The weekend Thread

[Eric***]

Had to stay awake to take an EEG test...luckily just 24 hours. I did try to get some sleep during the day after the test, but no way...tired as I am, better wait till ten at night before trying. Otherwise I'll spoil my sleep rhythms.

I feel you. I had to take a few EEGs back when I was younger, and at least one of them was the sleep-deprived kind. However, I gave in and zonked out as soon as the test was over.

You're nuts for staying up afterward, though I see your point about the schedule.

[Brian Krashpad]

Dee, I hope and pray that your Mom's situation gets sorted eventually.

Here's my weekend.

Saturday:

In the morning we continued the clean-up at Casa Krashpad because my parents are coming next week. Aournd 1 p.m. we took a break and went to an arts fest downtown. My friends who had played a few weeks ago asked me to come up and sing/play mandolin on their last song again, but we got there after their set started so I didn't have a chance to check in with them about it. I just sat in the crowd and figured that if they saw me, they could call me up, but I didn't want to throw them off their rhythm otherwise.

They didn't see me, so I didn't play with them. No biggie. My son and I wandered around the fest with a friend of mine we bumped into, who asked me if I might write local music reviews for a new magazine his publisher is starting up. After he left, my son got tired, so we sat and rested. A blues band was playing about a block away, and I managed to figure out 1-4-5 progressions on the mandolin and play along with their music. That was fun even though I didn't really know what chords I was playing and whatnot.

We went home and watched the Gators finish their season by beating their last SEC foe, South Carolina, headed by our former coach Steve Spurrier. The Evil Genius had some tricks up his sleeve, including a successful fake punt, but the mighty Gators were too much for SC. Yay!

After the game, or towards the end, I took my son Jack to a friend's for a sleep-over. Then I hung out at home with the girls and went to bed. Unfortunately, my wife roused me at about 11:30 and said our daughter was having a really bad migraine, so she took her to the emergency room and got her some different meds, and an IV. They also did a cat scan. They didn't get back until almost 3:00 a.m.

Sunday:

I had to get up early for church, which obviously the girls were skipping (my wife had already planned to skip in favor of a brunch with friends, previous to the whole hospital trip anyhow). We only had 2 songs, I played both on my Hamer Special:



Backup was my LP Studio DC:



After the sermon, I skipped out early to go pick my son Jack from the sleepover, at which he had in fact not got any sleep. He fell asleep in the van going back to church. He had lunch and then a practice for the Boar's Head Christmas pageant, and I explained why my daughter Hannah (who plays Mary, as she did last year) was not there. We got back to Casa Krashpad at almost 4 in the afternoon.

My wife and daughter, who was back to herself, then went to one of my wife's student's Vietnamese wedding. I stayed home with Jack and did homework and watched TV.

[bigoldron]

Friday night we just hung around the house and rented a movie. Disney's "Up". Overall not bad, but way too sad for a kid's movie, in my opinion. Our football team had gone to play in the 1st round of state playoffs and lost by 1 TD. I was told there were SEVERAL bad, if not flat wrong, calls. Two TD's by us for called back for supposedly bogus calls. Oh well, there's always next year...

Saturday we slept in. Got up later than normal ("later" for me is 8:30...) and got ready to go to our Church Associational Youth Rally at 3:00. It was at a town 25 miles away. Our youth band played first. Did 5 songs and did a really good job. Way better than the second group. The third group was good, but is more of a mellower classic rock sounding band. The kind you like to just sit back and listen to. Not jump around like a goofball... Anyway, the overall rally was kind of flat. The crowd wasn't very large, the second band bit the big one and everyone was bored by the time the 3rd band finished. The pastor gave a 40 minute long, 10 minute sermon, which further put a damper on the overall spirit of the event. Youth rallies are supposed to be "UP" and "Uplifting", not boring... Oh well.

Sunday morning, my kids played 2 songs in the morning service (in "Big Church" as we jokingly call it) and did a GREAT JOB! I am proud of my kids. They bless me every time I'm around them. Had practice later that afternoon and Sunday night service. That's pretty much it....

