True Story

About this time of year in 1994, I went to the local BP gas station by the railroad tracks, to fill up the gas tank and get some tasty snacks. When I went to the counter, there was a man in front of me. He looked rough. His flannel shirt and jeans were torn and stained and he smelled really bad, his matted long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and his boots looked like they’d walked a thousand miles. He asked the clerk for a pack of smokes. She handed him the Marlboro reds, and he grabbed a lighter from the rack then turned around and walked out without paying. The clerk started yelling at him as I stood there with a bag of chips and twenty dollar bill in hand. He never turned around, he just walked out the door packing his free smokes with a steady rhythm. A manager came out and started out after him, but before he could catch up with the man, he put a smoke between his lips, flipped the switch on the gas pump, held the nozzle over his head and doused himself with gallons upon gallons of gas. He slowly raised his hand in which he held the lighter and acted like he was gonna light his smoke. The manager stopped fast and ran back inside. He picked up the phone, dialed 911, and started relaying the events of the past minute in an understandably panicked voice. The clerk, though shaken, managed to complete my transaction and I walked over to the window. I didn’t have the guts to just walk out there while the potentially explosive figure stood by my car with the lighter in his hand, so I stood there gawking while the employees scurried and yelled about the potential disaster. He stood there watching us. After a few minutes, I heard the police coming. The gas-soaked man turned around and ran full speed across the street to the Catholic Church, opened the doors and disappeared inside. Since my safety was no longer an issue, I left. There was nothing left to see. Later, I heard that he had a nice talk about life with the priest before being arrested and hauled away.

I’m thankful I’m not that guy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

studio update

Well things are progressing as expected in the studio. We hit a snag Sunday night after laying down 5 tracks, but solutions are in the works. So far it’s taken a few takes to nail each song, but that’s not a surprise. Every time we get to the end of a song and I feel like it was perfect, the lead guitarist cries foul and insists on a retake, so we do it again and again until everyone’s happy with it. We still have a lot of songs to lay down, and it’ll be a grand adventure. I love the feeling of immersing myself in one song and focusing on it and it alone. During a gig, I’m always glancing at the set list and preparing myself for the next song. We’re all taking a break until Thanksgiving is over, and then we’ll get back to work next Monday. It’s pretty dam exciting. Even if no one else wants one, it’ll be personally satisfying to have this chunk of my life forever carved in stone.

More good news: Zenmaster has volunteered to do the design the cover.
High 5 sucka!

Happy Thanksgiving yo!

Office Food Day

Today is the day that everyone brings food to the office for a pre-Thanksgiving feast. There’s a giant table about 20 feet from my mouth that is spilling over with plates of cookies, crackers, brownies and cheeses. There are pans full of casseroles, meat, and cakes, bowls full of dips, bags full of chips, crockpots full of soups, little sausages, chili, and cheese dip. There are boxes of donuts and jars full of salsa. The most notable items at the table, however, are the people. How people behave in this situation reveals a lot about them.

The grazers: These folks go to the table intermittently and walk away from the table with their mouths full. These people tend to actually get work done, despite the constant distractions.

The pickers: These people look at every option with intense scrutiny and walk away with only a carrot and a brownie.

The gatherers: People in this category grab a spoon and start shoveling everything within reach onto their tiny Styrofoam plate until it reaches its maximum capacity. This occurs when the height of the food pile is equal to the radius of the plate, and when achieved, results in a perfect multi-colored hemisphere. Their goal is to have some of everything available before the day is done. These guys like to stand in the middle of the office while eating their mound of food, and have no chance of accomplishing anything today.

The hostesses: These people hover around the table and describe each item to food-getters. Like a helpful waitress, they know who brought each item, what it’s called, and how it was prepared. They constantly point out dishes which might be overlooked, and make sure everyone has the proper utensils for each food item. They are constantly stirring the food in the crock pots, and re-covering the dips after a careless dip-getter leaves the table.

The guards or Sergeants-at-arms: They remain stationed at or near the table at all times. These folks seem to have memorized everything that each person has eaten, and they taunt and harass people who exceed their “fair share” of the most desirable items at the table. They also ridicule the people from other parts of the facility, who have followed their noses to the table and helped themselves to the copious feast, without contributing to the bounty themselves. These folks talk the loudest and have food stains on their shirts.

The timid eaters: These people are always watching the tables from the corner of their eye, and when no one is paying attention, they scurry like a little mouse to the table, get food real fast, and then run back to their desks and eat quietly without making eye contact with anyone at anytime.

