 2/3 of the way to buying myself a Tele. And, if I ever want to play the Strat again, it only moved two houses down the street.

Win-win!

Banjo'd on one song in the 11 o'clock service Sunday. I expect there'll be plenty in neck braces today, from the number of rapidly turning heads (we play up in the choir loft in the back of the church) I heard there were, once the song started. I call it "Lutheran whiplash."

Heh heh.

Freakin GREAT Crash Pad practice last night. Aside from our other guitarist Mitchell inadvertently stealing my hoodie (he left his) and a broken E string on the Gretsch Special Jet, it would be difficult for it to have gone any better. PLUS, our "patron" Tim from TB2 Records brought the mockup of the cover for the new album and it looks GREAT. We should have CD versions of the album for our Leap Year Day show at BackStage 2/29, with the vinyl to follow.

[Eric]

R_of_G, with a tele and a semi-hollow, you would only need a Jazzmaster to be in hipster indie-rock heaven. That said, teles are pretty sweet.

My weekend was boring. Spent some time playing on ye olde telecastere and trying to figure out which direction I would take practice next. I kind of decided I need to work on relaxing more when I play, because otherwise I'm never really going to make much headway on my technique. Watched some basketball and went to a party on Saturday. Drank too much wine. Went to church on Sunday, wished they would call me about playing the bass already since I've already auditioned and 'passed.' Ah well.

Come Tuesday, my wife and I might go walk around the city and make fun of people who are out on dates.

[R_of_G]

R_of_G, with a tele and a semi-hollow, you would only need a Jazzmaster to be in hipster indie-rock heaven. That said, teles are pretty sweet.

If I had the money, I'd have a Jazzmaster as well. Actually, after the Tele, my next instrument purchase will probably be a bass. It's about time I had my own.

[Brian Krashpad]

If I had the money, I'd have a Jazzmaster as well. Actually, after the Tele, my next instrument purchase will probably be a bass. It's about time I had my own.

I've never played a Jazzmaster. Would like to. A couple months back I did see and hear one though, but it was up onstage, far away.

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/3914/gatecrashingdriver.jpg

[R_of_G]

I've never played a Jazzmaster. Would like to. A couple months back I did see and hear one though, but it was up onstage, far away.

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/3914/gatecrashingdriver.jpg

I want one mostly to play surf rock, not that you can't play it on many other models, but nothing sounds as good for that style than a Jazzmaster.

[Brian Krashpad]

I want one mostly to play surf rock, not that you can't play it on many other models, but nothing sounds as good for that style than a Jazzmaster.

Or a Mosrite Ventures model. ;)

Btw, the gal pictured was playing heavy chuggachugga grunge/riotgrrl type music on hers.

I heard they're good for indie rock too.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/06/ec1rev.jpg

[R_of_G]

EC is definitely another reason I want one. Well, he and Tom Verlaine, and Nels Cline, and Thurston Moore, etc...

That Mosrite Ventures guitar would be sweet.

Of course, if I were looking for a Mosrite, it'd probably be this one...

http://static.rrauction.com/images/preview/3247200.jpg

[Brian Krashpad]

EC is definitely another reason I want one. Well, he and Tom Verlaine, and Nels Cline, and Thurston Moore, etc...

That Mosrite Ventures guitar would be sweet.

Of course, if I were looking for a Mosrite, it'd probably be this one...

http://static.rrauction.com/images/preview/3247200.jpg

You're preachin' to the choir, amigo!

For now the closest I've got is at least vaguely the same shape:

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/389403_10150461310953879_512618878_8664341_1962983 298_n.jpg

[R_of_G]

You're preachin' to the choir, amigo!

For now the closest I've got is at least vaguely the same shape:

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/389403_10150461310953879_512618878_8664341_1962983 298_n.jpg

Oh, I know it. I figured if nobody else appreciated Johnny's guitar, you surely would.

Your axe looks sweet all black. If Crash Pad ever gets down to the Tampa/St. Pete area again, let me know. I'm sure I'd have a great time at one of your gigs.

[deeaa]

EC is definitely another reason I want one. Well, he and Tom Verlaine, and Nels Cline, and Thurston Moore, etc...

That Mosrite Ventures guitar would be sweet.

Of course, if I were looking for a Mosrite, it'd probably be this one...

http://static.rrauction.com/images/preview/3247200.jpg

I love that Mosrite...it was my inspiration when I designed the shape for my Davette:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-jnGtXPXoqt8/TOTnKu-_TzI/AAAAAAAADc4/dsKLAuK4SB0/s512/wc%2520035.jpg

[R_of_G]

Very nice Dee. :)

[deeaa]

Thanks R of G! Now getting back to weekends...

Went out to a nearby slope to sled a little with the boys. The bigger one is 6 now so he can help the wee one (2) and I need not accompany every slide no more :-)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pDq4047uwHc/T0JoBGJlEeI/AAAAAAAAEr8/VaPcH_sB59w/s640/IMG_20120219_110316.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-r2CfK-Ikb8Q/T0JoEoJoWoI/AAAAAAAAEsE/Wy_w3Pw2cTs/s640/IMG_20120219_104450.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7j7z4o8GVl4/T0JoDWHGkEI/AAAAAAAAEsA/Z1GZO17-ldM/s640/IMG_20120219_104551.jpg

After that we went swimming. Indoors, that is.

[Brian Krashpad]

I always shiver at Dee's posts. Brr. But I do love sledding.

Friday: went to dinner and watched a couple sets by these guys:

http://stjohnsriverbluesfestival.com/ljss2.jpg

Saturday: did laundry and watched the Gators DESTROY Arkansas in their own house, where they hadn't lost in forever.

Sunday: played a fairly disastrous set in church. Pre-service mellow song went well, then for some reason the first service song had a mix that was all weird despite that we'd done a sound check. Apparently the prissy senior pastor had a hissyfit, as if we'd really intended to sound like that? (I should mention we play in a building particularly unsuited to live modern music, and without proper monitors, despite that we do have a pipe organ that probably costs more than Casa Krashpad.) So the bandleader gets all freaked, and as there's no way to troubleshoot mid-service, decides to scrap original plan for final song, and go downstairs (we play up in a choir loft, part of the problem) up front and do the song acoustically. So it was him on piano and me on 12-string, plus singers. Which went well enough... except for the mics not being on.

Sunday night: went to this and saw a lot of my friends on the local scene and listened to bands and took pics and got info for my next magazine column and chatted up some peeps for the next Crash Pad show and didn't spend a dime:

http://scene.gainesville.com/article/20120215/ENT/120219713/1181?Title=Local-showcase-about-and-for-music

[R_of_G]

Dee - Looks like your boys had a great time. Though we're raising her in Florida, I intend to do enough traveling that my daughter gets to experience the fun aspects of winter weather.

Brian - Your posts always remind me how much cooler Gainesville's music scene is than Tampa's.

[Brian Krashpad]

Brian - Your posts always remind me how much cooler Gainesville's music scene is than Tampa's.

We do have a very cool scene, though I dunno how it compares to Tampa's. I have played there a couple times and seen at least one show I didn't play at (the Damned, ages ago) and always had fun.

One thing about GNV for sure is that it's crazy outta proportion for the size of the town. And despite being an old fart and not in with the current crop of hispters I probably saw a couple dozen "scene friends" at that free fest yesterday. Good times.

[Eric]

Did nothing for what feels like the 80th consecutive weekend. I need to move soon, otherwise I think I might go insane.

[deeaa]

Twas only -10c or so, we were sweating with all the warm clothes...funny how that feels cold in the start of the winter and now it feels like you need to keep taking the hat off to cool down a little very easily.

Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk

[Brian Krashpad]

Twas only -10c or so, we were sweating with all the warm clothes...funny how that feels cold in the start of the winter and now it feels like you need to keep taking the hat off to cool down a little very easily.

Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk

Haha, perspective!

[R_of_G]

We do have a very cool scene, though I dunno how it compares to Tampa's. I have played there a couple times and seen at least one show I didn't play at (the Damned, ages ago) and always had fun.

One thing about GNV for sure is that it's crazy outta proportion for the size of the town. And despite being an old fart and not in with the current crop of hispters I probably saw a couple dozen "scene friends" at that free fest yesterday. Good times.

Tampa gets decent shows here and there (like Sleigh Bells a few weeks back) but there's a lack of a strong local scene, with the exception of some local hip-hop flavor and the long time ties the death metal community has to Tampa. There are a handful of good artists, but too few original acts to really be considered any kind of scene.

What this town could use is a truly good promoter that can put together the right local acts with the right touring acts and create a show people will talk about, but I don't have any money and nobody seems willing to allow me to do it on spec. ;)

[Brian Krashpad]

Tampa gets decent shows here and there (like Sleigh Bells a few weeks back) but there's a lack of a strong local scene, with the exception of some local hip-hop flavor and the long time ties the death metal community has to Tampa. There are a handful of good artists, but too few original acts to really be considered any kind of scene.

What this town could use is a truly good promoter that can put together the right local acts with the right touring acts and create a show people will talk about, but I don't have any money and nobody seems willing to allow me to do it on spec. ;)

I would imagine promotion is very difficult, kinda a damned if you do, damned if you don't sitch. Even though Crash Pad I think has a pretty good rep for putting on an entertaining show and writing good songs, and we've been pretty good about getting press coverage (mainly by doing high-profile benefits), still with several members past the typical "let's party 5 nights a week" age, we can hardly be considered a big "draw" for promoting purposes.

