Dog Food

Posted 08:45 PST Fri Mar 21, 2008 in

I don’t know if it’s true or not, but the embedded video is purportedly by Tom Waits — an odd, eclectic musician who’s quite fascinating. Enjoy.



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Movies and Music

Posted 08:00 PST Sun Jan 13, 2008 in

Raising SandWhen this posts, I’ll be en route to DC for a set of meetings. It’s been an interesting week, all right. But, I spent some time on myself this weekend, watching a few movies and messing around. This album found its way to my iPod for the trip. Wife bought this recording would be good for me because my taste is so eclectic. (She’s pretty proud of herself too.)

It’s good. I’m listening to it as I write this Saturday evening. I’ll pack in a few minutes, which won’t be hard, and hit the rack fairly early. The aircraft leaves RNO at 0730, so I’ll have to be on the road north by 0530. I’ll listen to this on the way and probably write some as well. I still have to throw together a presentation for Monday afternoon, but I’ll get it done. It’s only a twenty-minute talk and I could probably wing this one. It’s familiar material. But, I won’t.

I had four movies from Netflix and watched them all over the last couple of days. I need to revisit my queue and reorder it. Lady in the Water was panned by the critics, as I recall. But, I ordered a copy anyway because what do the critics know? I was pleasantly surprised, as I often am by Shyamalan’s films. The movie is deeply emotional, even if it is a fairy tale. He has a knowledge of the human emotional condition that is amazing and is able to construct stories that work at a deep emotional level.

Or, perhaps you have to be a raving romantic to get his material. I always find things there that surprise me — not in the horror sense, although he has a knack for the deeply horrifying as well. No, he manages to draw me in to his stories and reach me on a emotional level. It’s good and his stories remind me of good things.

I watched 20 Million Miles to Earth, which is a late 50’s SciFi movie. Harryhausen was a genius for special effects and it shows. While the movie is dated in many ways, and the cold-war references are too clear, it was still entertaining to watch.

It was a good day and I’m thankful for it. I pray for safe travels this week and hope to be home Thursday evening.

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Scott Faris

Posted 08:00 PST Mon Sep 3, 2007 in

ScottI good friend of mine and one of the best guitar players I’ve ever known now has a new web site. Over the nearly fourteen years I knew Scott, he was forever the upbeat, positive individual I’ve tried to be. I had the pleasure of watching him grow over the years, and grow he has.

He recently decided to give up the traditional path and return to his art and music. I admire Scott for that and pray all of God’s blessings on him for his success, however he chooses to measure it. For Scott and Amy, the journey is more important than the destination. They determined to take the path that leads them through their art and music when most of us would opt for the more financially-successful route. I deeply admire them for their decisions.

If you get the chance, visit Scott’s site. It’s worth reading his words.

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One Guitar

Posted 18:00 PST Sun Apr 1, 2007 in

Mora GigIt’s been an interesting day. Sundays I usually use to catch up on some work. I worked through my entire email backlog this morning. It took me about two hours to get it done. I worked my way the the first draft of a thesis too. That took some time, but it’s really a pretty good document and we’ll get through it pretty quickly, I think. Most of what needs to be there is there.

I cooked myself an omelet for a mid-afternoon lunch. I haven’t cooked much since I came here. I’m tiring of what I can buy and microwave. I had a cheese omelet with a few slices of bacon, an English muffin, and a Diet Dr. Pepper. I talked to Wife while I was cooking.

Also, while I was cooking, I chatted with Wife while washing a couple of AK magazines in the dishwasher. I read that the dishwasher does a good job of cleaning out the remaining cosmoline and the heat dries the magazines well. In fact, a number of collectors use the dishwasher to clean collectible weapons when they first come from storage. The magazines are almost through the dry cycle so I’ll be reassembling them in a few minutes.

After lunch, I got out my guitar. I brought my Alvarez Yairi home with me (not Home) this trip. I’ve wanted to have a few of my things here to keep my company while my family is far away. So, I’ve been noodling around on the instrument some the last few days. I hate just sitting at the computer and I don’t want to go out exploring without my family to be there and share the experience. So, I mostly work.

Well, I played some of the old songs and even found voice for a couple of them. (At least those I could remember lyrics for.) I guess I played for an hour or so. My fingers are a little tender now, but they’ll toughen up fast. They always do. It was good. It felt good.

Next is to make a trip to the grocery store. I need a few things for the week and I’m usually too worn out to go after work. So, I’ll make the trip this afternoon.

After I get home and put things away, I think I’ll look over my to-do list to be sure there isn’t something pressing on the list. Then I may watch a movie or practice with my Airsoft a little more.

