Fluffy puppy dawg!

So today I'm really, really tired - the game last night got started almost 2 1/2 hours late due to the rain.  Stupid rain!  So, it was 9:35 pm before it started, and then it went into extra innings.  We didn't get outta there until almost 12:30!  At least we won, though, 1-0!  Ryan Ludwick scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the 10th.  Yay!  And what did the Cards' management do to congratulate him?  They traded him this morning.  Wow.  This game is so weird!  I really liked him, too!  Oh, well.

This morning, I finally dragged my butt outta bed and went to a "bonus" painting class to make up one I'd missed.  I'm almost finished with a really difficult one I've been working on for quite a while - it's looking pretty good!  When I started out on it, I was really nervous about it - I didn't know if I could pull it off.  I'm pretty happy with it now, though. 

One of the girls in the class, Amy, had with her a beautiful German Shepherd - a trained police dog who was actually from Germany!  She was a beautiful dog named "Nikki" (I'm not sure if that's how they spell it, but that's how I'm spelling it, so there :-D).  I found it interesting that all of the dogs' commands were in German: "nein" ("no"), "sitz" ("sit", pronounced "seetz"), and, I believe,  "platz", which I'm assuming was a different version of "sit". 

Today's stroke is my attempt to recreate the color of Nikki's fur.  Don't know if I got it, but I'm pretty sure she won't mind either way.  :-)

Oh, by the way - this is Day 200!  Can ya believe it?  Wow!

A Pirate looks at forty - STRIKEOUTS! HA!

Back in the early-to-mid 80s, during the summer, I would go to Pittsburgh, PA to visit my Aunt Phyllis for a few weeks.  I loved going up there to "the big city", and just getting away from southwest Missouri in general.  I've always been a city person, no matter that I grew up in a town roughly the size of Busch Stadium (population 298 - SA-LUTE!).  I was just exposed to so many things up there that I would never have been able to experience in a small town.  It was in Pittsburgh that I first experienced museums - I got to see a full sized Tyrannasaurus Rex skeleton!  Wow, was that cool!  

I got to ride on a bus across town by myself to go to summer camp at  the planetarium - I don't believe I'd ever even heard of a planetarium before that!  Actually, now that I think of it, I probably shouldn't have been riding mass transit by myself at 10 or 11 years of age in a strange city with absolutely no clue as to how cities work, and how dangerous it could have been!

Anyway, back in 1988 I was up there and I was really into my metal phase, and I wanted to go see a concert - I'd never been to one.  Aerosmith were touring in support of their album "Permanent Vacation", and their opening act was Guns and Roses, who were rapidly becoming the biggest name in metal at the time.  I really wanted to see that show!  Phyllis did do her best to try to get tickets through people she knew, etc, but couldn't come up with any.  What added more salt to the wound was the fact that at the time she lived right across the street from the Civic Center, where the concert was being held - so I could kind of make out some of the songs, but I couldn't be there!  GAH!

We did, however, get to go to a Pirates game at the old Three Rivers Stadium (this was way before every single building anywhere was named after a friggin' corporation!).  Phyllis was friends with the president of Pittsburgh National Bank at the time, and he had seats right behind the visitor's dugout, down the 3rd base line.  My cousins and I spent the whole time razzing the visiting team, the San Diego Padres!  We had a blast!  I thought the coolest thing was that I got to see Andy Vanslyke play in person.  Andy had been a Cardinal, and he is also the cousin of my high school art teacher.  I've still got a press clipping from the sports page of the paper the next day which had a huge picture of Andy in mid air making an amazing catch. 

Well, fast forward 22 years, almost to the day, and I'm going to see the Pirates play again, against my beloved Cardinals.  And, once again, thanks to a buddy with some good connections, we're sitting right behind the visitor's dugout again.  Guess I'll be razzing the Pirates this time! :-)

Today's stroke features Cardinal Red overpowering the Pirate Yellow, of course (oh, and a little bit of, um, how about "Baseball White" thrown in there, too).  In the mean time, we'll talk to you tomorrow, and, as always: GO CARDS!

Just sittin' on a fence w/ my buddy Pete...