The new album even has a song called "Nigel, Book Us Dammit" on it. And yes, there's a real Nigel, and that's his real name.

[R_of_G]

Plenty of guitar so far today. My neighbor (bass player) came over for a few hours.

He, along with our other neighbor (guitar) and a couple of guys from his church band (guitar and drums) have recently begun rehearsing a mostly cover band with the intention of gigging in bars and stuff around here. Though I'm not in the band or particularly fond of some of their song selections, they're still my friends and insist I hang out when they're been putting together playlists to get my input.

Anyway, I could hear Josh (bass) playing across the street earlier when I was practicing this morning so I invited him over. He wanted to practice some of the band's stuff to work on his parts, so we did some of the covers they're working out and some stuff I thought would be fun to play with him.

Our setlist looked something like this...

Stone In Love - Journey (Theirs)
Moby Dick - Led Zeppelin (Mine)
Gimme Three Steps - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Theirs)
Knockin' On Heaven's Door (Theirs)
I Got Mine - The Black Keys (Mine)
Still Got the Blues - Gary Moore (Theirs)
Mountain Jam - Allman Brothers (Mine)
Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (Mine)

I can't play blistering leads like the two guitarists in the band, but for songs I just learned the chords to two minutes before we played them, I think I churned out some pretty solid rhythm and fills.

I will admit this, much as I got burnt out on Skynyrd growing up with classic rock radio, that song was a lot of fun to play.

[deeaa]

A few more for Brian to shiver at...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CUuNQOFkymY/T0o6DzJAIyI/AAAAAAAAEs8/EHPx3WaMsWI/s800/IMG_20120226_143126.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xs_y4R-UM1k/T0o6DacybvI/AAAAAAAAEs0/8tM5rCD02m4/s800/IMG_20120226_143100.jpg

We were out on the lake, they have miles and miles of these skating tracks circling there, walked a short couple-mile route and back to harbor.

[Tig]

A few more for Brian to shiver at...
We were out on the lake, they have miles and miles of these skating tracks circling there, walked a short couple-mile route and back to harbor.

That looks like fun! All we have here are indoor hockey sized ice, which is about as exciting as riding your bike around and around in a parking lot.

[deeaa]

Never tried those tracks myself...I only have hockey skates, no 'long-distance' skates. I should try it sometime.

When I was younger we used to spend days racing our cars on those at night when skaters and such went away. The best tracks, however, were those made for ice-'dirt' bike racing, perfect for cars w/regular spikes to really slide and race on. The car tracks are made for ice racing rally cars and wayy too wide, you get up to speeds that are impossible without those 1" spikes the rally cars use. But the bike tracks are the width and curvature of normal roads, only on ice...so perfect for practice and fun driving. Also noticed the snow banks on the side, when packed, can challenge car structures pretty nicely in strength...

[Brian Krashpad]

Brrr!

Sat:
practice w/church band, dropped off CD at GROWradio.org . Our drummer delivered a few CDs to the 2 local small indie record stores and even to a head shop/porn shop, haha!

Sun:
played one song in first service, bolted for brekkie w/the crew at Mickey D's, then back for second service, confirmed I'm playing next Saturday at FL/GA Youth Gathering down in Lake Mary (near ORL) w/some DJ in front of what I'm guessing will be at least hundreds of kids (high schoolers I think), making up shit on the fly. Vicar actually told me "You have complete license to go crazy." OK!

Great Crash Pad rehearsal in evening, plus got played on broadcast radio and a local internet station (different one than I visited day before). And our new website is up:

http://www.crashpadband.com

And this a.m. looks like we're confirmed to play biggest stage in town for an Earth Day benefit in April, prolly headlining! Krazy times.

[R_of_G]

Congrats on the airplay and the benefit show gig Brian. That's awesome. :AOK

Spent Sunday with my neighbor playing basketball for a few hours, then throwing a football around for another half hour or so while our kids played in the yards. I'm still a terrible basketball player, but I was shooting well enough that I don't think I embarrassed myself, though in fairness, my friend is 6'5" and played both high school and college basketball. I can still throw an accurate football though. Hadn't done that in years. Some things you don't forget how to do.

[Eric]

in front of what I'm guessing will be at least hundreds of kids (high schoolers I think), making up shit on the fly. Vicar actually told me "You have complete license to go crazy." OK!
Will you at least have songs to base it off of? I've played some freeform performance stuff before on a bi-weekly basis for a few months, and it's hard to sound even close to what I'd call decent if you don't have either a strong leader, at least a minimal amount of practice, some sort of song to guide you, or at least some chemistry with the other band members. Obviously the thing I was a part of had none of that, so I bowed out for my own sanity. I imagine what you describe will be slightly less chaotic, but I'm curious how it will be set up. Sounds like it could be fun.

[Brian Krashpad]

Will you at least have songs to base it off of? I've played some freeform performance stuff before on a bi-weekly basis for a few months, and it's hard to sound even close to what I'd call decent if you don't have either a strong leader, at least a minimal amount of practice, some sort of song to guide you, or at least some chemistry with the other band members. Obviously the thing I was a part of had none of that, so I bowed out for my own sanity. I imagine what you describe will be slightly less chaotic, but I'm curious how it will be set up. Sounds like it could be fun.

No, as I understand it, this will be more song-based. I'm going down there with the lead singer of our praise band, who will lead the songs that the DJ will play, and I'm guessing they will want the kids to sing along. I feel kinda bad that our full band didn't get the call, but the knuckleheads in charge (apparently it's fairly anarchic, which seems to be the norm for big-scale church youth gatherings, similar to some benefits I've played) had already hired this DJ guy. It could be a total disaster, but whatever my many faults as a guitarist are (and they are many, haha), I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty good at just winging things, and not fixating over stuff that goes wrong that's beyond my control. Last year around this time I played a show with my side band the Hotheads, where I'd planned on playing bass and switching to guitar only for like the last song of our set, and ended up sitting in on guitar with the openers and the closers, even though I didn't know their songs (both did originals) and didn't have lead sheets, just playing by ear. The band leader for the closers asked me to join that band, haha.

If it ends up being really crazy and over my head I'll just lay back. ;)

[Eric]

The most interesting part of my weekend was in church on Sunday. They have two bands that switch off from month to month, and the leader of the one playing right now is an OK guitarist from what I can tell. Likes delay, might be really good, but I can't tell from his playing in church. He's usually a little on the fuzzy side and plays through some Fender FM 212 amp -- I think it might be the house amp for the church. Anyway, I was walking to the bathroom after the service and checked out his floorboard. I kind of figured he used a pod of some sort, but he had a real pedalboard -- a pretty big footprint from what I could tell. Based on what I saw it looked like a couple of white Boss pedals (probably DDs), an orange Boss pedal, some wah I didn't recognize (best guess is a Fulltone) and a Klon Centaur. WTF? A Klon?

I don't want to bash the guy, as he does a good job of singing and playing and is a really good singer. That being said, I've been trying to figure out his deal for awhile and I'm more nonplussed than ever right now. Maybe I should actually say hi and talk to him some Sunday; what a concept, huh?

[Brian Krashpad]

The most interesting part of my weekend was in church on Sunday. They have two bands that switch off from month to month, and the leader of the one playing right now is an OK guitarist from what I can tell. Likes delay, might be really good, but I can't tell from his playing in church. He's usually a little on the fuzzy side and plays through some Fender FM 212 amp -- I think it might be the house amp for the church. Anyway, I was walking to the bathroom after the service and checked out his floorboard. I kind of figured he used a pod of some sort, but he had a real pedalboard -- a pretty big footprint from what I could tell. Based on what I saw it looked like a couple of white Boss pedals (probably DDs), an orange Boss pedal, some wah I didn't recognize (best guess is a Fulltone) and a Klon Centaur. WTF? A Klon?

I don't want to bash the guy, as he does a good job of singing and playing and is a really good singer. That being said, I've been trying to figure out his deal for awhile and I'm more nonplussed than ever right now. Maybe I should actually say hi and talk to him some Sunday; what a concept, huh?

Not being a pedal guy I dunno what a Klon even is. Sounds expensive, haha. I'm pretty shameless about hitting up total strangers about gear. I always feel kinda stupid about it, but I always do anyhow. Most people find it flattering. I know I would.

[Tig]

Congrats on the airplay and the benefit show gig Brian. That's awesome. :AOK

Spent Sunday with my neighbor playing basketball for a few hours, then throwing a football around for another half hour or so while our kids played in the yards. I'm still a terrible basketball player, but I was shooting well enough that I don't think I embarrassed myself, though in fairness, my friend is 6'5" and played both high school and college basketball. I can still throw an accurate football though. Hadn't done that in years. Some things you don't forget how to do.

Sore muscles today? :poke

I notice that if I suddenly do something like play basketball or football for more than a few minutes, I'm a wreck the next day. Then again, I'm getting a little older these days.
____________________

+1 on the big gig congrat's, Brian!

[Brian Krashpad]

Sore muscles today? :poke

I notice that if I suddenly do something like play basketball or football for more than a few minutes, I'm a wreck the next day. Then again, I'm getting a little older these days.
____________________

+1 on the big gig congrat's, Brian!

Thanks Tig.

I was always too short for basketball and too small for American football. I used to shoot hoops with my dad at my house but that's it for those two sports. Haven't played either one, in any way, in literally decades.

Same goes for baseball. I think I played softball at picnics and such when I was little but that's it.

