The Stand

Here's another song I wrote a while back and have reposted here linked back to the bandcamp website. Enjoy!

Party of One

The latest Old Distillery submission is a christmas stocking stuffer with a few criteria. There had to be a fictional/historical character or you can invent one...I did both. The line "colder than a..." has to be included in the lyrics and the song is supposed to be limited to 90 seconds or less. Ok, so I got two out of three! Anyway, I was going to pass this time, but I threw this together at the last minute. I hope you enjoy it.

Cursed

Here's my latest songwriter's roundtable submission for the topic of superstition. It's called Cursed and is about black cats and some of the superstitions that surround them.

Irish Bouzouki

At FenCon this year, I got my fingers on an irish bouzouki for the first time and think I may have to add one to the stable. My friend Floyd brought two to the convention and we played around for a bit and I really enjoyed it. Anyway, I found this blog and wanted to share it with everyone.

Ever wanted to be part of the space program?

NASA 's Space Rock

Here's your chance to be a part of NASA history! NASA is accepting entries of original songs, two of which will be selected to be played as wake up songs on one of the final missions of the space shuttle program. How cool is that? Submissions are due no later than January 10, 2011. The only logical course of action would be to get cracking and rock the shuttle! Good luck!

Not a song writer? You can also vote on your favorite song from their list of 40 previously played wake up songs.

SUBMIT!

(photo by Sophia)

This is my latest submission to our songwriter's roundtable group. The general topic is the French Revolution.

The title is "Liberty!" and it's about oppressed people and their right to be free from tyranny.

Enjoy!

Sustained Recovery Underway in Forty-Six States

Sustained Recovery Underway in Forty-Six States Construction Industry News Reed Construction Data

Here's an article about the recovery from the recession trudging along with a perspective from the States' points of view. Acording to the story, econominc activity for the individual states varies from 2% to 10% with Texas coming in with one of the smallest growth gaps amoung larger states (considered to be above average).
There is also an interesting bit about the census jobs and how most of the 400,000 people hired will finish their work by sometime in July and be out looking again.
Check out the article for more.

Ooo, la-la!

I've really been having a great time with my latest guitar. It has fantastic tone! I installed a fantastic new Allen RS-2 Nickel tailpiece for it from Allen Guitars & Luthier Supplies that really opened up the sound.

Rock on!


2001 Gibson Dobro DM-33


The back...

Scientist Creates Life. That's a Good Thing, Right?

Here's some interesting food for debate...
Would something like this be beneficial for, say, cleaning up environmental disasters like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or are the prospects of 'what could go wrong' to horrible to imagine? Read on and you decide.

Scientist Creates Life. That's a Good Thing, Right?

Updates below

My main man, Retronym, has some new work and it is really nice.  Be sure to scroll down to see his lovely subject...no, it's not a shoe.

Strapping!

 

My new guitar strap.

 

Judy's stamp.

 

I picked up my new leather guitar strap at guitar group last night.  It is custom made from a design Judy and I came up with.  Judy makes leather guitar strap with some customization available. She will do tooling, braiding, add conchos, padding and offers several stain color options.  Everything is hand made and each one she makes looks better than the last. She is putting together a website and the prices are quite reasonable.  Thanks, Judy!

Guit-autograph

 

Labor of Love

I posted this in takingitforaspin, but I wanted to post a higher resolution image here for your enjoyment.  There are a few notable signatures here including Al DiMeola, Graham Nash, Junior Brown, James Cotton and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.

The Blues

 

I been framed!

I wanted to share this with you.  This is a piece in my studio done by a long time friend of mine, Mike.  It depicts the blues and history of performers. Looking closer, you can see the names of many great and influential blues musicians.

 

Close up view.

Also take notice of the meticulous detail in Mike's style used to create the blue and back bands around the body of the guitar.  Many hours went into this work and I am proud to have it hanging in my studio.

Blissful Brilliant Beauty Blankets El Dorado Park!

View down my street

Striking trees!

Incredible trees!

View of the alleyway

Waking up this morning with no power, I took to the outdoors with my camera for some old fashioned entertainment.  The views were all spectactular!  I probably took around 75 pictures of my neighbourhood and was hard pressed to pick just 4 from them all to post and share.  The temperature was just at or above the freezing mark by now and the falling snow had tapered off to a few stray flurries, leaving us with between 10 and 12 inches of wet, gloppy snow. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I did taking them. 

Winter Wonderland

I'm not lopsided, I'm dancin'!

My wife's first snowman!

Children enjoying the snow.

Adults enjoy the snow, too!

Well, it's almost dinner time and the snow is still falling.  We've got about 4 inches now and more on the way.  I convinced my wife to build a snow man and walked her through the highly technical processes involved.  He looks a little lopsided to me, but she insists it's artistic flair and the he is dancing (apparently this snow man is gender specific, however I don't see any obvious signs...).
Meanwhile, down the street, neighbours are playing in the snow as well.  It seems like, for this short span, people are happy and having fun. Really big flakes have started falling...I wonder if my wife has ever been driving in the snow at speed...you know...how the snow makes it look like you are zooming along at the speed of light? It's a bit like what I imagine a passenger on the millenium falcon might experience if they were to look out the front window.

Fluffy Stuff

Snow discover covering the moon!

Chilly Chiminae.

My nephew and niece.

Tree-mendous!

Here's a few pictures I took this morning of the current weather conditions in Plano.  I am always struck by the beauty that snow adds to any environment.  I may post a few more later...we're expecting 2-6 more inches with 3 inches on the ground already!  I get excited about snow because I grew up with it, but here in Texas it's a bit rare.  We usually get a few flurries now and then in the metroplex, so this amount is a treat!
Snowball fight, anyone?

Gifted

Sometimes I am simply amazed by the talents hidden around us.  I wanted to share a couple images (see below) of the work produced by an artist by the name of "Retro_Nym".  I've posted a painting of Bacchus, god of wine I believe and another of a particularly worried looking individual.  Both images are contemplative.  The expression of their moods comes across strong and makes you wonder what exactly they are thinking.  Nice work, Retro_Nym!
Enjoy!