Darkness, Darkness, No Color, No Contrast...

Ok, so I don't know exactly where that line came from (the one in the title). I'd expect a song, that's where most of what pops into head comes from.... A quick google says it's lyrics from Joni Mitchell's "Hissing Of Summer Lawns". Possible, but odd, since that's not among the Joni Mitchell stuff in my collection.... I was thinking something from the narration of Rick Wakeman's "Journey To The Center Of The Earth". Whatever.

Before I got sidetracked, the point of this post was SUPPOSED to be that the days are getting shorter, and the mornings are getting darker. Sunrise this morning was 30 miniutes after my alarm. Makes me want to sleep in.

Guild Jetstar - Refininshing Project

Regular readers may recall that my 1967 Guild Jetstar is being refinished. Here's the latest photo, as it is almost finished!! I'm pretty eager to get it back!

Never Forget

And stay vigilant

Ohio River, from Leavenworth, IN

We took a short vacation to southern Indiana back in June. I'm still WAY behind processing photos, but here's one. This was from the Overlook Restaurant, when they have one really cool overlook!! We had a great lunch before heading off to do some more sightseeing.

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!