Pretty dang un-American.

[R_of_G]

Sore muscles today? :poke

Yup, though not nearly as bad as I was anticipating which means while I'm still out of shape, I'm in better shape than I thought I was. I was expecting not to be able to walk today.

[Brian Krashpad]

Yup, though not nearly as bad as I was anticipating which means while I'm still out of shape, I'm in better shape than I thought I was. I was expecting not to be able to walk today.

Well there's you're silver lining!

I hear a lot of that whenever I post pics of me jumping around like a meth-addled monkey on stage, but that's not nearly as much work as real physical labor or strenuous sport. Although I'm skinny again I seriously need to at least start walking or biking a bit.

[deeaa]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eOzS6YtsoOw/T1HnYSv4QgI/AAAAAAAAEyE/seZOdGeg3U8/s800/IMG_20120303_092922.jpg

My older son goes riding Saturday mornings.

[Brian Krashpad]

Again, brrr.

Saturday I drove through the Ocala National Forest, down to a Marriott hotel in the small town of Lake Mary north of Orlando, to play a church related High School Youth Gathering. There was recorded music I was to play along with, plus two live pieces with me and the singer from my church band. After I got there and loaded in, had to sit around for hours until a rehearsal for a "show" (the DJ/PA people referred to it as such despite the God element) preceding our service was done. Then we got about an hour quick run-through. I didn't have sheet music (don't read anyhow) or even lead sheets. I made up this for the service:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/426904_10150655214298879_512618878_9314654_3787481 10_n.jpg

My singer had been goading me all week to play behind my head at this. During the first song, before the actual start of the actual service, the DJ was cranking a very dance-oriented mix and they got the kids up on a catwalk to dance around, so I figured that would be as good a time as any to do that. I'd been playing on the same catwalk, jumped over to an empty seat in the first row seats (the seats were about the same height as the catwalk), and standing on the chair did the behind-head thing. The kids seemed to like that. Later in that song my strap broke, I caught the guitar and kept playing, then switched to a backup. The rest of the service went pretty flawlessly, though it was all extemporaneous on my part.

Here's a pic of the room, I'm guessing there were 300-400 people in it, probably the most I've ever played to:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/429223_10150655215073879_512618878_9314667_9878161 44_n.jpg

After the service the kids had a dance, so I didn't get to sleep until about 12:30, crashed in our vicar's room, along with the youth pastor from the Tallahassee group.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/427982_10150655696738879_512618878_9317597_1239230 416_n.jpg

Woke up at 6:20, loaded out, drove back to Gainesville and went directly to church and played the 11 o'clock service Sunday. Watched the Gators get beat in b-ball and vegged the rest of the day.

[Tig]

Congratulations on the really big shoe, Brian! (us older farts get the Ed Sullivan reference)

[Tig]

Took the family to a local farm and picked a few baskets of strawberries. Stocked up on other local, fresh fruits and veggies. We had a blast picking our own berries.

Watched a few spring training MLB games. Expected a little more from the Phillies and less from the Astros, and received the opposite from both.

Started work on closing up the old pass-through window between the kitchen and the dining room.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7040/6810058276_bef3bf638e.jpg

Hung new birdcage chandelier.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6810058282_d12765d4c9_z.jpg

[deeaa]

Phew,

Just got home from visiting our bassist with our drummer last night, he lives a bit farther away so he arranged his wife to take us there last light and back in the morning, which turned afternoon though.

We just had some sauna and played cards and drank beer and cheap cognac, listened to the new CD we got out, had a good time. I didn't drink hugely, maybe a dozen or so beers and unmeasurable amount of that cognac, and I did get to sleep by midnite and slept till eight. The guys were still drinking and listening to music when I woke up (and trying to play along fruitlessly); the bassist's wife said there had been maybe 1,5 hours of pretty quiet there at some point in the small hours, but they started again around four a.m.

I dunno what to call 'em, functional alcoholists? It's just amazing how the two of them can just drink days and nights through, destroying several bottles of that cognac and nearly three 24-cases of beer...but man they are such annoying company in that state, when you're already sobered up well. Hell they could hardly stand and kept babbling constantly and insisted on listening to the same song over and over again at full volume...sheesh :-)

You know hot it is. Incoherent babbles and warm hugs and praises, endless talk of how what is how and what is not and you're such a nice guy, let's drink some more, isn't it great, man, dude, tell me, isn't it great, huh, let's drink, what a nice CD we made, didn't we, huh, what do you think, huh? come on, play some guitar...have a beer...my man...isn't it great, huh? and all the while you need to almost hold them up or at least be on the lookout for when they'll fall on the breakable object, and all the speech comes out painfully slow like a slowed-down record; a drunken man's babble, eyes staring fixedly and body wavering like a reed in wind.

They're really very nice guys but in these situations it always feel like I'm never gonna make it home at this rate; so for 3 hours or so I kept prodding them to put on clothes, collect their gear, and let's get that car going, but man it's hard. You could make a movie out of it, a really funny one. You know, you get one drunkard standing in his shoes and the other one vanishes to have a smoke somewhere. While you try to collect him, the first one has crawled to the stereo and insists on listening to that song once more, and also finds some bottle with still some vodka on it and won't budge for a moment. And even when you get them to the car, you have to hook their seatbelts and make sure the doors are shut, and then you have to go back to the house as one forgot his phone there, and meanwhile they escape again to have a smoke and see if there was any beer left at the sauna...sheesh, it took forever to get them on board, and even on the way they were constantly trying to put on CD's and change songs, and wanted to stop for a smoke, and then stop to see if the phone was in the trunk, and whatnot...it's so amazing how hard it can get. Literally hours of work! It would really make an insanely funny movie.

Well we did get out of there, and the drummer went on to a local bar to continue...hope he gets home at some point. He always does, somehow, although he won't be heading home ever before he's so stoned from drink that his eyes don't move any more, he can't speak, and he just kinda...flows home like a zombie somehow.

[Eric]

Just got home from visiting our bassist with our drummer last night, he lives a bit farther away so he arranged his wife to take us there last light and back in the morning, which turned afternoon though.
Wow, Dee. That's quite the story. I was reading your entry out loud to my wife as we were on the road yesterday (I was not the one driving though!), and we were both flabbergasted by your description. Two guys killing 3 cases of beer is crazy enough, without the cognac and whatever else that was in the mix. I think I'd be ready to die the next day if I was to go through all of that. It's almost admirable in some weird way, just how someone can survive all of that abuse to their body.

My weekend was spent on the road. I took a road trip to Cleveland with my wife to check out the place. It's a nice city, and quite cheap. It's the home of Great Lakes brewing too, which is one of my faves. It was a decent chance to see another city and have that under our belts.

[R_of_G]

Yesterday we drove out to Clearwater Beach and went on one of the dolphin cruise boats out in the Bay. We saw several dolphins which is always very cool. The weather was beautiful to be out on the water for a couple of hours. The traffic getting out there was pretty heavy, but with spring break on and several MLB baseball teams having their spring training sites in the area it was to be expected.

http://i41.tinypic.com/259g9ag.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/mawl1z.jpg

Sorry no pics of the dolphins. They didn't surface long enough each time or give me warning when they were about to do so.

[Tig]

Looks like a fun and happy family outing. It helps when it isn't during the heat of summer.
Oh, is that Miles Davis on your shirt? :cool:

I was useless from working nights last week, sleeping 10-12 hours each night. This job really is killing me, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Managed to get the pass through window walled in. I've never done any drywall, so this is gong slow.
Tip: When you don't need full sheet of drywall, look for broken one that is marked down to a buck.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7037/6830804610_5beae0afb9_z.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7048/6830804604_e9a06e9f92_z.jpg

[R_of_G]

Looks like a fun and happy family outing. It helps when it isn't during the heat of summer.
Oh, is that Miles Davis on your shirt? :cool:

It was a fun day. Ella had a good time which meant my wife and I had a good time. Plus there was free beer and wine. And yes, that's a Miles t-shirt. Good eye.

[Eric]

Saturday: Watched college basketball most of the day. Went out walking in the city that night to watch all of the drunk people on the street. Sort of entertaining, I guess.

Sunday: Got up way too early and toted my bass over to church to play two services. Played through some 1x15" Ampeg amph that was lined out to the board. Everything went well. I'm not the most groove-oriented bassist in that I don't always maintain the exact same rhythm throughout the song, which is an area I'm going to try to correct. That being said, I don't think I was too annoying, and I hopefully helped provide an underpinning for the rest of the band. Lots of people came up to me and said it sounded great, so that's nice. I'll be doing it again next Sunday. Bass seems to be a different animal altogether, but it's fun in its own way.

[Tig]

Saturday was a rare date day/evening for Mrs. T and I. Usually we are busy doing the mom and pop duties. We hopped on the shuttle bus to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I haven't been since they moved from the old Astrodome to the Reliant Stadium, and it has grown in size tremendously. It was the largest attendance on record that day with 153,000 entering the gates. The total for the 3 week event was 1.3 million. I've never seen such a smooth operation, and every worker or volunteer was really nice. The event raises money for scholarships, research, and endowments.

We didn't know it, but Saturday's rodeo was the final championship for each event, with a 1st prize of $50,000. Even if you don't like rodeos, this was really entertaining.
http://media1.hellohouston.com/media/articles/large/7283_image1_large.jpg

Brad Paisley was the evening's concert attraction. I'm not a huge fan, but this guy can really play guitar! He didn't spend much time up on the revolving stage, instead, walking along the arena to play up close to the audience. He's a great entertainer, giving back as much as he can.

