catchin up

i have just been enjoying my fuckoff time, even though i am not fucking off as much as i would like to.

School- slam dunk. A's in the CIS and Art History class. Passed math with a C. (sigh) I have to figure out how to make math interesting to me.

Fambly- I am the proud owner of a new stepmother! Dad's wife #4 joined our family about three weeks ago. Dad's happy, so I guess that's what is important.

Music- our Christmas benefit went really well. We presented a fairly large check to the local foodbank and a big can of food for them.

Weather- (points at Portland and laughs, then apologizes). Currently about 15 inches of snow on our ground, but melting fast with a warmer wind and rain the last couple of days. More snow on the way. It's currently a balmy 48.3 degrees on our front porch.

Goofin- New bottle of rapidograph ink on its way courtesy of my fabulous mom. And more drawing paper. And who knows what else.

General wa-hoo- Since 5th grade, I have been in love with this book. After that many years of trying to hunt it down in stores, check it out at libraries (it's always out, and never coming back) I bought myself a copy for my birthday. I am jumping out of my skin waiting for it. I wish it was here RIGHT NOW!

Holiday Lewt- new stepmom, Norman McClean's "Young Men and Fire". A Fidji's munchie setup, homemade coconut biscotti, inflatable toast, homemade fudge, various cards and letters, a day spent with just my smart half, an idea that struck like lightning, good friends, the news that one of my nutty aunts is doing okay with chemo for breast cancer, blue sky and fresh snow on christmas day, a cozy solstice with friends, two travelin coffee mugs, homemade zucchini, banana and pumpkin breads, some dollah bills... created another rabid Chris Cornell fan (now I have someone to squeal with).

Fall '08

Yay the term is over and I'm done with my finals. weee! Already got my grade back for the computer class, an A. Think I did well on the art history test. Probably totally floundered in the damn math class. ouch. Must. Try. Harder.

fail

heh. I got an F on a math test the other day. I knew the day would come. I tried, I studied (on my own, since the smart half was busy, tired and a little grouchy for a while there) and see how far that got me. It was polynomials. Too many rules for exponents. All the rules got crammed into my head in two days, and most of them fell out before the test.

On the other hand, still an obnoxious teacher's pet A student in Art History. I don't even have the text book for the class, and my mom just sent up the old one she had (sixth edition, 1975 print date), which is the one I read over and over when I was a kid. There are some architecture plans in it that aren't in the new edition and that the teacher doesn't have so I spent some time making them digital for him. Scanning didn't work because the book was too thick so I hope the pictures I took of it will work out.

To balance out the misery of getting an F on a test (o yeah, did I mention cried my wittle lump of coal heart out when I got it back) I went and got a grown-up haircut. I had a hippy mop that was totally out of control, half way down my back, unmanageable mess of curls (where the hell did these come from?!). Had about six inches cut off. She did me up just fine for color and a great style. FIRST EVER time I walked out of a salon with a style I really liked. Put a big hole in the bank account. Smart Half ok with it because DAMN i look alright! Dyn-o-mite, even. Which just goes with the other fantastic thing- I got new pants that are four sizes smaller than the ones I was wearing 18 months ago. And they are even just a weeee bit big.

under

Awesome. Gas finally dropped below $2 here on Wednesday. I hope the Saudis like it. Maybe they should diversify their economy. They should focus on tourism.

(typed with a straight face, of course)

aar matey

So, for next year's "Talk Like a Pirate Day", should we be speaking Somalian?

a pondering

HEading into my second full-time term (well, 11 credits, so 1 short of full-time), and basing what I'm going to say on what I've taken so far, it seems like it would be hard to get anything less than a really good grade at this community college.

When I first started I knew some other people who already had a couple of terms under their belts, and I asked to see their writing so I could judge where I was in relation to the college writing classes. What I saw was something I found a little shocking.

What they showed me were the equivalents to what I was writing in middle school English classes, and they were getting As on these papers.

So, either the schooling has been dumbed down immensely, and I don't know if this is a reflection of the community or what, or my secondary school district had very high standards that we lived up to. I only saw papers from the WRI121 class, which is English Comp, but really, what's the deal here? I thought college classes were supposed to be hard- and when I can turn in a 3 page paper on Neolithic art that took me all of an hour to research and 10 minutes to type and proofread and I get an A+ on it, I have to wonder.

Math is math no matter when or where you take it. Some of us will forever struggle with it and some of us cut through every math class like a hot knife in cool whip. I'll never be a hot knife at math, but I'm better at it than I used to be. The fact that I'm halfway through the term and still passing the class says something.

and speaking of school

My friend the Warthogger was the one that nudged me back to school. She graduated with a BS in Business Management- Marketing at 48. She nudged someone else into it, too, so we've been happily busting our brains for a few months. I nudged my Smart Half back into it. The other person who was nudged by the Warthogger nudged Screamin' Nat into it. And our professional country star in disguise is registering this term. I just talked to Djeef, and his smart half has been nudging him, and we had a good discussion about that. I nudged, too.

No matter what, it can't hurt. And if you aren't working, you might as well do something useful with yourself, right?

Because researching whether or not one gets more loaded by using a bong full of cold water, ice or snow vs regular water is not really all that useful.

set up for next term

Yay I got all registered today.
Next class in my Math sequence (check)
Next class in my Art History sequence (check)
Geology and the associated lab (check)

and... and I was surprised to see this, and totally pleased, but bummed out that it isn't a credit class, but figured it would be cool to take it and even though it isn't a credit class, it'll show up on my transcript I think.

Historic Land Management -"This course will discuss and define an historic Native American land management regime within Oregon. Oregon regions will be separated by elevation and move from West to East. Lectures will discuss how Native Americans over generations of living within a given ecosystem developed land management regimes that were not only sustainable but in many cases increased biodiversity levels. Lectures will also help in defining the ethics that were incorporated into Native American management and how these ethics helped guide Native Americans in their daily lives. We will discuss how these theories and techniques can be utilized into todays land management. Topics to be discussed will include but not be limited to defining a Native American land ethic, fire ecology, fishing, hunting, and gathering techniques."

Just got the news

And I gotta say it's pretty damn good news.

sick of part stores

had to get a part for the 4runner. got the usual runaround, was handed the wrong part a couple of times and was laughed at when I said it was the wrong one, only to find out from the dealership that HEY not only was I right, it WAS the wrong part, but the part isn't available unless you buy an idler pulley for $60. I made do with gasket goo, because i'm not paying $60 for a friggin rubber o-ring.

then finally managed to hunt down the culprit for the continuing warm-stall problem in the scootypuff (20 years, entire cooling and interior heating system tear down and rebuild later). Coolant temp sensor. Went to parts store again. Get sensor. Get home. Go to install sensor. Notice it's also not the correct part. At least i didn't take the old one out already.

It's fucking bullshit, i tell you.

confused vapidity

something vaguely interesting happened today.

Not necessarily to anyone else. Just to me.

But I've forgotten what it was.

Have I mentioned how much I like to say "Wadjet?

wow

gas has been dropping here by about 20 cents a day. from yesterday to today, it fell 40 cents- from $2.79/gallon to $2.39. I wonder if it'll be under $2 by the end of the week.

It takes a little pressure off, which is nice.

At least I'm not spending $80/week for work anymore. That was two tanks full every week over the summer when I was doing the merchandising. We were really fucked for a while there because of that job.

woot!

I got a 110% on my first ART 204 chapter review/paper. I am so totally a teacher's pet. ~chortle~

o yeah !

And I'm maintaining my B in math term so far!!

We're graphing linear equations.

I had no idea what a linear equation even looked like until last week. It's genius how you can check your answers by seeing if you have a line of dots. I wish I had been taught this in high school algebra classes.

givin the man the other finger, too

September natural gas bill- $17
October bill- $12

Part of that is we had our furnace pilot off until about a week ago. Big diff.

I'm sure it'll go back up again. heh.

Gimme back my finga!

i have a problem!

Well I have many of course, as we all do. This one is kind of nice to have.

None of my jeans fit me anymore. They're all too big. They are all size 12s. And I don't mean they're just a little loose. I mean the damn things fall off me without a belt.

Time to head to Goodwill or the little shop of things (that has used Levi's for 8-10$/pair and no I will not share the location of this little gem nyaaaah).

I got these jeans last year when I shrunk out of all my size 16s and 14s finally.

Can't quite fit back into my leather pants... but soon... SOOON! muahahaha!

(So anyway yeah, after a year of removing high fructose corn syrup from our diet, I've lost probably three sizes. They say it's ok in moderation, but what's moderation if it's in almost everything at the store?)

an interesting tidbit

I just learned that if you barf really hard, you can give yourself two nice black eyes.

Luckily, my eyes are now returning to normal.

flippin off the man, man

most recent power bill- $29.
previous one- $33
one prior to that $42.

Gawd that is just so awesome.

middle fork

Art Through the Ages

This is the textbook we use in my ART204 class, which is art history from the paleolithic onward to I'm not sure when.

The amusing thing is that we use the 12th edition. My mom took art history at some point when I was a kid, and so a much older edition wandered around our house for many years. It was probably the 4th or 5th edition (maybe even a later one, I'm not sure which one she had exactly). Which I read cover to cover at least a dozen times by the time I was a senior in high school. So the course is sort of a refresher. I remember a lot of the main points from the older book, things about Catal Huyuk and the various cave paintings in the Pyrenees for example, in what we're covering right now.