When I was in middle and high school, in the summers I would go on mission trips to different parts of the country with the youth group at my church.  We started out going to Lamoni,Iowa (What?  Never heard of it?  No way!), then the next summer we went to Limon, Colorado, just outside of Denver.  We also, at different times, went to Piedras Negras, Mexico, and Miami, Florida (to help with Hurricane Andrew cleanup).  In more recent years, they've gone all over the globe - in fact, as I'm writing this, my mom is getting ready to come back from her second trip to Chaing Mai, Thailand!

Anyway, I was just a young little smart-ass kid when we started out, and I remember when we were in Colorado for that week we had, I guess, a "revival" of sorts - at least we were having church services every evening at the same church.  Our pastor, John Duncan, was preaching, and after about the third night, I realized I'd heard these sermons before (I guess that was a testament to the fact that I was actually paying attention the first time! :-D).  Obviously it wasn't that big of a deal - after all, the good people of Limon, Colorado hadn't ever heard them, and he does give good sermons - but I, for some reason, felt the need to call him out on it.  I asked him that third night at dinner if these, much like the sitcoms on NBC, were the "summer re-runs".  Everyone got a good chuckle out of that, and he did go ahead and address it the next night - not that anyone cared, because, like I said, they hadn't heard any of them!

Tonight's stroke, much like "The Cosby Show" in July of 1986, is somewhat of a repeat: the other night I did a big, wide swatch of matte gel just to see what would happen.  Well, it didn't get nearly as hazy as I thought it would, so I thought that tonight I would just do it again - see if I can get it to be a little more cloudy.  We'll see what happens - who knows.  If it doesn't do what I want it to do, we'll just do it again! 

The Big Apple is calling...

Wow - didn't realize what time it was!  I'm really running late!  Well, here's a quickie: 

Got home, grabbed a bite - Jenny made a really awesome pizza!  Sat down and watched a little bit of the ol' teevee with her.  I won't tell you what show it is, but the box set is so Big, it would probably take you and some friends to Carrie it.  Maybe you could ask your friend Samantha from Charlotte to help you - just don't do anything illegal, or they'll be reading you the Miranda rights.

So, Dave, what in the world are you doing watching this?  It's actually not too bad of a show.  It's got some good writing most of the time.  Haven't seen the movie(s) though.  Jenny says they're next on the agenda. We'll see. :-)

Anyway, this sparkly pink stroke is for Jenny and her pals from the City.  Gotta get to class!

Seasons change with the scenery /Weaving time in a tapestry/ Won't you stop and remember me?

This evening I figured I'd go a little bit shorter - it seems like I've been rambling on a bit too long the last few nights! :-)  Today on the way home it was sunny, but there was also a thunderstorm going on - kinda weird, but it looked interesting.  It just looked a bit hazy out, which gave me the idea for my stroke: I decided to just put down a nice swatch of matte gel, to see what would happen.

 I did this for a couple of reasons - a) I wanted to see what it would do, as far as how much it obscured the colors below, and 2) if it does what I think it'll do, I'll be able to add some stuff on top of it, and that may give the painting an extra bit of depth, which I think will be cool.  I guess we'll see tomorrow, once it dries. 

Oh, and yeah, for the link above, I did, in fact pick the Bangles' version over Simon and Garfunkel's version, also for two reasons: 1) contrary to what I wrote about last night, I was raised in the 80s, not the 60s, and dos) not to take away from S&G's amazing version, this one has the ladies totally bringing the rawk - especially Miss Susannah Hoffs, someone I still have a crush on to this day.  :-)  Man, is she hawt!

I was born too late...

...there, I said it.  I was born a couple of decades too late.  I'm convinced of this, and have been for years - in fact I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out someday that I am actually reincarnated from someone who lived back then (if ya believe anything like that - hey, my mind's open!).  I really do feel like I would have been right at home in the 60s, with all of the turmoil and change going on.  I guess it's a lot like what's going on right now, only with much better music back then.

I just finished reading "The Road To Woodstock" by Michael Lang, the guy who actually put together the original "3 days of peace, love, and music".  It was just wonderful to see how everything just kinda came together and gave all who attended a general sense of community, and just helping out your fellow man.  It really was a beautiful thing!  He told a story about Max Yasgur (the owner of the farm on which the "Woodstock Music and Arts Fair" was held) getting on stage and speaking to the literally hundreds of thousands of people there, saying,"...I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music - and have nothing but fun and music!  And I God bless you for it!"  He later told a reporter,"If the generation gap is to be closed, the older people have to do more than we've done."  He was a really special man.