One of several Tele's and one red Strat he played through a compliment of several Dr. Z amps.
http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/12/14/44/2672922/3/628x471.jpg

Sunday was Mrs. T's birthday, and she wanted to garden and plant some new flowers in the front yard. Took her out for a tasty Italian dinner later.

[deeaa]

I bet my wife would be thrilled to see a rodeo...wouldn't mind watching one meself either, but she digs horses a lot...she's had several horses, also owned a proper race horse when she was younger.

We went to the cottage today, decided to try some ice-fishing (got none) but the spring is well on the way already indeed. Just a few yards of snow on the cottage yard..the road was still quite blocked for anything but a snowmobile, so we walked there over the lake. Here's some pics approaching the cottage...terrific weather, the sun is just brilliant these days. There were a bunch of people driving round the lake or fishing here and there. Which is weird because usually you hardly see anybody around. Boys got to ride on neighbor's snowmobile as well, and my wife rode around the whole island...took just 5 minutes or so, the thing goes like 90 miles per hour or more. I just concentrated on planning a deck I'll build when the snow melts, between the sauna and the outdoor hottub.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-thBiupT9rgE/T24FoUCm1aI/AAAAAAAAE14/DuM0MSOcW5A/s800/IMG_20120324_162544.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kcv-S7ivB70/T24FmDy07RI/AAAAAAAAE10/JZ91adY56GI/s512/IMG_20120324_171916.jpg
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[omegadot]

Very jealous d. I remodled the bar and ordered parts for my MAME cabinet.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

[Tig]

Massive spring cleaning in the house. Yipee.

Took the 16 year old son to see "The Hunger Games". It stuck to the book and characters well, but the shaky-cam moments were annoying and pointless.
As usual, the details that made the book work so well are skipped in the movie version. I'll give it a B- at best.

[deeaa]

Hm, gotta remember to read that some day soon.

Me, I had my father-in-law's 50th birthday...all went well, Karaoke and all. Nice. Had a terrible hangover but kept it under control :-)

[Brian Krashpad]

Thanks for all the posts and pics, cats!

Sorry I haven't been posting. March was madness indeed. Just realized I didn't post any of the pics I subsequently got of the youth conference I played at the beginning of the month down in Lake Mary (near Orlando). Here's one playing off to the side of the catwalk up front:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/420514_10150659650388879_512618878_9331395_4336701 13_n.jpg

Here's one taken from the DJ platform, with me on the catwalk and all the kids (and a couple of the adult leaders) up there dancing:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/425214_10150659663118879_512618878_9331420_1246915 967_n.jpg

In this one I stepped off the catwalk to stand on a seat in the front row:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/420514_10150659650408879_512618878_9331396_2286166 96_n.jpg

The weekend after that I played a reunion of my college party band Band of Fools at a friend's house up in High Springs (half-hour north of town):

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s720x720/563073_10150725309408879_512618878_9556939_1673558 865_n.jpg

Didn't do anything big St. Paddy's weekend, at least not that I can recall.

The weekend after that I went back down to Orlando, to see my daughter in a play at UCF. She was really good, it was a heavy play and she cried onstage. Here's a cast/crew/writers pic at the afterparty, my daughter is the girl in the green on the right:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/560328_10150699451403879_512618878_9475161_7893030 61_n.jpg

This is going to be another wild month, tomorrow I have a church band practice at noon, then in the afternoon I'll go back up to my same buddy's in High Springs for a welcome-back party for his adult daughter (I can remember when she was so tiny she slept in a dresser drawer!), then Easter morning I hafta play the sunrise service. Ugh. Plus it'll be up front since the brass is taking over the choir loft, so extra work.

On the weekend of the 21st-22nd I have two shows w/2 different bands, on Saturday afternoon I play with the church band (First Things First) on the downtown plaza; then on Sunday I play with Crash Pad in a big multi-band benefit (for an inclusive-recreation program that gets differently-abled kids and youth out and into sports with other kids and adults):

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/431288_324204360970430_117815748275960_909487_8980 6874_n.jpg

Hopefully the first week of May I'll be taking a cruise w/Mrs. K as an early celebration of our 25th anniversary, then on the 12th is my birthday and Crash Pad is playing with a sit-in drummer (from my side-band Pedagogy), so I hafta get him practiced up, as well solidify the bill (house is letting me book it, yay birthdays!).

Phew.

[Tig]

Good rawkin' times, indeed! You're doing life right, Brian. :AOK

I'm on vacation from April 4th to the 14th. We have the mom-in-law over the first week from NC.
I'm enjoying not working nights, too. Helping Mrs. T with dinner for Easter. We just came back from a local farm with fresh produce and eggs. :drool

[Brian Krashpad]

Good rawkin' times, indeed! You're doing life right, Brian. :AOK



Man today was wild. Went to church and got all my gear set up in the Fellowship Hall, along with my big bass rig I was lending our bassist, and then worked on getting the PA all connected. Two hours into that our band leader arrived and said we were playing... in the sanctuary!

:thwap

So, I moved everything over to the sanctuary.

Then we're about to start practice, and our band leader says, "Brian, we have something for you."

I'm totally puzzled.

He gets out an Epi hardshell case and sets it on a table and says "Open it."

I look at him like whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? So I say, "I hope this is something you got for the church..."

I open the case and it's an Epiphone Casino. Last weekend someone had asked what my next guitar would be, and I said I hadn't bought a guitar in 2 years and wouldn't any time soon, but that there was a sweet Casino on Craigslist.

The nutters bought it for me! He said "It's for your birthday next month, but we thought we'd give it to you early so you could play it at Praise In The Field (our next out-of-church concert downtown in a couple weeks)!"

I'm still totally flabbergasted.

Seller's pics from cl:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/535524_10150727635318879_512618878_9565220_1482498 360_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/535524_10150727635353879_512618878_9565221_1774967 729_n.jpg

[Robert]

Congrats Brian! You've got awesome friends!

[Tig]

Awesome friends and guitar! :AOK
I would have teared up a little. :cry:

[Brian Krashpad]

Thanks guys. I heart those kids. I'm old enough to be their dad! They know I already have tons of guitars. As if I didn't feel guilty enough already with an embarrassment of riches!

I literally couldn't speak.

A true rarity that, haha!

[marnold]

I literally couldn't speak.

A true rarity that, haha!

An Easter miracle! :poke

That is a rather sweet guitar.

[R_of_G]

Good for you Brian. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Enjoy the sweet new Casino! Can't wait to see the guitar face pics of you rockin' it on that one.

[Brian Krashpad]

An Easter miracle! :poke

Bazinga!


That is a rather sweet guitar.

Ta Rev. I can't call her Cassie, the most obvious choice, as that's what I call my LP Classic (a/k/a Cassandra, Classy Cassie). Given that I got her on Black Saturday and first played her in public on Easter, I reckon she's gotta be Mary.

[Brian Krashpad]

Good for you Brian. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Enjoy the sweet new Casino! Can't wait to see the guitar face pics of you rockin' it on that one.

Aww, thanks.

Will definitely play her at our First Things First outdoor downtown gig on Sat. April 21. Since she was a birfday pressie will prolly also play at the Crash Pad show scheduled for my actual birfday, May 12.

[Brian Krashpad]

And to top off the weekend: the new Crash Pad album gets its first review:

http://twoguysmetalreviews.blogspot.fr/2012/04/crash-pad.html

[marnold]

This is the busiest weekend for us Christian clergy types. Three sermons, four days. That's a lot of writing and a lot of memorizing (basically the equivalent of writing and memorizing a 30 page paper in seven days). You also want your very best--no seeing-eye doubles here, you want to hit it out of the park. I'll leave that to others to determine whether I did or not. I also played in the Good Friday service as another thread details. I plan on taking a little personal time to decompress this week. Hopefully I'll be able to do that. Naturally I've come down with some bug now.

[Tig]

And to top off the weekend: the new Crash Pad album gets its first review:

http://twoguysmetalreviews.blogspot.fr/2012/04/crash-pad.html

Nice review!
:dude

[Eric]

Went to the city to which my wife and I will be moving and found a place to rent. Talked the guy down in price a little bit and put in an application, explored the city a bit more. She will be moving there in just under 2 weeks, so there are quite a few things to do before then. Still, it's nice to be moving forward.

[Tig]

Vacation time these last 11 days has been busy at times, lazy at others. Playing guitar, but not listening to music much. Visiting relatives, working in the garden, relaxing with some MLB. Total decompression from work and night shift. :cool:

[Pickngrin]

This is my first post in the weekend thread (and my first on the fret in recent months). My wife and I went to a local flea market yesterday (didn't buy anything) and went out for pizza for dinner. Today, I build some storage shelves for my garage. That was a project I had been wanting to get done for awhile. Also took care of a few other minor house tasks.

[Brian Krashpad]

Welcome Pickngrin!

This is a good way to meet people and find out what they're about.

FRI: played my first open mic. EVER. Despite that I've been gigging in local bands for 30+ years, I'd never stepped outside my "comfort zone" and played a solo show. I rehearsed with a 12-string acoustic, but couldn't make that work. After the whole throat cancer thing I hafta sing LOUD for my vocals to work, and need the musical volume to be loud enough to push my vocals into that "zone." I played the 12-er so hard I broke two strings, haha!