One thing about paintings at Lascaux and Chauvet that has always just made my heart stop for a moment is the pictures of the hands that the artists made. Oh the animals are great and there are some that I would love to get tattooed on me somewhere, but the hands... a very simple thing that says "I was here" and they were there 20,000 years ago. A thread that connects them to us. Our hands are the same as their hands were. They are us and no matter the book smarts or technology that we create, we are them.

we got our bone

with the passing of the bailout the timber counties were able to get an extension on the OC&E funds. I guess we're supposed to jump up and down with joy. "we're taking 700 billion, but here's a handful of pennies for your schools and libraries"

assholes. ASSHOLES!

applying padded bloomers

This term is gonna kick my ass. So will the rest of them, of course, but I'm only concerned with this one. yeesh.

I've already worn through one eraser for my math class. A week into it...

laugh or cry

The amount of adjectives, metaphors and similes, etc being trotted out and made up (some of them are really good ones) over the past few weeks about the mess in the money is mindboggling.

When the tough gets going, break out the big flowery words, I guess.

my niecy with the pipes

She didn't win, but I think she should have. She did a truly incredible job on this song.

out and around

Our festival was a smash. It was great!

I went out to boooze bay to see my neecy compete in the Teen Idol singing competition. She placed second, but I do firmly believe, all bias aside, that she was the better singer. The audience knew it, too. I listened to her practice "At Last" by Etta James and it made me cry. That's really something. I came back home with a flu-ey kind of ick.

Our jam spot had a fire, but we're back up and running at the local Legion hall for now, starting tonight. I hadn't even had a chance to piss the neighbors off with the drums, yet. I'm devastated. laff.

Smart Half will be going back to school with me! I'm totally excited about it.

Scootypuff blew out another CV boot. Time to park it for a while and bus it around til I can have these replaced. Three boots are bad, and at least one actual CV joint. This in addition to the front end just being trashed. I was thinking of busing it for most of the winter anyway.

Holy crap its tomorrow

the blues festival that is. It's goin to be AWESOME!

hehe woot!

Got one back

Lizard prince sent me an unedited sound file from Saturday. It was three songs long with some conversation. One of them was pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. One of my favorite songs of all time, "Diane", originally done by Husker Du and then covered in about five different ways by one of my favorite bands of all time, Therapy?. It was just me singing and playing Puddin. I got a great sound, even, out of my dinky little 15w amp, too.

It's always exciting to hear a recording of myself. I'm an egomaniac that way. Part of it is that I still can't believe I can play an instrument, so it's cool to hear myself doing it.

So I guess in a couple of days I'll have the edited one and I will upload it to the Butcher page.

tuneage

Saturday the lizard prince and I sat down at his hidey hole (which happens to be catty-corner from the house the Smart Half and I were trying to buy when we moved here) and I thrashed out about 10 songs on the geetar. Some are mine. Some Cracker, New Model Army, Jesse Colin Young, Dwight Yoakum, Therapy? It was mostly just to get some stuff recorded finally. By thrashed out I mean I just sat down and got as far as I could through some of these and then kept going even after losing it. There may be a couple that are worth sharing. If that's the case, I'll put it on ye old Butcher page. It felt pretty good, though. He didn't realize I knew as many songs as I do. Well, when I'm stuck in the back of the stage playing blues bass for three years, I guess it's hard to tell I can play anything else.

mommy can I go out and kill

I don't care what anyone says. Glenn Danzing had one hell of a voice for a punk band. I think Lee Ving did, too.

(The Misfits)


(Lee Ving)

Thank you, pb!

Paul has quit maintaining OrBlogs

Thank you for running such a great resource for as long as you did!

GPA

Did I mention that coming into the fall term at school I have a 3.43 GPA? Those three numbers and a dot just make me smile from one ear to the other.

It's the small things, you know.

breadfan

I love jamming this guitar intro on my bass. Djeef and I used to play it a lot together. Metallica's version. It's only been in the last few years that I was able to find a taped copy of the original Budgie song. And here it is. Rad.

Gutted

The place where we hold our jams was in a fire early this morning. One side is a restaurant and one side is the bar. The restaurant caught fire in the kitchen. The entire building didn't burn down, but the restaurant is closed now, as is the bar. I guess the ceiling in the bathroom and poker area of the bar collapsed. All of the blues society's equipment was safe, and so were the bartenders who were working at the end of their shifts. All the bartenders there are so super cool, I'm really happy none of them were hurt. I could deal with busted and burned equipment, but would be absolutely bummed if one of them had gotten hurt. But I'm bummed anyway, as now we have no jam place and the world is poorer for the loss of that place. Great owners at the bar. I don't know the restaurant owners, but they had a bustling little place going there with pretty good food and a friendly wait staff, who are now out their jobs, as well.

yay

the Fo is fine. Whew. Came this --> <-- close to a very expensive repair. I added TWO GALLONS of coolant to it (8 quarts. Capacity is 9.6 quarts). Started it. Got it warmed up. Turned it off. Went looking for leaks. Found the culprit at the block inlet pipe. No other fluids in places they shouldn't be. (ie no coolant in the oil. No oil in the coolant. No coolant burning in the cylinders. No exhaust coming out the radiator fill up hole. Etc). Everything smelled right.

I have an irrational fear of blown head gaskets and warped heads. Have dealt with both just one too many times in other cars. The Fo was running extremely poorly, very hot, with a lot of pinging, and getting hot in less than a mile's worth of driving. All of these are symptoms of stuff getting into where it isn't.

I had reminded the Smart Half when we got it to check everything on it once a week, just because of the problems these had. This is HIS vehicle. He did not. I should have just let it go to fucked up so he could have the joy of dealing with it, but then I got smart myself and realized it wouldn't be him dealing with, but me. As usual.

He admitted to not checking a single thing on it in four months. I could have slapped him.

a little disappointed

The '92 4runners had a recall for head gasket problems. Ours had been fixed before we bought it. I've talked to other owners of 4runners who said Toyota was great about dealing with this problem, multiple times. Having the repair blow out as well and then having that fixed, as well.

Which is good, because the (previously repaired) head gasket in ours blew out a couple of days ago.

I've been a Toyota fan for a long time. Been driving them regularly since '88. They could pretty much do no wrong in my eyes. Let's hope they live up to it.

But, in general, the Fo has been kind of a disappointment to me. It just feels wrong.

how not to keep your books

One of my friends worked at a local nightclub that's run by a complete moron. We knew this prior to the weekend, but she got laid off and went to go apply for unemployment yesterday. And found out there's no record of her working for this guy. Even though she isn't an under-the-table employee. He's been taking out her FICA, SS, etc every week, and pocketing it.

Fucking slimebag.

I've never liked the dude much. He just gave me the heebie-jeebies, and he's done some things to other employees that I thought was pretty despicable. They run a jam down there once a week but I rarely went and when I did I only grudgingly handed any money over to the place.

Well, apparently he has managed to get away with it- other employees who went to file for unemployment and didn't get it didn't pursue it any further than a shrug and an "oh well", but this friend of mine, she's a pitbull... She's calling BOLI on Monday.

I've run into some pretty shady business practices in KF. I know it's not confined to KF, but man it's just more prevalent here I guess.

another great jam

yeah we have these all the time! hahaha! I thought it was great. I got to jam with the guy who runs the sound at the Ragland. He's pretty damn talented. And got to play "Fisherman's Blues", which I'm always up for playing. Who can resist a Waterboys song!?

red zone

Front page story in today's Herald & News is the Red Zone. The Red Zone 330,000 acres (approximately) of (mostly dead) forest between Bly and Paisley.

Save the Trees, Kill a Forest doesn't seem to have been working very well.

the pants

This is the first pair we made. I picked the fabric. I love batik style prints and so any of these that have them I probably picked the material for.

Yesterday we picked up a sewing machine at Goodwill for $20. It is in the shop getting a tuneup currently. Once we dig Nat's machine out of storage, the Goodwill one will be mine.

I'm looking around online for places to buy hemp and bamboo fabric. I am going to do some printing on unbleached cotton for some of our pants. Man that bamboo and hemp stuff is expensive ($17 a yard!!! and that's cheap!!). That's what I would like to make some of the pants from, though.

The first pair I'll be making myself are for my Smart Half, out of flannel, long legs. I will probably be starting those Sunday night.

pay me for the notes

I knew it would happen eventually. If I kept going to the jams, kept expanding the group of people I know who play, avoided getting a rep as someone hard to work with...I really am not hard to work with when it comes to music. I make frowny faces while playing some songs and grumble about some others, but I'm pretty easy going, actually. I show up early and get set up, don't get falling-down drunk very often, and don't fight with the patrons. What more could a band ask for?!

I've been asked to play bass in one of the bands around here that is working. Not my favorite music, but then not all the music I hate, either. The guys seem jolly enough.

Finally. I'll be starting in early September (my first gig with them will be during the weekend of Sept 5/6). This is how I'll be paying for school this semester, too.

One of the things they liked about me was that I played pretty much whatever they threw at me at the jam one night. How I do that is my little secret, but the only people that regularly stump me are the guys who want to play jazz-type jams.

Pillory me if you so desire, but I don't get much jazz. I like the early jazz, but more modern stuff that came after, hmm.. the 50s I guess, makes my brain asplode.

@!#$!%#

a short run of the posters for the festival came in yesterday.