As far as the music went, what more could you really ask for?  Richie Havens, Ravi Shankar, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe and the Fish, Santana (who were still unknown) Canned Heat, Mountain, Grateful Dead (in, admittedly, their worst performance ever) Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (in their second ever performance) and, of course, Jimi Hendrix, doing the inimitable "Star Spangled Banner" - one that to this day just gives me chills!  So filled with emotion!

It's really too bad we can't have a bit of that feeling again in this day and age - I know they tried to recreate the phenomenon in '94 and '99 - man, was that one a horrible disaster - rapes, fires, $5 bottles of water, just all sorts of corporate greed and violence - the exact opposite of the original festival!

Anyway, tonight's stroke was inspired by the outfit worn by John Sebastian, from the Lovin' Spoonful on stage at Woodstock.  Gotta love that tie-dye fashion!  He says he still gets crap about that outfit to this day!  Oh, well - gotta go - PEACE!

I sar a film today, oh boy...

Folks, there is some severe writer's block going on here today.  I really don't know what to write about, or even what to do as far as a stroke goes.  I played this morning at church - we did a great version of "Summer Of '69", with the lyrics changed to advertise the big church picnic "Summerfest 2010" happening today.

After that, Jenny and I went out to her mom's house, and took her some oil paints borrowed from my art teacher, Annie.  Carla (Jen's mom) is taking a class over at Hobby Lobby, and rather than spend all the money on something she's not sure she'll like - or even have time for - Annie just said she could borrow some, which was great!

We got out there, and decided we were hungry, so we took Carla to McAlister's Deli for a quick bite.  It was pretty good - Carla and I split a Reuben and a club sandwich, and Jenny got some soup and half of a sandwich.  We were all stuffed, but not so much so that we couldn't indulge in one of the 15 cent itty-bitty ice cream cones over at Lion's Choice!  They're pretty good, too - both bites!   :-)

With our bellies nice and full, and our allergies kicking both of our butts, we decided to just bring it on home, so we could get a couple of things done, and just relax the rest of the night, so that's exactly what we're doing.  This blog entry is the last thing on my list, so as soon as I upload the picture, I'm sitting my butt on that couch right behind me and I'm watching cartoons!

So I figured out what I was gonna do for today's stroke:  I looked into the kitchen, and there was my lovely wife standing in front of the stove in a dark brown dress with a green and red Christmas-lookin' apron.  She looked so cute, I just had to commemorate it - call me schmoopy; I don't care!  :-)

Well, so we don't have any profound thoughts, no life lessons, no clever anecdotes, just a day in the life of Dave and Jen.  Guess in a sense I got over my writer's block, though!  HA!

Don Fransisco rocks my world!

Well, I've had an interesting 24 hours!  Last night I went over to my buddy Dan's place to do a little jammin' with some friends.  I've been in a couple of different bands with Danny since meeting him about 16 years ago.  We were in Free Dirt, Pathetica, Earl, Tuna Colada (a one-off all-star group made up of a bunch of people that used to play down at the old Way Out Club way back in the day), and Soul Food Cafe, with our buddy Andrew McMaster, who was also there last night. 

We just had a great time playing whatever we felt like - no agenda, no playlist, just whatever popped into our heads, whether it was an old Pink Floyd song or just some chord structure we came up with on the spot.  I'm sure that won't be the last time that happens - I think Danny was talking about doing it at least a couple of times a month, in fact.  I'd love it - gives me a chance to keep my chops up!

This morning I went over to Maplewood to the arts center so I could make up a class I missed last week.  I walked in and Annie (the instructor)had a whole bunch of framed artwork hanging.  They were all pieces from her Friday night special needs class, who recently had a showing during the Maplewood art fair.  I tell you what, people, there were some amazing pieces there!  These guys have some major talent!  And the thing that stands out to me the most is just the fact that they do art strictly because it makes them feel good.  They have absolutely no inhibitions!  There's a huge wall that we seem to build around us as we get older, and we tend to lose a lot of our creativity. 

