Birthday Beer

We went shopping for my presents tonight at Target.
Got some summer half-socks and a new garden hose.

I figured I needed to stock-up on beer for the long weekend's festivities, so we went down the drinky aisle.
A 12-pack of Miller HighLife bottles was $11.49, which is pretty normal.
Then I spotted a price label for a case of cans (24) at around $13.99 (a great price) but they were all out.

Then I found a single 30-pack (shown below) and lowered it gently into our cart.
I figured it was the right amount of beer, and the price had to be decent.

At the register, my beer wouldn't scan.
The little girl who had followed me around the store trying to help me shop (she wanted to kiss me--it was obvious) tried to help the cashier, but a more senior staff member whipped out a handheld UPC scanner that read my beer's price just fine.
$8.24 !!!
The 12 pack was $0.9575 per can.
The case was $0.5829 per can.
My birthday beer was $0.2747 a can.
Awesome!

I gotta say, when Target wants to get rid of old stock, they don't screw around.
I have found some incredible deals, usually 50-75% off. You just have to keep an eye on the endcaps that are against the walls.
Thank you for the lovely gift, Target.

They really fill up the bottom of our fridge.


On the bass front, this is the one I have decided to buy:
It's the 4-string brother of my 8-string, only a newer version with some upgrades.
I decided that having matched electronics, looks, and feel was important enough to go this route.
The price is right, so we'll be ordering it after I earn some money this weekend.
Then I get to spend next week tracking it, and scheduling my yard work and shower so that I can catch the UPS man on the porch to inspect the package and contents.
Normally our UPS guy rings the bell and takes off without a signature, but he'll not be getting away with such shenanigans on a purchase that's this important.

BLISS will be at ReBar on Broadway Friday to celebrate.
Saturday's show, I don't recommend.

Not Guilty!

I mean, I don't feel guilty about not updating this blog in over two weeks.
Life happens...and sometimes you don't get a picture or a story out of it.

Introducing the newest member of the family, Kristin Brown.
My new "niece" was born on Thursday July 15th.
Mom, Dad, and Baby are all doing fine.

As her "crazy uncle" I'll be introducing her to Nutella, guitars, cameras, Southern Comfort, and explosives.
I'm already trying to figure out a way we can all get rich off those long toes she's sporting.



In other news...
I have been saving my pennies to buy this bass, the 4-string version of my beloved 8-string monster.
I like the idea of using the same electronics and materials and shape and almost everything, so that when I get the sound dialed-in there isn't a drastic change when I switch instruments. As I soundman I battle this all the time, so I'm trying to make things easier for me and anyone who has to mix me.

But then...
We went looking for all of the little obscure guitar shops around town this past weekend, and this was the first bass I got my hands on.
Red strings notwithstanding, I thought it was kinda sexy.
But when I played it...how can I word this?...there was movement in my pants.

Now, I have mixed hundreds of electric basses over the years, and tried most of them for a few minutes.
Played a few hundred more in stores.
Owned my share, both new and vintage.
My first bass was a 1962 Fender Precision that I sold for a 500% profit 3 years later.
(Had I kept it until now it would have been a 5000% profit, but times were tough).
What I'm getting at is that I know when I'm holding an instrument that has magic.
My guitar had magic when I played it in the store, and I still feel blessed that it was under the Christmas tree that year.

Well, after three notes on the bass above and I just knew that the stars were aligned when 3 seeds sprouted on 3 different continents, and that the angels above guided the saw blades at the lumber yards.
Every monkey and bird that sat in those branches could suddenly talk, and they only said the nicest things.
I know for damn sure that it wasn't assembled on a Monday or Friday.
This bass sings.
Every note rings forever, with clear tones.
It's a dream to play, like my hands were measured before they designed it.

On the other hand, it's rather a lot more than I had planned on spending despite the fact that the shop only wants around 55% of MSRP.
So it's a steal, but if I'm going to go for it I need to put down a deposit ASAP before someone else with half a brain beats me to it.
Decisions...decisions...


Did I mention that my birthday is coming up soon?
More importantly, 2 days after that is my 30th Anniversary in the music business.
(Legally in the biz--my older friends would sneak me into clubs to play guitar long before I turned 18).

Even more importantly, although we don't remember the exact day to celebrate our first date, Sylvia and I have been together for 10 years.

A Triple Milestone Party?
Sounds Awesome!
Hope I get invited...

Independence Day 2010

Flags waving, patriotic music, burgers and dogs on the grill, and FINALLY there weren't any fireworks bans due to dry conditions.

HUGE grasshopper sat on Holly's deck for hours.
Didn't even move when I stuck a sparkler in her face.
(Yes, I can tell the gender of bugs sometimes).

Barbed Wire Sunset

Kat posing nice for me.
She won't eat unless you watch her, so in exchange for her modeling I took that duty.

Bottle rocket.

Missile Barrage™ is a favorite.

The big mortar with a dozen pro-type shells was a hit.