I hate them. I hate the logo. I hate the design. I hate that there's black script written over black areas of the print. I hate the numerous punctuation errors strewn all over it. I hate that it looks like someone threw a bunch of clip art at a piece of paper.

Of course it's irrational of me to be this hostile to a piece of graphic design work. But, it looks like crap.

I called in the errors to our prez. No one proofed it before it went to print.

more about pants

Screamin Natalie and I eyeballed the fishermen's pants today, went out and picked a fine little fabric and some pattern-making stuff, and 5 hours later we had another pair without taking mine apart.

Well, ok, they aren't pants, they're shorts. But anyway, now another pair is wandering around the locale.

And I didn't sew very much, because I don't know how to use a sewing machine (but I can hone your cylinders for you...), but I helped make the pattern, pinned it on the fabric, and made efforts to cut in a straight line. Also I ironed. I threaded the needle (correctly, even, and more than once) and figured some other stuff out on the machine. That's plenty sewing enough for me. I can sew by hand pretty well, but never was able to master a machine. Well I may have, had anyone taught me, which nobody did and it never mattered much to me one way or the other. Screamin Natalie is determined to show me how to sew, though. I showed her my attempt at crochet from a couple of years ago- the 2-yard long rope of red yarn. She laughed. Yeah but I can still hand-pack wheel bearings like nobody's bidness.

I have pics of the pants we made. They'll be here eventually. Got a lot of puppy pics since she's caring for a dog that was abandoned, pregnant, at her neighbors house. These little guys are cute as hell. Part brindle coat pit bull (not sure which type- the kind with the pointy head instead of the blockhead) and part Rhodesian Ridgeback. They're all colored like their mom but have their dad's eyes. Which always look at us humans as if we were some tall, hairless idiots.

We probably are. If we were smart, maybe we'd lick our own asses from time to time.

the number 42

It was pretty sweet yesterday to get our power bill and see that the total we owe for the last billing cycle was $42.00.

That was for 429 Kwh over 31 days.

Haven't used the dryer much. It makes the house hot, and then we have to use the AC. So by hanging out our laundry and then dropping it on the fluff setting for 10 minutes in the evening, I killed off close to $60 off our bill. By keeping the dryer off its heat settings, the house has been cooler, so we don't have to use the AC much.

Other things may have finally added up- all of our lights are the new style bulbs now and I revert to my mother and go around making sure they are off if we aren't using them. Always have kind of done that but not so vigilant as lately about it. One computer has not been used much so it's been off about a month. I have been playing more acoustic. Really i have no idea how much two hours of playing either through a 25 watt amp or a 100 watt amp costs, and I didn't switch to save electricity, it's just that the acoustic is always ready to go. The electric always involves dinking around with a cord, or the inputs have loosened up or some other bullshit.

how do you know?

I suppose my suspicions about people may be well-founded. They often seem unreasonable, but then I find out that the little voice in my head was right.

We're lied to from all quarters, all the time. Politicians, especially, of all stripes, just lie right to our faces and we suck it right up, and even yell about the other guy lying, but somehow manage to be blind to the fact that the guy we like is probably lying, too. Or the people who purport to have the truth... they may be lying. All these people running around calling the other guy a liar, are liars themselves. It doesn't matter if they have a D or an R next to their name, they're lying. About something. Pick something. Are you completely sure that your favorite is telling you the absolute truth? Would you bet your life on it? Then why get all drooly and out of breath about them? I don't even think there's any truth to be told anymore, to be my own brand of honest. Who the hell knows just what is and what is not total fabrication anymore? Even facts are fabricated and trotted out.

can i get a friggin halleluja

My final grade in the MTH20 class was a B.

Thursday it was cold in hell.

headstock

my Epiphone rests on the Upper Klamath

a very old cycle

I'm reading a book called "This Realm of England". Yeah, another history book. This one covers England from 1399 to 1688. The old cycle I refer to happened in England during the 1500s, when raising sheep for wool production became profitable. All these people with land that had previously been used for growing food switched to using the land for running sheep. At the same time, silver from Spain's colony of Bolivia was flooding into Europe.

"Despite the false simplicity of economic determinism, the fact remains that a growing population, inflated prices, and an insatiable demand for wool reversed the social and economic cycle prevailing before 1460. They transformed the fifteenth-century pattern of land plenty, labor shortage and high wages into land hunger, labor surplus and rising rents. Behind changing economic design loomed the millions of sheep, which outnumbered humans by three to one." (pg 68)

Sheep... ethanol... silver... oil...

anyway I just thought that was interesting and wanted to share it with the class. :)

and she got a book

Because Naranja had given me such awesome pants, I had to find something at least as neat for her. I headed to the local museum in hopes of finding a sort of local history book with a lot of pictures. Her reading of English isn't as good as how well she can speak it. What I did find for her was a book of photographs from around Oregon. Of the land. I love these books- they show that Oregon is not just the green-weeping west of the cascades. That we have a painted desert, and both coastal and inland dunes, and a billion kinds of birds, and rocky wastelands and both evergreen and deciduous woods and forests, plains and wetlands. She really liked it and showed me the things she'd already seen here.

I have promised to go to Thailand to visit them. I have always wanted to see Thailand. My grandparents spent a lot of time there before I was born, and in their house were always great books about it, great objects to look at and contemplate. As a little, little kid, the stuff was wonderfully alien and fascinating to me. It still is. I want to see the wats, and feel the silks and hear the music, and the language and the alphabet.

comfiest pants in the world

Got to meet dad's girlfriend. I call her Naranja ("orange" in Spanish), because that's how I remember her name.. which is kind of similar sounding.

She brought my aunt and I both these Thai fishermen's pants... I just went and looked them up.

If everyone was wearing these pants, there would be no wars. I do firmly believe that.

Anyway, I like Naranja. She's the shortest person I know. Like, half as tall, literally, as my dad. But she's super nice and all that important stuff.

She got a dad's wild-ride-land-of-the-cowboys tour of the west. They landed in LA, drove to Vegas, drove to New Mexico (i think?), Colorado (Vail and Durango), cut west to Elko, then Klam, then down to Rogue River, and today, off to San Francisco, then back to Los Angeles.

She saw the Grand Canyon, Vegas, the huge desert that stretches from east of the I5 all the way to pretty much west Texas, the deepest lake in the Western US, the biggest lake in the WEstern US (or is that Salt Lake? Nevermind, she saw that too), volcanoes, lava flows, snow, four national parks although I am not sure of which four except Crater Lake and Grand Canyon. Rogue River, Lower Animus River, Colorado River, Klamath River. The Rockies. The Coast Range. The Alvord Desert. What a great trip. They stayed in a 3 million dollar condo in Vail, and a rathole in Tuba City. Local brews were tasted at every stop where they were available. I found out Pad Thai is only Pad Thai if it has shrimp in it. If it's another meat-thing, it's something else.

friend's kid is missing

Well, I haven't seen this friend in over a decade, but once a friend, always a friend in my book. It's terrible that Jacob is missing. Here is the information: Especially important if you happen to be in or around Reno, NV. pictures are at the myspace page

Missing Child
Sparks Police Department (775) 353-2231
Case #: 08-10242


Location Last Seen: Boulder Creek Apt. – Clear Acre/Sun Valley Blvd.

Last Seen Wearing: Dark colored shirt and pants / Black tennis shoes (airwalk brand)
Date of Disappearance: 7/25/08
Name: Jacob Anthony Callan
Nicknames: Jake
Date Of Birth: 02/09/93 – 15 years old
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 5 ft, 9 in
Weight: 180 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Wears Glasses: Yes (but was not wearing them when he was last seen)
Hearing Impaired: No
Birthmarks: none
Scars: none
Tattoos: none
Piercings: None
Medical Issues: Has eczema type rash
If you see this child, please call 911 IMMEDIATELY.

Refer to Above Case #
Mother: Kat Callan (c) 775-954-6309


From KC;

"This is my stepson Jacob. He is currently missing in the RENO NV area.

Please understand we only heard about this tonight. It is Tuesday August 5th, 2008. We received this in email from his mother Katrina. We have been out of town for the last 3 days while Ian had eye surgery. I beg you, I implore you -- PLEASE pass this on. The police are saying he is a possible run-away: but nobody has seen him, and according to Katrina, he never reached his intended friend's house -- where he said he was going.

We'll update when we can, & will try and keep a blog running full steam on any updates on myspace -- at Ian's page www.myspace.com/ianddaniels.

Please, please pass this on, we so desperately need your help! Ian & KC Daniels


We also ask that if you see anyone, any boy that looks like Jake, (or even like Ian) PLEASE CALL 911!!!!"

never planned on the bombs in the sand

I've recently become a fan of the Drive By Truckers. Yeah, they have been around for a while, but it does take me some time to listen to EVERYTHING I (can) get my hands on.

But "Dress Blues" is the song that got me looking around for more of their stuff. There's a version on Youtube that's very stark and beautiful - much more than the album version.

I'm learning it on the geetar. I can even sing it pretty well. It's in the right key for me I guess.



And now my younger brother is joining the Army. My youngest cousin, also, landed in the elite rangers. Other cousins, been out and back again from Afghanistan and Iraq a couple of times.

now i see what's going on

nobody reads actual articles online. They just read headlines. That's where a lot of people get all their news information. Headlines. Comments on stories where you can comment are full of people who just read the headline and say something... stupid.

scramble, like verruckte

ok sorry there's no umlaut there, and i can't remember if there is supposed to be one anyway.