We got to talking about this phenomenon and Annie told us about a little study that was done, in which they asked 5-year-olds "who can draw?".  Everyone was raising their hands.  Then they asked a group of 10-year-olds.  A few less raised their hands.  As the age of the group got higher, fewer and fewer people said they could draw, until there was no one who thought they could draw.  What happens between 5 and 25 that we lose all of this creativity?  It's sad, really!  I fight everyday to keep some sort of creativity, but I know that I'm just as guilty as the next person of building that wall, and caring too much about what is or is not going to "look good". 

I saw some of the most amazing artwork in there today - stuff that I wish I could do!  These people are awesome!

Anyway, after that, Jenny and I went over to our friends Tricia and Dan's house for the 7th birthday party of their son, Sam (Happy Birthday, buddy!).  It was really great to see them, as well as our other friends, Anne and Jason.  Tricia, Anne and Jenny have been friends since middle school, I believe. Maybe grade school - whatever - it's been a long time!

Dan and I have a lot in common - mostly music (Dan used to work in radio, including a stint as a DJ on KHITS a few years ago), but also just pop culture in general.  One thing we both really love and get a kick out of is a Spanish-language variety show called "Sabado Gigante".  This could very well be the best show in the history of television.  It has everything from musical acts to Benny Hill-esque comedy skits to ugliest dog contests, and even bikini/thong contests!  And it's so damned funny to hear them doing a live commercial,  speaking a mile a minute in Spanish, and then  you hear "State Farm", just as plain as day, with no accent whatsoever - they sound like they're from Minnesota all of a sudden!  Hilarious!

Anyway, to bring this mayhem to a close, I chose that beautiful cobalt blue for this evening's stroke.  It reminded me of the blue in the "Sabado Gigante" logo.  ESTA MUY BIEN!

Jenny's pretty "smudge"...

So I got home today after enduring another day of heat indexes of at least 110° (probably more in the shop, plus the lack of airflow makes it even worse!).  That kinda heat just takes so much out of you!  I just came in and laid on the couch in the AC for a little while.  That felt so-o-o-o-o-o good!

As I was laying there, Jenny told me about her day, and showed me a couple of cute little things she found at Michael's, a craft supply store.  She'd been kind of toying with the idea of having some sort of a get-together to showcase all of her creations - her little girl's dresses, her cards, and most importantly, her cupcakes!

Cupcakes are definitely en vogue right now - there are places that specialize in "designer cupcakes" - we're talking big bucks here, folks!  For the record, I was perusing the cupcakes in that link, and lemme tell ya - if that's what they're going all gaga for in the Big Apple, Jenny could make a friggin' killing!  Hers blow those away!

Anyway, like I said, she'd been thinking about having some sort of a party to show her wares, but really didn't know if she should, but when she was strolling through Michaels, there was a little bundle of  little napkins with a design on it almost identical to a little picture she draws on all of her creations - a daisy.  So, she took this as a sign, and started buying as many of those napkins as she could.  I'm sure we'll be having a "tasting" or something to that effect really soon around these parts.    I'll let you know!

So since I was so impressed with her motivation, and how happy she was about this turn of events, I thought I'd also let her pick tonight's colors: her favorite purple and pink!   And there ya have it.  I'm gonna go over to my buddy Dan's house to play some music with some old friends.  Oughta be fun - I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, I'm sure!

That fish is all hopped up on the goofballs!

Wow, folks - I"m tired this evening!  The heat index got up to 104° today.  I'm sure it was higher in the warehouse - with an added bonus of no wind!  It was just nasty!  That kind of heat just takes everything out of you, too! 

I finally got home, helped Jenny out a little bit around the house,  and then we ate.  I am now miserable.  And even more tired.  I would just go on and go to bed, but I've got band practice in an hour, where I'll get all hyped up and not be tired later when it's time to go to bed!  :-)

Actually, I wasn't even too sure what I was going to write about, nor did I know what I wanted to do for a stroke until just a few minutes ago.  Our next door neighbor, Mel, stopped by and asked if I could give him a hand carrying a countertop out to his garage.  No problem - I'm always glad to help out anybody, really.  We went down to his basement to grab the countertop, and I noticed he had a couple of really big fish tanks filled with all sorts of really colorful fish.  I love fishees!  They were so purty, and really active, too!  I think he may be putting a little Mountain Dew in the water!  :-)

Anyway, there was one big one in particular  - bright orange with just a little bit of white and purple, and just  all over the place.  This stroke is for that little dude!

Where troubles melt like lemon drops, Away above the chimney tops - That's where you'll find me...

