Pages
Looks like...
Categories
Influential
Friends
Nifty
Superior OS
Grocery Store Outing
Posted on June 17th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Absurd, Florida Living, Friends, Rant, Weird Nights Out, Youtube.
The wife’s pregnant, and she needs milk for breakfast in the morning. We’re out of milk. It’s 9:30, Sweetbay’s not closed yet. I’m off.
The first thing I head for’s the milk, because I know where it is. I rarely shop in this grocery store. I’m usually at the dirt Publix three blocks from the house because it’s closer. But, they’re closed by 9 and Sweetbay’s open, so I’m in a strange grocery store with a mission to find some nonstandard items.
On my way to the milk, I see Edy’s Grand ice cream is on crazy sale, two for seven bucks. Lunatic flavors, too… Coconut Pineapple? Cherry Chocolate Chip, red velvet style? Shit. (more…)
You Can Pick Your Friends
Posted on June 13th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Music, Picture stories, Youtube.
And you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.
.
Rig and settings:
60th Anniv American Fat Strat Deluxe
Fender Hotrod Deluxe - clean channel
Volume 2/12
Treble 9
Bass 5
Mid 8
Reverb 3
Presence 9
BBE Green Screamer
Boss DD6 echo
Micanopy Jam Story
Posted on June 10th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Chris' Stuff.
This is a cut/paste from a Gchat conversation I had with my Dad yesterday, when I related the story of my weekend.
Terry B had a party out in Micanopy where they live. Same people I got Oyster from - known them as long as I’ve known Mike, roughly 12 years.
She’s always said, years ago when I was threatening to play guitar (this is lonnng ago), “Man, Chris, when we gonna get together and jam??”
Well, my attendance at this party she was throwing for Mike (same Mike I was visiting) was a (pleasant) surprise
Maybe 30 people at its most crowded
I had my big amp and my strat. After shying back for a while, I caved into people asking me when the hell I was gonna plug in and contribute, I set up with an extension chord and just sat on my amp, on the outskirts of the circle of lawn chairs, with the group of musicians at the other side.
My volume low, just feeling around for some practice.
After one jam, someone came over to me and said, “Dude, that was really thick. Great playin, that was awesome.”
and he shook my hand.
inside, I about shit myself, it was such a great compliment.
so then they demanded I move my gear “into the circle,” and that’s where I stayed, on and off, for the next 4 hours.
must’ve gone through 20 songs, and hardly hit a wrong note.
I was playing lead the whole time, because the rest of the “band” consisted of 5 acoustics, 1 acoustic bass running through a little solid state Fender amp, a xylophone, a fiddle, a banjo, two or three singers rotating through songs, and 6 people playing drums.
I was in heaven.
Flashbulbs kept going off because people were taking pictures of us playing.
Now, one lady I was introduced to was in town for Bo Diddley’s funeral. I struck up conversation and learned that she’s been recording with Bo Diddley as a backup singer for 25 years.
I told her I had my rig with me, and that I’d be playing that night, and ironically enough just learned to play the song ‘Bo Diddley’ a week before the man died.
So, after 4 songs of getting comfy, I started strumming on muted strings, the ‘Bo Diddley beat.’
you know the one.
and everybody sorta stopped what they were doing…
and I began, and she stood up and sang the whole thing, with me playing riffs on the breaks
with all these people around
and come to find out, one person in the crowd had a handheld DAT recorder. she recorded it in stereo, pretty high quality.
she’ll be sending me an MP3 (hopefully)
she even said, the chick that recorded all this, that “it sounded so good even afterwards when you were just noodling around before the next song that I kept on recording, so I have that little part as well.”
I got so many firm handshakes and hugs and compliments and requests for when I’ll be back, please come back soon.
I’m not making this up, or overstating it…. I felt like a rockstar.
and I insisted all the other players take a few riffs on my strat. they LOVED it, and some of them were exceptional players.
so that’s the story of how I played a 4hr set of lead guitar in Micanopy this past Saturday.
I’m hoping the MP3 shows up soon so i can post it up to my channel as an audio/video
Disc Golf in Little Rock - Burns Park
Posted on June 4th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Disc Golf, Picture stories, Sports, Vacations.
I’m in Little Rock for a week on business. Being the disc golf nut that I am, one of the top things on my list of things to find here is a disc golf course, and lo and behold, there is Burns Park.
A mere 10 minutes away from my hotel on Markham, just by the Arkansas River, this ENORMOUS city park is home to two rather exceptional disc golf courses. The blue course, which is longer and more open, is the one I’ve played twice already (in two days). The red course, which is shorter and on the side of a (to me) mountain, is more technical and wooded.
Yesterday was my first round. I got out of work and high-tailed it back to the hotel, eager to get out there and throw some discs. I had no trouble finding the place, and was thrilled to tee off on a course with elevation. For a Florida flatlander, this was like an excursion to disc golf nirvana.
