Oneness

If light hits every point on a mirror why is the image only flipped right/left? - Mondo

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Vacation is over :(

It's been a great week. We crammed so much into it that I feel like I've been off for two weeks instead of one! Allow me to recap for you:

Sat. (6/27):
Most of the day I worked on converting .WAV recordings of my jam sessions into .MP3 format. This involved listening to HOURS of audio for each session and plucking out the songs from inbetween all the chatter.
Still, it's a rewarding experience in many ways. Not only do I get to tweak each track, but I get to listen with "new ears" to what I was playing. So while I'm cleaning things up and adjusting the volumes, I'm trying to figure out how I could have played something better. (and, since I'm still new to all of this, I still have a lot to learn about playing with other musicians!)

Sun. (6/28):
Crawl around under the house putting insulating foam tubing on all of the hot water pipes. This should save us some money in the winter. (it's a good thing I'm not Claustrophobic!)
This was followed by the Sunday evening jam session at the Pirate Ship restaurant. There was a very good bass player already set up when we arrived, so we ordered some appetizers & drinks and enjoyed the music.
The group sitting behind us was very chatty and we shared our poppers with them. I'd gotten brave and ordered a double batch (6 jalepenos) and then couldn't finish them. They were raw, fresh peppers with a bit of batter on them and "flash fried" so as not to actually cook the pepper. I usually don't enjoy jalepeno peppers as I think they're mostly heat and not much in the flavor category. These were ALL spicy and it really detracted from the popper, which I usually relish.

Mon. (6/29):
Slept in (boy is that nice) and did some more editing. Then we went to piano lessons for Logan and James. Logan has "graduated" from group lessons and is ready to start taking personal, one-on-one sessions. Unfortunately, we can't afford this. So, if he is to continue, his parents are going to have to pick up at least some of the cost associated with this.
Dropped off Anne's car at the dealer for its 15k mileage check-up. Our nephew John is the Service Manager there and he takes VERY good care of us! He, also, was the one responsible for getting us the "family" deal on Anne's new car. If you remember, last July we got rear-ended so badly that it totalled her Sienna. John's help was a true blessing in our time of need.

Tue. (6/30):
Picked up Tara and then went to the airport to meet Jasmine. She hadn't had anything to eat on the flight in, so we took them to China Diner (Jaz's favorite).
After dropping Tara and Jaz off we headed home, After supper I went to Sidelines for what was supposed to be an open jam, but turned out to be an open mic. The difference here is that at a jam you get thrown on stage with strangers while at the open mic people get up together (that is "groups").
It was after 11:00 by the time I got up there! We did a couple of songs and then the guitarist's girl joined us to sing some. When she finished, Marguerite came up and we did some more! After all that waiting, it was finally worth it. We played about half an hour and then I had to pack it in. By then the Red Bull was wearing off the smoke was getting to me. :(

Wed. (7/1):
The "secret jam" was moved to George's place in Floristan, CA. and included a nice BBQ and some really wonderful people to chat with and, of course, make music.
George has a beautiful view of the valley and the trains go by occasionally to add to the rustic feel of the place. Topping it all off was the nearly fatal (to the BBQ) fire that George stoked in the pit. Although he'd surrounded it with heat-insulating, fire boards (I don't remember what they're called, but you see them on the wall behind people's wood stoves) they wood frame started smoldering and he ended up taking a garden hose to it! All-in-all, it was a very entertaining night!

Thu. (7/2):
Anne and I drove to Bishop to meet Josh and Lili. We ate at Jack's (our favorite place in town) and bought some of their chipotle pepper sauce. Then it was off to the park for the boys and some guitar playing and lessons for Josh while the girls went to the Indian casino.
While Josh and I went over the 12-bar form some ladies came up and put a dollar in my guitar case. They wanted to hear something, but I'm not a vocalist. I'm a bass player. However, they insisted. So, after giving them their dollar back, I borrowed Josh's Ovation and stumbled through Muddy Waters' version of Hoochie Coochie Man.
This, not surprisingly, ran them off. Hey, I told them I didn't sing!

Fri. (7/3):
Jam at Tim's place. We had a new "sit in" named Bob and Joe brought his Alesis SR-16 drum machine. I added one of my pedals to the one he had so that we could control fills along with on/off.
Unfortunately, I'd forgotten my Roland and didn't get any of the session recorded.
Damn...

Sat. (7/4):
Spent several hours teasing out the music from the recordings of George's BBQ. Everyone was busy talking to their new-found friends and finding out who they were and what the did. You know... the usual party stuff. But the side effect was that I could only get 11 clean tunes (13 all together) when there was a LOT more than that played.
The two "bonus tracks" were provided by George and Cathy's son and daughter. George, Jr. played the guitar while Brianne sang some really wonderful tunes. He has a marvelous touch and she sings with real soul and phrasing.

Sun (7/5) today:
Getting ready to head over to the Pirate Ship in a little while. Anne doesn't want to eat there any more. Both times the food was either too greasy or too salty. I'll be saying something to them about their falafel recipe tonight. But in the mean time, we'll be fixing some grub prior to heading out.

That's it for now. Check back later for more updates!