Santana

I was in Las Vegas all week last week for a conference related to work.  It’s funny – I work in technology and the conference was related to technology.  The only thing was, there was no technology available at the conference so I was stuck with email and internet via phone.  So, anyhow, I am back and am somewhat comforted by the sweet hum of my computers.

I won’t bore you folks with conference details.  Instead I will share my favorite part of the conference…Carlos Santana was in concert at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas.  We got to see him opening night which was pretty cool.  Even cooler was the fact that we were something like 15 rows back and at center stage.  We could actually see the band and stuff.

I like Santana’s music and I especially like some of his most recent stuff.  Of course, he has been releasing great music for 40 years and it’s hard to say anything bad about most of his music.  We got to enjoy a tour through his years as a performer and it was a blast.

(click the image above for a video.  If that link doesn’t work on your machine, try the one here)

He’s a free spirit and kind of fun to listen to when he talks.  I can’t really explain it but he feels very “spiritual” in his own way.  He also has marijuana leaves as one of his backgrounds on stage.  Surprisingly, I didn’t smell a single bit of smoke.

for B.H.

 

The view from my room

So, I am glad to be back from Las Vegas and if you ever get a chance, definitely go and see Santana in concert!

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warren, April 26th 2011 | Tags: ,
Posted in Audio, Awesome, Fun

No sax but plenty of violins

Last night was the All County Strings Festival for Kanawha county. Many of the schools from the county sent their best string players to the Clay Center for a wonderful evening of music. Isaac was one of the students selected from his school…and he was so excited!

The funny thing is all of the lead up to the performance. We found out that he had “made the team” a few months ago so he has been practicing his pieces. The last few weeks or so, he has attended group practices where all of the kids get together and do their thing. Still, none of it really seemed to click with him that the performance was near.

We aren’t a dress-up sort of family so Isaac was pretty excited when he found out he had to have dress shoes, nice shirt and pants and a tie. We had all sorts of fun (and a small fight) about learning how to tie a necktie. I think he was unimpressed. Anyhow, with the purchase of clothes and hours (it seemed) of looking at himself in the mirror, it finally clicked that the performance was near. He has been super excited…so much so that last night, before the show, he walked around the yard playing his pieces for the neighbors to hear. It was wonderful!

So we all headed to the Clay center where the kids performed on the same stage as the WV symphony. I didn’t know what to expect but the kids (Isaac thinks there were 112 4th graders) all settled down when the conductor walked on the stage. As they started, I couldn’t believe the sound that came from those kids! They did an absolutely wonderful job!

Click for video

(or click here if the other link does not work on your computer)

Fifth graders played, then junior high students and finally high school students. The talent we saw last night was pretty amazing and all because the WV symphony sponsors a strings in the schools program in Charleston area schools. Bravo for music in WV and bravo to my budding musician!

Click for video

(or click here if the other link does not work on your computer)

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warren, April 28th 2010 | Tags: ,
Posted in Audio, Awesome, Family, WV

Poop = Spring

Sunday was absolutely beautiful in WV. The high temperature was in the 50s and the snow started to give way to small signs of spring. Daffodils are breaking  through the ground and my bees were able to get out of the hive to poop. Bees, you see, won’t poop in the hive. They also cannot fly outside in cold temperatures. Bees are cold-blooded so if they break the cluster (bees cluster together very closely in the hive in cold temperatures and rub together using friction to stay warm all winter), they very quickly slow down and die. What’s a bee to do then? Well, they hold it of course…sometimes for months!

See it? Yellow spots...both sides in the snow...relief!

Why am I fascinated with this?

So, it always brightens my day in the early spring when I see yellow…I love the yellow of daffodils, the yellow of forsythia, and the yellow of fresh bee poop!  When temperatures rise such that any of my three yellows are possible, I get out and frolic a bit (not like the rabbits frolic of course).

Fifteen minutes after I washed my car!

I washed Steve Sunday morning and parked it in the driveway so I could watch it shine in the sun.  Much like birds are able to find a clean car, so too can bees.  Of course, remember that there can be as many as a quarter of a million bees in the hives at my house…and all of those bees have had their legs crossed for a long time.  My formerly green car now has a yellow tint…but you know what…I love yellow…it means spring!

Smart pills!

Emily says I am preoccupied with poop and animal anatomy so you can imagine my fascination with this pile of deer poop in my yard.  My Dad used to call those pellets smart pills.  I don’t think they really worked very well, but that’s another story.  Anyhow, Momma deer are now with fawns so my finding smart pills gives me hope that I will get to see newborn fawns again this year.

Oh yeah, check out this bird’s song!  Beautiful…and very springy!  Charleston is starting to break through I hope (though we have snow forecast for the rest of the week…but I choose to ignore that).

By no means do I want my yard overrun with natural fertilizer, but I have to tell you, a little poop means spring and in my book, that’s a great thing!

