Saturday, December 20, 2008

My Crushes...


From time to time i get what my wife calls a Crush....when in reality i simply find women that to me are worthy of my notice. Recently I came across a band called "Die So Fluid". Their lead singer and bass player calls herself Grog. She is a talented musician, that writes produces and generally runs the show, it doesn't hurt that she is a little easy on the eyes either....lol. If you like alternative/punk/Metal music i highly suggest you run out and pick up a copy of their most recent disk "Not Everyone Gets a Happy Ending" or hit their website www.diesofluid.net or their myspace page
Later...

Monday, December 15, 2008

If You Build it They Will Come...




OK well if you have been following my blog....I got back into playing roughly about a year ago, and i have been steadily building my rig. So here it is and although it is NOT my dream rig, it has the power to get the job done. I also managed to find a couple of guys to make some noise with...lol....currently we are calling ourselves...Fragments of Faith and playing what most people refer to as Stoner/Sludge music....and I'm having the time of my life. I have since changed up my pedal board since this picture was taken, I running in Stereo so my 4x10 on top is running dirty pushing all my high gain pedals and distortion, while the 1x15 on bottom is running fairly clean with an SVT emulation running. Playing in a three piece outfit i have to cover a lot of sonic space during the guitards solo's. I also recently discovered Traben basses. They are a new company but IMHO make on hell of a product, I have never played a bass that has so much resonance or sustain....


We are in the Process of trying to put together a decent set so that we can play out in Public, hopefully we will be ready just after the first of the year...


I will keep you all posted as we progress...







Later...

The Goddess is Gone....


I remember the first time i ever saw Bettie Page....I was a teenage boy standing in a comic book shop in Downtown Sacramento California. I was scanning the comics on the wall looking for something obscure, when i can across a magazine called the Bettie Pages. I was absolutely dumbfounded....I'm still not sure to this day exactly what it was about Bettie that captivated me so much. Sure she is Sultry, sure she is attractive...but it's more than that...I think Bonnie Burton said it best when she said..."I'm a Bettie fan for the mere and simple fact that she's gorgeous. No other model has been photographed more than her, and for good reason: She's the best there is. I love Bettie because she sort of brought innocence back to sex. When you mention pinup models and men's magazines to most people, they think you're talking about porn or smut. With Bettie, you aren't embarrassed to appreciate looking at her, whether she's being spanked, trying on stockings, or playing in the buff on the beach. She makes sex seem okay instead of a sin. I think a lot of older fans left over from the 1950s appreciated that quality in her when she was in magazines like Playboy. She made you feel at ease with your sexuality, and most of all, she had fun with it.".... yep that says it all. She is gone now passed away on December 11th after having a heart attack. She was my first great crush, and the yardstick by which i measured all the women i have ever met. Even though she was in her 80's it was sort of comforting to know that she was still out there. There will never be another like her, they broke the mold when she was made....and she will be missed by many...
Later...

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Im a Feaking GrandFather


It is hard to believe that i have not posted to my own blog in almost 4 months....Life just seems to whiz by..
A lot has happened since the last time i posted. I have built two basses and sold them, gotten rid of all the gear i purchased last year and replaced it with all new and better stuff, as well as built my own Bass cabinets, and i managed to put together a new band (but more on all of that later.
Tonight I just wanted to tell the world that despite all my best efforts to keep it from happening i am officially and Grandfather at age 40. Here is a picture of the little fella just minutes old. Its a done deal can't stuff him back in...all i can do now is love the little fella and be here for my daughter
later all...

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Built One!!

Well she isn't exactly the most beautiful piece of hardware on the planet, but i did build her...lol This is the first in what i hope is a long line of basses built by me. It is a standard P bass style, but with the electronics set up in a P/J combo...it is solid black including all hardware. I did discover i have a lot more to learn when it comes to painting and finishing....but it is done and it was a good learning experience.....and she sounds great!

Im Back!!!

