One year ago today: July 13, 2013, a busy day.
Five years ago today: July 13, 2009, JZ "wins" $20.
Ten years ago today: July 13, 2004, Martian road map.
No new camera yet, so here are a couple of scans, documents that relate to what is happening at the trailer court these days. An upswing in prices means I may still be here a while yet. No panic, something will pop up and we’ll have some fancy digs. But never again will I be foolish enough to tie up most of my life’s earnings in a big fancy house to live (and eventually die) in. That very concept has got to be the biggest confidence trick every foisted on the American public. The real American dream is the mortgage they got on your house. Isn't that a hell of a thing to have to say when asked what you did with your live, and you reply, "I paid off my mortgage". I will live in what I can reasonably afford.
Sundays are rehearsal day and that was the only event of any importance. We picked over the various stage mistakes from last gig and polished those up. Stage mistakes? Yes, from context, the errors (big plural there) that don’t appear until you are on stage, where the distractions are. A mistake made there carries more momentum. You can’t just start over, and I had to point out to the band the weak spot is the instrumental breaks. It would seem this band lacks experience in “voicings”.
Those are what I call the various “layers” that a band presents to the listener, I try for a minimum of four layers with my duo. Those would be the drum box, the bass, the rhythm guitar and the vocals. This is why I prefer a rhythm guitar over lead guitar. The reason is perfectly logical. A person could dance to a drum beat, or guitar rhythm, or a singer, but not to a lead break. Except for a few exceptionally well know lead breaks, most people would soon weary of listening to just a guitar wailing away. It makes me wonder why they call it a lead “solo”. By itself, it is dull music.
The same problem is happening with this band. The lead player is generally comping along, but that voice is lost when he plays lead. So the keyboardist and I must provide that and it isn’t happening by itself. I instantly punch up the bass line but this works best when the rest of the instruments underplay their part in anticipation of the instrumental break. But like I said, this band lacks stage experience.
Nonetheless, the band has come a long way. There is a general progression toward more modern music and they are now much more selective about older music. Of course, I like to think of such a change as totally due to my influence—not because of ego, but because of my long-standing and well-documented advocacy that each song be chosen on its own merits and not because so-and-so played it. Thus, another “studio intensive” tune has made the list, Del Shannon’s “Runaway”. And I can play the daylights out of that song, want a contest?
What is “studio intensive”, I hear the question. Listen to “Runaway” and note there are several different bass players. There is also an uncharacteristic mixing of major and minor chords. These are things that happen in studios when different musicians lay down the tracks at different times. To me, such music represents a major challenge and I’ll spend hours honing the technique.
[Author's note 2015-07-13: the design of the Tascam ensures that many of those hours are repeated as the operator continues to struggle making the unit work right. But I found this also channelizes the sound. That is, when it works "right", the Tascam has a bias toward standardized levels and tones. Not the best way to create music.]
Finally, I got home to a quiet chair and even quieter book. I wanted to read the sections on intermediate celestial navigation, the ones that show how to calculate position if you don’t have an Almanac handy. That is complicated material. I wasn’t studying it, just getting a feel for what I’m up against. Where am I now, study-wise? Same as two weeks ago, I can perform any of the individual steps, all the calculations, and take reasonable readings. But overall things have not yet fallen into place.
Another thing is that I’m at a phase where it is best to just memorize the steps. I don’t usually take that approach to learning, but once you get to the tables, navigation is repetitious. Chances are, in those big books of tables, you will only use a tiny fraction of the numbers and even then, only once.
So the kid walks iton the house, the father is in the living room waiting. The father demands, "So what is all the yelling about?"
The kid replies, "I have shit on my shoe."
My fan mail tells me it is time for another warning to my “overseas” readers. This blog does not, repeat, does NOT represent the lifestyle of the average North American. The average American’s and Canadian’s entire daily existence centers around cable TV and the next paycheck, if any. His/Her strongest opinions are about the topics of which they know the least. Such as politics, evolution, and other people’s sex lives. Above all, they are boring, jointly and severally. They were born boring and they will die boring, and in another fifty years, nobody will remember them. They do not think about this, so it does not bother them.
ADDENDUM
The camper pod is only half complete and nearby is a diagram of how it is now reverting to a shape you may recognize as standard. This change was influenced by the knee-hip experiment which taught me one does not move the torso when extending the legs to get into a sleeping bag. You straighten, then slide horizontally into the bag cavity.
Now we talk maiden voyage of the cPod Mk II. As before, my primary travel directive is to extract maximum enjoyment out of every last penny. You’ll readily recognize my avoidance of the now well-known (except to the authorities) rip-off hotel-motel industry. Less evident is how I eat only in the best non-franchise eateries I can find. Figure it out, you don’t save a penny cooking your own grub. Add it up, the gear, setup, take-down, shopping, and storage. I’ve had excellent meals for $11, the most expensive was $21 at the Big Texan. Plus, the time saved not washing up makes for excellent time on the road.
So, this is how the planning stage is progressing. Leaving Florida I have two traditional routes. A1A to St. Augustine, or west of Okeechobee (the beautiful but unpeopled State Road 70). There is now another contender, the route through Winter Haven, then any of several back roads to 441 to get out of Florida into the USA. I’ve been lost in that stretch before, but as long as you get to Gainesville, you are okay. Then, if need be, you can take I-75 north, probably the only decent Interstate in this part of the world. Overnight near Valdosta is the usual plan.
But where to from Valdosta? I usually strike west and returning from Denver in ’12, I went east. I did drive the stretch from Macon south last year returning from Savannah, and I liked that. I’m thinking I never gave Macon a decent tour. The place has 5,500 buildings in the historic register but I sure didn’t tour that part of town. Show of hands, does Macon get a second chance?
I will likely make my next trip without GPS. That system lacks too many features, top of the list is a button to avoid bad roads, certain neighborhoods, and lack of showing info of the next town in the direction you are heading. Therefore, it was designed by dumbfecks, one by one. To me, current GPS technology is worth about $35, tops.
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