Got an email from Dad on Frida "Am in Colorado. En route. Should be there the 4th. Will call you when I get close"

I thought I had until the 6th! Haha! I'm gonna be cleaning all day tomorrow and when I get back from the show today. weeee.

dear anonymous jerkoff

Well actually that's all that really needed to be said.

welcome, all ye, to the Temple of Suck

The folks who brought you Faster Than The World a couple of years ago have started another mess. The Temple of Suck

I'm a contributor there, so stop in once in a while. We've been talking about food lately. My contribution is not there yet, but give me a free hour over the weekend and it will be.

thing that stuck

At the jam last night I was asked to join another band. This one's a little closer to what I enjoy. So we exchanged numbers and will see what happens. Have to pay for school now. hahaha! It may just be as backup, but five gigs will pay off this semester. Two more will pay for the books.

Dad is coming in August 4. A little nerrrrrvous. Well, he knows I'm a shitass housekeeper too.

books

over the last week, I read a few books. "Arthur & George", "Songs in Ordinary Time", "Skywater", "The Book of Ruth", "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" and "Water for Elephants". They all came in a box from my mom. They were mostly pretty good. I really liked "Water for Elephants". "Skywater" was sad. They were all kind of sad. Populated by sad people and grotesque people and thieves and liars and alcoholics.

Last night I started an American History text book published in 1911,1917,1920 by David Saville Muzzey. It's pretty incredible. I mean, to read it. To read the attitudes of the time, held in this old book. If you ever want to see how much progress we've made as a country in our ways of thinking about non-white people, read a history book from the early part of the 20th century.

I'm talking about paragraphs like this:
"21. The Northern Tribes....They had a great variety of games and dances, solemn and gay; and they loved to bask idly in the sun, too, like the Mississippi negro of today." (pg 20)"

vile

southern oregon teen idol

I dunno.. is that what it's called?

Tam's daughter is in it again this year. She didn't really want to but got goaded into it by a snotty parent that was not her own. The parent issued a challenge in a rather rude manner, akin to "Not going to the dance because you can't wear the same dress again?". Yah that kind of rude. I wish it was okay to slap the shit out of people like that.

So the kid took the bait and is in the Top 3 in week 4. Snotty Parents kid fell by the wayside after round 2.

Tam's kid is as close to my own kid as I'll probably ever get. I've gotten to watch her grow up from age 5. She has always been engrossed by music. Bad Company was one of her favorite bands when she was 6. She plays guitar, plays bass, sings, writes music. She's just a super-talented, super-smart kid. She was around bands from the time she was 7 and has sung in front of a huge (for Coos Bay) crowd or two at the Fun Festival and the County Fair with ML when she was 10 or so. She knocked 'em dead with Aretha's "Respect" at the Fun Festival. She doesn't have that irritating broadway show style or Mariah Carey clone voice that so many girls have. She sings from her feet, I swear. She hits the notes and doesn't bother wavering around them or anything like that. She has a really strong voice. She's a blues singer, whether she knows it or not. She's even got that strut.

This year, I hope she can win. Because I'd love to see her leave the Snotty Parents (and so many of them are) with their jaws on the ground. She's had an unusual upbringing that I know some people tsk tsk over but she has the right attitude- that it isn't her problem if certain people don't like her. She's been working since she was probably 12, helping her mom at the shop and down at the farmer's market in the summertime. She has goals, she has steps laid out to meet those goals, and she attains them. I totally admire her for that (seeing as I lack that gene myself).

So I really have no doubt that she can win the thing. I know why she didn't the last two years and it had nothing to do with talent, but politics.

Anyway kiddo, I know you stop in here once in a while, and I'll drop in on your myspace page later, but hey - big giant stupid hippie hug with a side of squeal, otay? I'm stoked you consider me one of your moms.

cash in hand

aaaahhhhh.... some of the pressure is off.

Yesterday I got my first copyediting/proofreading job in hand. $75 worth. To check over is a manuscript for a book of poetry.

Poetry! How to proofread it?! Shouldn't be too hard. I'll look through it, see what the style is and mainly go for glaring spelling errors. Grammar can slide. Since my favorite poet of all time is ee cummings, I'm somewhat already on that plane as far as whacked out usage goes. Far and wee!

The author has invited me to their film society meetup, also, because she is looking for writers, musicians and anyone else that gets glued to a movie in any form. She also thinks the script writers would be happy to have my services available. She is also going to bring me to a local Women in Business meeting and see what happens there.

Also, while waiting in the parking lot at safeway yesterday I picked up a paying bass gig in September.

ALSO(!) I have been added to a list (consisting of two other people) a local attorney has for legal transcription.

See, I knew something would stick. I just had to keep throwing stuff. Throw it out there, then stand around and look good.

and last night's jam...

it was kind of hit and miss. It was hot as fuck in that bar. I played drums first set. And I probably lost a pound or two in sweat. Then played bass. I had let this guy play my bass. He was irritating, demanding, high-and-mighty. I wanted to punch him. He finishes playing and I checked my tuning. Good lord. A full step flat on all the strings except the D, which is down a step and a half. Fucking jackass. This after he spent 15 minutes tuning it, which probably wasn't necessary because I tuned it before I went down there and it stays in tune. Stupid asshole. He's never touching it again. And I'm pretty cool about letting people play my bass.


So, played for a set or two and then someone wants to play Hotel California. Which I hate. And hate it enough that I can't even stand to listen to it long enough to learn it, so I don't know it very well. I'm not playing it. The guy gets all huffy. Dude, he plays it every fucking week, at every fucking jam, every damn gig he plays, and it still sounds godddamn horrible when he plays it. I don't know if it's his tone or the timbre he likes to have his git set at or what, but it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. Painful. Makes my ears hurt. And still he wants to play it, even after hearing "No fucking way" from me 3 times. I'm, as usual, the only bass player there. Apparently I'm one of the few that anyone likes playing with, too. Which is nice.

But yeah it was a damn sauna in that place last night. Which makes me grouchy and irritable and then having to listen to the one guys screeching guitar tone and the same crap he ALWAYS plays.. I wanted even moreso to punch someone. I spent most of my time outside. But lots of people gave me compliments and that's always nice to hear.

And i have to add this. Just because you play louder than everyone else doesn't make you a good guitar player. Loud is really only good when you have the tone to back it up. If your instrument sounds like an elephant on crack, best to keep your volume down or risk looking like a total asshole. Jeeezus. Running your 20 watt amp with a handful of tubes in it at full volume doesn't sound as good as the guy next to you with a Marshall 4 x 10 run off a J-series amp on 2. It just doesn't. Face it. And walking off in a huff because you sound like fartz.. well that's just fucking funny if your older than 12.

haze

ready to float/paddle/paddle like crazy. Sleeping bag, tent, change of clothes, toothbrush...checkcheckcheck and check.

respirator. ?
Damn near need one.

the day started clear and warmish. I brought home a stray from the jam last night and we and one of his friends spent the morning drinking coffee and giggling. Then I dropped them off at the Safeway to begin their own grand adventure. 1 o'clock I was at le dentiste as scheduled.

I came out at 2:15 and you couldn't see Hogback. You couldn't see KAGO hill. You couldn't see a mile down S. Sixth street. Wind blowing from the west. Where the fuck is the fire? Go look online.. where the hell can you find info about fires? Nothing in InciWeb. Nothing in nifc. WTF? None of the TV channels have anything online. None of the local papers or radio stations do either. Hello? I'd check the Tay-Vay but our cable is off.

We're putting in at Frehn ranch (not sure if it's Frane or Frehn, but there you are), which is westish of us. Hope it isn't what's on fire.

well that was pretty damn cool

I went down to the engineering company today to see my picture.

Is that effing tardlike of me or what?

Anyway, there it is a the top of the stairs, the first thing you see when you come into the office. Kind of a thrill to see that. Kind of like the first hit of crack kind of thrill, actually. The one that ends your life as you knew it, because after the first one, you just spend all your time trying to get it back.

on a wall

a few weeks ago, my friend called me up and asked what kind of resolution the camera got. The engineering company she works for needed some shots of one of the buildings they worked on at OIT, one that could be blown up to 20 x 60. Mine would do it. So we went over and I got probably 50 pictures from various angles, then handed over my card so they could pick one. Normally I'd go through and at least pull the ones that were terrible, but they needed it in a hurry.

And they really liked two of them, but one is hanging on their wall in the office now (my name is not on it yet, but i guess she's still working on it) and it may go into a brochure.

So that's pretty damn cool. I think.

where's my mind

Ok i guess since no one told me the actual date of our rafting trip this year, I can let my self off the hook just a little. It's this weekend. For some reason I was thinking it was in August some time.

Which threw a wrench into my works. I intended to play a shitload of Toadies on my show this weekend. All I have. Some 60 songs or so. In honor of them touring and putting out the new album and all.

I will have to console myself with just jamming it on the acoustic on the banks of the mighty Klamath on Friday and Saturday nights I guess.

I was really looking forward to just playing the Toadies. It's rare that I have three straight hours to devote to just listening to a catalog of a band I love. Owell. Next Saturday morning.

The Toadies are coming! The Toadies are coming!

Not to Klamath, of course.