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warren, February 23rd 2010 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Audio, Bees, Nature, Thoughts

Like a lightbulb

We were sitting in the car (aka our recording studio) when the kids decided to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Abigail was going to sing it with her kindergarten class so she wanted to practice.  I just happened to have my handy dandy voice recorder with me and I recorded this…the debut of Isaac and Abigail with backup vocals by Mom.  Maybe it’s just me, but I think kids singing and having fun is about the best sound in the world.  I don’t like regular kids’ albums where they have kids singing in wishy washy, overly sweet voices (do kids ever do anything gently or softly?).  I really love to hear kids singing loud and proud!

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I was just a few days ago lamenting the fact that I was not yet in the Christmas spirit.  Things still feel a little different this year, but we are making great strides towards getting us fully Christmas-ey.  I may work half a day tomorrow but hanging with the family, just playing (and singing this song a bunch more times) will bring us into full Christmas swing.  I didn’t ever get how Mom and Dad could be content getting each other underwear for Christmas, but their real present was seeing their kids have a lot of fun playing games, singing, dancing, eating too much, and crashing at the end of a hard fought day.  I am a slow learner but I think I get it now.  Getting myself in the Christmas spirit is a change in attitude…it’s not about me anymore…and that’s cool!

8 Comments

warren, December 23rd 2008 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Audio, Family, Fun

Cookie tin banjo

My homemade cookie tin banjo!I was browsing through some old Firefox books a while back when I came across some folks talking about making banjos and dulcimers.  In particular, one fella talked about making a cookie tin banjo.  I had 4 cookie tins in my office that I saved after we emptied them last Christmas which seemed perfect for the job.  So, since I had one insignificant piece of junk I needed, I felt compelled to find the rest and build a banjo!

For the neck of the banjo, I used an old piece of bamboo flooring which I glued to a pine 1×4.  The floorboard by itself was not thick enough to provide support where it enters into the cookie tin.  I am not exactly sure that it’s the right thickness now but it seems to fit in my hand ok.   I left the bamboo top squared off but I rounded the back (the pine part) off smooth so I could hold it easily.  Now, I know you are curious how I came up with the shape for the peg head…I traced two Mt Dew cans.  This part is important…you have to use Mt Dew to get the thing just right. 

My homemade cookie tin banjo!My homemade cookie tin banjo!The tail piece is a chunk of an extra slat from plantation blinds we installed last Summer.  I think there must be a proper way to do this but it seems that the only measurements that really matter are the distance from the bridge to the nut (basically, from the wooden peg on the face of the banjo to the point where the neck joins the peg head.  My homemade cookie tin banjo!My length is 25 inches though there is some flexibility in that size.  The distance from the bridge to the 5th string which attaches to the side of the neck is 18 1/2 inches.  Just about everything else negotiable as far as I can tell from reading in Firefox 3.

The hardest thing for me to do was carve the tuning pegs.  I tried using steel thumsbcrew and eye bolts and regular screws but none of those things would hold the string tight enough to tune.  That left me with carving wooden pegs which hold their position by friction.  My homemade cookie tin banjo! My homemade cookie tin banjo! I bought square 1/4 poplar dowel rods and cut off 2.5 inch sections to carve the pegs.  I rouded the bottom 2/3 of the peg to fit in the hole.  The top part I left square so I could get a better grip on it for tuning.  It seems simple enough but it was a real drag to carve them round.  My hands are killing me from messing with those tiny pegs.  Anyhow, I drilled a small hole in each to catch the string and they seemed to tune and hold pretty well.

My homemade cookie tin banjo!I have a chromatic tuner that I got to tune my violin.  I messed around a bit to get the tuning right for the banjo.  I think it is pretty close although the 4th string doesn’t sound right to me.  We’ll see.  It definitely has a banjo sound. 

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So, the $6 Martin banjo strings are about the only money I have in this thing.  Gosh, if only I had any idea how to play a banjo!

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warren, December 10th 2008 | Tags: ,
Posted in Audio, Tinkering

No hair…hair…no hair…ear hair

Warren - age 1 or so!A long time ago in a state not so far away…yeah, well that’s it for the Star Wars bit.  I was born a number of years ago but you’ll have to do some research to figure out how old I am…

  • The number of holes in the mouthpiece of a telephone is <my age>
  • In a “3-4-5″ right triangle, the small angle is approximately <my age> degrees
  • “Les Miserables” has a cast of <my age>
  • There are <my age> U.S. Federal Reserve Banks
  • William Shakespeare wrote <my age> plays
  • Hannibal brought <my age> elephants with him on his conquest of Rome

    • So, I have no idea if I was born with or without hair, but I know I had it for some period of my younger years.  I had hair for about 25 or so years and then I decided to shave it all off.  Warren - with HAIR!For awhile, that was pretty cool because I shaved it before other people were shaving their heads.  At that time, I was too young to be “old man bald” but my kind of bald was cool.  About a year or 3 ago, my follicular karma caught up with me and I started sprouting hair in my ears.  It isn’t fair!

    Anyhow, it’s my birthday today so I will tell you a few odd things about myself.  Apparently I was to be named Jedidiah (hey, that’s almost Jedi!) but when I was “out”, my parents though I looked like my Dad so they named me Warren instead.

