Guitar Last Night

Last night I played at the Ives Hill Retirement Community's monthly birthday & anniversary dinner. It took me a little while to settle into the scene and gain my confidence because I have not played anywhere for anyone since Teaism closed this past August. I have been too busy with other matters to set any other gigs up. So this opportunity came up and I jumped at it. I noticed on man there paying particularly close attention to my playing. A little later I over heard him sya to the woman that hired me, "This guy's the most professional musician we've ever had."
Later in the evening I introduced myself and learned that he was a piano p-layer, and also sang with a barber shop quartet for many years. So his compliment is more meaningful because he is a musician.
I also got nice comments from numerous others, including the kitchen staff that heard me play while they were serving dinner.

My assessment was that I did OK. I started out a bit shaky so I played several short pieces by Francisco Tarrega, repeating certain passages to both fill up some time and get myself warmed up.
Other pieces I played: Lara's Theme from Dr. Zchivago (Somewhere My Love). I did OK with this until I hit a certain 3 chord progression which I fumbled up. There is no reason for this other than I need to practice the chords. This one short part has given me trouble forever ONLY because I have been to lazy to take the time to polish it.
Larry Beekman's arrangement of Your Song by Elton John was pretty good but I became exasperated when I had a mental block and fumbled in a spot that I had never fumbled before. I'm not real confident with that piece anyway because I have played it very few times for people.

Bach's Prelude N. One from the Well Tempered Clavier I played extremely well. Probably the best I've ever done. This is a transcription by Christopher Parkening and is truly a virtuoso piece. The chord shapes are physically demanding, requiring considerable strength and dexterity to execute. It is also a most beautiful composition, music from Heaven.

The Beatles tunes that I normally play each suffered from their respective spots that I have gotten rusty with. Normally if I have not played these pieces in a while I would revue/rehearse them the afternoon before the performance, going over those spots that tend to fade quickly from my memory. THis usually results in a satisfactory performance. Then, if I do not play them again for 2 or 3 months, I simply must revue them again. But on the afternoon before this performance I did not do that. You see, I have an apartment house that I am putting a new roof on and it has taken up my time. I spent the morning taking my Mother to the hospital for cataract surgery and the afternoon on the roof job. I permitted myself no rehearsal time.

I also played Bach's Prelude from the First Cello Suite as transcribed by Julian Bream very well. This came off very well because for once I took pains not to start the piece out at too fast a tempo. I slowed it down a little and the result was excellent. I wish I had a recording of this evening's playing, but, I don't. I was more pleased with myself than normal.

The people in attendance at the dinner are retirees. They live in an upscale community, some have assisted living, some their own apartments. With this demographic in mind I found it interesting that Estudio Inconcluso by Augustin Barrios Mangore went over very well. It really seemed to grab the attention of quite a number of folks. For me it is a fun little piece to play and one I find I can be rather expressive with.

So those are the high lights. It was a most enjoyable evening for me and I was home in time to watch Survivor on CBS.

Self Portrait In Sunglasses

I was getting into my Dodge Caravan when I spotted my reflection in my sunglasses. Actually, they are safety glasses that also happen to be sunglasses. I purchased them to use as safety glasses for all of those do it yourself projects that I am always involved with. The smaller photo was cropped out of the full photo below.


Otherwise, how are things going? Well, I was pretty miserable this evening photographing Lights On The Lake at Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool NY. It was raining cats and dogs. My feet got soaked. I hate wet feet. My waterproof boot were at home. I could go on and on, but I just want to get the evening wrapped up and be done with it. I do hope all is well in your world.

A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.
Frederick The Great

Stop Nixon

Today's photo is one that I snapped in Washington DC during President Richard Nixon's inauguration, must be January of 1973. I was 18 or 19 years old.

I'm not sure where my original scan from this slide is, so, it's a fairly small image here on the blog.

I came across it and thought I'd post it here quickly.

Roofing, Glen Campbell

Here is waht's going on lately. I am a land lord. The tenant in my upper apartment on Franklin St., Watertown recently moved out. I noticed that the closet in the bedroom showed evidence of a leaky roof. I inspect the roof outside and see that it is in terrible shape. Evidently it has been leaking for quite some time and the tenant did not let me know. Anyhow, my celebrity brother and my brother Rocket R. and I have begun stripping off the old roof and are in the process of nailing down a new one. Asphalt shingles. This follows on the heels of me just replacing the garage roof at the same place.
Two nights ago I had to photograph a Section III Class AA boys soccer game final in Liverpool, NY. It went into two overtimes, ended in a shoot out. I got home at 12:30 in the evening. In bed at 1:00AM. Up Tuesday at 7:00AM. It was election day. So I met brother Rocket at the Franklin St house at 9:00am. I worked there until 3:00 in the afternoon. Hard work. Slipped on the roof and twisted my shoulder. Slipped on a ladder & skinned both shins. At 3:00 I drove to Fulton for election day coverage. From there I went to Oswego to cover the mayors race. I got home from ther at 11:30. Had a glass of wine & was in bed by 1:00am. Got up this morning made coffee, had SHORT guitar practice (bummer!) met my brothers at Franklin st roof job at 9:30. Worked non stop until 5:30 at which time it was dark. We picked up tools and I went home. Watched Survivor on Tv. Then, I caught a part of the Country Music Awards. I posted the following on facebook after watching the Glen Campbell tribute: "I usually don't watch the Country Music Awards, BUT.. happened to catch the tribute to Glen Campbell. As a musician I just became SUPER CHARGED as I watched the great song writer Jimmy Webb embrace the equally great Glen Campbell at the end!. Two spirits whose paths crossed and the result was magic. I truly believe that music, beyond all other arts, proves the existence of God."