[deeaa*]

Hey,

Would you believe it, guys, I actually went to church today. That was due to my son is in a day club arranged by the church and they sang there.

It was not an ordinary thing I guess, there were the normal lutheran mass bits, but also 3 songs performed by a 40+ youth choir.

Other than that, it went pretty normal I guess. The priestess first went thru the mass things and then the assistant priestess - or actually, what do you call them in English? Reverendresses? I have no idea - anyway, led the choirs. It was a lot less gloomy than I remember them to usually be.

Then the head bishop also came along - I know him pretty well since I was a kid, he was always taking us to camps etc and he also christened our firstborn - and he said a few words and it was over.

I felt a bit out of place in my band shirt and I thought if any of them knew I wasn't a member & an atheist, but it was quite interesting. I guess I won't mind if my kid wants to go to those again :-)

[Brian Krashpad]

Hey Dee, it's good to hear you had a good experience with church. I don't know about Lutherans in Finland, but over here some have a reputation for a certain "standoffishness." Drives Mrs. K downright batty some times.

American Lutherans call lady priests priests. Some denominations here use "pastor" or "minister" or "reverend," also. In English "priestess" has a bit of an Ishtar/Ashtaroth ring to it, so Christians don't use that word to reference our lady clergy.

Saturday:

Praise band practice at church, my daughter subbing on bass again, yay! Then outside for Gator game parking lot duty. Glorious weather, perfect. Back home for more cleaning.

Sunday:

Church rocked yesterday. We actually clapped. Not applause, clapping to a part of one song where all the instruments except drums dropped out and everyone sang a capella for a chorus. Then a pick slide down into a half-step modulation for a last chorus. Clapping and a pick slide. Who'da thunk it!

Hannah did fine on bass too, and I played my hundred dollar Esteban acoustic-electric as well; and banjo on one song.

Then back home for more cleaning. 'Rents showed up several HOURS earlier than expected, haha. Had dinner with them and watched TV, including the end of the MLS Cup, which was pretty dramatic.

[Eric***]

Church rocked yesterday. We actually clapped. Not applause, clapping to a part of one song where all the instruments except drums dropped out and everyone sang a capella for a chorus. Then a pick slide down into a half-step modulation for a last chorus. Clapping and a pick slide. Who'da thunk it!

Man, your church sounds like the one I used to go to.

I finally felt it was time to move, and the place I've been going for about a year and a half is SO much different. Everyone is really into the songs, the musicianship is on a pretty high level, and they love volume and dirt. Everyone really uses the music to worship instead of just tolerating it.

I hope the clapping was a sign of things to come. Music can be a really powerful conduit to God if you let it be.

[Brian Krashpad]

Man, your church sounds like the one I used to go to.

I finally felt it was time to move, and the place I've been going for about a year and a half is SO much different. Everyone is really into the songs, the musicianship is on a pretty high level, and they love volume and dirt. Everyone really uses the music to worship instead of just tolerating it.

I hope the clapping was a sign of things to come. Music can be a really powerful conduit to God if you let it be.

I've taken it on as my little mission. We did 5 songs yesterday, but there's no real reason we couldn't do the whole service. From what the other guitarist (who goes direct into the church PA) said after the service, the organist/Music Director was interfering again, and turned down the PA in the middle of the service, because at the end of the service my son said he couldn't hear my acoustic-electric (which is not in the PA) well, while the other guitarist said that from where he was onstage, that was ALL he could hear, and that he couldn't even hear the lead vocalist/praise band director singing. So it looks like the MD is meddling again. I stay out of the PA so he can't turn me down, the bass runs through my rig also, as does my acoustic-electric and/or mandolin. If the MD messes with the PA, it messes everything up. Part of the problem is no decent monitors.

The vicar really liked it, and a bunch of people gave us compliments, so we'll take it one day at a time.

