(no subject)
Hello from the "mural capital" of Texas. Funny claim to fame for Breckenridge. The murals, imho, are not much to look at, and are a far cry from museum worthy art. I think someone should spearhead a movement to revitalize the murals, but that is a discussion for another day and most likely with the gentry of this sleepy little Texas town.
What to say, what to say. Been a while, I know. Things are pretty much the same. Sunward's quest to replace our keyboard player is still ongoing. There were two glimmers of hope at one point, but in the end both lacked the requisite music skills and professionalism. Now, we are back to square one. Seemed for a while we might have landed a backup vocalist, female, who could also play acoustic guitar as needed in some songs. Seems she is overworked (3 jobs) and has another band (Fishing For Comets), which takes precedence. Understandable, but a pity, as she has a wonderful voice and is affable. That being said we finally kicked the cobwebs off, and we had a full band electric rehearsal. Replete with Dave Karnes, who had not been attending the acoustic sessions while Doug, Dave Perry, and I tried to work in the would be keyboardists. The rehearsal was really good and a lot of fun. Looks like we are shooting for another one this Friday. In the meantime we are going back to the idea of programming keyboard parts/loops and just playing them via a laptop. Not ideal, but seems keyboard players are hard to come by.
Other than that, two weeks ago we took a trip to Marysville, Kansas to visit some old friends, Brian and Michelle Stone. The later was in residency with K. Made the trip with Lara and her husband David. Lara was also in residency with K and Michelle. From Dallas it's about a 9 hour drive to where they live. Drove up on a Friday. Came back on a Tuesday. Great trip. Was nice to hang out with the old residency gang. Good food, good drinks. Laughter. Who could ask for anything more. Even picked up some new t's. Marysville is known for being the "Black Squirrel City" as way back when a circus came to town and sold the squirrels to the locals. The squirrels were either later let go or escaped, and now there is a small indigenous population where one would not normally find the black squirrel. So, one day we wandered into town looking for the tourist black squirrel t-shirt. To our surprise there were none, but we happened upon a newly opened custom t-shirt store, who had been thinking of making some. They whipped up a bunch for $10 each. Not a bad deal, and you got to pick the color. So, Ivo and I got matching yellow t's. I also picked up an orange Marysville Elementary Bulldogs shirt. The school color is red, but that's the Dutch in me.
In homefront news, we are still waiting on a new roof. Seems the roofer we wanted to go with is a complete wash. He was the cheapest, but in the end he doesn't return phone calls or do what he says he will do. The roofer was recommended by my insurance company too. I'd go into the complete details, but it's a waste. The final straw was there was to be a message on my answering machine when I returned from Kansas, and you guess it; there wasn't. So, tomorrow I need to call up a roofing company out of Abilene, whom we also got a bid for.
K has finally dissolved her private practice and has become an employee of the county hospital. The new rural health care center went into full effect last week. We will see if this improves things for us financially and gives K a much deserved decrease in work load.
That's about it. K and I are completely hooked on the new HBO series John From Cincinnati. Fantastic show. I think the writing is great. It is beginning to rival Twin Peaks for me, which is saying a lot. I am also enjoying HBO's Flight of the Conchords. Funny stuff. The David Bowie dream episode was hilarious.
I just realized that I haven't posted since my birthday, which was spent in Houston. Long story short, I managed to unearth Matt H. He is alive and doing remarkably better one day at a time. Managed to lure him to my parents where we spent the evening enjoying soft drinks, hamburgers and bratwurst.
What to say, what to say. Been a while, I know. Things are pretty much the same. Sunward's quest to replace our keyboard player is still ongoing. There were two glimmers of hope at one point, but in the end both lacked the requisite music skills and professionalism. Now, we are back to square one. Seemed for a while we might have landed a backup vocalist, female, who could also play acoustic guitar as needed in some songs. Seems she is overworked (3 jobs) and has another band (Fishing For Comets), which takes precedence. Understandable, but a pity, as she has a wonderful voice and is affable. That being said we finally kicked the cobwebs off, and we had a full band electric rehearsal. Replete with Dave Karnes, who had not been attending the acoustic sessions while Doug, Dave Perry, and I tried to work in the would be keyboardists. The rehearsal was really good and a lot of fun. Looks like we are shooting for another one this Friday. In the meantime we are going back to the idea of programming keyboard parts/loops and just playing them via a laptop. Not ideal, but seems keyboard players are hard to come by.
Other than that, two weeks ago we took a trip to Marysville, Kansas to visit some old friends, Brian and Michelle Stone. The later was in residency with K. Made the trip with Lara and her husband David. Lara was also in residency with K and Michelle. From Dallas it's about a 9 hour drive to where they live. Drove up on a Friday. Came back on a Tuesday. Great trip. Was nice to hang out with the old residency gang. Good food, good drinks. Laughter. Who could ask for anything more. Even picked up some new t's. Marysville is known for being the "Black Squirrel City" as way back when a circus came to town and sold the squirrels to the locals. The squirrels were either later let go or escaped, and now there is a small indigenous population where one would not normally find the black squirrel. So, one day we wandered into town looking for the tourist black squirrel t-shirt. To our surprise there were none, but we happened upon a newly opened custom t-shirt store, who had been thinking of making some. They whipped up a bunch for $10 each. Not a bad deal, and you got to pick the color. So, Ivo and I got matching yellow t's. I also picked up an orange Marysville Elementary Bulldogs shirt. The school color is red, but that's the Dutch in me.
In homefront news, we are still waiting on a new roof. Seems the roofer we wanted to go with is a complete wash. He was the cheapest, but in the end he doesn't return phone calls or do what he says he will do. The roofer was recommended by my insurance company too. I'd go into the complete details, but it's a waste. The final straw was there was to be a message on my answering machine when I returned from Kansas, and you guess it; there wasn't. So, tomorrow I need to call up a roofing company out of Abilene, whom we also got a bid for.
K has finally dissolved her private practice and has become an employee of the county hospital. The new rural health care center went into full effect last week. We will see if this improves things for us financially and gives K a much deserved decrease in work load.
That's about it. K and I are completely hooked on the new HBO series John From Cincinnati. Fantastic show. I think the writing is great. It is beginning to rival Twin Peaks for me, which is saying a lot. I am also enjoying HBO's Flight of the Conchords. Funny stuff. The David Bowie dream episode was hilarious.
I just realized that I haven't posted since my birthday, which was spent in Houston. Long story short, I managed to unearth Matt H. He is alive and doing remarkably better one day at a time. Managed to lure him to my parents where we spent the evening enjoying soft drinks, hamburgers and bratwurst.