Alright, folks - it's Wednesday: short entry night (although many times when I say "short entry" it ends up being pretty long).  Well, not this time!  :-)  I really do have to get ready to get going, so the first thing that came to my mind as I prepared for this particular blog entry was  Carrot Top. 

Mind you, Carrot Top is not usually at the forefront of my mind - far from it, actually. He's somewhere in the "dead brain cell zone" I cultivated back in college, usually.  I never even found him that funny - definitely didn't make my list of favorite comedians from my blog a couple of nights ago!

I do, however, possess a bright orange Carrot Top t-shirt, which inspired tonight's stroke.  It was given to me by my brother-in-law, Keith.  It belonged to his late sister, Shelley, who passed away a couple of years ago way too soon from cancer.  I think of her every time I put it on.  I also think of her every time I hear "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World", by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, the Hawaiian musician.  It's absolutely breathtaking, really.  Probably should have been on last night's list of my favorite tunes.  Well, it's here tonight! 


Tonight's stroke is for you, Shelley!  I still think about you all the time!  I didn't have the honor of knowing you for all that long, but you sure made a big impact on my life!

Music is a lot of folks in a big dark hall where they really don't want to be at all with a lot of chairs and a lot of airs and a lot of furs and diamonds!

Music is silly!  Actually, I think it's just about the most powerful thing on Earth!  It never fails to amaze me how music can just magically transport you to any moment in time, or a certain place, or remind you of a certain person, or people!  I remember seeing a man literally driven to tears solely due to the last half of "Layla", by Derek and the Dominoes (the long piano part you heard at the end of "Goodfellas").  I was pretty sure that he wasn't in the mafia, so I asked him what was up, and he just said that he'd always thought that this was one of the most beautiful pieces of music he'd ever heard.  Maybe it did remind him of something, I dunno.

There are a few songs like that for me:  "Terminal Frost" by Pink Floyd, and "Call It Sleep" by Steve Vai (both of which are instrumentals).  They are just oozing with emotion to me!   Most times when I hear these songs, I'll play them at least twice at a time, sometimes more.  The Floyd song is probably just about my favorite song of all time.

Some others that really just, for some reason, strike a chord with me are "Guess I'm Doing Fine" by Beck, "I Know, I Know, I Know" by Tegan & Sara, and "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys.  I'm usually in a more melancholy mood, though, when I hear these.

There are, however, two songs that I will always love, and will always make me think about my lovely bride.  "More Today Than Yesterday" by the Spiral Starecase (yes, I spelled that correctly) was our first dance at our wedding reception (awwwww, schmoopy!), and our other song is "Let's Stay Together", by the Right Reverend Al Green, because it's just a friggin' great song!  I defy you to listen to that song and not move even a little bit!  It doesn't matter where I am, if that song comes on, at least my head bobs a little bit!

I'm not really sure what all of this has to do with my painting,  so for today's stroke I just based it on another of my favorite emotional songs in the world: "Blue In Green" by Miles Davis.  This is just a tremendous song - so simple, yet so gut-wrenchingly beautiful!  Let me know what you think of all of this music - hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I do!

Har-dee-harrr-harrrrrr!!!!

So Jenny and I were finishing up a lovely little dinner of French Toast and scrambled eggs when I was reminded of an old joke I think in 3rd grade.  I grabbed the salt shaker and set it up like this:  Ya know what that is?  A salt with a deadly weapon.  HA!

Anyway, we both cracked up, but she accused me of  liking cheesy comedy!  Gah!  Whatever!  She even had the nerve to call "Airplane!" - one of the best movies ever, and #10 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 funniest films ever - cheesy!  She put it in the same category as the [actually] cheesy 80s movies that I love so much, like "One Crazy Summer", or  "Police Academy".  And just because I can watch "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" over and over and still laugh every time doesn't mean I've got bad taste in comedy - on the contrary!  You tell me Cousin Eddie doesn't crack you up!  For years "NLCV" was required watching every single Christmas Eve for my family!  We still try to watch it if we're together.  I definitely do.

I love stand-up comedy, too - but it's gotta be good stuff, not the usual "What's the deal with airplane food?" kinda stuff.  I like intelligent comedy.  Lewis Black is one of my favorites of the "newer comedians" (even though he's been around for 20 years!), and I love the old school dudes: Steve Martin, George Carlin, and, of course, the master, Bill Cosby!