I fit into the grazer/picker category. I’ve brought a plate back to my desk once with a few goodies, and I’ve grabbed some tasty nuggets that caught my eye on my way back from the printer. I usually bring my lunch to work, but on food-day I decide not to, because there will be so much food. Then I get here and realize that there’s really nothing but dessert and meat. Since I’m not a meat-eater I end up full of crackers and cookies and chips and crap. I guess I just eat thing that start with C.

In the studio

Things are happening on the music side of my life. The band finally decided to start recording a new CD. Last time we did this, we had an excited lad with lots of computers and software and stuff do the recording. He did pretty good. The strongest part of the package last time wasn't the CD, it was the cover. Zenmaster went all the way and made it look awesome. He's got a lot on his plate these days, so I doubt we'll have the benefit of his artistry this time.

It all started with a respected friend who expressed interest in participating in a “better” recording of the band. The ball started rolling and we started putting the pieces together. First we moved all of our instruments into the studio, which is really a garage with acoustic tiles on the walls and an isolation booth with a glass door. Then we started running cables, setting up microphones, and basically building a recording studio from scratch. We have some talented and generous souls helping us out this time. We’ve got Baby Jason, who has devoted not only his time, but his house to this project. He’s pulling things together and makin it all happen. Boochie is a local sound guru who knows exactly what we need to pull this off, and exactly where every knob and fader needs to be to make it sound awesome. He’s making sure we get the best sound out of our instruments, through the mixers, and onto the hard drives. Then there’s Clam. He’s a local recording engineer, and knows all about the studio software. He’ll be the one who takes the tracks we record, and make’em phat. The whole process takes time and patience. My job: play the bass. Wish us luck.

The band formerly known as Jive Market will now be referred to as
EYEBALL ....well…….. maybe

Any suggestions?

Happy Birthday!

My littlest bro is stacking up the years just like the rest of us.
He's been more places and seen more things than most people see in a lifetime in only 28 years on the planet.
Thats right........ 28 years old!
High 5 brutha!

And to my Dad.....Happy Veterans day.
Thanks for all you've done for your family and for your country.
You're a true hero in my book.

Nation of Morons

I'm glad to say that the man formerly known as Mothheart is back.
Check him out
Welcome back sucka......

Benches

I finally finished something that’s being driving me crazy for months.
I finished building the benches on my deck. Doing so required some crazy compound miters on all the boards that make up the backrests and caused me months of anxiety. I ran through the process countless times while driving, eating, sleeping, etc. and now that its done, I feel a thousand pounds lighter. All that’s left are 2 sets of stairs and the railings.

So anyways…I went out last night, cracked open a cold beer, sat my happy ass down, and enjoyed the satisfying comfort of my new creation.

Ahhhhhhh………..

well put

I swiped this from Big Gray


The one thing we do not do is panic. With invective as treacherous and outrageous as any heaped at a candidate for national office in our history, John F. Kerry showed himself to be a man of courage, principle and commitment. He fought war against opponents who treat politics as warfare and came very close to winning. Of all the candidates who made themselves available, he was the best, and we should be grateful to him for his efforts.

The real disaster is on the legislative side. The country is in a very conservative mood, far more than I (for one) realized. For the first time in their history, Americans are about to experience what conservatism really means, and I am not sure they will be pleased with the results.

As the next few years unfold, Democrats should talk about such ideas as stewardship, responsibility, long-term consequences and other such ideas that are conservative in their own way, not conservative politically, but temperamentally. We are about to experience a very radical turn in our history. Reminding Americans that their traditions also embody respect for our society as a whole -- for its historic values, its beauty, its sense of the common good -- is the kind of conservatism to which people will respond when this particular version of our long national nightmare is over.

-Alan Wolfe

flabbergasty

It's impossible to say what I'm thinking right now.
I'm mad
I'm sad
I'm dismayed, flabbergasted, surprised, and shocked.
I've had the wind knocked out of me.
I think we're in more danger now than ever before.
I think I'm gonna scream.
The dumbest people I know suddenly think they're the smartest, and they're giving each other high-fives in the dark.
We all have a long road ahead, and I'm hoping for the best for all of us.
We had a chance to change things.....
49% of us knew what to do.
Good Luck everyone.

Vote

Today is the day I voted for John Kerry.

Today is the day I voted to end a regime of scare tactics and fear, of chest thumping and strong arming, of intolerance and unilateralism.

Today is the day I voted for a more peaceful world, a world in which America is a good neighbor, instead of a bully.

I voted not only as an American citizen, but as an occupant of this great planet Earth, as an organism in a complex ecosystem, and as a member of the human race.