[Eric***]

I've taken it on as my little mission. We did 5 songs yesterday, but there's no real reason we couldn't do the whole service. From what the other guitarist (who goes direct into the church PA) said after the service, the organist/Music Director was interfering again, and turned down the PA in the middle of the service, because at the end of the service my son said he couldn't hear my acoustic-electric (which is not in the PA) well, while the other guitarist said that from where he was onstage, that was ALL he could hear, and that he couldn't even hear the lead vocalist/praise band director singing. So it looks like the MD is meddling again. I stay out of the PA so he can't turn me down, the bass runs through my rig also, as does my acoustic-electric and/or mandolin. If the MD messes with the PA, it messes everything up. Part of the problem is no decent monitors.

The messed up part of that is that it's the music director! It's one thing if somebody completely uneducated about sound goes to the booth and presses buttons (as has happened before in my experience), but you would hope the overseer of the whole thing would realize how that's going to affect things...

Keep working on it, and keep praying about the whole thing.

[Brian Krashpad]

The messed up part of that is that it's the music director! It's one thing if somebody completely uneducated about sound goes to the booth and presses buttons (as has happened before in my experience), but you would hope the overseer of the whole thing would realize how that's going to affect things...

Keep working on it, and keep praying about the whole thing.

Thanks.

He's a gifted musician and organist, vocal choir director, and bell choir director, but he's out of his element with modern live music. I could just about guarantee that he's never (willingly) heard modern "rock/pop" music played live, outside of church. And what he's heard in our church he frequently tries to turn down.

I'm relatively certain he's more than a little ticked off about me not being in the PA mix, but when he started pulling that stuff (unfortunately the board is in the choir loft), I made sure that nothing I was playing was going to be at his mercy. Although frankly playing direct usually sounds like poo, anyhow, so I wouldn't have wanted to do that to begin with; his shenanagins sealed the deal on that'un.

[bigoldron]

Thanks.

He's a gifted musician and organist, vocal choir director, and bell choir director, but he's out of his element with modern live music. I could just about guarantee that he's never (willingly) heard modern "rock/pop" music played live, outside of church. And what he's heard in our church he frequently tries to turn down.

I'm relatively certain he's more than a little ticked off about me not being in the PA mix, but when he started pulling that stuff (unfortunately the board is in the choir loft), I made sure that nothing I was playing was going to be at his mercy. Although frankly playing direct usually sounds like poo, anyhow, so I wouldn't have wanted to do that to begin with; his shenanagins sealed the deal on that'un.

I'm blessed with a music minister who enjoys the music but is a little clueless on mixing sound, so he doesn't mess with it. What we do have to put up with is the sound guy who is a henchman for the leader of the "dissension" group - a minority, but very vocal group who think we should be behaving like they did it the 50's and 60's. They're causing a lot of turmoil and will probably keep on till the church either hushes them up or causes a split. Anyway, the sound guy doesn't like it loud, so he takes every opportunity to turn us down that he can.

On the 15th, the youth band played 2 songs and we intentionally didn't play loud because we didn't want to offend. We practiced right before church, so the leader of that group heard us. Of course, his comments were "Why do ya'll like it so loud. They're holding their ears back here." I said, "because they're kids and they like it that way." and walked away. After church, one of the even older members came and raved over the good job the kids did. Go figure....

[Brian Krashpad]

I'm blessed with a music minister who enjoys the music but is a little clueless on mixing sound, so he doesn't mess with it. What we do have to put up with is the sound guy who is a henchman for the leader of the "dissension" group - a minority, but very vocal group who think we should be behaving like they did it the 50's and 60's. They're causing a lot of turmoil and will probably keep on till the church either hushes them up or causes a split. Anyway, the sound guy doesn't like it loud, so he takes every opportunity to turn us down that he can.

On the 15th, the youth band played 2 songs and we intentionally didn't play loud because we didn't want to offend. We practiced right before church, so the leader of that group heard us. Of course, his comments were "Why do ya'll like it so loud. They're holding their ears back here." I said, "because they're kids and they like it that way." and walked away. After church, one of the even older members came and raved over the good job the kids did. Go figure....

