The weekend Thread

[Duffy]

You're a good man Tig.

[Tig***]

You're a good man Tig.

Nah, just doing what should be done.

If it was a Fullerton, CA cop, I might have kept driving!

[Brian Krashpad]

Good onya Tig.

Krash, I can really respect what you are doing in that church service band. That sounds really genuine. It is always best to be your true self, as much so as you can be under any given circumstances. We probably all sell ourselves short in this sense without even knowing it. Glad you put your true self out there intentionally.

What were you talking about with your SCXD and the two by twelve? Did you just unplug the internal speaker from the jack on the back and plug in the speaker cable for the two by twelve? I wonder if I can plug my 16ohm four by twelve into the jack without hurting anything. It says 8ohms but some amps say "minimum 8ohms". Do you know if doing this would hurt the SCXD?

What I have heard is that going higher (as you describe) is OK, but going lower is problematic. I would ask around more before doing it however. I honestly don't know much about the tech side. What I did was just disconnect the stock speaker and connect my 2x12. I have also lined out from the SC XD into a second amp, and from there into the 2x12.


Friday: work, followed by skipping a First Things First (church band) practice for an upcoming concert at another church, ostensibly to pack up for trip to Orlando. Was too tired to get much done though.

Saturday: packed up 2 vehicles and moved daughter Hannah Beth (our eldest) into her dorm room in college down at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. After moving in, went grocery shopping for her since she's not on the meal plan and is not bringing a car. Long very hot day. Here's a stock shot of her dorms. Everything there looks like it's part of "Downtown Disney:"



Sunday: bought daughter a microwave since none of her roommates had brought one, did a little more grocery shopping for a few forgotten items, drove back to Gainesville. Her mom cried. Got home to find our son's (who'd stayed behind at a friend's) bike had been stolen. Sigh.

Monday was first day of uni for daughter, of high school for son, and new job teaching first grade for my wife, who lost her old job due to budget cuts. She's exhausted from switching from teaching adults for 21 years to teaching first grade, but at least everyone's "first day at school" went well. And Crash Pad practice went fecking GREAT last night, broken string on my WildKat notwithstanding. I have a radio interview about the upcoming Crash Pad show tonight; show should be pretty high profile do since it's on the Downtown Bo Diddley Plaza on the Sunday after the first UF home football game, on Labor Day Eve.

[Eric***]

Lots going on in your world, Krash. Glad to hear that most of it is going well.

My weekend was pretty slow, as has been the case recently. I quit my 'band' (two old ladies and me on acoustic) last Thursday, since I was miserable and I thought it sounded crappy, so I'm looking for something new now. I'm not even totally sure what my ideal situation would be at this point, but I'm just feeling around, seeing if anything materializes. I bought one of those digital converter boxes for the TV on Saturday and got some rabbit ears to use as an antenna, mainly so that I can watch football this fall. Bought some beer on Saturday, and mostly just took it easy and futzed around the house.

Our house is on the market these days, so we're not really starting anything too big as we could be moving at any point. It's kind of a difficult, temporary way to live, but we're always anticipating something in our lives, so it's just the thing that's pending right now. I figure God will answer somehow. Until then, it's kind of pick-and-choose as far as stuff to do, since neither my wife nor I are too entrenched in anything right now.

[Brian Krashpad]

Good luck on finding a new band/music sitch and your home sale, Eric!

[R_of_G]

Best of luck with the home sale Eric.
Not sure what the market is like up where you are but I hope you guys get a fair price for your home.

[Eric***]

Thanks, folks. The market here blows, but hopefully I won't lose my shirt too much on this sale. It's not going to net a huge profit, that's for sure.

[Tig***]

Thanks, folks. The market here blows, but hopefully I won't lose my shirt too much on this sale. It's not going to net a huge profit, that's for sure.

The main thing is to make the house desirable by removing any clutter, as well as "de-personalizing" the place so that potential buyers can imagine their crap in each room instead of yours. I guess I have picked up on a few things from Mrs. Tig's fascination with HGTV.

[Eric***]

as well as "de-personalizing" the place so that potential buyers can imagine their crap in each room instead of yours.

That's a good tip -- we've already done the de-cluttering, but I'll try the depersonalizing thing too. Thanks.

[R_of_G]

The main thing is to make the house desirable by removing any clutter, as well as "de-personalizing" the place so that potential buyers can imagine their crap in each room instead of yours. I guess I have picked up on a few things from Mrs. Tig's fascination with HGTV.