I keep telling her that we need to go see some stand-up - the last stuff I saw was some amateur-night stuff hosted by Guy Torry out in Los Angeles.  It was okay, but I really need to go see some more!  That was over 5 years ago!

I also keep telling her that I have the best taste in comedy.  She just refuses to believe me.  I'm at a loss.  But, to make up for my "bad joke" I did let Jenny actually do tonight's stroke.  We decided that we should do some more texture, so she slapped a little bit of the glass beads on there.  When we did it, it even kinda looked like salt.  Well, not really, but it was white and texture-y, and that worked for us.  :-)

I just can't wait to get on the road again...

Well, so I'm not quite as excited as ol' Willie, but, after a quick trip to Osage Beach, we hit the road again this morning after making ourselves miserable with the all-U-can-eat meal at Kay's Restaurant with Jim and Joanne. 

We had a relatively uneventful drive, I suppose - your normal amount of jackasses in SUVs riding your butt because they're more important and you need to get the heck outta the way, but we just expect that.  We got lucky, though, because just a couple of hours prior there was a huge storm that rolled through - and I definitely didn't want another drive like I had a couple of weeks ago coming back up from Cassville!

Anyway, we're both just absolutely beat, so we just came in, unpacked, and now here I am.  I did today's stroke with my Liquitex "Black Lava", because it just reminded me of all the roads we've seen the last 36 hours or so!  I'm gonna just take it easy and watch a movie now - tonight's feature is "Grand Canyon".  Later!  It's good to be home!

Ya know you make me wanna...

SHOUT, baby!  Yeah, I got to see a living legend!  Well, legend enough for me!

Jenny and I came down to the Lake Of The Ozarks again this weekend to visit with her father, and to meet his friend Joanne's son, Don.  This weekend is also Aquapalooza - the biggest party weekend of the summer down here!  Nothing but big-ass boats as far as the eye can see here on the lake!  I saw boats that should not only have their own zip code, and maybe time zone, but some that probably had their own gravitational pull!  We're talking huge, folks!

It's also a weekend of music.  There were all sorts of cover bands and stuff like that, but as far as original music went, they had Brad Paisley, for the country set, and Otis Day and the Knights, from "Animal House" fame for those who liked some classic rock and old R&B.  They played some funk-rock versions of some old Stones songs (Jumpin' Jack Flash, Brown Sugar), and some other classic rock favorites, as well as their signature tunes, "Shama-lama-ding-dong", and, of course, the ever-popular "Shout"! 

It was great to hear these old R&B gems, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears for the most part - most of the crowd there was only interested in hearing "Taking Care Of Business", and other butt-rock tunes like that.  I couldn't believe it!  The band was tight as all get-out, though!  They were really good!

I didn't realize that it was actually Otis and Co. playing at first - we were up on the top deck of the club just talking, and they weren't scheduled to go on for another hour and a half.  When I went downstairs to use the restroom, however, I saw that they looked nothing at all like the "Lo-Cash Cowboys", who were supposed to be playing at that time, so I went on down next to the stage to check them out.

I forgot, however, that I had no sunscreen on, and before you knew it, I could feel the tops of my feet sizzling.  It hadn't gotten to the point where I actually smelled bacon, but they were a little toasty.  This prompted today's stroke.  The tops of my feet are a nice red, with white stripes where my flip-flop straps were.  Great.  Just what I needed.  Oh, well - still loved seeing old Otis, even if he has seen better days!

Sittin' in a cockpit, strapped down in a chair...

So this evening I decided I'd better get onto staining and finishing our closet doors - I'd started them a couple of months ago!  One of these days I'll actually get them done!  Anyway, working on the doors means it's RECORD TIME! 

Yeah, I think I told you that a while back I finally got a record player, so I put it out in the garage, since I knew I'd be working out there.  I've got so many albums that I've bought through the years, just so that when I finally got a player I'd be able to listen to them.

Anyway, the first album I listened to tonight was "Hope", by Klaatu.  Klaatu was a group from Canada back in the mid-70s who happened to sound a lot like the Beatles (and the Beach Boys in some instances, but that's a whole other blog).  They sounded so much like them that there were many rumors going around that Klaatu were actually were a re-formed Beatles.  There were plenty of signs - many of which were completely believable - but in the end, it turned out that Klaatu was a completely different band - definitely not The Beatles!  There was actually a song they wrote that was covered by the friggin' Carpenters: "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft".