But they will be in Sacramento, San Fran and Portland. So I'm scheming ways to get to see them. It'd probably be in Sacto, because it's closest.

Also, The Toadies have a new album out, called "No Deliverance". The single is up on their myspace page.

Good stuff, Maynard.

1942 Harley WLA pictures

I finally got them up.

pleased with myself

And it's ok to be pleased with one's self on occasion.

I dusted off some brain cells and pulled 7 or 8 New Model Army songs out of my acoustic yesterday. I learned them back when I first got a guitar (about 2 years after I got my first bass) and only come back to them once in awhile, like if I'm jammin alone on the porch or something. Their music still has a profound effect on me, 23 years after first hearing "51st State". It comes back easy. I know the music backwards and forwards, knew it before I learned to play it. Know all the words for every song on every album from the Vengeance album/EP to Strange Brotherhood. There have been albums released since Strange Brotherhood, but I don't have them.

When all my records were stolen from me in Arizona, the ones I was bummed out the most about were the NMA ones. Didn't care about the Metallica ones on Metalblade. Didn't care about the colored vinyl Misfits singles or the green double-live UK Subs album. Didn't really miss the BGK or Ill Repute. But to this day I am still angry about the NMA being taken. By a jackass ex-boyfriend who thought Jackyl and Love/Hate were the epitome of good music.

RCR pictures

The batch of the riders is up first. This is my favorite one. Click on it to see the whole picture.

Good times with Rip City Riders

I was out at their wangdang doodle yesterday for NINE hours. I didn't expect to be there that long, but there it is. The jam band played for two hours and then we let the final band use our PA so we were kind of stuck there til they were finished.

But it was great! Great music, great bikes, great cars, good food, jolly people, freestylers on ramps...

I got assloads of pictures. I will deal with them later.

It was hot as hell on the stage yesterday when we were playing. The band before us boiled even more than we did. The stage faced west. So that's all anyone needs to know.

Who wants a clean house

Sometimes when I'm actually home during the daytime and don't have to do anything, and can spend an hour or so turning my brain to mush in front of the Tay-Vay, I'll watch "Clean House", with Niecy. Of course, I should be cleaning my OWN house... but the fact of the matter is that I am a shit-ass housekeeper and it's all I can do to keep our little house looking even moderately presentable. Luckily, most of our friends are also shit-ass housekeepers so the embarrassment factor isn't too high. And it never fails that immediately after vacuuming, one of the cats will pop out a big ol' hairball in the middle of the floor. So sometimes I wonder what the fucking point is anyway. Who's great idea was it to put carpet in houses in the first place?

But I like "Clean House". I like it because, hey, it makes me feel better about my own lack of cleaning skills. One does not have to bushwack their way from my front door to my kitchen, or step over piles of stuff, or follow trails through the junk. There is no coating of unidentifiable funk on our stuff. Weird smells are passing, not permanent. We own a Kirby G5 and we use it. Ok, well, *I* use it. The carpet is a sort of uniform dinginess, but part of that is that we live next to a freeway and the particulates and dust gets tracked into the house- no matter how often I sweep the porch and walkway. It's just a fact of life.

I try not to bring more stuff into the house. For the most part, I have succeeded in reducing this to almost nothing... a mere trickle. And I am one who used to grab stuff off the side of the road with the idea that "I can do something with it". I even go through the crap once a month and give it away. I'm always giving shit away. Man, I haven't even seriously started in the garage yet, either, but there is always a box by the door filling up with stuff to contribute to someone else's junk habit. I don't want to deal with a garage sale, either. What I see with garage sales is that the shit floats from sale to sale, anyway. The people who used to live in this house had a garage sale every weekend, I guess. For the first six months we lived here, there were people banging on our door at weird hours on the weekend wondering where the damn garage sale was. I don't know! It isn't here! Shove off! And some of the passive-aggressive neighbors (how I hate people like that) with "It would be nice if those people still lived here and had their garage sale". Get the fuck out of my yard. Right now. (of note- I rarely respond to passive-aggressive behavior. I busted the smart half on it the other day. He didn't realize it was what he was doing. With me, you had better tell me straight up what you want, or I ignore you.)

So, thank you Niecy for the constant reminder that it isn't so terrible in my house. It isn't so great, but it isn't bad.

house in hua hin

My dad just sent a note over that he and his lady friend bought a nice little pad in Hua Hin, Thailand.

So, yeah, really, must get more income so we can go visit.

4th of july pics

I got the pictures of the blues society jam band put up at our KBS myspace site:
KBS on MySpace

And here are fireworks pictures I took:

bro not crispy

yay Rude called last night to let me know he was back from his first firefighting gig of the season. He worked out of a base camp in Chester, CA (between Susanville and Redding on HWY 36. I think he may have been on the Corral Fire but not sure, forgot to ask him last night, he was just checking in and letting me know he was all right. Like, I'm a mom or something. lol.

Pretty neat guy

One of the coolest people around town that I know lives in a trailer court on the weird side of town (off Wiard street, which, although I know it's pronounced "Wy-ard", I will always call it "weird"). He's a disabled Viet Nam vet who served as a medic. Last year he decided to turn his life around and stopped taking the gnarly pain killers (methadone, oxycontine and morphine) that had been prescribed to him, took up swimming and biking and has made some great progress with his health. He also has it in his mind to be energy-independent and is working on various things to achieve this. He makes his own wine and rigged up a giant swamp cooler to cool his trailer. Giant, as in, the swamp cooler was probably on an office building before he got it, and now it sits outside his little trailer and blasts cold air in like nobody's business.

Yesterday I went over to say Hi (which I hadn't done in almost a month) and have a conversation and see what his newest deal was. Turns out he's been running a hydrogen generator on one of his cars to augment the gasoline. The experiment vehicle is his Trooper, but he also has an older Suburban with a 400 ci engine in it that he uses to haul stuff around in. My guess is that in town the 400 gets about 8-10 mpg. His mileage on the Trooper increased by about 8 with the small, homemade hydrogen generator. He put both of the generators together that he has for me yesterday and man it is something to watch. I didn't have the camera with me or I would have documented it all.

I'm going back over there over the weekend probably because I do want to document this thing.

tastiest place in town

Two!

One is the dollar taco stand two blocks up the road from us. It's been there a year and today the smart half wanted mexican food so I told him to make a run up the block and get a cheap taco or six. He came back with a pounder burrito that was $5 and apparently worth every dollar. Even better because it's so close.

the other one, a downtown mainstay for two decades, Swan's Bistro. My first time in there today. Owned by my fellow crazy people. They crammed me full of food, poured a 40 oz iced latte down my gullet and then booted me out the door for good conversation and enjoyment of sunshine. GO THERE! They make those wonderful tea-marbled hardboiled eggs. One of the cooks spent years in Asia and came back with mad cooking skillz. it's the only place you can buy crepes in this town. Hellz yeah. My new hangout.

Where the hell can I find some of that?

Recently a friend sent me a link to this article, Big Pharma is in a Frenzy to Bring Cannabis-Based Medicines to Market"

(on a side note, I hate references to "Big" anything. Oil, tobacco, pharmaceuticals... almost as much as I hate the much overused and beaten to death phrase "Wake-up call" and firmly believe that journalists, politicians and other useless hacks who use these phrases ought to have their mouths duct-taped and a smear of Vicks vapo-rub placed under each eye as well as on their upper lip, while someone chants all the wake-up calls at them through a bullhorn, a foot away, as the chanter hits a helium balloon every 90 seconds)

Anyway- speaking of useless hacks, we can add Britain's PM Gordon Brown to that slimy hole filled with total morons, as he says "I don't think that the previous studies took into account that so much of the cannabis on the streets is now of a lethal quality and we really have got to send out a message to young people -- this is not acceptable," (here, but also quoted in the first article.

Gordon Brown, as if you'd ever come across this, but if someone can find me, or anyone else, even ONE instance of someone smoking a j rolled of modern, "lethal" pot that resulted in that person dying on the spot, please forward it. Not someone who got in a deadly car accident while stoned and drunk. Someone whose death was a direct result of one dose of lethal marijuana. Similar to a heroin or cocaine overdose.

Find that, and my opinion of politicians might change just a little bit. Til then, shit-spewing, hand-in-my-pocket-taking-my-money-away, bullshit artists all, they shall remain. And a note to other politicians who are talking out their asses about things they know nothing about- sirs, better to keep your bonehole shut and be thought a fool than speak up and remove all doubt.

the quiet

When taking those pictures at the wildlife refuge I had to also stop and listen. Because there was silence, except for the sounds of the birds. Living next to the highway in town is noisy and you get used to it, but to enjoy near-total silence is always a treat. It makes my ears ring.

In the spring the bird sounds are louder, more raucous, and there are a lot more different birds. The geese are always especially loud, and the ducks. You'll hear the occasional crane or heron making noise, or a cow mooing nearby, the blip-blip-splash of someone on the water catching lunch, or the scraw of predatory birds. This time of the year, the population at the marsh is changing. The mating is finished for the most part, the little fuzzy birds are not quite so little and fuzzy but still grouped with moms and little families.

But now, when it's hot and desolate and still, the marsh is mostly quiet. There is rustling in the tules, some splashing, the whoop-whoop sound that the wings of a big bird flying overhead make.

I would suggest to anyone traveling up or down the I5 in Oregon to get the hell off it and get on the 97. It's prettier and you can stop and check out things like the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. You can also stop and see the Butte Valley National Grasslands.