    Warren - and little brother - Easter best!I was almost continually sick as a child.  I had pneumonia many times and rheumatic fever once before I got through 3rd grade.  My illness made me exceptionally handsome…I am still plagued by it!

    I remember my absolute favorite pair of shoes…it was in first grade.  May parents got me a pair of green gum boots.  I wore them to school…all day long…every day.  I also loved western shirts more than any other style. 

    Seriously, though, time has surely flown but I can’t imagine being any other place or with any other people!

    Oh yeah, here’s my source for the strange ways to get my age.

    By the way, here is a family tradition we enjoy.  We call it happy birthday – loud and proud!

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    warren, December 2nd 2008 | Tags: , ,
    Posted in Audio, Family, Fun

    Mohinder

    Emily and I watch very little tv (esp since we don’t have cable) but one show we typically watch is Heroes on nbc.  I am typically even less likely to recommend a program than I am to watch one, but if you are prone to sci-fi, check out Heroes.  Anyhow, one of the characters on the show is named Mohinder.  He’s a scientist that holds the promise of saving humanity…you know, typical sci-fi fare.  Anyhow, we really liked the name and decided that the next critter we got would be named Mohinder. 

    MohinderSo, the next part of the story…We have a huge problem with stray cats on our hill and they seem to breed faster than rabbits.  Another neighbor periodically gathers them all up and takes them to the humane society.  Most are pretty wild and unfriendly but one was quite the opposite.  We could always pick him out of the crowd as he is missing half of his tail.  He is super loving and has a great purr.  I am pretty sure the neighbor girls have tamed him and maybe even put him in a dress and makeup.  Anyhow, on Friday evening, Emily brought him into the house.  We spent vet-money on him over the weekend so he is our new inside-only cat.  In Nashville, we had another all black cat named Baptist.  He was missing his hind leg.  I think we have a thing with parts-missing black cats.

    MadelineMo and Madeline (our other cat) aren’t exactly friends yet.  In fact, if you look at the pic of our fat tabby, you can somewhat make out the sillouhette of her middle finger, extended for me, as I took the picture.

    I was able to record a short snippet of Mo’s purr.  He is a champion loving, purring cat!

     

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    warren, September 22nd 2008 | Tags: , ,
    Posted in Adventure, Audio, Family

    Cicadas

    Cicada in the backyardCicadas go through life cycles where they appear in adult form every 2 to 17 years.  Most of their lives they live underground and are harmlessly out of the way.  As I understand it, this year was the time for the 17-year-between-adults type to hatch in WV.  Sure enough, we have had a bunch of them.  The big hatch where they molt and leave their dried, older shells everywhere occurred earlier this year.  I am not sure how long the adults remain, laying their eggs and such, but they are still active in great number.  Cicadas are harmless, except I think they can make a person deaf if proper hearing protection is not worn.  We had one land on our kitchen door the other night while Emily and I were doing something.  It started its “song” and nearly drove us from the room.  I went around outside and was able to record the racket it was making for your listening pleasure. 

    I don’t think this recording does the volume justice, but it goes on constantly in the evenings.  Really, they are fun to watch bumble through the air.  They are harmless, crazy, prehistoric-looking bugs that the kids are almost brave enough to try and catch.  I always enjoy hearing them is some ways as it is a definite sound of summer!

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    warren, September 8th 2008 | Tags: , ,
    Posted in Audio, Nature, WV

    First Day of School!

    Ready for school 2008School is back in session.  Where has the summer gone?!  Isaac was not exactly excited to get back to school though he mentioned that he did miss seeing some of his friends.  I think he is secretly excited but didn’t want to admit it.  I suppose this might be the year when he starts saying one thing when he really means another.  We have to keep up an appearance afterall!  Anyhow, Abigail is excited to start but is pretty timid about it all too.  Ready for school 2008She asked me to go over what she is supposed to do when she gets to school, where she is supposed to go, how far I will walk her and for how many days.  It’s pretty sweet but pretty scary for me too!
     

    I asked the kids a few questions this morning about their first day of school.  Take a second and listen to what they had to say…

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    warren, August 26th 2008 | Tags:
    Posted in Audio, Family

    More firsts

    Isaac and Abigail each had some more firsts this weekend.  Abigail has been practicing and practicing her whistling but has never been able to do it.  Friday night, she was puffing and puffing and finally let out a few whistles.  She was SO excited and kept on blowing and blowing until she could do it more reliably.  She has to work some on volume yet but she is well on her way.  Click the arrows below to hear some of her first whistles

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    Isaac hasn’t ever really tried to blow bubbles with gum much but this weekend he started.  At first, he took a lot of time flattening out the gum just right and holding his mouth just right.  Isaac blowing 1st bubbles with his gumHe blew his first bubbles on Saturday.  These pics are from the same piece of gum as his first bubbles (though that might not be saying much as he would save gum for weeks if we’d let him!).  By Sunday evening he was blowing bubbles with Dentyne which is not know for its bubble-ability.

    5 Comments

    warren, August 6th 2008 | Tags: ,
    Posted in Audio, Family
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