Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Dinosaur, Jr.

I may hold the distinction of being the last human being to have a cassette recorder (actually two of them) repaired in central PA.  The company I contacted called me today and informed me that if I wanted my Sony transcribers repaired, I'd better do it now.  They're closing up show at the middle of next month.  It's been a day of reflecting on obsolescence, changing times, flexibility, and what the hell am I going to do next.  I know the answer, of course: I'll continue to be a lifelong, creative problem solver.  Some days that's more fun than others.

Joreen, Mary and the boys are down on the island watching baseball.  I decided to stay home and work for a while.  I have some transcripts I want to turn in, so I turned on the Flintstones machines and got down to it.  Also, I have a tune rumbling around in my head that is trying to get out, so I've been jotting down stuff there.  Meanwhile, it's 8:25 on one of the longest days of the year and I think it's time to go take Lucy out for a walk.  This weather is like Paradise, innit?

Monday, June 25, 2012

Another Week Underway

Saturday was every bit as much fun as I had hoped.  The American Roulette job was a blast.  I knew I was on the right track when they told the sound guy to take my guitar out of the monitors altogether.  Yep, that's about right.  Considering that we had never played together at the same time, ever, the show was pretty tight.  It's great to be with players who can think on their feet and keep their ears open.

Today, it's back to work.  I found a lead on someone who can repair Sony transcribers, the kind that use cassettes.  If I hear any of you kids say, "What's a cassette?" you'll get such a smack.  I know it's dinosaur stuff, but I've never had a cassette vanish into thin air with no explanation, unlike some of my digital recorder colleagues who have had whole days of work vanish and had to reconstruct them from -- you guessed it -- their cassette backup machines.

Travis and I just got done with an experiment.  We're trying to make our own slider rolls.  It's an effort to keep one step ahead of the grocery-inhaling children, but it's a lot of fun too.  One of my goals is to get the boys a little more involved in cooking and baking, which can come in handy in more ways than one down the line.  Travis was into it. 

Joreen's back from Vacation Bible School, which doesn't sound like much of a vacation to me from the way she's reaffirming how happy she is to not be teaching anymore. 

I'll try to keep this blog from stagnating in the future.  Hopefully there will be more shows to plug and things of interest to share.  Meanwhile, summer is here for sure.  I can tell because it's time to cut the grass again, already.

Friday, June 22, 2012

All Work and No Play, No Way, Jose.

Yesterday was action packed.  I did a whole day of hearings in Northeast Philadelphia, then got back in time to "put the band back together" for a Just Friends reunion gig coming up next month.  Considering that we haven't played together since New Year's, we remembered more than we've forgotten.  At my advanced age and with the memory of a guitar player, I'll take that as a win.  It was fun hanging with Vince, Mark, Jim and Craig again.  We'll be in Thurmont, MD on July 11th for a firemen's carnival there.  It would be nice to do a show locally so our local friends could catch us again.  I'll keep you posted.

Tonight I'll be working on fine-tuning some songs I'll be doing with American Roulette at the East Pennsboro Carnival, Ricci Park, tomorrow night.  This is a new project featuring Dave Brinkley and Dale Stipe, whom I've played with before, and Jon Hill and George Williamson, two other good players.  They all sing, and their songbook is impressive.  If you're looking for something to do Saturday evening, we're on from 7 to 10 and it should be fun.  You can listen to my guitar parts and play "spot the clam."  Fun for the whole family!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Hot Enough For Ya?

As the first day of summer comes sweltering in, it's interesting to see people's perspectives on the weather.  Mary, who until Sunday lived in Texas, is laughing at the people who are crying about a little 90-something degree weather.  Her definition of "hot" is when you sit under the air conditioner and you can't feel the cool air on your back.  It's all relative, I guess.  I was on retreat in upstate New York on Lake George, where the weather was warm one day but mostly cool, staying at or near the low seventies.  With the windows open day and night, I was in Paradise.  The lady who lives in Tampa was wearing a jacket all day and running a space heater at night and was less happy with the temps.  I just pray for a little more balance in the weather this year, and less torrential rains, at least until I get a new sump pump.  Like much of my equipment these days, I'm asking it to run a bit or a lot past its design specs.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Now, where were we?

The last time I was on this blog the interface was completely different, so I apologize if things go a little awry.  Life has been chockful of interesting developments, including the return of Mary and the boys to the house.  There's something nostalgic about watching two loaves of bread disappear, and it's a good thing.  I'm in a different place workwise, in that it's a bit scarce, but that's temporary.  I'm also back from a weeklong retreat at the Paulist Fathers summer home in Lake George, New York, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  There's some fun musical events coming up as well.  I'm sitting in with a band called American Roulette, and learning a bunch of songs I always wanted to get around to, such as Dancing In The Moonlight and Dirty Work.  There's a Just Friends reunion gig coming up in a couple of weeks and "we're putting the band back together" for that.  As if that wasn't cool enough, I'm going to be doing a gig with central Pennsylvania's most handsome country band, Laredo, playing bass and trying (unsuccessfully) to fill my brother Bill's shoes. 

I've been lax in updating this blog, and I'll try and do better.  First I have to figure out what all these new buttons are on this blog interface.  Why in the world do we have to update stuff that's already working?  I'm just askin'.