Man, Ron, that sounds so familiar. I'll pray for y'all.

Last night the kids had a lock-in. They're letting them sleep in this morning and waking them up around noonish for the last Gator game parking lot detail. I'll go in for band practice and stay for parking.

[sunvalleylaw]

Ok, back in town a couple hours ago. We had a nice Thanksgiving, entertaining at home, with lots of guitar playing during the day. Then Friday, we went down to Salt Lake City to enjoy the holiday sights and do a little holiday shopping. We stayed at the Grand America Hotel, owned by the same owners as Sun Valley, where I was enjoying my R&R SV benefit for loyal employment before it expired in a week or so after I held on to it for almost five years. I earned it for five years, and my 10 year hiring anniversary is in a few weeks.

I am attaching the chords that Joshua Payne, a jazz trio player, gave me for his trio arrangement of Christmastime is Here, in F, instead of in E as the other example posted in another thread. His trio was playing at the Sunday Brunch we attended. Yum! Amazing brunch, and nice jazz. Just posting The arrangement because I thought it was cool he took time to write it out. I went and chatted the trio up at a break, as I was enjoying it so much. A nice sounding arrangement. The stand up bass player carried the bass lines, so Joshua said this might sound spare on solo guitar. Nonetheless, I love jazzy chords, and think they sound great in holiday tunes. He was playing a 1947 Epiphone Emperor (hollowbody archtop) though a little acoustic/pa amp. Kind of a trapeze style tail piece and some vintage, D'Armond (sp?) pickup, that looked kind like a clip on with a light of some kind on it. Both the top, and jumbo back quite arched, and finished essentially clear, that has yellowed with the years to a honey amber. I bet it is worth a bunch. Sounded warm and nice. I thought he could bring himself up a tad in the mix, but . . . ;-)

It was a nice weekend. I was not impressed with SLC guitar shops, sad to say. Though I did pick up some picks for my daughter, and a set of strings for my Martin at a pretty nice acoustic shop.

[Brian Krashpad]

I can't read his writing, but the first (left-hand) chord in the second line is marked as a B-something-or-other, but looks like a D minor to me (open A min played at 5th fret)?

[sunvalleylaw]

The first chord is Fmaj7, going to a Eb9#11, then the next line goes with a Bdim7, as I interpret the empty set symbol. I am going to confirm a few things with him, then do a different thread on the song. I am going to ask Jim Pfeiffer's help too, as he does a beautiful version you can find on his soundclick page.

I was just giving thanks as I dropped the kids at school for the nice, relaxing weekend, using my R&R beni. We were really pampered by my side job company, and we have had such a busy summer and fall, we were sure ready. Made me feel human again, and ready to face the challenges of the week!

[Brian Krashpad]

On Sunday, but more about that later.

Friday

Finally got new carpet installed on the stairs and the upstairs. The old carpet was like 25 years old. We'd replaced the downstairs carpet years ago, and then eventually replaced that with laminate flooring we installed, so this was overdue. Friday night spent toting things back upstairs.

Saturday

Praise band practice at church in the morning. My daughter has gone from being the substitute bassist to the every-week bassist, and the former bassist is now playing acoustic guitar. The former bassist also plays trombone, which she played on a couple songs. I played electric on 4 songs, and one song each on banjo and mandolin. The pianist/bandleader has also brought in his synth keyboard in addition to the piano. So now the line-up is:
Bassist (my daughter), Electric guitar/mando/banjo (me), Singer/Electric guitarist, Singer/keyboard, Acoustic guitarist/trombonist, Drummer/percussionist, and occasional flautist.

Saturday afternoon was more toting stuff upstairs and picking up. Watched the first half of the Gator game and then took the kids to a restaurant to watch the second half, so my wife could have the house for a dinner party with her gal friends. My son, 12, was pretty heartbroken when the Gators lost. After dinner, we went to the mall for awhile. My son bought a video game with his allowance so that put him in a better mood. Then we went to an ice cream shop a couple miles from the mall, then finally home.