OK well as you can see it has been quite some time since (roughly three months) since i have posted to my own blog........there are many many reasons for this.....first the wife and I have been having a really really rough time.....after her father dies she simply shut down. Our 16 year old daughter came home pregnant, and we have been working opposite schedules......all of it made us simply drift away from each other and spend too much time apart, not doing anything together but arguing.....I actually moved out and in with a friend from work because i simply could not deal with being here on a daily basis.......I know! I know! you hear all the time that separation's never work, but in this case it may actually have done some good! It made us both realize as bad as things actually were, we did in fact love each other and were better together than apart. We actually started to talk to each other again....in fact I am learning to fall in love with my wife all over again.....We are actually looking at buying a house in town and starting over.........I realize now that some things in life are worth taking a risk for and sometimes you simply have to let go and trust....wish me/us luck and I'll keep you updated.......

Monday, May 26, 2008

So True!


This one just takes the Fucking Cake!!!!!

Gotta Love the Liberal Morons...


Saw this.....there are no words...excpet ha ha Moron!

More Good Stuff


Man somebody out there just keeps wanting to make me laugh....
Came across this one today as well!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Funny Stuff!


Somebody was obviously upset with their Phone carrier (note the memo section of the check)

Monday, May 05, 2008

You Tell Me!













I'm a big golden age of Hollywood Fan...... to me the women were just more graceful and glamorous than the actresses of today....anyway i saw my wife across the room at a restaurant (before she was my wife) and that was the first thing that popped into my head was that she looked like Veronica Lake. One of the main reasons i fell for her.....well that and her lovely backside...

what do you guys think?

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Funny as Hell...


Just random surfing and came across this picture...
struck me as funny...
Enjoy...
Later...

Friday, April 11, 2008

Alternate Reality?

So If you have been reading my blog you know that life around here has been...well...shitty.... for some time now.....But all of a sudden i find myself in love with the world again. I'm not entirely sure i'm awake...so if i'm sleeping don't call me (lol). The wife and i have had wonderful and glorious sex for three days in a row!!!! While things are still not perfect, the sudden realization that our 16 year old is pregnant has somehow brought us much closer together. I'm sure we are in for some rough weather, and a few dark days ahead, but i think with our new found resolve we can handle it together, the way it was meant to be....

Later...

Finally Decided...


Well I finally decided on a name and logo for my new budding bass building business (say that three times fast!)....It's a variation on the word basically, spelled the way it sounds. I decided on this name for several reasons...1. because it is clever (IMHO) 2. Geezer Butler has a bass solo called Basically just before the song N.I.B. (Geezer is the reason i picked up a bass in the first place) 3. It pretty much says it all...basic and simple
later...

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Well....

I really need to put down my feelings more often...

Well, where to start? Life hasn't changed much around here....still in a holding pattern. We have our good days and the bad ones as well. We still fight about sex, i want it she doesn't. I have pretty much given up on the whole idea anymore, its not worth the bullshit and the fights that go along with it. I'm just going to use that energy in other areas of my life. I have decided to start buying old cheap basses and bass parts and modify them into better instruments and then re-sell them, still trying to decide what to call my/this little endeavor. I have also started working out again, it has been roughly two weeks and I'm really starting to notice a difference in my arms and chest. The tummy however is a different story, very slow progress there.... Ashley quit her job about six weeks ago, she basically decided that fast food was not for her...lol And now for the BOMB...she is also pregnant at 16! Doesn't do me any good to get upset and all bent out of shape about it whats done is done...only thing i can really do is fasten my seat belt and hold on tight....cause I'm more than positive it is going to be a bumpy ride. If I'm still alive, married and sane in 9 months it will be a freaking miracle...

Later...

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Life Still Weird...

I want to write her all the time and then i pause....and when i pause for just a moment the urge to write is gone....

We are still at odds....Ashley spends every weekend away from the house.....this is Nikki's solution to the problem....keep us apart we won't fight....

Ashley got a job last Monday at the local Dairy Queen....I am proud of her for following through and actually executing an idea....I'm hoping that a taste of the "real world" will do he a slight bit of good and possibly make her understand how life really works...maybe a few weeks of slinging greasy burgers and fries and dealing with asshole customers will make her realize how important school really is...I doubt it but i'm hoping...

again I am really proud of her for getting a job and sticking with it...