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Peppino D'Agostino

Posted 18:00 PST Mon Jan 29, 2007 in

Hoover DamOn my way from Texas to Nevada, I crossed the Colorado River on entry to my new home state. Traffic was crazy there. I guess there were still plenty of vacationers still out. But I was surprised. The traffic on the Nevada side was backed up at least ten miles.

After work Friday night, I decided to walk across the street to the CVIC (Carson Valley Improvement Committee) Hall. A guitarist, Peppino D’Agostino, was to play in support of the community’s work toward establishing an arts center. I’ve never heard of him, but that means I could be in for a treat!

They had a few snacks laid out. I dropped a couple of bucks in the basket to support the effort. The hall was pretty full (I’ll have to make some images — it’s a pretty place), but they brought out a few more chairs and I got to sit.

He started his set and it was a real treat. He’s a talented fingerstyle guitarist who uses a wide variety of non-standard tunings. He has a good sense of tone and many of his songs were finely crafted.

For fun, he sang a few songs and we even had an audience-participation number that was a gas. He did a cover of “The Good, Bad, and Ugly,” which was an absolute gas. The concert ended too soon, of course, but it will be fun to find some of his recordings. He’s a fine player and a good entertainer as well. I hope to hear him again.

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Small Gifts

Posted 06:00 PST Sun Nov 26, 2006 in

Sometimes God gives big gifts. I know folks who have had major medical conditions reversed — both by highly-skilled physicians and through faith.

I consider both sets of results miracles. Don’t get me started…

Then again, sometimes the gifts are smaller. That doesn’t mean they’re less important; it just means they are less spectacular. They aren’t flashy the same way big gifts are.

I’m OK with that. I guess it isnn’t up to me, so it’s good I’m OK with it.

While riding in the car with my family recently, a song piqued my memory. It was an old rocker, full of energy, called Gimme Some Lovin’. It brough back a good memory.

Back a few years ago I played lead guitar in a rock-and-roll band. While the timing wasn’t really right for me emotionally (clinical depression does that to you), there were still good things that came from the experience.

One of the best was some of the songs we played. Gimme Some Lovin’ is just one of those songs. The energy level was way up there and I really got into that. It still makes me smile when I think about it.

The memory fired a string of neurons (still connected after all these years) that roused a memory of when I was a worship-team leader. After Sunday-morning rehearsals, the sanctuary might be pretty quiet until folks started arriving and milling about. Every now and again, I’d still be standing on-stage tweaking the charts a little. I might burst out into the opening guitar work for a variety of songs.

One morning I recall strumming the opening chord (a suspended 4th tonic) to Venus. It’s quite recognizable if you remember music well. A young woman I knew was walking across the back of the sanctuary.

“I know that song!” she called.

I grinned.

So, I was mildly irreverent, musically. I’ve been that way most of my life — mildly irreverent — about most things churchy. (That can keep me writing for awhile…)

Am I still like that? Absolutely.

That incident wasn’t the only one. I was also known to play the hook for Smoke on the Water, the bass line from the Peter Gunn Theme, and others. I think I even did Stairway to Heaven once or twice.

That was a good memory. It made me smile.

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Sennheiser PX 100

Posted 05:00 PST Tue Sep 5, 2006 in

Young Son returned my Apple iPod earbuds after I bought him a new set of Sony earbuds. He really didn’t like the Apple earbuds—the cord was shorter than he preferred.

Of course, he didn’t tell me the right channel was soft. The first time I put them on to listen to some music (my home is often on the noisy side and I retreat into some music for a respite), I noticed the weak right channel. Doggone it!

So, Wife and I looked at headsets the other day when at Best Buy. I couldn’t decide on another set of earbuds and the range of options in over-the-ear headphones was pretty substantial. I needed some research.

But, life has been too busy of late to worry about researching headphones. Still in need of a way to play tunes through my iPod, I saw a set of Sennheiser PX 100 headphones at Circuit City yesterday. Sennheiser has a long history of producing good quality audio equipment, so I decided to pick them up and give them a try.

I plugged them into the computer’s audio output jack and listened to a couple of tunes. The headphones are light and of the open design, so they sit lightly on the ears. The range is more than adequate for my old ears and the dynamic range fits the music I listen to.

The definition is good and I can place instruments in the soundfield. I heard no coloring of tones when listening to a variety of musical styles.

For a $60 set of headphones, these are quite good. They will not do for noisy environments, because of their open-air design. However, they sound very good and work well around the house, even with other things going on. They also fold up into a relatively small package and come with a case that is similar in size and shape to a sunglasses case. I recommend them.

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