Yeah, I didn't know what "staging" was either until we were buying a house last year and my wife made me watch those HGTV shows.

[Brian Krashpad]

Fecked up my van in a fender bender, my fault, careless driving ticket, $300 in towing charges, insurance will go up, plus damage to my vehicle not covered because it was oldest we had and couldn't afford collision coverage.

Great way to start a weekend.

Sunday was good though. Played with First Things First thrice in one day, at 11 o'clock service, then BBQ thereafter, then at a concert at another church at 6 p.m. I was at church (two actually) all day. I needed it.

Speaking of FtF (since I'd rather pretend Friday/Saturday didn't happen), we got t-shirts for our performance at the concert at the other church, black t-shirts with a logo I made:



My brother, who's a graphic artist, subsequently whipped up this:



Which is pretty bosstastic.

I'd never taken any pics of my church rig or where we play in church, and on Sunday one of the kids snapped me hiding during a choir number (we're cramped for space when the choir's up there, and it was easier to just remain in place than put up my guitar and find a place to stand in the back). My little SC XD is to the left, with my guitar rack (on loan to church) in back of me:



Lastly (re Sunday anyhow), FtF actually did a Crash Pad song at the concert last night. It's always been one of my most spiritual songs, so I just changed literally like 5 words to make it more explicitly so. And I sang lead! Egad, in a church. They actually seemed to like it though. Afterward one of the guitarists from the other band we played with came up and goes "You listen to much Johnny Rotten?" Which pretty much nailed my "vocal stylings," without any swearing of course.



This weekend I have a BIG show with Crash Pad on the Downtown Bo Diddley Plaza:



Tonight an interview I did about the show will be on the radio, and on Friday, there'll be a piece in the paper about it, with this photo my son took:



So, things are looking up (if you'll pardon the unintended pun with the photo above).

[marnold***]

In this order:
1) Sorry you had to live up to your pseudonym, Krash.
2) Very cool logo
3) Even better guitar face

I suppose I should mention what I did last weekend (as in the 19th-21st). I dropped my son off at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown. It's one of our Synod's high schools for training future pastors and teachers. He wants to be a pastor like the old man. I saw a lot of people I went to school with there. My wife and I went to the Synod's prep schools as well, so we knew what the whole dorm thing would be like. We are paying a small fortune in tuition right now, but I can't think of a better investment.

On Saturday the 27th I helped staff our County Fair booth, capping off the night with a delicious carny-made funnel cake. I know that it's death on a plate but since I only have one per year I think I'm OK. 13 hours in the booth is, well, a long time, but definitely worth it. I didn't see the one guy who had come to every previous fair I've attended who looks like a short, very old Elvis.

Today I committed random acts of car repair by replacing the brake light on our van. That's about all the mechanic work I can reasonably handle. Tonight I'm getting together with my homebrew club (of which I am President) to thank the people who volunteered for a brewfest to support the local train museum. Tomorrow night is my FFL draft. Friday I'm trekking down to Watertown to bring my son home for the Labor Day weekend. Somewhere along the line I'm hoping to take my wife out to dinner. Thursday marks our 15th anniversary.

[Brian Krashpad]

In this order:
1) Sorry you had to live up to your pseudonym, Krash.
2) Very cool logo
3) Even better guitar face

#1 yeah, I and the insurance investigator had quite the laugh about it when I gave her my e-mail address-- it's bkrashpad@yahoo.com

#2 thanks, I think the T as a cross in the center works pretty well. The two F's, one reversed, are kinda like those little wings that were on so many rock band logos in the '80's (like Van Halen's, irrc)

#3 subtitled: old man cancer survivor with one salivary gland gasps for air

Best wishes to your son and good onya for the county fair work. I know what you mean about car repairs, I'm the same way. Which does not bode well for the fate of the Rockmobile.

[Eric***]

Slow weekend around here. I've taken some of the input from you guys, and we've staged the house even more than it was, depersonalizing it and getting a storage unit to reduce clutter. This weekend we started on our increased decluttering/depersonalizing mission.

It's really amazing to me just how much stuff one can accumulate when you have room to store it. I think my wife and I are both pretty low on the packrat scale, but as I sift through bins and boxes, it blows my mind how much unneeded stuff we have. Possibly even more amazing is how difficult it is to get rid of the stuff, even when you know you probably won't use it.

Other than that, it was mostly a survive-Irene weekend, which ended up being easier than we thought it would be. There were some downed branches here or there as we drove around yesterday, but nothing too bad.

[Brian Krashpad]

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:

[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.