Had fantastic sex wednesday with the wife.....but no life since....she is back to not wanting to hug or kiss me again

Money has been tight around here lately work is just now starting to pick back up...but i did mange to pick up a few CD's for the wife for Valentines' day along with the usual chocolate and sweets.....she says she liked the gift but who knows

She did give me a card on Thursday that actually made me cry...on the front is a yin and yang symbol and the cation reads "To my other Half" you open it up and it reads "Without you I would not be complete." followed by a simple I love you...lately i really began to wonder and or doubt if she did actually love me anymore

Work sucks as usual

I have an add up that says Bass Player seeks band....a few nibbles so far but no bite as of yet....

Tyler and I just got done Jammin "Hand of Doom" and "Blitkrieg Bop" he likes to play but i think he gets bored with the technical side of playing...he also gets frustrated with not being able to play what he wants....but at 9 he does not want to put in the time to learn technique......hopefully that will change as he gets older...

Time for Pizza and a good Lovecraft of REH story i think i'm getting sick.....

Monday, January 28, 2008

Life Lifts Its Ugly Head!

Been a weird month overall....I sold most of my snakes to a guy in Florida, I was both happy and very sad to see them go. My Grandmother passed away last week, i took a few day off work to go to the funeral. It was very unnerving and a little surreal...I found myself actually getting angry during the funeral mass. Niki says it's simply one of the stages of grief but i think it was more than that, i was angry about being back in church. I found myself looking at the stations of the cross, and the statues of saints, and wanting to knock them down and pull them from the walls. My Brother flew in from Kentucky, we had to pick him up at the airport. I have decided that i hate airports...i used to like them...

Things have been fairly quiet around the house, not perfect but better. Niki is still acting odd, and she still feels different....She says she loves me, but it sounds empty, and a bit like a lie when she says it. When i look at her sometimes i wonder what happened to the woman i married. She used to remind me of Veronica Lake, sexy, glamorous, elegant, now her face seems marred by the perpetual pout of her mouth and the tight lines that have appeared around her eyes, it's there all the time now, where there used to be light and laughter. Sometimes it hurts me to look at her. I have to admit to being pretty sour company myself. I feel bloated, run down and tired all the time I can't seem to do anything but worry these days, so i try to escape through music...i play and i teach Tyler to play his drums. I spend entirely too much time on Talk Bass.com.
i don't think i have lived up to my wife's dreams of life, a sadness seems to have crept into her, she seems to have lost her fire, her hope, and her once beautiful heart. I know her faith in me and us has died i see it, i hear it, and i feel it everyday. I have turned into bad company because of the sourness that seems to radiate from her.
i want to love her so badly, hell i would even settle for like at this point, but she does not make it easy. It's the same with Ashley....I can see that inside something is twisting her up, making her bitter, angry, and sour like her mother...she obviously in pain....they seem to feed off of one another, making each other worse with each exchange. It's obvious that the drugs, and the counseling are not helping. We all got in a wicked fight tonight over her running up the cell bill an extra thirty dollars....Normally it wouldn't be that big of a deal but with work being slow my checks have been short and i need every penny literally every penny...when i tried to explain this to her it turned into a major drama production...the usual I'm packing my shit blah blah blah, fuck you etc. And somehow its all my fault for even bringing it up even though its obvious that she is responsible..this is something that Niki and I fight about constantly i think she seriously needs to learn that there are consequences for actions....but....I'm not allowed to participate in my own life or family issues or I'm an asshole...and if i don't get involved or seem to care I'm an asshole as well. The worst part is as a Daddy I'm supposed to make the worlds a better place for my little girl, but instead her world seems to worse because I'm in it...do you have any idea how bad it hurts to see your child in pain and you can't do a damn thing about it but get angry with her.....why is he like this did i do this? why is she so full of hatred and anger...why does she lash out and hurt the ones that actually give a shit.....I sometimes wish that she would do something really bad so i can have an excuse to lock her up.