So I gave up and took my little Super Champ XD with me and played it with distortion the way I do in my full band (although with a full band I use a Sovtek with a 4x12). I wasn't sure it would work, though I briefly rehearsed that way at home. Luckily, I was able to find my "Crash Pad voice" with that setup, so my vocals were OK. I'm resigned to not ever being a great singer, just so long as my voice neither breaks nor totally goes out, if I can find my Crash Pad voice I'm OK.

I played the new Casino, and broke a string mid-way through the 5-song set. Breaking the string totally detuned the entire guitar, so I had to stop that song, but luckily I brought my Frankentele as a backup, and finished the set with that. The kids (it was an event put on by a high school club, I know the coordinator from my church) seemed to like it.

Afterwards this cute girl (not one of the high schoolers) came up to me and said "So, do you have a political affiliation?" Which would've possibly been the weirdest pickup line I've heard, had it been one. She'd liked my song "Labor Day," which begins with the line "Workers of the world, unite!" I didn't think there were cute socialists, but I happily stand corrected.

SAT: A.M.: Had a First Things First practice for our upcoming Praise In The Field performance on the Downtown Plaza. Walked into the fellowship hall, and they'd moved our stage from where it usually is. We got all set up, started practice, and some old biddy came out of the woodwork and basically ordered us out. There was no event going on in the room, they were just doing set-up for something scheduled for that evening. I hafta say I was livid. There was no reason her people couldn't have continued doing whatever they were doing (I should note that the room was already set up for the event, with the tables in place and set for the dinner). Man I wanted to throttle that woman. So, she ruined an hour's work by seven people so her precious ears wouldn't be offended by our devil music. We broke everything down and did a short practice up in the choir loft with the electronic drums, but the whole point was to do a practice with LIVE real drums to get our newer singers used to that. Grrr.

P.M.: The missus and I went to a charity event courtesy of the mag I write for (which was a sponsor). Lotsa rich folks, free beer and wine, and a GREAT dinner (filet mignon, turkey, pasta, mashed sweet potatoes, salads, desserts, cappucino, etc.). Really great evening.

SUN A.M.: Played the 11 o'clock service, went pretty well.

P.M.: Crash Pad practice, drummer MIA, still haven't figured out where he was or what happened; the other 3 of us practiced without him. Did our short set (upcoming show is a 6-band extravaganza) with especial emphasis on the new tune, "Hey Tayvon," which we now seem to have ready for it's official debut (I did play it in my solo set on Friday as a way of getting in some extra practice) at a big benefit this coming Sunday. Went home and the local rock station, which has since become an internet radio station, opened their 11 o'clock local music show with Crash Pad's "Make Haste Slowly."

All in all, despite a couple speed bumps, a great weekend. If I could just find my drummer.

[Brian Krashpad]

After I posted my novella above, my mag editor posted a pic of me from the charity thingie on Satuday:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/305551_435962023084245_229098263770623_1924693_100 2300655_n.jpg

[Eric]

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: Had some in-laws over for a party, bought some beer.

Sunday: Played two services on bass with the other team in church, both of which went pretty well overall. Got the green light to play guitar with them in two weeks, which is also pretty sweet. Went to a baptism service in the afternoon for one of our friends, then went out for a run afterward and subsequently negated all benefit of said run by eating pizza.

[Tig]

Mrs. T and I both took off the last week and a half. Mostly to host her mother in law from her previous marriage. Sounds strange, but my wife has known this wonderful woman since she was in her teens and has always been a second mom to her. After losing her own mom and then her husband, she got even closer to the mom in law.

Anyway, my wife hasn't seen her in 14 years, so we flew her in from Maggie Valley, NC, and set her up with a nice hotel suite (she's allergic to cats and dogs, so our house was off the list) for a week. She got to meet her 5 great grandchildren, catch up on family time, and see the local sights. It was a wonderful time for us all. Now, I have a second mom as well! She's a sweet, smart, and loving woman.

[Brian Krashpad]

Eric, sounds like the church gig is going well, congrats!

Tig, that's very cool of you to do such a sweet thing for your wife's second mom. Glad y'all had fun. YAY!

[Glacies]

This weekend was an experience. I finally finished up getting my tiny workshop in order for the band to move in. We were in the drummer's house, but his wife didn't really like us there and the kids bedtimes were tough to work around sometimes.

So we set up in my house. I'm happy about that because I can have a few drinks and obviously not worry about driving (I swear I play better that way), and the bass player lives like a mile away. Dummer set up his second set which is much smaller and much older than his main set which is like a 10pc Ludwig. His "portable" set is a 5pc Pearl that is like 40 years old and he beats the hell out of it...

So we finally finish setting up and we start working through a few songs. I was amazed at how good I have gotten since I last played with them. Just my speed and ease on the fretboard. Solos are so much more colorful now... was pretty proud. But we're in the middle of playing Basketcase by Greenday and 3 dudes I've never seen before in my life walk into my workshop, attached to my house. Like, strangers just let themselves into my house!

Well, he told me before we started playing that he might have some groupies show up. I thought he was joking, we always joke about drugs and women and stuff when we're actually all married, straightlaced guys working in the commercial nuclear industry. So I told him it was fine and made some joke about that they better flash me too or something. Well he was serious, some old friends from work, also nuke engineers busted in with a cooler of beer and hung out while we played a couple songs, cheered us on, took some video of us and really talked us up. Was kind of a fun, weirdly formed party over my house at 6pm on a Sunday night. I've never played for an audience before either, that was a blast.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i143/glacies_photos/457767_3513992182946_1666193202_2803461_2083856617 _o.jpg

[Eric]

^Sounds like fun.

As mentioned in this thread (http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/18418-Where-to-move), I moved my wife, my cat, and all of our stuff to Cleveland this weekend. Got the truck at 7:30 on Saturday, started loading at 8:00, closed the truck door around 9:30, hit the road at 10:30, got to Cleveland at 7:00, and finished unloading at 9:20. Returned the truck the next morning and hit the road back to Philadelphia at 12:30. Not much time to just sit around (other than in the car), but I'm very glad to have done that this weekend.

Also managed to get my AL-3100 and TM60 back in my grubby little hands as part of the move, so now I'm free to play again.

[Tig]

I hate moving, but you sure got it knocked out quickly, Eric. That has to be a load off of your shoulders.


Took Mrs. T to Sunday's game. 2nd row off of the 3rd base line. A rare Astros blanking of a really good Dodgers team, 12-zip.
Wandy Rodriguez was finally pitching at his potential, ending Matt Kemp's 10 game hitting streak.



Final
R
H
E


Dodgers
0
6
3


Astros
12
12
0




http://ph.cdn.photos.upi.com/sv/ph/UPI-29001306634456/90553d6e90b9e4b512aceb53f5532f43/Astros-Rodriguez-goes-on-disabled-list.jpg


We almost finished the big flower bed in the back yard Saturday. Laying down a few layers of newspaper before adding mulch helps prevent weeds from popping up.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7058/6960075368_4b0f18672d_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/6960075364_e61a1ff5e6_c.jpg

[Eric]

We almost finished the big flower bed in the back yard Saturday. Laying down a few layers of newspaper before adding mulch helps prevent weeds from popping up.
That's interesting. I've only ever seen that black fabric-y stuff when it comes to preventing weeds, but I like the idea of newspaper. I imagine that would just dissolve into the soil eventually.

[sunvalleylaw]

looks like some decent weekends! Glacies, that sounds like loads of fun! Eric, congrats on the safe move. Tig, nice looking garden! My wife typically does the flower beds. I am too ADD to do actual weeding and gardening. Mow and blow for me baby!

Friday - went for a quick MTB ride (first on dirt around here this year), then home, dinner, and watched "Lost" with the fam on netflix. We finished season 4 and started 5.

Saturday - got up early, drove the boys to Boise for soccer league play, and between games, bought my oldest son a good used bike.


(pictured here on the soccer pitch)
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w92/sunvalleylaw/IMG_0651.jpg


Sunday, hung around the house, did miscellaneous chores, and took the boys on a bike ride to test out Derek's new bike:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/522551_10150754203107086_565722085_9353838_1793772 693_n.jpg

You can see "Punchline", a new "flow" trail, in the background here. "Flow" trails have man prepared bank turns and jumps, table tops, whoopdedoos, etc. in them. We also warmed up on an gentle climbing single track, and another trail with some smaller jumps. My 6th grader Dane is on the left, my 8th grader Derek, with the new bike, is center, and his friend Ben.

Finished the night with dinner outside on the patio.

[Tig]

That's interesting. I've only ever seen that black fabric-y stuff when it comes to preventing weeds, but I like the idea of newspaper. I imagine that would just dissolve into the soil eventually.

Exactly!The paper breaks down without a trace. When we built the beds on existing grass, the newspaper went down first. Then, layers of old compost, newer green compost, and finally top soil and a bit of sand.

Recycling comes in many forms and uses I guess.

[Spudman]

Bicycled 30 miles Saturday night then 65 miles on Sunday. Took some pictures along the way. http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/srspud/Cycling/2012/

The view for 40 miles

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/srspud/Cycling/2012/IMGP2714.jpg

Just some nice scenery

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/srspud/Cycling/2012/IMGP2711.jpg

Flatted at 47 miles per hour
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/srspud/Cycling/2012/IMGP2725.jpg

[Tig]

Bicycled 30 miles Saturday night then 65 miles on Sunday. Took some pictures along the way. http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/srspud/Cycling/2012/

Flatted at 47 miles per hour


Awesome views! I'd be drooling the whole time... Until the flat!