What a wonderful day I have had. Thank you Lord.

"I would have been content to just do studio work, making it on my own never really entered my mind."
Glen Campbell

Garage Roof Repair

The last few days have been really nice here in the North Country, not far from the Canadian border. The garage at my house on Franklin St in Watertown is in rough shape. It was so when I bought the place a few years ago. Badly in need of a new roof I finally went at it this week. I am simply applying a tin roof directly over the old shingle roof. One spot in the roof was so bad that I fell through it with one leg. For whatever reason, it was the only spot that was that bad. I was able to walk safely over the rest of surface. The rotten spot was six inches by 24 inches. In other words, one of the roofing boards had rotted out between the rafters.



I used a metal cutting blade on a Makita skill saw to cut the tin. Cutting the tin is potentially dangerous and is NOISY! So I use ear plugs and safety glasses. The safety glasses also double as sun glasses. $14.00 at Ace Hardware store. A photographer MUST protect his eyes.

Another Day

Yesterday: I worked on the garage roof at my apartment house on Franklin St. I am putting a new tin roof on it. At 5:00 I went to Syracuse and photographed a job for the Post-Standard. Got home at midnight. Went staright to bed.

Today: Woke at 7:30. Made coffee. Started fire in wood stove. Took out the trash. Edited pix for a freelance job I shot a few days ago. Packaged them up and made out the invoice. 11:30 at post office & mailed it. Went to my Franklin St apartment house. Went to my mother's house for an hour. Back to the apartment house. Working on garage roof until 6:00. Stop at Michael's Crafts looking for a picture frame. No luck. Home at 7:00. Drank 2 beers, ate some food. Watched The Middle and Survivor. Time for bed.
Good night.

Saranac Pumpkin Ale For Halloween

We like beer here at this blog.
Today being Halloween and we are enjoying Saranac Pumpkin Ale while we hand out candy to the trick or treaters. The beer is a limited, annual made by the Matt Brewing Company, 811 Edward Street Utica, NY 13502.

Guacamole

Have been busy, busy lately. On Friday I shot a freelance job for United Way in Syracuse. Got home from that and finished burning CD's of a recent wedding, packaged them up for Sturday's mail. Then I cut mats and framed photos for the North Country Arts Council's annual art show which is held at the Dulles State Office Building in Watertown. Of course I screwed up some of the window mats and had to re-cut them a few times. So I didn't finish until midnight. I was beat. I hit the sack and wake up at 6:00AM. I prefer to get 8 hours of sleep, but 6 was it. Saturday morn I had to drive my celebrity brother to the car rental place before my guitar lessons.
I had ba solid block of students from 11:00 to 3:00. Then I needed to shop for some item's. I got home about 5:00. Brought in firewood. Then the Better Half & I went to The Blue Heron, a nice restaurant here in Chaumont.

Blah, blah, blah... Then comes Sunday morning(this morning). I have some Avacados that were not getting used. A couple were over ripe & I thre them out. The other 3 were just perfect for guacamole. So I made some and that is where the photos came from today. The upper one is the finished product. The one below is scraps of tomatoes and garlic that just caught my eye and I felt was worthy of a snap shot.

After the guacamole I dropped my art entries off at the state office building and proceeded to Syracuse to photograph the NY State Field Band Conference. So that's pretty much a snapshot of my life this weekend. Tomorrow is Halloween.

Stressfull Wedding Edit

Spent most of yesterday and part of today editing a wedding job. All went well until I went to select a cover photo and discovered that the photos were out of sequence. There were about a dozen images from the start of the day and group shots taken after the ceremony that somehow got sprinkled among the reception and ceremony photos. Using Photo Mechanic i tried to reorganize them and things got worse. It became like a shuffled deck of cards. What a nightmare! I finally returned to my original backup folder that had just the dozen or so shots out of order. I'm simply going to have to deliver them as they are. All of the photos are there, and they are all good, it just would be nicer if the sequence was perfect. The only other option is to go back to my original, complete take and weed through it all, start fresh at the beginning. That really sucks because there are 800 images. I open every one of them in Photo Shop, crop, adjust the levels, and sometimes the color balance. I also trash the obvious bad ones and weed out the redundent ones. That's a lot of work. It's also a mystery to me how this all started too. It's after 10:00pm and I was supposed to ship the photos out tomorrow.
About tomorrow: I have a freelance job in Syracuse that's going to use up a good portion of the day. Then I need to find time to cut some mats and fram some photos for the Fall Art Show in Watertown. The need to be delivered on Sunday. Saturday I have a full day of guitar lessons. Sunday I am working in Syracuse for the post-Standard. This is getting to be a bit much.