Personally, every time I have to drive on the 5, I think to myself, "Fuck I hate this particular freeway and just about every stupid fast-food town that dots it".

Camp Tulelake

Whenever I get out to Tulelake I try to stop at the camp. You can't go on the grounds, but you can stand at the fence and take pictures. Out of some 30 buildings, I guess, there are maybe 5 or 6 still there. Camp Tulelake was a sort of overflow camp for the larger, main camp at Newell.



George Takei was at the main camp with his parents.

CA 161

I had to run out to Tulelake early this morning and took the opportunity to take my time and get a few pictures. This is one of my favorites I got this morning.

all the days

Yesterday went pretty great. I didn't play, but I'm alright with that. I didn't really want to play anyway. I wanted to go see what there was to see. Got a lot of pics and some videos and handed out some flyers and schmoozed. Tomorrow will be the first day in a week i'll be able to sleep in past 9, probably. hope so, at least.

see, yah, nothing too exciting.

4th of july

welp. nothing particularly spectacular planned on our end. I will be playing with the blues society on the courthouse steps throughout the day, starting around 10AM. That thing turns into a big old parabolic bowl around 3o'clock. It just cooks your ass.

They close Main street at 8 or 9AM so we have to get all the eq down there and unloaded around 7:30 probably. weeee! At least it'll be cool. Like, soopa cool. I love the mornings here in the summer. If there was anything to do here at night, I'd go back to being nocturnal and then just sleep in the daytime.

math post #7 (probably)

It's still just mostly incomprehensible scratchings to me.

I think I must be in a weird place. I do well at whole number, basic math, which is why I didn't go into MTH10. But I'm struggling with MTH20, which is probably the equivalent of high-school pre-algebra.

I work on a concept, work on applying the concept (through the problems and study guides in the book), then flail stupidly when actually doing the problems and come up with answers so far off the mark I can't even imagine what the fuck I was thinking or where it all went to shit.

When I do my homework and check it over on my own, I'll still come up with 10-15 wrong out of 40 when we go over it the next day. If the Smart Half goes over it with me after I'm done, I get maybe 3-5 wrong. So I am having him go over it with me. I don't see the mistakes. Because I don't understand it.

We're heading into complex fractions right now. And, it's like, crap... all these numbers and lines and rules and if it's negative you do this and if it's two negatives you do this and to divide you flip and multiply and make it small and ok well you lost me there. I really pay attention in class. I write all the rules down on their own page and look at them before I start homework.

I think I get it for 30 seconds and then nothing makes sense.

But I'm going to pass the damn class.

'Bamian heading to Beijing

A 2000 KU grad is on his way to the Olympics.

Way to go!

Crystal Frontier

crystal frontier

Calexico has a new album out and the name of the first single is called "Crystal Frontier".

I love it. It's great. It's very layered and has different tempos running through it, and tells a story. Gonna play it more on the show.

mud

The sky here is almost like the color of dried lakebed mud. The air burns your eyes a little. It reminds me of hot summers in San Pedro in the 70s, except in that case it was smog burning your eyes. Also, the layering you see in the air in the LA basin is not so noticeable here. We do have inversion layers, but more in the winter time, but the air today is pretty still for now and layers might still appear for a little while before the thunderstorms move in.

product

Yay that "some of the jammers" video was taken on the new camera.

I've never owned a video camera. In my life. Never even had one available to me. So this is not just an old toy in a new way, but a totally new toy.

Cue up the Lydia Lunch!

some of the jammers

my heart soared

and then crash-landed into a remote, snow-capped peak, bursting into flames and leaving no one alive.

Something big and shitty just happened with our festival. It'll go on, but not how we had intended it to.

kf tactic

I got to witness an interesting tactic by the police at the jam last night.

Seems they like to hang around the rowdier establishments. They wait outside, not really doing anything. Eventually word gets back to the people inside that the cops are here. All is quiet for a while, and then a really drunk person goes out to needle them. Bam! Into a car they go. For whatever reason, who knows... Then another drunk goes out to see what happened to the first one and to needle the cops his own self. Into the car with him...

So yeah I don't know what the hell was going on at the jam last night, but that's how it appeared to me.

Good times. Who needs TV?

so much fun

the camera got here yesterday. I put the batteries in, threw in a card, formatted it, flipped through the user manual for like 45 seconds and then started pressin buttons. For shits and giggles i stuck it on the dashboard and took video of the ride to the jam.

on the dressing habits of guys from Oregon's hinterlands

They don't wear their pants looking like they are walking around with a load of shit in them.

Out at the party in the woods, one did not see many loaded pants around. One saw long legs with jeans that fit ahem *really well*. Was almost shocking, because you never see men's asses anymore.

Let's hear it for the farm boys!

still chomping

shipment details show the new camera to arrive between tomorrow and the 28th. Squeeee!

pretty damn cool

I got sort of inundated the last couple of days with CDs and links to some great bands from the area to play on the show. I will be changing my usual "play one artist at 10:30" thing to at least an hour of stuff every week. That's how much came my way.

Dug up some Nothingface to play early on. The bass player from that band has gone on to do some great shit of his own in the form of In For The Kill, and I'm stoked to find out that they are heading into the studio to record a full album.

Blues society is playing on the courthouse steps on 4th of July at 9 am. zoiks, scoob... will have to grab everything after the jam thursday in order to get it downtown by set up time of 7:30 or so.

the wait

agh the only thing worse than wanting something really badly is getting it and having to wait for it.

the new camera should be here BY the 1st. Well, I simply won't have any furniture left by then, having gnawed all the legs off.

The old one I'm sending up to Rude and his mom. It still works, still takes pretty damn fine pictures, but has some frustrating quirks for me that I'll explain for them. Rude's a photographer at heart but never can remember to buy film or process it. Yeah I know how that feels. Hopefully he'll enjoy the old Kodak and stuff.

In other things, Smart Half tells me that his mom has never come to visit him anywhere he's lived, either. So this summer is kind of big for both of us. He and I have sort of similar issues with one of our parents. For me, it's my dad. For him, his mom. I joke that we should introduce them and they can go bowling. They're very similar people. Driven, work-oriented, maybe a little inattentive as a parent, maybe a little oblivious to what their kids needed in the past. Both of them were suspicious of the wrong kids behaviors. Well, my dad's suspicion was perhaps justified to a certain extent but while he was accusing me of stuff, my brother was getting away with much, much more than I ever hoped to.

So yeah. Fun summer. Hoping soon to get MY mom up here, and maybe eventually untether my biodad from his unhappy household for a week or so.

not much funnier sometimes

farts

math class!

Ok my first one was today. We got something like a 20 minute intro to the class and what the teacher expects and then ran headlong into the work. Eight chapters in eight weeks is the schedule.

I wasn't sure if this was the right math class for me, but after a day in it, that isn't the case. I KNOW its the right one. hahahah. Math 20. woot!

carlin

Wow that's kind of a shame. He sure was funny as shit. I have always especially liked the bishop (or whatever he was, maybe just a priest) in "Dogma".

thanks pop!

I needed a new digital camera some kinda bad. I'm supposed to be shooting the festival in September, and my nearly-decade-old Kodak EasyShare is tottering along. Doing it all on film crossed my mind but would be prohibitively expensive. Sent dad a note asking if he could pick one up cheap over there in Thailand and bring it when he visits in August. He said they're more expensive there, weirdly. Then he asked what I needed in one. Then I shot for the stars and said I wanted, basically, a Nikon D40. Now, I of course knew that this was not going to happen. But this is how you ask for (expensive) things from my dad. You ask for the golden plate, and bargain down to the silver goblet.

On it's way is a brand new Cannon PowerShot A720.

WEll, one of these days I'll have a digital SLR.

And I messed around some more with the Minolta Maxxus (maxxum?) yesterday. Took it out to Blystock and finished the roll that was in it. Then spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to rewind the thing to get the film out. I don't have a manual for this camera and the one I found online is, like, translated straight from Malaysian which makes for fun reading like "press the buttons being on the top in blue". Ok got the film out. Another half hour trying to figure out how to wind the new roll in. Embarrassing, I can rewind unload and load a manual camera in just a couple of minutes and now I look like a total idiot of course scratching my head at this automatic thing. Successfully shot through another roll getting used to the autofocus and hoping the shutter speed was right- I see no way to set it so back to the online manual I will go.

The camera has a lot of buttons that work together or separately, it appears. I just don't know how yet.

Using film again after a digital for so long took getting used to. There could be no deleting as I went. Every frame was precious again. There is maybe one decent picture on the roll I shot yesterday, which is ok. That ratio will get better as I learn the camera. I do intend to do some of the festival with film, I just was not wanting to do ALL of it.

blystock

this weekend was blystock. The fourth annual. It's the first one I've been to. It's waaaaaaaay out in the woods. It's a whole weekend of food, beer, live music and good times. They have mostly local musicians playing for all three days from sun up to whenever. It's dirty, dusty, there are portapotties but no water and people get shitfaced drunk but there are no fights. It's all kinds of people. It's dirty little kids with twelve toes pushing a toy dumptruck around the crowd for hours on end. It's stove-up people sitting on couches in the dust. It's walking around through clouds of sweet smoke. It's Oregon mountain boys and girls, in perpetually brown clothes with skoal rings in the pockets. Bikers, yokels, rednecks and hippies and Indians.