[deeaa]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i9ip0L4j20I/T5aqXMfggGI/AAAAAAAAE_w/GH7VviUSUlE/s576/IMG_20120424_160149.jpg

Got the wife's tiny laptop upgraded to SSD age, some new RAM and win 7 pro.

Other than that, just waiting for the snow to melt...ground is peeking from underneath slowly and I'm helping it along by shoveling it of driveways and such...kids help too...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8XjXLxjzars/T5fUF3KzHRI/AAAAAAAAFAE/KvXSnKLzqEI/s576/IMG_20120421_122504.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mrd29k-cUuY/T5fVDL5BtJI/AAAAAAAAFAU/AQD_8aanqWo/s576/IMG_20120422_083307.jpg

[Brian Krashpad]

Fun weekends all round. Biking, gardening, and of course snow from Dee, haha! Congrats on the move Eric!

I had two gigs over the weekend, one with the church band and one with Crash Pad.

Separate thread w/tons o' pics here:

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/20220-double-gig-report-super-epic-photo-bomb-thread

[R_of_G]

Last night I played with a full band for the first time ever. My neighbor had a party for his wife's birthday. His band was playing throughout the night. They told me to go home and get my guitar and amp, so I did (not the longest of trips since I live right across the street).

I needed a few stiff drinks before I could subdue the anxiety about playing with guys that are way out my league, but I settled down and plugged in. They were about to do "Gimme Three Steps" so I told them that was fine with me. The lead guitarist ran through the changes for me quickly once and since, like most guys my age, I've heard the song 8,000 times, I was good to go. I thought it sounded pretty good and I kept time perfectly with the drummer and bass player.

Also, later in the night the singer had already gone home but the rest of the band was still there so they were either just playing their songs as instrumentals or various other party-goers would come up and sing whatever song they were playing. After a couple more stiff drinks, I agreed to sing "Comfortably Numb" with them. It actually turned out to be a duet with my wife who was far more capable of hitting Gilmour's notes than I was. I still can't really sing and play at the same time, but after the last verse when it gets to the long solo at the end I picked my guitar back up and jammed out on the ending with them for a few minutes. For one night at least, I felt like a rock star.

[Brian Krashpad]

A'ight! Way to go R of G! Careful, it's addicting!

Been cleaning Casa Krashpad all weekend. Leaving for ORL in about an hour. Will have dinner w/my daughter tonight. Tomorrow down to Miami, boarding ship and sailing at 4 p.m.

Jamaica Wednesday, Grand Cayman Thursday. Son is staying with a friend down the street for a couple nights, inlaws arrive to keep an eye on Wednesday. Will be off the grid all week. You kids play nice!

[Spudman]

Great story RoG.

Really windy here in Saturday so Sunday I did a 50 road ride on the bicycle. That's all.

[stingx]

Didn't so as much riding last year as I would have liked to. This season so far is off to a pretty good start. Took the bike out for a 90 mile run last week and about 160 this weekend. Sure wish it would warm up a bit more. Still was comfy though. I guess as long as it's not raining I shouldn't complain, right? LOL

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7201/7126307965_447230f8ab_b.jpg

[sunvalleylaw]

Great R_of_G! Pete, that bike looks really cool, but looks like a ***** to pick up if it ever tipped over.

This weekend was mostly around the house. Played some guitar and practiced. Got a mountain bike ride in. Spent most of today at work re-doing a project that somehow got lost in the computer, or not saved or something, and then moving kids around from room to room, taking beds apart and putting them together, hanging clothes pegs, etc. They will all have their own rooms now. Waiting for pizza to be delivered, and hopefully will have a chance to play a bit more tonight.

[Tig]

A very mundane weekend here. Did a bit of tree trimming and lawn watering. Watched a few baseball and hockey games. The Devils-Flyers game might have been the best NHL gave I've ever watched.

Each week, I feel more tired then the previous. I'm starting to wonder what's going on. :zzz

[Katastrophe]

Tig, any new stressors? Lack of guitar playing? Work? Kids? Bills? Sleeping well? Had a recent checkup with the doc? Any combination of those can do it for me, as far as feeling tired and fatigued. I put in a 15 hour shift last night on 2.5 hrs. sleep. I was dog tired by the time I got home.

It's near the end of the weekend, and I've got a test in about 13 hours for my operating systems class. I just can't get into the study material, though. It just ain't sinking in right now.

I'm dreaming about that punchy, Marshall JTM 45 tone, played through a Strat or a Tele. It's seriously occupying my thoughts. I gotta quit it!

[Glacies]

Saw a band on Friday night at a local bar. $10 for tickets, $60 for the beer... Wife and I didn't want the party to stop after it was over so we stayed up a few hours later listening to music and drinking. Saturday was SLOW, but got to watch the NYR win over the Caps. Sunday took care of a bunch of stuff around the house and yard. Then the band came over and we went through a couple songs. A coworker of ours had passed away that morning so we were all kind of bummed out and none of us really wanted to have fun playing but we did anyway. We videoed one song but my main camera was out of batteries so we recorded it on a crappy one. Sound is horrible but I put it on youtube anyway. Will post it once I get everyone's permission.

Tig, I don't know about you and Texas, but around this time of year my seasonal allergies make me feel so run down. If I get on zyrtec or anything it kills my energy level but cures my more annoying symptoms and I just end up feeling like a zombie for a month. Coming out of it only now.

[Eric]

Went out with some friends on Saturday for my first-ever karaoke night. It was fun, even if I have no vocal range. I was hoarse by the end. Thankfully most people sang on most songs, so you (or at least I) couldn't really hear how much I was howling.

Played guitar in church on Sunday, which was the first time playing in a band context since October or November, and really the first time I've seriously picked up a guitar within that time. Yikes was I bad in the first service -- just embarassing. It was a combination of rust and the yips, but I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Since it was the first time I had played at this church, I wanted to prove that I didn't suck, but I didn't exactly prove that. Anyway, live and learn; probably best to have a short-term memory. Second service was better on the basics, but my guitar wankery was a little less inspired.

This week while practicing for Sunday, I learned that the switch on my Agile doesn't reliably work on the bridge pickup. It works maybe 1 out of every 10 times I switch to that position, and sounds kind of static-y as I fiddle with it. Does that mean I should replace it, or is it just dirty or a loose wire or something?

This Thursday I'll be flying to Spain for a wedding of one of my wife's friends. That should be fun!

[Tig]

Maybe the 2+ years of working nights is catching up to me. Last week, we took in 2 lost dogs, which kept our dogs going nuts, which killed my "recovery" night of sleep. (The first night that I don't have to work, I sleep like a log for about 10 hours)
At least we got in touch with the owner the next day and the dogs made it home.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5349/7116431821_aa1837f41e.jpg

[Tig]

Oh, yeah, my allergies have been brutal. The headaches make it hard to think. :thwap

I've been watching the NY Rangers this year, and have enjoyed how good they've been playing. I normally don't watch NHL, but this year is different.

[Eric]

Maybe the 2+ years of working nights is catching up to me. Last week, we took in 2 lost dogs, which kept our dogs going nuts, which killed my "recovery" night of sleep. (The first night that I don't have to work, I sleep like a log for about 10 hours)
At least we got in touch with the owner the next day and the dogs made it home.
Working nights is tough. I was on third shift for about 4 months, alternating every 2 weeks at the end of last year, and I worked second shift for a year back in 2004-05. I felt like a zombie a lot of the time. Hang in there.

[R_of_G]

I put in a 15 hour shift last night on 2.5 hrs. sleep. I was dog tired by the time I got home.


I feel for you Kat. Last week I worked 12-14 hour days every day and averaged about 2-3.5 hours of sleep each night. It was a LONG week, followed immediately by driving 3.5 hours each way to see my parents and get back home in time for the party I mentioned upthread. Let's just say my Sunday involved a whole lot of doing nothing.

[Katastrophe]

Oh, yeah, my allergies have been brutal. The headaches make it hard to think. :thwap

I've been watching the NY Rangers this year, and have enjoyed how good they've been playing. I normally don't watch NHL, but this year is different.

Take care of yourself, man. Allergies suck. Royally.

@ R_of_G: Man, you put in some serious hours. The job I had before this one I put in that kind of time. I imagine it's no fun, especially with all that travel.

[Katastrophe]

Working nights is tough. I was on third shift for about 4 months, alternating every 2 weeks at the end of last year, and I worked second shift for a year back in 2004-05. I felt like a zombie a lot of the time. Hang in there.

Rotating shifts like that is hard on a person. After a while, you just get so scrambled that it's hard to get sleep at any time, day or night, even with blackout curtains.

[sunvalleylaw]

Hey, let's quit talking about the work week. It's bringing me down. This thread is supposed to be about the weekend man! (just kidding. Allergies suck. They make me feel tired too.)

[deeaa]

Ugh, long weekend. Loads of work. Suddenly snow is gone, just a few small patches in deepest shadows now, and the ice in the lake is gone too in large parts, only partial ice sheets here and there. Our shore is free for like 8 yards and then some ice to the middle of the bay. But in a few days it's boating time! Bought me a new boat trailer too so I can haul the boat to lakes far far away on other waterways. I could drive from our shore by waterways all the way to the Atlantic, but there's many other closed systems I want to boat on nearby & some 200 miles further up north.

Anyway...weekend...phew.