Sunday

This was the day of my new personal record. For playing in bands in one day.

Church service at 11 with run-through at 9:30. Songs went fairly smoothly, other than having to tweak a guitar mid-song due to some tuning issues at one point.

So, that was band #1.

After breaking down my gear and hauling it and myself and my daughter home, had some lunch, then went back into town at 2 p.m. to meet up with a new band, at least new to me, called Cinnamon Hill. Mellow sort of folk-based music, mostly originals. These guys are scary good. 3 part harmonies all over the place, transposing songs and using numbers instead of chords, that sort of thing. Since I was playing mandolin, which is basically my third instrument, I was definitely over my head, but still I think I played pretty well. For a couple songs where I didn't know some of the mando chords, I just worked out a little recurring single-note lead line on the fly instead. I also played my beater Yammy 12-string on a few songs, and as usual that old thing sounded great. The band line-up, in addition to me playing along on mando or 12-string, was an acoustic guitarist/singer, a keyboardist/singer, a female singer, and a bassist. They also have a percussionist, but he had a work conflict. They also mentioned an electric guitarist, but I'm not sure what his status with them is.

So, that was band #2.

Went directly from the Cinnamon Hill practice (at their keyboardist's house) over to my office. Next up, a Crash Pad practice. Our rhythm guitarist couldn't make it, so we played as a trio. Me on guitar/vocals, our drummer, and our new bassist, who is in fact a former Crash Pad drummer from a few years ago. (This is a perfect example of why it's good to stay on good terms with former bandmates if possible.) Anyhow, that went well also, the new/old guy did good, a few flubs as he's still working out parts, but basically fine.

So, that was band #3.

Last, we had a practice, following the Crash Pad practice, of Hoyt and the Hotheads. In that band I currently play bass. The drummer is the same drummer from Crash Pad, so we were already there. Hoyt, the lead singer/rhythm guitarist arrived, and we started as a trio. Later, our erstwhile lead guitarist (he has come and "jammed" with us at a number of practices but has never played a show with us) Mike showed up, so we finished as a 4-piece.

So, that was band #4.

And how was your weekend?

PS-- the Cinnamon Hill peeps later asked me back to their next practice so that seems like a good sign.

[street music]

These are from Friday while I was out, I had my camera out for the first time in awhile.
[G]
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1260622238
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1260622293
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1260622339

[street music]

Someone tell me what I'm doing wrong , I have these up on photobucket?

[Brian Krashpad]

These are from Friday while I was out, I had my camera out for the first time in awhile.
[IMG]<a href="http://s944.photobucket.com/albums/ad287/1musicstreet/?action=view&current=NathansDecemberpictures09014. jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad287/1musicstreet/NathansDecemberpictures09014.jpg" border="0" alt="water fall close up"></a>[/IMG]
<a href="http://s944.photobucket.com/albums/ad287/1musicstreet/?action=view&current=NathansDecemberpictures09015. jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad287/1musicstreet/NathansDecemberpictures09015.jpg" border="0" alt="u-turn closeup 2"></a>
[IMG]<a href="http://s944.photobucket.com/albums/ad287/1musicstreet/?action=view&current=NathansDecemberpictures09022. jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad287/1musicstreet/NathansDecemberpictures09022.jpg" border="0" alt="Beaver dam"></a>[/IMG]

I think you may be linking to the page the pics are on, rather than the pic itself. Or maybe using an html tag instead of an IMG tage.

Got to photobucket and open the album that the pics are in. There should be little thumbnail pics of all the pics in the album. As you mouse over the one you want to post, a little pull-down menu should appear under it. At the bottom of the pull-down menu, it should say "IMG code." Copy the tag in the little box next to IMG code, then paste that code into your message here.

[street music]

Ok, I might have the hang of this I edited pictures above but I'll add a couple more

and this one


and my little guard cat