It's a rockin good time and I want to spend the weekend there for the next one.

i love the universe

last week, as I was driving out to Tulelake, I was designing flyers in my head. The one I was working on particularly was one I had intended to hang around school to offer proofreading services. Another one was something similar to give businesses who do a lot of print advertising. (note to Gibson Concrete- You can't just take Gibson Guitars' name logo and slap it on your 2 x 2 newspaper ad and call it yours). Then, when I came back home, I looked around online for what the going rate is for proofreading and copy editing. Liking what I saw, by the way.

Yesterday at the Third Thursday thing, the girl who is in charge of the company who is doing our web page for the blues festival asked me if I did any copy editing. Why yes, yes I do. I had sent our prez corrections for our page and she sent them on to get fixed. I also sort of lambasted the logo they designed, because in all honesty, it looks to me like someone raided their clip art file and has no idea about composition or using lines to draw one's eyes to the thing that you want to have the most attention. No skill with advertising art, basically. I have also sketched out three different designs for next year's festival because I'm so irrationally hostile to the one for this year.

So she has my number now and hopefully this will work out. I decided on a price and I think it's reasonable considering we're in a smaller place. I am officially burnt on the merchandizing thing.

Oh and the KF City Council has a member that is about to run headlong into our prez. This will be very amusing to watch.

check your hundreds

as you hand one over for a tank of gas...

No seriously there was an article in the Grants Pass paper about it, and in Weed today I was told one of the stores had gotten one yesterday. I guess they look like 100s but the watermark has Abe Lincoln's face on it. They didn't have it still :( I would have liked to have seen that.

whole fam dambly

and then smart half's mom is flying in at some point after July.

well, FINALLY! We've been here 12 years and family is coming to us for the first time.

We've made trips to Wyoming, Illinois, SoCal, Arizona to see them, and it's so nice to not have to make those arrangements this year. Especially since it wouldn't be as easy as paying a friend $100 to stay in the house. We'd have to board pewhead so he'd get his shots and all that.

I have to say that I do love traveling. I love traveling to go camping or something where there is no itinerary once we arrive at the destination. I don't love traveling somewhere and then being dragged all over the place seeing and doing things I'm not interested in. Like going to Reno and then being stuck in casinos the whole time.

message from a dad

Got a note that my dad will be visiting the US with his girlfriend in August.

Well this will be weird.

zomg

For the first time, I'm listening to a copy of my show.

I get really ooked out hearing myself come out of speakers for some reason.

But I played some happy shit on the show today, it being gorgeous outside and OITs 60th commencement ceremony.
"Cowpunk" by Scott Goddard
"Tantalize" by Jimmy The Hoover
"Handlebars" by the Flobots, who someone just turned me onto a couple of days ago.
couple of Sparks songs. The Sparks wrote some of the best lyrics, ever, in case you didn't know.
"It ain't a pretty sight to see the way it leaves 'em
It chews them up and spits out creatures with those
Goo-goo-ey eyes
Sick sickly smiles
It just isn't right

And my father said "don't worry, son"
But look at him, he should have run
Eaten by the monster of love"

I laugh every time I hear that part of Eaten By The Monster of Love

That's You?!

Someone last night at the truck stop introduced me to someone she knew, and then told them a bunch of stuff about me, like that i play music and have the radio show and when it's on. (I get a little weirded out when people introduce me to their friends like that) His eyes lit up and he said, "That's you?!".

Turns out the guy loves my show and listens every week.

I have TWO listeners now!
I'm totally thrilled. you betcha.

But it was embarrassing last night.

i dream about this

this bass... someday I shall own one.

They're about three times heavier than either of my current basses, but I still want one.

job griping. move along. boring.

I have got some serious muscles in my back and arms and have a more fantastic pair of legs than I ever have, thanks to my job, but I'm kind of starting to feel it for much longer than I like.

Yesterday I picked up a tote full of frozen stuff with some more boxes of other frozen stuff on top (probably 120 pounds of frozen crap), took three steps and felt my leg muscles go noodly on me for a few seconds. I was in a spot where there was no room for me to put it down and dropping it would have landed all that shit on my feet (which I enjoy being able to use, by the way), so I just had to stand there and think "wow, that feels really weird".

BUT i saw something beautiful, twice. There is a spot on the 97, just about a mile south of the Juniper Valley road, where you can get a totally unimpeded view of Mt Shasta and the hills and lava fingers around it. In this one spot, vegetation is growing back from a recent (less than five years ago) fire. Right now, this area is a landscape of blackened stick trees standing in a carpet of yellow wildflowers- I think it's rabbit browse but i have not stopped to look. Maybe it will still be there next week, and maybe some other colors will appear, too.

And I guess the forest service started doing prescribed burns around and just north of Grass Lake yesterday. Which was weird because it was windy enough to be blowing the scootypuff all over the road.

Spring on highway 97 is really, really nice.

and the angels are in the pocket

Well I must have died at some point yesterday and stumbled into heaven, because i just found this page dedicated to hollowbody BASSES.

There are some go-juss instruments there. Some look real pretty but you gotta wonder... some are all around blindingly awesome.

I am going to go hug my Harmony now :)

neato meme thing

hey i saw this over here and I am gonna do it.

10 things I've done that you probably haven't

10. Bought crack cocaine in the Jordan Downs projects from a chick called "Peaches"
9. Tried to get a police officer who was writing me a ticket to sign up to sell Avon under me.
8. Re-measured and re-marked running tracks for almost every stinkin high school and college and university in Los Angeles county from English to Metric.
7. Been almost nailed for driving a "stolen" car. (a non-event!?)
6. Owned a car that all the side windows had been shot out of and drove it around.
5. Unloaded crab boats.
4. Ate shit in a car going 85 mph and walked away
3. Helped set up an Accutrak machine
2. Made missile parts
1. Sat in the cab of a running Amtrak locomotive

maybe interesting but probably only in the worst way. It would be interesting if you had also bought product from Peaches, though.

(well, i am an idiot. I pasted in a link to an Ida Cox video and now I have to find the blog I got the meme from. So, for now, enjoy the song and I'll get to fixin stuff later)

4

got my grade for one class. Got an A on the final and an A in the class. Still waiting on the other one.

Well, I have a 4.0 gpa so far.

hahaha

bat boy

I was wearing my Bat Boy shirt last night. It was custom made for me by a friend a few years ago. It has his screaming face on it and "Bat Boy has the hots for (my full name)". It had been in a box for a while.

But the warthogger had never heard of Bat Boy, so I had to relate the whole damn story, as well as background info on the great and now deceased Weekly World News. Actually, the WWN had been crappy for a good 8 years before it bit the dust. But for a while there, it was the most entertaining thing one could buy for less than an Abe.

humor in the soviet union

i caught this documentary this morning, "Hammer & Tickle". I actually happened to be awake at 4:30 am when it was on. My sleeping pattern is fucked up again and I have been waking up earlier and earlier.. but that's beside the point.

It's the second time I've gotten to watch it. Some of the jokes they told are damn funny. Far, far funnier than many political jokes I've heard over the past 10 years (can we put the stupid goddamn chimp thing to bed yet? It isn't funny anymore.)

here's one: A man comes home early and finds his wife in bed with another man. He screams, "Are you crazy, woman? They're selling butter at the grocer!"

This one was rendered as a cartoon- A man is in hell. On one side of him, a sign points to capitalist Hell, on the other, Communist Hell. No one is in line on the capitalist side, but the communist side line is typically long. He asks the little imp on he capitalist side what is in the capitalist hell. The imp says "First we flay all your skin off, then we boil you in oil, and then we cut you up into little pieces." The man says forget that and heads to the communist side. He asks the communist imp about communist hell. The imp says "First we boil you in oil, and then we flay all your skin off, and then we cut you up into little pieces. But sometimes, there is no oil, and sometimes, there are no knives". (This joke is rendered much better here. I have never been very good at jokes)

And my favorite was rendered as a skit. Two men are waiting in line in Romania (or maybe it was Hungary) for something. One says "I'm so tired of waiting in line for even the most basic food. I'm going to get a gun and shoot Ceaucescu" (sp? close enough). He runs off, then returns a while later. His partner in line has not moved, but whispers, "did you do it? Did you shoot him?" The would-be assassin whispers back, "No, the line to shoot him was too long".

And they had some footage of Reagan telling a pretty good joke he had come across. Acually, from what the movie says, Reagan used to collect jokes that the soviets told.

And then later, I was reading someone's rant against (or maybe for) their political idol (or pariah) and I thought, "We don't just tell political jokes here. We elect them, too"

in the rain shadow

from our kitchen window I can see Doak mountain- at least what I think is Doak mountain. It's right where I think Doak mountain should be. This is the home of the pass that sucks the most in the winter time. Well, I think so at least. Doak is where storms drop all their moisture before the clouds break up and float over Upper Klamath Lake.

It's kinda neat to be able to look up and see the delineation of western oregon/eastern oregon right out my kitchen window.

We had a 10% chance of precipitation today, but it looks like whatever was coming decided to get off at the Doak Mountain summit again.

icky

Saturday morning i was runnin behind for my show and stopped at the gas station by my house to grab something to eat. I got a banana, a thing of milk and a package of pop-tarts.

I don't like pop-tarts all that much but what the hell, you can take a while to eat them and you don't have to cook them and all that. And the ones i bought were chocolate-flavored (allegedly) so i figured that would be tasty with a banana.