Friday after work I drove a hundred miles to drop off kids to granny, and met some friends and shot two cover videos in front of green screen, Muse's Uprising and Rush's Bastille day. Then I went to see my friend's family and then in the center watched the same friend's gig and worked as a lightning guy. It was simple, just six adjustable light sets and smoke machine, nice simple lighting desk too. So the main evening went well, only had like a sixpack before and during the show. Then we went to the nightclubs and I can hazily remember leaving around four in the morning but not how we got back to his place. Saturday I didn't dare drive until well in the afternoon and picked up this 1x12" speaker and met an old friend of mine too, talked shop about Cubase etc. and drove home and watched TV and vacuumed and did laundry and cleaned the whole house. It felt like 60 hours or so had passed since start of Friday by then.

Sunday we cleaned the entire yard of fallen leaves and twigs, made for a huge trailerful to take to the dump and went shopping in the new shopping center they just opened up last week. Sundays are by far the best days to do shopping but since not all stores are open, just the big ones, there's often a huge crowd too. Really dumb that so many shops are closed on Sundays. If I was a shop-owner I'd keep shut during Mon Tue Wed and instead open exactly on Sundays - there's nothing else for people to do than shop on Sundays after all! Then later I washed the cars, fences, street, cleaned the garage, worked the whole day.

Mon and Tue were off too, a looong nice weekend, so Monday morning I did quick melody test recordings of a nine-song album I promised to sing in a session later for this band I know nothing about but they wanted me to do a session for them and the music is very well done so I said hell yeah, despite I really don't have the time. But they did say later in the spring is fine :-) so I just kinda sang them thru and composed the vocal tracks for them, so I can start practicing the melodies in my head & get all nine sang pretty quickly when the time comes.

Then off to the cottage, and there I fell two medium sized trees and cut them into firewood and carried to the drying shed, also cleaned the yard there from all the muck amassed during winter and all kinds of small things like that. Granny brought the kids back to us and we BBQ'd aplenty. Yard work and chainsaw and axe wielding & carrying piles of wood for two straight days and lemme tell you my arms are killing me, despite we did find time to booze up a little and soak in the hottub somewhere there. And later some friends came by with their daughter and we visited a waterfall nearby and had some coffee and a little outing in the woods.

Man, I should pick up the guitar some day soon...but now I have like a dozen small cuts, burns and bruises in my fingers & they feel like a bunch of limp dicks basically. Couldn't play the guitar to save my life just now.

[R_of_G]

@ R_of_G: Man, you put in some serious hours. The job I had before this one I put in that kind of time. I imagine it's no fun, especially with all that travel.

The nature of this job (magazine publishing) pretty much makes it so that I'll have a week like that at the end of every two month production cycle. I wouldn't have normally scheduled a visit to my parents the day after all of that, but my aunt was in town from Chicago and she'd never met my daughter so I wanted to make that happen for my family.

[deeaa]

Another busy weekend.

Friday picked up the boys and drove straight to the cottage with the three of us; started warming stoves and the hot-tub, chopped up the wood for that. While the kids played I painted the sauna building's two sides to refresh the color. Carved a small wooden boat for them.

After bathing and dinner managed to write some 20 pages to finish off the first beta of my SciFi book dealing with transhumans & downed a sixpack while the kids slept. Hit the sack by midnight myself too. In the morning kids slept incredibly long, almost till seven so I got a good rest too. Cleaned up the cottage and yard, drove home by the afternoon. Went on a biking / shopping trip with the boys after dinner. Played a few hours of Orcs Must Die and destroyed another sixpack while at it (a very addictive tower defense type game) till midnight. Sunday morning woke early with the boys so the wife could sleep long, vacuumed the house, did the laundry and cleaned up the kid's room and then did some yard work to clear off the rest of the dead leaves. Stared to cut down the Hawthorn hedge that had grown to like 7 feet tall and realized I'd left both chainsaws at the cottage. Ended up sawing them down by hand, took most of the day and now my arms are t i r e d. Well surprisingly little so, but anyway no hopes for playing the guitar again any time soon. Sigh, been what 1,5 months now :-)

Now the kids are watching The Empire Strikes Back in HD while I'm pondering about warming up the sauna. Oh yeah also visited a neighbor who's practically rebuilding an old house right accross the street...made in the 20's but he's making it real nice, completely rebuilt and did the interiors already, looks like a modern flat basically inside already. Soon he only needs to put up a new roof and outer wall siding and it's done in a matter of weeks now. Which reminds me it's time to go buy some boards for a new terrace at the cottage I'd like to build if not the next, then the weekend after that. Will be something like 7" by 20" long and built around the bath barrel. If I get someone to help me with beer pay I figure it'll be a nice full day's job.

Hm, it's not even 4 pm yet so I might as well go paint the terrace fence white while the sauna warms up...

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iNQpgOiMp8w/T6ZmC2RfDaI/AAAAAAAAFCo/pjQYEgbMM18/s800/IMG_20120506_114816.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4mXK_NOHVwM/T6ZmGhK4KvI/AAAAAAAAFCw/SyeepkcNVKE/s800/IMG_20120504_134701.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QD46es4MPWo/T6ZmclzkSZI/AAAAAAAAFC4/45bG7YyAiAU/s800/IMG_20120504_145649.jpg

Snow is now all gone as you see, but at the cottage there's a bit of a flood going on...the jetty is some 8" underwater even. Should be like 12" above :-) but nothing to worry about. Soon the lakes will be ice-free too.

[Tig]

Yikes! Jackets, gloves, and ice in May? Um, no thanks. :nope
It has been in the upper 80's all week here. If anyone says "no thanks" to my weather, I'll join them in it! :agree

[deeaa]

Heheh...I remember some midsummers that there were still small patches of snow in the shadows here and there.

You get used to long winters, and the upside is he summer then feels extra special when it finally arrives, just perfectly at the very days work ends too, and light throughout the nights too for three months and you're free from work most of it. I could not work indoors in the summertime...already these last few weeks before the summer I feel like a a trapped animal when I'm working, super anxious to get out...can't wait...but it's only less than 3 weeks now!

But then, often, especially when it happens to be a very hot summer and in August it's still too hot to be outside except on a lake and the AC has to be on day and night, well, actually you start thinking winter will be very welcome. My wife's favorite season is even Autumn, because you get to wear proper clothes again and the breeze becomes fresh and cool and everything is red and yellow and so on.

[sunvalleylaw]

Deaa, where you live looks so much like where I grew up in Puget Sound, WA, but a bit colder.

For me, Soccer tournament weekend in Twin Falls. All weekend in Twin. I was glad to be there to see my boys, but am also really glad I don't live there.

Here are some pics (taken by another dad. Some good shots) of my younger son's second game yesterday in case you have interest. My son is in the first pic in the white "away" jersey. https://picasaweb.google.com/runjunkiephotos/U12SUFCCanyonRimGame1May52012

[deeaa]

Oh yeah, pretty much anywhere along the US/Canada border is very similar to here, especially where there are lots of lakes around. I get the idea the weather is much alike too, winters are more Canada style but summers while only 3 months are comparable to those in Upstate NY etc.

[Robert]

Our running club had our yearly race. I'm one of the organizers but I also ran it and placed first in 28:00 over 8km.

[Spudman]

Our running club had our yearly race. I'm one of the organizers but I also ran it and placed first in 28:00 over 8km.

Nice job, stud.:dude

[deeaa]

Ice is gone from the lakes!!!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g4v_w-9zgSY/T60VJnAJJQI/AAAAAAAAFDw/TENBlzbn000/s1087/IMG_20120511_114145.jpg

[R_of_G]

^^Beautiful picture Dee.

[Hampus]

Ice is gone from the lakes!!!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g4v_w-9zgSY/T60VJnAJJQI/AAAAAAAAFDw/TENBlzbn000/s1087/IMG_20120511_114145.jpg

Nice pic!

Down here all the trees are in full bloom.

Skickat från min GT-I9103 via Tapatalk 2

[deeaa]

Now that the ice is all gone & it went in just days instead of weeks, the water's risen like two feet over normal. The jetty is in clear & present danger as the water lifts it up from the bottom some...but otherwise no worries.

Spent the weekend at the cottage with the boys, driving back and forth to collect tools and materials - building this terrace in front of the sauna for easy access to the bath barrel etc.
I used the opportunity to learn how to make different building base supports, used three screw-in-the-soil big galvanized metal supports that were like 5 feet long and like 8" accross...screwed them into the softer sandier soil next to the bath barrel by using the prybar for leverage...still was hard to get them all in. Then I dug some holes about 4" deep i.e. below the freeze zone & the clay and put in a big slab of concrete building brick, onto which I bolted a thinner, adjustable galvanized support & poured concrete over...and the last ones I dug similar holes and sunk in these big almost pyramid shaped reinforced concrete supports that had a hole on top, for which I put a U-support made of - of course - galvanized metal.

That was largely all I managed to do in one weekend because I also had to launch the boat and mind the boys all the while & the usual cottage warming and sauna etc. but as you see now it's largely down to just simple carpentry and figuring out all the necessary supports and bolts. Using chemically through-treated outdoor wood & sturdy bolts to put it together so it'll last forever by all intents and purposes.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yHXJAlqIFPA/T7CFp-9-nqI/AAAAAAAAFEc/VbVKOtn-LO0/s1087/IMG_20120513_142926.jpg

[deeaa]

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--EhU87OcJfA/T7ZxKpv8MQI/AAAAAAAAFGY/oCmZHzfMcqM/s912/IMG_20120518_155103.jpg

Getting close to finishing it.