After the first hole, I knew I’d get lost, so I mustered my social skills and jogged up to a couple that were playing two holes ahead of me. As politely as I could present myself as a regular guy that wouldn’t rob or beat them, I introduced myself and asked it they minded if I join them, since I was new to the course and liable to get lost. They were Nate and Amy, a couple that proved to be perfectly in line with all the people I’d met in Little Rock so far — super friendly and terrifically hospitable. I was not disappointed in my decision to approach them.
On the 11th hole, after finding a huge pine tree had crushed the 10th basket to smithereens (see photo), I threw my Champion Beast forehand right into a tree about 75 feet in front of the tee. It looked like it dropped straight down, but upon reaching its alleged landing place, it was nowhere to be found. Nate and Amy searched for this disc for almost thirty minutes…. and five minutes after I’d given it up for lost, not wanting to cut short their round on my account. Then, Amy FINDS my disc!! This, ladies and gentlemen, is what Little Rock people are capable of… going way beyond the basics of friendliness!
Today I played again, this time by myself, thinking that I’d learned enough of where the tees and baskets were. I was mostly right. I ran into a group of guys playing made-up holes, just screwing around, and they pointed me towards the 13th tee, which I couldn’t find. I was proud, incidentally, that my only birdie of the day happened right near them. I outdrove the basket with a nice forehand flick, and sunk the twenty foot birdie putt. Aw yeah!
I finished at 12 over par, which included no less than three dinked-out putts from near range. Not the best scoring round for me lately, but given the circumstances, I’m pretty happy with the score.
As I sat in one of numerous pavilions by the parking lot before motoring back to the hotel, a group of five guys wander off the red course and have a seat next to me. Again, they’re very friendly and approachable, and we made great conversation for half an hour or so. One of them, “Corndog” (I’m not making this up) offered me a beer along with the rest of his buddies, and we shot the shit for a while, talking about disc golf, how they’d played 72 holes that day (!!??) and how disc golf’s got to be one of the greatest pastimes on Earth. We shook hands and promised that if I’m ever in Little Rock again, I’d look them up with the business card Corndog handed me.
Seriously, when a friendly guy who plays disc golf, who goes by “Corndog” says to look him up next time you’re in town, you DO so.
Happy Mother’s Day Announcement
Posted on May 11th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Amazing Shit, News, The Twins.
Happy Mother’s Day 
:-)
Divebombers at Dusk
Posted on May 1st, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Animated, Chris' Stuff, Florida Living.
Photo used without permission from Birder’s World Magazine - hope they’re cool with it
It’s dusk in my backyard and I’m meandering around with my dog Oyster. Hotdog, our old-man Maine Coone cat, lounges in the neighbor’s yard, twitching and flipping his tail contentedly. It’s a lovely Spring evening.
Out of nowhere, a smallish, feathery silhouette flutters near my cat’s head and zooms back to the telephone wire hanging above. At first, I think it’s a bat, but realize it’s too big for a bat. It is the bat time of evening, and I look skywards and see a few actual bats careening around the evening sky and realize that whatever is swooping down near Hotdog is too big to be a bat.
It’s a Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), a tiny little raptor that lives in mazes of underground tunnels, usually in open fields. In Southwest Florida they’re very common, though I’d never seen them before.
This little owl is attempting to snatch, and presumably haul away for a tasty snack, my 16 pound male cat, Hotdog. He’s unfazed, and appears to not even notice the terrifying brushes with death he keeps enduring. The owl swoops near him again and again, returning to his perch on the wire, sometimes on the shed, where I get a halfway-decent look at him. They’re very pretty.
Then…. THREE MORE of them show up, all on the wire overhead. By now, my wife’s outside with me, marvelling and laughing at the fact that these tiny little birds are attempting to murder our cat, when all of a sudden, they start divebombing us! Coming within inches of our heads, we duck and cover as they assail us from above. Hands-down this is one of the funniest and most amusing thing I’ve seen in ages. We’re okay, and nobody’s injured. In fact, Hotdog’s back inside now and probably doesn’t even know how close he came to being carried away and pecked to death.
Disc Golfing in Sarasota - Lakeview Park
Posted on April 19th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Chris' Stuff, Florida Living, Friends, Sports.
After my disc golf passion was resurrected last week at Wanee, I did what I should’ve done years ago - google around to find out if there’s a course in my area. After a swift smack to the forehead, seeing the results indicating not one, not two, but THREE courses in my area, I make plans to get out there. I left my discs with John in Gainesville. Damn.
An enthusiastic phone call to a friend later, I’m in Play it Again, buying “factory second” discs at $10 apiece. Then, I’m driving through parts of Sarasota I didn’ t know existed, winding through a residential neighborhood until coming upon Lakeview Park, with its 18 hole disc golf course.
I am intimately familiar with the Gainesville course on 34th Street but few others (I’d played Lake Wauburg in Gainesville, and of course Spirit of Suwanee’s Grateful Dead course last weekend). The excitement of a new course, this close to home, was almost unbearable.
Unfortunately there wasn’t a map of the holes, and we ended up meandering like tourists through 18 holes of challenging, at-times-heavily wooded, swampy dream for any disc golfer. We never found holes 11 or 12.