Boy are those things nasty. I probably eat some once a year. Like eating cardboard with chocolate-flavored icing sandwiched in there with more weird flavor stuff on top.

While I was choking a bite down, I read the label. The first four ingredients after Enriched Flour are sugars. Different types. Four different kinds of sugar. Included sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, dextrose.

So I read them on the air and disparaged the pop-tarts. "four kinds of sugar, enriched flour, and then a big list of things one cannot pronounce without a brain-sprain".

How can people eat them? Even better, how can anyone feel decent giving them to their kids?!

I ate like five bites during the show, a few bites later, and then split the second one with someone else.

wind

i'm so sick of wind. It's been a long time coming. The whole time I've been in oregon, probably.

and then there's this-

A local bar has a lot of events. I really don't like the bar too much, and really don't like the owner all that much either.

One of the events they have is the US Male (or whatever its being called now) revue. I went to one of them. It was probably the lamest thing I'd ever had the misfortune of experiencing. I was happy I got in on a free pass instead of paying money, but still it was two hours I could have used to like, do laundry or pluck eyebrow hairs or something thrilling like that.

So the four dancers they had this time are in jail on rape charges today.

Hopefully, they get a little greybar hotel version of what they did.

See ya. I mean it this time.

I got a call from one of my co-workers on Friday. She said the boss guy wants us to use these new time sheets. Ok. I can do that. Oh and we have to find our old time sheets going back to 4/14 and then re-write them onto the new one and fax it in by 7 am on Monday morning.

I have finals right now. One is done and the other one I have to go in and do in the morning. I have other things I needed to get done this weekend that now will wait because of this stupid thing.

So, again, with my fax on Monday morning, another two-week notice. Won't be talked into staying with the job this time because I won't have time to do the job with the schedule for the summer semester. Plus I have my eyes on one I can walk to. While I love making the drive to Siskiyou county every week, it's costing too much money, the car needs work the job is no longer paying for and it's crap like this- the time sheet thing (why didn't we get this information, say, LAST WEEK? or even two months ago?!)- that pisses me off. And it's pretty standard. Last minute instructions for things that suck up time that could have been done before. Stupid bullshit.

perfect

it's sunny out. It's fairly warm. I have what sounds like an aviary in the back yard. Which is a prime worm-hunting ground for all the neighborhood robins.

and this one too

I've never seen footage of Son House playing. I like his style.



One of the reasons i wanted to do the KBS show is that I know almost nothing about blues except how to play it, if that makes any sense, and not even very well if you wanna know the truth.

I know i like this old stuff a lot, and not so much the whole horns and shiny suits thing.

And as for guitar stuff, I play a little like this. Except not quite so polished. More like flailing away and hoping for the best.

took to school

We hunted around on youtube for most of what we played yesterday on the KBS Blues show. We played some rad shit, like this Ida Cox song.

where the river comes from

I stumbled upon a park in Mt Shasta today that has the headwaters of the Sacramento River on it. A damp little grotto tucked away. I ate my sandwich and traced the route of the Sacramento in my head.

Hey, that's pretty swell, I thought.

stunned

I came across a person today, while out and about, in Northern Cal. She was moaning about outsourced customer service for a company. She tells me she asked the guy where they were located, because she couldn't understand him. She was told "New Delhi". And then she says to me, "Now where the hell is that, anyway? What country is it? Yammer Yammer Yammer. I'm a proud American and yackety schmackety".

(pril chomps gum and adopts a blonde expression for a moment)

I was all...

"So hey, lady, you ever wonder why the world hates us so much? Because they think we're all like you."

Why do people feel it necessary to stand next to a merchandiser and talk to them? Go away! I don't care! I have a knife!

weirdo cat

i think py actually comes and lets us know when its time for his shot. he'll come get one of us and run into the kitchen, but there is food there, and we maybe change the water thinking he wants fresh water, and that's not what he wants. So give him his shot and then he's off doing something else. Whatever cats do.

i laughed so hard

more graph humor and song chart memes

and thanks, jack, for sharing this site.

slow on the uptake

someone was playing Puddin last night and broke a string. They asked where my spares were.

My what?

I swear it never occurred to me to keep an extra set of strings. I've never broken a string. My bass has had the same strings on it for 8 years. Most of my guitars get changed like once a year.

He was all apologetic about it, but hey, it happens. No biggie. heh.

gone

Bo Diddley is dead.

so close...

I'm squealing excited right now. I'm keepin it to myself though until everything pans out.

We will just say there was a question asked last night about whether I would like to do something for money that I already do for free. And my answer was, of course, hellz yeah.

The question was not extended as an offer, but could very well possibly turn into one. So, thus I am keeping the piehole shut. And telling the universe, "yes, please".

found!

Cool neato. Someone I wanted to talk to found ME on myspace.

Song I was most stoked to play today on the show

dethklok

the fact that something like this "band" exists gives me joy beyond bounds.

Thank god for thrash metal drummers.

rough

More musician friends in the hospital with ugly prognoses. :(

Shutcher bonehole

Sharon Stone's comment about China's earthquake being karma for how it treats Tibet is at least as brainless as Pat Robertson prattling on about Hurricane Katrina being comeuppance from god.

Way to go.

and thanks

Ian, Paul, Johnny, Rod, Sam, Jeff, John, Jimmy, Kat, Jerry, Uncle Steve, Uncle John, Uncle Bill, Aunt Bill, Fred, Granpa John, Granpa Bernard, Cousins Nick, Denny and Johnny.

memorial day

I remember you, Lance Corporal Steven Stacey.

the fixx

over the years i've taken a lot of crap for being a fan of The Fixx. I just love their stuff, ok? Always have. Cy Curnin has an unusual and interesting voice, the music was angles and lines, with the vocal rhythms wandering away from the instrumental ones. So I had to go change my pants when i found this page-

Fixx Sound File Archive

-while trying, again, to find the right chords for "Two Different Views". I have a wonderful acoustic version of that song but I haven't been able to nail it yet.

There's a ton of oddball Fixx recordings there. So, if you like them too, go check it out.

PS will somebody PLEASE tell me what key that damn song is in before I go crazy? It has an F in it of some kind... that's all i have been able to figure out.

lolspeak outside of lolcats

Toki and Skwisgar speak lol.

New Metalocalypse tonight!!

annoying

so bored this weekend. I was supposed to go to the McCloud Arts Festival and did not. If I filled my tank to go yesterday, the money wouldn't be there to fill it when I have to work down there on Wednesday. I have to get out to visit on the coast, next weekend or the weekend after. A friend needs me there.

So I occupy myself by looking over this stack of shit I wrote back when I wrote constantly, in the 90s. The stuff didn't make it into my Shit from Brains book for whatever reason, so I'm reworking a lot of it into songs. Reading a lot of it is hard. I managed to literally and figuratively cram a lot of that period in to a box and keep it there. It's masochistic of me to be reading it again. I got through it by writing about it and maybe it is time to revisit it and close a lot of it up.

At least there is the jam at Topper's today. Unless it rains. ugh. So bored. heh.

I figured out Dancing Barefoot last night. I'd heard it done on a country station (which kind of blew my mind, actually) on Friday so I kept it in my head til yesterday afternoon and worked it out. Easy-peasy.

But the boredom, it begets restlessness, which begets me doing really stupid things to entertain myself, so I have to keep my thumb on that because it's now been two years since I've had any dealings with police and I am determined to keep it that way. This is not the time to buy a bottle of booze.

I miss my friends. I miss some people from a long time ago (they are dead. No contacting them on MySpace).

Hafta give the pewhead his shot.

o and about py

turns out we do indeed have a diabetic cat. For the last week, I've been giving him an insulin shot every morning. It's not as hard as I thought it would be. And he's back to his normal shithead self.

Except he has poodle paws in front from where they shaved his legs (rofl).

With any luck he will be one of those cats that, at some point, has spontaneous remission from diabetes. That would be great.

so desperately want to play this with a band

Ok. I don't know why. The song just kills me.

when you were mine

the screaming girlies... hehe no.. love this song, though

i don't think i've ever seen such horrible lipsynching though. Is it possible to be that horrible unintentionally? Or is it the synching on the video that's bad?

ok well that's pretty funny

It appears that the local paper let its domain lapse.

blown away

well damn it is windy today. There's a dirt storm south of town. It was starting around Worden about 4 pm, but now, from the hills, you can see it's all in Butte Valley, too.

They're weird. At first glance, they look like smoke. That dark gray color. But as you watch them, you notice they don't billow like a plume of smoke. The dirt rises up into the air and disperses in whichever direction the wind is blowing. Eventually, what you have is just a brown haze that sucks to drive through or otherwise be in the middle of.

I kind of hope the wind dies down a bit overnight and maybe we get a little rain again to keep it on the ground. I have to work in Tulelake and don't really want to be there in the middle of one of these.

almost free fill up

apparently the smart half stopped for gas this morning and asked for $20 worth. About a quarter tank in the Fo. The attendant got it started and walked away, forgetting to set the amount. When she came back, the total was up to $54. The station ended up eating the extra $35.

Well, it was the tweeker attendant. She's always just wired for sound at work. Maybe they'll finally give her the walkin papers.

desperate need

i really have to figure out how to wangle a drum set for myself. I'd like to be able to practice, to play more than an hour once a week.

i may have listened to this 100 times since yesterday morning