[Brian Krashpad]

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--EhU87OcJfA/T7ZxKpv8MQI/AAAAAAAAFGY/oCmZHzfMcqM/s912/IMG_20120518_155103.jpg

Getting close to finishing it.

Looks great Dee!

Drove down to Orlando and back today to take a car to daughter for the summer, in case she needs one for a job. Doesn't have one yet though.

Missed church band practice as a result.

Will play the service tomorrow morning for the first time in weeks as a result of going on the cruise, with weekend band shows on either side of that.

[Katastrophe]

Geez, Dee, you stay busy!

Spent today lounging in the pool with Baby Kat and Mrs. Kat. It was great to have some family time and share a few laughs. Mrs. Kat is cooking dinner (chicken n' rice, yum!), Baby Kat is playing, and I'm just enjoying hanging out with the family.

[Tig]

Nice work, Dee!

Dad came back in town from Mexico. Took him and my family to Froberg's Farm to pick a few buckets of strawberries and shop their produce market. Nothing beats fresh from the farm, pesticide free fruits and veggies. Mrs' T cooked up some fresh corn and sweet potatoes (used local honey instead of brown sugar, and yum!) to go with some chicken.

Sunday, the lack of sleep caught up with me and I became a useless blob of jelly all day. I can't remember feeling this tired and without energy in my life. Watched the Astros and the Phillies lose.

[deeaa]

Thanks Tig!

I had a nice weekend w/o the family who went to see some relatives. Finally had ample time to do some music work! Friday and Saturday I worked for like, I dunno, 16 hours altogether recording vocals. Nine songs for this band in a session first, almost 30 tracks counting all backings etc. and then came home and re-recorded Heaven & Hell for P-43 and two new songs for the same. Even played some guitar in the evening while drinking beer. Also watched a few films, played Mafia II on Xbox and drank plenty of beer. Then today I drove to the cottage and worked for 5 hours on the terrace - pretty much finished now. Then I ran out of screws and wood and drove back to town but since I was in good working mood I drove to a buddy's house I knew he'd be working on with renovating it and we built stairs for his basement together and ran some electric lines for a well. And then back home via some pizza and watched some horror. Some quality alone time long overdue.

It's crazy how summer came all of the sudden - just last week you wanted gloves when working outside, now it's 75F outside and for me that's almost too much. Need to drink all the time when working and clothes are wet with sweat. Everything is in bloom and crazy green. I need to find my shorts, likely won't be needing long trousers for the next couple of months at least. I have a feeling it'll be a hot summer and by the end of it I'll be anxious for the winter to come already. But for now, it sure feels nice to have the sun up.

And it IS up...now it's eight in the evening and it's still way high in the sky scorching away. In a few weeks it'll be hard to sleep without proper curtains as it'll be light as day all thru the nights. Now at least it still gets a little dim around midnight for a short while. Not dark but at least a little less light than on a rainy day.

Nice and even necessary for the psyche as it is to spend a few times all alone now and then I'm glad the family is coming back tomorrow. They're after all the only thing that really matters, and you only really remember it 100% when they go away for a while. But tonight I'll still enjoy some nice SciFi flick with volume on LOUD, not the kids-are-asleep-mode and drink more beer and smoke a few ciggies while I can ;-)

[Tig]

Friday evening, dinner with Dad, who is in town. Watched the NJ Devils take the NY Rangers.

Saturday was lazy and relaxed. Watched a few MLB games

Sunday at the greyhound races. Down about $45-$50. Just couldn't get a good line on the dogs. We usually do much better. Fun all the same.

Memorial Day was lazy part 2, but with some house work thrown in. Watched the first 6 Band of Brothers episodes, which I've always somehow missed in the past.

[Katastrophe]

On Sunday I dragged out the Strat, and Older Kid Kat and I did some work on a song she's writing... and I had a blast. We got the guitar and piano parts worked out, and a rough drum sequence started.

On Memorial Day we went to visit my in-laws (I hadn't been to their home in about two years, with my schedule being so wacky), and I stuffed myself silly on some great food. Had a rousing discussion of politics with my wife's stepdad, and watched Baby Kat run around like crazy.

Tig, Band of Brothers is an awesome series! It's appropriate to watch, too, on Memorial Day. Great acting, and the stories from the real people that were there are incredibly moving.

[Commodore 64]

Memorial Day, we hit the waters of Lake Erie for some walleye fishing.
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Cleve_Mem_Day.jpg

We had to get off the water early for a Memorial Day cookout, but we had a pretty decent cooler of fish.
http://www.lucky-cricket.com/files/Cleve_mem_Walleye.jpg

[deeaa]

Walleye, yeah...we know 'em by name of Zander over in Europe, or in many countries better still as pike-perch.

They say there's a lot of 'em in our lake but I've never caught any. Don't really know zilch about catching them though, all I ever tried was drive around the lake drinking beer and dragging a couple of lines with what locals said would be suitable lures. Came to a conclusion that by this method them fish will cost like $100 a pop if I ever catch any to start with :-)

It'd be nice to learn how to do it properly, I have a very suitable boat & lake and all, but, I dunno, never have the time and I really don't know if I have the patience. I can spend a few hours fishing if there's plenty of beer, but I dunno in a longer run. I rather just drive around the lakes for fun & buy the fish off some local fishermen I guess.

[Commodore 64]

I think zander over there get bigger than walleye over here. We troll for them, but you can also get them drifting,

[deeaa]

I dunno...those look pretty big to me :-)

[deeaa]

Yippee! Last working day for a while. Be back 11th August, when the summer is nigh over! Just have to endure some year end speeches and diploma giving etc. crap but by noon this should be a wrap and I'll head off to the cottage without having to worry when I'll be back in the city. Likely just a few days before I'll pop in the city again, but it's great to know I could just stay there for a few months straight if I really wanted to.

[Tig]

NASA's Johnson Space Center was somehow snubbed and did not receive one of the retired space shuttle orbiters, but managed to at least get a full scale mockup. It will be delivered via barge Friday, off loaded Saturday, and rolled to it's new home. My Dad lives down the street from the old loading dock that hasn't been used since the 70's, so we'll get a great view. There is actually a "Shuttlebration" to make the best of the occasion.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Shuttle-replica-set-to-pass-through-Kemah-on-3600924.php

Photos to follow, but here it is in route from KSC:
http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/13/27/74/2981633/3/628x471.jpg
It is actually welded to the barge for the voyage.

[deeaa]

He, that looks cool :-) you don't see a space shuttle sailing past every day :-)

It'd be funny to see someone who didn't know it was coming to watch it pass by.

I remember back in the 90's in this rock festival here, a big one with tens of thousands of people, Nirvana was playing while a ship passed. And the festival is right by this very narrow passage that ferries to Sweden take, and the stage is right by the passage. And these ships, they're not small but some of the biggest passenger ships ever, like 15 decks and a towering impossibly huge when they're right at a very low lying shore, feels like you could touch them and they absolutely look like they're plowing through grass because they fill the channel so neatly, towering next to the stage five times taller than the stage. Cobain and guys saw it suddenly come to their view and one by one they stopped playing, because they were so amazed at the sight. It was damn funny.

[Tig]

The Shuttle mockup arrived Friday. My Dad got a room at the nearby Hilton to watch from and hang out in.
It was a big celebration with education boothes, the all astronaut band, "Max Q" played (don't quit your space jobs, folks!), a fireworks display and other festivities.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7237/7330983710_ebf17599f4_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7217/7330983714_6463434574_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7220/7330945334_c2c94a2439_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7075/7330983704_3b435eaf10_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7330983722_6463434574_c.jpg

They had to trim and bend trees to get it to fit while making the 1 mile road journey.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7089/7330983716_2fb82b1b08_c.jpg

[Brian Krashpad]

The Shuttle mockup arrived Friday.

My son and I have been in the mockup. We went to KSC back when he was in Cub Scouts. We still have a signed photo of astronaut Tom Jones (not THAT Tom Jones) on our fridge.

Yesterday was really busy. First thing I bought an electric lawn mower off craigslist. Then practice at church. On the way home I bought a 1970 Aria bass, Matsumoku-made, for next to nothing, also from a craigslist ad:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/401809_10150944155413879_512618878_10021507_126525 2797_n.jpg

Then I mowed our front lawn, for the first time in forever.

After finishing that, I went and made a third cl purchase, at yet another location. Seller turned out to be a scene acquaintance of mine for many years. Bought a Crate B60 1x15 bass amp for $50!

This morning (Sunday) we gave the bass amp to our bassist from church. She's been playing for years and has never had her own amp. :socool
Songs went well, today was the first day on summer schedule, where we only have one service per Sunday (summer is slow in Gainesville since it's a college town and students and many others leave). So it was fairly packed, plus we were playing to the "early service people" unused to modern music. Surprisingly, we had a total of 4 songs, including the postlude. Fun day.

Came home and watched Mexico beat Brasil in football, then fell asleep and took a long nap. Now I've got "work" work to do!

[Tig]

Bought a Crate B60 1x15 bass amp for $50!
This morning (Sunday) we gave the bass amp to our bassist from church. She's been playing for years and has never had her own amp. :socool

Cool mojo points for doing this. It keeps music alive and well, too. :dude

[Brian Krashpad]

Cool mojo points for doing this. It keeps music alive and well, too. :dude

Thanks, it was a "pay it forward" thing for me, since these same kids gave me my Casino a month ago.