I've got a copy of both of their first two albums.  In fact I've got a copy of the first one, which has a misprint on one of the songs: a song called "Little Neutrino" is labeled as "Little Meutrino" on the back cover. Maybe I can get a nice chunk-a-change for that on eBay!   I don't know who was responsible for that big ol' misprint at Capitol Records, but I hope they were fired!  (yes, I realize this was 34 years ago!).  Okay, so I need to get a life.  :-/

Weeeeedleeee weeedleeee weeeeeedleeeee weeeeeeeeee!!!!! Wait, lemme fix my hair...

Well, as some of you know (okay, most of you, since I probably know all the readers of this blog), back in high school I was a major metalhead.  I loved that stuff - if it wasn't Metallica or Slayer, I didn't want to hear it.  Ironically, now the Top 40 stuff from that era, which I completely shunned at the time, is among my favorite stuff to listen to.  Guess it just brings me back to that time. 

Well, anyway, the metal stuff from that era (the most popular of it, at least) of course, was hair metal.  Man, did I love that stuff!  It occupied way too much of my time, I know!  Of course I wanted to be a big rock star, and my "band" (made up solely of myself on drums and my cousin Chris on guitar, with the occasional addition of someone on bass and my best friend, Brandon, on another guitar) was gonna make it big - if we could just somehow get out of Washburn!   Which we never did.  I left for Fontbonne, Brandon went to SMSU (sorry, I will never take the "Southwest" away from that name!) for a year, and Chris stayed in Washburn.  So much for "Stiletto". 

I continued to hold on to the "rock star dream" for a long time - a tiny part of my still wants to be one.  I'm just a lot more realistic now, plus I've seen what's happened to the music industry, and it ain't pretty!

In college, though, I was exposed to many, many other types of music - music I just never knew existed, because it wasn't down there in SW MO.  Never got played on the radio, and definitely no one down there was into new wave, or punk, or this new "alternative", or "college rock" sound - bands like R.E.M., Husker Du, Psychedelic Furs, Depeche Mode, etc.  Oh, and the Replacements - how I learned to love the Replacements!

Anyway, I started getting into bands finally, and even though it was well after the demise of hair metal, I still clung to it, something that would make for some good laughs at my expense later on - I guess at the time I just didn't get that it was "uncool" in some circles to actually like Dokken!  It also didn't help that I was playing a B.C. Rich Warlock guitar - not as some guy being hip and doing it as a joke, but as someone who simply knew no better.  I didn't know the first thing about different guitars making different sounds, and having different tones.  A guitar was a guitar to me.   What can I say - I was green!

Years have gone by, and I have learned "what is hip", and "what 'good' music is".  I do have an appreciation for all of that - it's turned me onto a whole other world of music that frankly most people just don't know about, since most of what they're exposed to is Top 40 stuff - whatever happens to be on the radio (and we all know how horrible radio's gotten in the last decade or so).  I love that I've learned about Radiohead and Wilco and Elvis Costello, and so many more, but when I wanna feel better, I always go back to the hair metal!

Well, this whole bit of rambling on my part was inspired by a conversation I was having with my buddies Paul and Nick, both of whom are hair metal freaks like me.  We started talking about the album "All Systems Go" by Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and that inspired my stroke today.  My love for the Aqua-Net Set may be a guilty pleasure, but I make no apologies!  Hell, I know it's cheezy, but I love it!

It ain't a dry heat, that's fo sho...

Right now I am literally sticking to everything I'm touching.  It's hard for me to even type, because every time I move my arms I'm either sticking to the desk, or the papers, or even my pen!  It's just entirely too damn hot and humid!

I'm trying to get a bit of a head start on this while I'm on break at work, actually.  It's Wednesday, so that means painting class, which means I don't have a whole lot of time once I get home.  Right now it's 95° out, with a heat index of 107°, and I think the humidity is actually up to around 237%.  I could be exaggerating a bit, but not much, I'm here to tell ya! :-)  I feel like any minute now we could all turn into a Salvador Dali painting! 