Franz Liszt 200th Birthday

Today was Franz Liszt' 200th birthday. I attended an all Liszt concert this evening in Pulaski NY, performed by Brendan Kinsella. It was a msot excellent display of virtuos piano. Afterward there was a reception and we had, among other things, some fantastic cake made by my friend Janet Gramza's daughter.


This is Brendan Kinsella in Pulaski, NY, after just playing a Liszt concert.

"Inspiration is enough to give expression to the tone in singing, especially when the song is without words." Franz Liszt, 1811-1886

Moammar Gadhafi Dead & I Can't Sleep

Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's dictator for 42 years is dead. So another one of the world's infamous dictators has met his demise. But now what? Will Libya get it's oil production going again and prosper? Or will there now begin a long series of tribal fighting for control of the country? Evil as men like Moammar Gadhafi and Saddahm Hussein are, their cruel, iron fisted control acts as a stabilizing force in regions that have long histories of tribes in conflict or war that prohibits any form of progress of any kind for the masses. I suspect that Libya will enter into a long period of disruption, instability and no productivity. The masses will be worse off than they were under his rule and a new leader may impose even harsher control over the Libyans. The country is ripe for the taking by a focused Muslim regime. Dictators like Moammar Gadhafi are so brutal that ALL the tribes are so stricken with fear that they "tolerate" one another. The dictator does not tolerate in-fighting amongs the tribes. As soon as the dictator is gone the long, historical disputes among the many factions rekindle. Then it's back to the ancient unrest and the oil wells will sit idle.

So why can't I sleep?

Well, it has nothing to do with Moammar Gadhafi or any other World events. I put in a fairly long day. Taught guitar at Musicology, came home & spent the evening catching up on paper work, bills, and the like. At 10:30 I went to bed, read until I could not keep my eyes open, so clicked the light off at 11:00. Well, I dozed for maybe ten minutes. Seriously, that was it. Then I lay there in the dark until 12:30 and decide to get up. I pour myself a glass of wine, slice up some cheese and have a few crackers and decide to make a blog entry. This entry. So what. Let's go back: Why couldn't I sleep? Well the real reason is that I had a big blow out with the Better half today. Lately we have been going through a period of many arguments and discontent. I don't like it. Most people think of me as easy going and mellow. Well, for thye most part I am. But I am an Aries, a red headed one at that. I have a fiery temper that I am not proud of. Nothing makes me feel worse about myself than when I unleash it toward the woman that I love. Or anyone I love for that matter. Over the years I have grown to control my temper a LOT. Compared to when I was in my twenties, it's like night & day. Abbot & Costello.

What about the squirrel in the cage?

The squirrel is not in a cage. He's in a trap. It's a HavaHeart live animal trap. Recently a squirrel got into the walls of my house. Upon investigation I discovered a hole that the vermin had chewed through the eves on the backside of my house, next to the chimney. Well, I baited the near by area with some peanut butter. Before long a squirrel that had taken residency in the chamber showed his face. That unfortunate creature met his demise from high impact lead poisoning, courtesy of my $200.00 Gammo air rifle. He was a young Grey squirrel. The one in the trap is a very young, juvenile Grey Squirrel. The young ones start out red, and go grey as they mature. Anyhow, it's obvious that there is a lot of squirrel activity around my home, and I have seen many young ones racing about. So, even though I shot one of them with my Gammo air rifle, I do Hava-heart, and so I set out a trap to catch any of the other's that might have had plans on moving in to the late squirrel's quarters. Well, lo & behold, in two days I trapped 5 young ones. Each of them was rewarded with a free ride to release at a wooded area adjacent to a cemetary about seven miles from my home. Now wasn't that nice?

Birthdays & Acid Reflux

Today is the Better Half's birthday. Tomorrow is my brother T's birthday. Next week my celebrity brother A has a birthday. Brother T is having a birthday party at The Last Call, a bar in the village of Evans Mills this evening.



It's 3:30 am. I was suddenly awakened by an acid reflux attack. Something I have not experienced in about five years. How terrible! I thought those days were over. However, I know what happened. I have let myself get overly tired lately. Sinmply not getting enough sleep. That coupled with the birthday party tonighyt. I over drank ( but was not drunk), and the real troublesome thing I did was drinking right up to bed time. I have not done that in a ong, long time. Usually I do not eat or drink anything for 2 or 3 hours before going to bed. What an idiot I was. It's been so long since I had such an attack I had completely forgotten about them. A lesson learned.