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Weekend Updatia
Busy weekend.
In short: Friday, hosted a couple of bikers. Saturday, invented music. Sunday, moved mountains. Monday, cookout!
My brother and one of his brothers stopped by on their way across the country. Talked a bit, ate some food from Trainers Inn, and looked at their route. They spent Saturday night with my grandmother, and were in the Smokey Mountains for Sunday night. I expect there somewhere between there and Phoenix at the moment.
The Lefty Valdez Funk University Band had a practice session on Saturday and new & existing tunes were worked on, and a brand-spanking new tune was created.
Sunday, Justin and I relocated some two thousand pounds (conservatively estimated) of books from the garage to the cellar. Lots of other stuff went downstairs or upstairs or moved horizontally to make it all happen. My guitar rack was de-spidered and set up and still sounds as great - and, unfortunately, as unreliable - as ever.
With some research, we discovered M-Audio keyboards. They have a couple of exceptional instruments, and, conveniently, they're reasonably priced. Justin's saving for them, and I've added them to his wish list
. I was guiding him towards their simpler semi-weighted digital piano, but as soon as he heard the vibes and strings on the hammer-weighted model he made up his mind. The 61-key MIDI controller would be a later addition that, when paired with a computer (a laptop, most likely), would give him exceptional capabilities for a variety of sounds.
Monday, we enjoyed the company of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
noone234, kk1raven, thefrogger, my future sister-in-law-in-law 1jadedhart & my brother-in-law, my niece, my father-in-law, and one of our neighbors. Food was simple fare - burgers, hot dogs, sausage with built-in onions and peppers, grilled corn - along with some homemade salsa from noone234, lemon cake from kk1raven (we officially gave her permission to try some other kind of cake for next time, provided she also brings the lemon cake! =) thefrogger brought some truffles that went over very well, and our next-door neighbor made some spinach dip that was very good.
After the meal, the Lefty Valdez Band set up on the Front Porch Stage and played through the portions of tunes we know. We did a little bit of work, extendingnoone234's bass parts in The Kraken and Sorrow's End. We also worked a bit on getting Rachel a clarinet part for Breezy. Justin and I both caught our nicknames on our first session - indeed, I haven't played the right-handed-bass-strung-lefty since then, so Lefty doesn't directly apply. I suppose it's still funny, considering I'm the only Righty in the household (Mr. B. is still Undecided.) Valdez referred to the vast quantities of valve oil needed for the trumpet - which is now in the shop and will hopefully not apply in the future. Yesterday, we coined names for the other two band members. Rachel's nickname came up from her occasional blasts from the clarinet - usually when she's frustrated, but sometimes by accident as well. She is now Squeaky, a name which Mr. B delights in calling her over. And over. thefrogger actually suggested noone234's name when he mentioned a flub - thus, we now feature Flubber on alto sax, electric bass, and - someday soon - C sax.
In short: Friday, hosted a couple of bikers. Saturday, invented music. Sunday, moved mountains. Monday, cookout!
My brother and one of his brothers stopped by on their way across the country. Talked a bit, ate some food from Trainers Inn, and looked at their route. They spent Saturday night with my grandmother, and were in the Smokey Mountains for Sunday night. I expect there somewhere between there and Phoenix at the moment.
The Lefty Valdez Funk University Band had a practice session on Saturday and new & existing tunes were worked on, and a brand-spanking new tune was created.
Sunday, Justin and I relocated some two thousand pounds (conservatively estimated) of books from the garage to the cellar. Lots of other stuff went downstairs or upstairs or moved horizontally to make it all happen. My guitar rack was de-spidered and set up and still sounds as great - and, unfortunately, as unreliable - as ever.
With some research, we discovered M-Audio keyboards. They have a couple of exceptional instruments, and, conveniently, they're reasonably priced. Justin's saving for them, and I've added them to his wish list
. I was guiding him towards their simpler semi-weighted digital piano, but as soon as he heard the vibes and strings on the hammer-weighted model he made up his mind. The 61-key MIDI controller would be a later addition that, when paired with a computer (a laptop, most likely), would give him exceptional capabilities for a variety of sounds.Monday, we enjoyed the company of
noone234, kk1raven, thefrogger, my future sister-in-law-in-law 1jadedhart & my brother-in-law, my niece, my father-in-law, and one of our neighbors. Food was simple fare - burgers, hot dogs, sausage with built-in onions and peppers, grilled corn - along with some homemade salsa from noone234, lemon cake from kk1raven (we officially gave her permission to try some other kind of cake for next time, provided she also brings the lemon cake! =) thefrogger brought some truffles that went over very well, and our next-door neighbor made some spinach dip that was very good.After the meal, the Lefty Valdez Band set up on the Front Porch Stage and played through the portions of tunes we know. We did a little bit of work, extending
noone234's bass parts in The Kraken and Sorrow's End. We also worked a bit on getting Rachel a clarinet part for Breezy. Justin and I both caught our nicknames on our first session - indeed, I haven't played the right-handed-bass-strung-lefty since then, so Lefty doesn't directly apply. I suppose it's still funny, considering I'm the only Righty in the household (Mr. B. is still Undecided.) Valdez referred to the vast quantities of valve oil needed for the trumpet - which is now in the shop and will hopefully not apply in the future. Yesterday, we coined names for the other two band members. Rachel's nickname came up from her occasional blasts from the clarinet - usually when she's frustrated, but sometimes by accident as well. She is now Squeaky, a name which Mr. B delights in calling her over. And over. thefrogger actually suggested noone234's name when he mentioned a flub - thus, we now feature Flubber on alto sax, electric bass, and - someday soon - C sax.