The weekend Thread

[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):



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



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:



Rawk!

[Tig***]

Rawk!

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

[Brian Krashpad]

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

Haha, touche'!

[deeaa*]

Not very xmasy weather round here:

http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/Noin+170000...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


My goofy son, being, well... goofy


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


Grandson in his new Mexican wrestling mack my son gave him, opening up a new game

[Brian Krashpad]

^Luchador!

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



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...

[Brian Krashpad]

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

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.



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.



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.



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:



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.



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.