I want to go slip out of my clothes and climb into bed with my wife, and feel the warmth of her shoulders and hips press against me, but apparently I'm an asshole for wanting to have sex with my wife as well...how dare I? I still lust after her and it seems she could give a flying rats ass that I'm even alive.... Lately i just feel anger towards her, as it seems I'm the only one who tries, and I'm always the one to apologize, even when i have done nothing wrong, and more than often even when I'm right. There was a time that we could not keep our hands off of each other and couldn't go more than a few minutes without touching or hugging, or kissing. Now she won't even kiss me unless i make an issue of it. I feel like we are two cars going in opposite directions down the street occasionally we pass each other but we really just travel in circles getting nowhere fast. I used to worship and adore her...i still adore her, she stirs emotions and feelings in me that no other woman ever has....but right this second i want to pack my clothes throw them in my truck and just keep driving until i hit an ocean. But..... running away never solves anything, i know because i have done it all my life. If it were not for my son Tyler (he currently is my reason for getting out of bed each day) I'm fairly sure i would have been gone already. I love that little boy, i want to see him grow up and spread his wings and accomplish all the things he wants to do...i even hope that somewhere along the way he will remember one of those moments that he and i shared a look back fondly on it,..... like i do from time to time about my dad.

I'm so confused and hurt and angry and I'm really at a loss...i have no idea what to do next,... if anything....i just want to slip off into the deeper, richer darkness and never wake up...

I've decided i like to sleep...its much better than being told your a lousy husband, father, and human being...

Later...

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Bass It Does A Booty Good III


Well as some of you know i picked up the Bass again after a very long pause.....I have been frustrated with it as all i have had to play on has been a very small combo amp. Well they say Patience is a virtue and that has proven to be true....I picked up this used amp and 4 x 10 cab last weekend, for rougly half of what a new one would have cost me (not to mention the head is vintage 80's...lol). While it is not my "Dream Rig" it more than meets my current needs and wants. As my playing warrants i will eventually pick up a 15" cab to add to the bottom end and a pre-amp to give me a better range of tones. Also eventually i plan to pick up a "passive" bass so that i can have two distinct sounds, as well as have them tuned differently to avoid having to tune up or down from song to song. But for now I am having a blast rattling the windows.....lol

The Wife Gets Inked!!


My wife went down to the local tattoo parlor and had herself inked.....She chose this particular design in memory of her father, who had a very similar tattoo on his arm. She had it done on his birthday, this was a very big deal for her, and I admire her for her dedication and resolve. I wanted to hold her hand and be there for it but i had to leave for work before it was finished. She seems to be in a better frame of mind since she had it done. I hope it has helped her to find some sort of solace with the world.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

December

Well it's been well over a month since i have posted to my own blog....there are several reasons for this....First and foremost my wife said that it was embarrassing because members of her family read my posts......second even though i have been seriously depressed, pissed, and generally bent out of shape on a huge range of topics i just haven't felt like going through the process of booting up the computer logging in and typing about how i feel...instead i have been playing bass.....playing badly mind you but playing none the less...

I have been gassing lately over new gear. I currently just have a practice rig...very small and very farty sounding drives me nuts. However I am very short on cash so as a result I will be selling off my snakes to fund new gear. Not to mention no one in the house will lift a finger to help me clean, feed or take care of the snakes in general, they won't even turn off their freaking lights at night....

The wife is pissed...so what else is new i can't seem to do anything right no matter what, i can't seem to say anything right no matter what, and apparently i can't make a decent decision no matter what.....I'm beyond caring at this point....playing bass at this point is the only bright spot i have left in my life, and if i want to spend $500.00 bucks on what she call frivolous crap then so be it it makes me happy at the moment. She seems to think I'm regressing into some kind of second childhood, or having a mid-life crisis maybe i am, but what else am i supposed to do when no one gives a rat's ass if your in the house or not? or cares that you have opinions, or ideas, or feelings? i mean seriously I'm not looking to ourchase a 2000 watt rig of doom, but it would be nice to actually hear myself and play a gig with other musicians without being laughed at....

She also gets mad at me for spending so much time over at www.talkbass.com, but you know what? The community over there actually cares that I'm a part and actually acknowledges the contributions i make to the forum....I sure as hell don't get that at home.

oh well hopefully the kids will be enthusiastic about the gifts i got them this year and will acknowledge me for 30 seconds or so...

Merry Christmas, Yule, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Bodi Day...etc.....