NBA Draft Night Party

Tonight was the NBA draft, and the SPURS threw a party for season ticket holders at the High Velocity Sports Bar located in the new JW Marriot Hill Country Resort.
This Marriot is huge and very swanky.

I was the guest of my friend Sean (Thanks again!) and we had a good time. Arriving nice and early allowed us to pick the best table in the place and get started on our complimentary drinks.
I started with Jack Daniels neat.
(This was the first time in maybe 10 years that I started drinking so early--4:12 pm for me is like 11 am for people on a normal schedule).

Surprisingly, the buffet food was uniformly cold and our waitress sucked.
I rarely complain even when I'm paying for something, preferring to just never return. But since it was all free I went off on the bar manager and after things escalated I had to be pepper sprayed and cuffed.
When informed that I was a blogger they let me go if I promised to leave out the facts that the food was cold and our waitress sucked.
Up yours, Marriot!!!

The Coyote arrived and got the party started.

We graciously shared our table with a very nice couple--here's Lubin with two of the Spurs Silver Dancers.

This is Dee posing with our WNBA mascot, the Silver Fox. Their nephew is musical director and plays guitar for The Beach Boys, currently touring Europe.

We had 1st round pick #20, and got a shooting guard from Oklahoma State named James Anderson.
He's good on defense and can sink the 3, so if he can make the grade Manu will have a nice backup and we can kiss Roger Mason Jr goodbye.
I expect he's not bad seeing as how he's the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, although everyone in the room was like "Who?".
A lot of the earlier picks had only finished 1 or two years of college--getting a junior who's more mature and developed is typical of the Spurs's approach.
Kentucky sure did contribute a lot of guys to the NBA this year!

On the right is Bill Shoening, the "Voice of the Spurs" on AM1200 WOAI.
The guy on the left handles the mic for all the commercial break contests and promotions at the ATT Center during games, but I can't remember his name.
(If anyone knows it, please leave a comment).
As co-hosts go they made a great team.

Afterwards we snuck into one of the many banquet/conference rooms to find a sea of baked goods on display, then I stole a can of HEB soda from a table in the hallway.
Good times.


I made up the part about complaining and getting pepper sprayed.

Man vs Ice

Tonight we went to the Quarry Hofbrau for a summer solstice party featuring an ice sculpture competition.
Yeah, that's a sentence you don't hear every day (or decade), but it's exactly what happened.

In addition to live music by the Charlie Lucas Band there was food, drinks, dancing, and Man vs Ice.
Electric chainsaws did the heavy lifting.

Grinders and drills made guest appearances to good effect.

Buddy (The Ice Guy) Rasmussen hits his sculpture with some propane flame action.
Buddy is our go-to guy for ice sculptures, so rooting for him was a given.
He dominated the competition, easily beating Reverend Butter from Houston.

Most of the winning sculpture.

Angie, Holly, and Sylvia.

The Quarry Hofbrau is in the former Laboratory building, and we loved what John and company have done with the place.
The decor is puro Tejas, it's clean and comfy, the staff is great--A First Class operation in every way.



Wow, posting video is a huge pain in the ass!
Apparently, Blogger Video doesn't work with the Opera browser, and Daily Motion was even worse. Errors and lots of waiting around while nothing happened.
PhotoBucket finally came through, although I had to guess at what bit of html would close the tag that was left open.
Come ON people!
Fix your shit!

Taking Pride In My Tools

To continue the tale started here and then here:

The new Mackie Onyx 24-4 mixing board now has a very nice and rugged road case.
Lots of foam and aluminum with steel corners and latches.
The best part is smart design--I can put it on the stand, then remove one lid and have complete access to all connections without any fuss.
Some case manufacturers don't think this is important, but they would be wrong.
In fact, they would be written-off as idiots and never see another sale from me.

When I'm given old and dirty gear to work with, it's hard to take much pride.
Human nature.
It's already trashed, so while I will take enough care of it to keep things working, I won't feel any affection or really give a crap what it looks like.
A strip of masking tape with some Sharpie™ markings is fine, and will last beyond it's 2nd Craig'sList appearance or longer.
(Some of the gear I have used in the past still sport my markings decades later!)

In this case, I felt that some class was in order so I borrowed a label maker and spent an evening learning to use it properly. New boards deserve this--especially ones that I love.

Might as well label the "Aux Sends" too, on both sides of the mixer.
It's been years since I had more than 3 that actually worked, and I wouldn't want to get confused...
In fact, this was the main reason we bought the new Mackie!

To protect our investment, today I cut into a nice piece of black vinyl upholstery to serve as a beer/barf-shield for those rare minutes when I'm away from my station.


It's probably obvious by now that I love my new mixing board.
Most sound engineers seem to treat the audience worse than they treat their gear, but that's counter-productive.
Crowd-First is my priority.

On the other hand, when the perfect tools are given to you in brand new condition, it only makes sense to take extreme pride in them and to configure each item to the best of your abilities.