The course is fun, with creative pin placement and lots of water. The park had restrooms, water fountains, a fenced-in dog park, and picnic tables. Nice.
This whole thing’s got momentum. I’ll be playing the North Watertower Park course tomorrow morning, which is apparently either on-par with (no pun intended) or even better than the Lakeview course. I’m learning all of this from the Sarasota Sky Pilots web page. Yep, a full fledged disc golf community, which I’ll duly be looking into. Tuesday and Thursday night handicaps? Count me in!
Maserati GranTurismo spotted downtown
Posted on April 18th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: In the Wild.
It squatted on the pavement like a tiger. This Maserati GranTurismo, which we spotted last night parked in front of a restaurant in downtown Sarasota, was quite a car. I hadn’t seen one up close before, but as with all other high-end sports cars I see around town, I had to snap some photos.
Maserati says this about the $114,650 gem:
From first glance, the Maserati GranTurismo range is very sporting and muscular,, with excellent handling that can be enjoyed every day. And, after a closer look, it will become clear that a great deal of attention has been paid to comfort, the materials, the details and the creation of a spacious interior for four people.
Disc Golfing at Wanee
Posted on April 16th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Florida Living, Friends, Sports, Youtube.
Disc Golfing at Wanee 2008
06:26
After many years, I heard from an old buddy of mine, John. On short notice, I found myself at the Spirit of Suwanee music park fo After many years, I heard from an old buddy of mine, John. On short notice, I found myself at the Spirit of Suwanee music park for the Wanee Fest, featuring some unbelievable music and a perfect chance to catch up with an old friend.
They had a DISC GOLF course at the park (among other things) that John and I and his fiance Tracy took the opportunity to play. We both scored well, considering we’d never played this very narrow, challenging course before. I also got bit on the ankle by something with fangs, but I survived and am doing okay. Thanks for asking.
If you’re unfamiliar with disc golf, don’t be surprised… it’s a hippie sport that most people haven’t heard of. It entails throwing specialized frisbees into chains. It scores just like golf, you play it where it lies, and copious amounts of inebriants are often involved, in our case, historically.
Background music - Sugar Magnolia, Grateful Dead, Europe ‘72
Warren Haynes Joins Junior Brown at Wanee 2008
Posted on April 16th, 2008 by Chris.
Filed under: Music, Weird Nights Out.
It was Friday night of Wanee Fest 2008 when Gov’t Mule was into its second set back at the main Peach Stage. Though I’d been dancing my ass off with the Mule and cherishing every second of this experience, I knew but one thing: I cannot miss Junior Brown.
Truth be told, Junior was one my primary reasons for shelling out $185 (after fees and taxes) for a 3-day ticket to this thing. I mean, yes I was dying to see Ratdog and yes I was dying to see moe. play again, but since starting my own guitar journey, Junior was the can’t-miss.
Apparently this was also the case for the flock of bluesmen who met me at the Mushroom Stage at 12:15 in hopes that even though the Mule was running its second set late (all the acts were running behind), we’d get a chance to be in FRONT for the Junior Brown set. I was pleased and relieved to know that my decision making process to leave a Gov’t Mule set in exchange for Junior Brown was sound, judging from the caliber of guitarists standing around me.
One of them was Tony Tyler, who I mentioned in a previous post. A wild frock of curly blonde hair and a goatee frame, I noticed him first as he approached the stage area. With him were a handful of other guitarists whom I’d seen the previous evening at the campground jam. More on the campground jam in a later post. Gladly, they’d been also driven to Junior’s set.
I struck up conversation first with their drummer, a young blonde kid that looked just like Derek Trucks. He gets that a lot, he said. Then, an older fella wearing a ‘Got Duane’ t-shirt with a mustache, the one playing the flametop Les Paul the night before. I told him I had recently picked up the guitar, and how I wasn’t the same since. He was very friendly and engaging — smart guy, I could tell right away, wish I’d gotten his name — and he even gave me some advice, loosely paraphrased here:
The way I get my tone is to crank the mids up as high as they can go, and then start bumping up the trebs and the bass until you get it right. I prefer my [tube] overdrive to be just just close to the breakup point but not distorted.
Then, conversation struck up with a second of the dudes from the night before. He told me that “all of these guys, we’re truly close friends,” and that they were from a smaller town in Georgia, I forgot the name. He motioned to the mustache fella, the blonde kid (Tony), and to a bunch of other guys, who I ended up chatting brienfly with about music, guitars, and Junior Brown.
I was very glad to be talking to these guys. It was surreal, as the night before I was in total awe of their guitar chops at the campsite jam, and now, here I was, getting to talk to them and jaw around about gear and tone and the festival, influences…. shit, I was in newbie guitarist heaven. It probably showed.
Below is one of the two short videos I caught of Junior Brown and Warren Haynes jammin’, tradin’ licks and havin’ fun. I believe they played Dust My Broom, and I know they ended with Johnny B. Goode, at close to 3am.