Foggy Friday

Geese in the field, otside my office window.

My First Bass

Here's a scan of the first bass guitar I bought.... way back in summer 1978. It was a Fender Jazz copy, some unremembered off-brand. One of my earlier attemps at artistic photography.

And another scan, of my first real gig, playing at the Vibrator's Corp club in McKees Rocks, PA. Late summer '78. That's my brother on guitar, photo was tken by Greg Benson.

I sold that bass to a friend, oughta see if I can buy it back. Just for old times sake.

Job Hunting 101

I know it's a tough job market out there, so here's a hint for those of you out there looking...
If you are applying for a full time position that does not have anything to do with development of wireless products and / or high speed digital systems, dont start your resume with:

- - - - - - - - -
OBJECTIVE
Seeking a position related to the development of wireless products and / or high-speed digital systems. A contract position is preferred but not required.
- - - - - - - - -

Cause the hiring manager isn't going to read past that.

R.I.P. Les Paul

"Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94. According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side. As an inventor, Paul also helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll with multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the tracks in the finished recording."

Rock on.

What's The Buzz?

Many (many, many) moons ago, when I was in college, I had the bright idea to design a digital tuner for my bass guitar. Pretty cool stuff for the time (1981/1982), but never quite completed. I don't even remember the details, but I do remember that one of my biggest challenges was to define what the "correct " frequencies were. And it turned out to be a pretty daunting task.

Of course, nowadays, with the internet (and Google!), it's just a matter of a 0.26 secong search, and then picking from the list. THIS would've made my life so much easier back then.

And, with the strange way that my mind works, I now know that the 60Hz hum of our power grid is halfway between a "B" and a "B-flat".... And that's good to know!

Randomness

A face, a voice,
an overdub has no choice
And it cannot rejoice

from The Porpoise Song (Theme from Head)- The Monkees (written by Goffin/King)

Possum Junction

We took a short vacation to southern Indiana the past couple of days. Had a real nice time. During our driving around, we stumbled across Possum Junction, in Kitterman Corners, IN, at the corner of Rt. 62 and Rt. 143. Sadly, the place seems to be out of business, or we'd've stopped for sure!

The Gretsch

Yeah, I know, I've been doing more bass guitar than music lately... How about some pictures of one of my bass guitars?

This isn't even a new photo...... But go to Flickr and you can see some new ones! Two weeks ago, at Praise Band practice, I noticed that the nut had broken. Thus necessitating the quick purchase of a backup.... After a little internet research, I did the replacemebt myself. See details at the aforementioned Flickr site! At least let me know if the link works!

The Hag

If you've been paying attention to my recent posts, you know that I bought a mid-60's Hagstrom HIIB bass on eBay. It finally arrived last Friday, after a few PayPal related delays.

Very pretty, very cool. Not quite in as good shape as I'd hoped, but I knew it was going to need a little TLC. I posted some photos to Flickr, they ought to be open to the public (anybody want to let me know?).... I'm actually considering starting a new blog just to document the restoration process, but it's not like I'm getting this one updated that often as it is.....

One Small Step For Man......

40 years ago today, the Apollo 11 astronauts stepped on the moon. I was 9 years old, same age amy son is now, and I remember it well. Watching it on TV at a neighbor's house, in Charleston WV.... What a great time, especially for an imaginative kid.

Baseball, Part 2

Sadly, my son's tream lost in the Championship game. A couple of bad innings, and the season ends on a bit of a down note. But it was a great experience, and a great season.

The championship was help at Leclaire Field, a really nice facility, and a whole different experince than the run-of-the-mill municipal fields they've been playing on. Real bleachers, electronic scoreboard, PA announcer.... smooth infoelds, mown outfields, etc. They introduced every player over the PA, lined both teams up along the foul lines.... Very Cool!

Next year is the first year of "kid-pitch", after 2 years of pitching machine (and 2 of Tee-Ball). My son (predictable) wants to be pitcher!

Baseball

I've been helping coach my son's Little League team this year, haven't taken a single picture at the games. Here's a couple from 2-3 years ago, when he was still in Tee-Ball

This year's team has made it to the finals of the playoffs, today at 5 will be the final game! Win or lose it has been a great season. Lots of fun and a great group of kids.

Peavey Milestone II

Just bought another new (to me) bass! Yep, another one!! I somehow managed to break the corner of the nut on my Gretsch, and my brand new Hagstrom hasn't arrived... Saw this on Craigslist, at a very good price... Along with a nice hard-shell case. Nothing fancy, Peavey Milestone II, but should be a nice back-up...

Hagstrom HB II

Just bought a "new" bass, via eBay!! It's a way cool, very vintage, made in Sweden, Hagstrom. Pretty excited!! Now I just have to wait for it to show up, and hope it plays! Snagged it with a bid @ 2 seconds left, yee ha!

On Michael Jackson....

OK, RIP, all that good stuff. But enough already.

I don’t mean to be calloused, but can we have a little perspective here? Yeah he was a great performer… Thriller was huge… Love all those old Jackson-5 hits. BUT…….. The wall-to-wall coverage is insanity! The whole “Michael Jackson changed lives” thing?? Well, I just don’t get it. Then again, I didn’t get it when Elvis Presley died. I didn’t get it when John Lennon died. I guess I just don't define my life around people I don't know. Michael Jackson’s passing will leave no bigger hole in my life than the recent passing of David Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon or even Billy Mays.

I was flipping channels last night, and caught a bit of Bill O’Reilly’s TV show. He had a couple of other talking heads on, discussing whether the media was overplaying Michael Jackson’s importance…. A TV program devoting itself to a discussion of whether TV programs are devoting too much attention to Michael Jackson….. does that define irony?

Oh nevermind. Think I’ll go listed to some Duke Ellington. Or maybe Ray Charles. Perhaps some Jimi Hendrix. Remind myself that MJ was NOT the first African American performer to break through the "color barrier".... Meanwhile, I'm just back from the local funeral parlor the visitation of a real person who I actually knew. Don't expect to see much national media cover that one.