Anyway, inspired by this heat and humidity, I figured I'd do my impression of something melting.  Here's a little lava for ya!  I'm just gonna let this drip, so we'll see how far it goes before it dries!  Right now, though, I'm gonna have a bowl of the best [store bought] ice cream in the world, and then clean up to go to class.  Stay cool, peeps!  Check on them dawgs and cats if you've got 'em, and also your older friends and relatives!

Go, um, National League...

Yeah, so we're in the midst of, as my buddy Steve Pick says, the "worst three days of summer": the Major League Baseball All-Star Break.  Tonight is the actual All-Star Game.  Right now we're in the top of the 5th inning, and there's no score.  The Cardinal's "big hope", Albert Pujols is already done.  He was 0-2.  Didn't do crap, really.  Didn't even participate in the Home Run Derby.  Yeah, he was pretty much worthless.  No bitterness here, though.  I'll still cheer for him when he does something, but I ain't about to invite him to dinner any time soon. 

Anyway, there isn't a whole lot going on with me today, except for that.  Pretty sad, really, eh?  I'd rahther (that's "rawhhhh-ther", not "rather", by the way) not talk about work, because that's just damn depressing, and I've stressed out enough about it.  Maybe next time. 

What I will say, though, is that I threw down a nice little white stroke with a little red on it, just for the baseballs.  I'm sure they (the baseballs) would appreciate it, if they were actually human beings, with actual feelings, and not inanimate objects.  Yeah, well, that's how the day's gone.  Hmmmmmrrrrffffff.  :-P

The Story of the Oracle of Paul, (or 1st Calamari 8:8)

So I'm sure most of you have heard by now, there's this octopus in Germany named "Paul" who has gained quite a bit of notoriety as of late due to his uncanny ability to pick the winners of all of the games in the World Cup, including yesterday's victory by Spain over the Netherlands. 

Other than the fact that I think this is funny as all get-out, I really don't have much to say about it.  I just thought if you hadn't heard about it, you'd get a kick out of him, too.  I do wonder what exactly made him choose one mussel over the other, though.    I'm sure pretty soon some dumbass group will be worshipping him. 

This is one of those days in which my mind is just completely drained - I finally got to get caught up on quite a bit of my work, and I just put my whole mind into that today, and it's pretty much just toast now.  Yeah, toast!

For my stroke today I tried to capture the color of Paul, also trying to make it look like a tentacle, but I didn't get it thick enough.  Guess I didn't want to mix up a whole bunch, not really having a whole lot of need for tentacle color.  :-)

Oh, by the way, if you lovely people would like some more great reading (I guess that's a bit presumptuous assuming that you think of this as great reading), my awesome wife has an equally awesome blog, too!  It's called "Jennydoll", and it's all about her creative side - dresses, cakes and other desserts, cards and invitations - all sortsa fun stuff!  Enjoy! 

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!! Part deux

Well, it's all over for the next four years.  Today was the World Cup Championship Game: Spain vs. the Netherlands.  I've been rooting for Spain, really, ever since the US team was knocked out.  I've been a fan of pretty much anything Spanish ever since I started taking Spanish classes back in 7th and 8th grade with Señora Harp.  One of these days I'll make it over that way - I've already promised Jenny I'll take her to Italy someday, and we want to go to Germany, France, England, well - pretty much all of Europe.

I've really enjoyed watching the soccer matches the last few weeks.  I never really got into soccer growing up - it just wasn't around down there in SW MO!  I tried to watch a few matches in college.  My freshman and sophomore year at Fontbonne, the soccer team was really good - if I recall, they went to nationals.  I could be wrong, though.  That was almost 20 years ago, and like I said, I really didn't know anything about soccer.

Anyway, I think I could really start getting into it a bit - at least enough to watch a game if it's on TV.  I may even venture out to see an AC-St. Louis game!  In the meantime, I've still got my baseball (we'll talk about our pitching problems later).

Of course, since España won, I had to do a red and yellow stroke, for the Spanish flag.  Congratulations on your first ever World Cup championship!

I believe I will miss the vuvuzelas, though - they were great at putting you to sleep!

This next jam is for the ladies only...

Well Jenny and I went somewhere we hadn't been in well over 2 decades: a skating rink.  Yes, and apparently these things are still stuck in 1985 - complete with a Ms. Pac Man and Galaga video game!  If it would have had a Centipede machine, I may very well have still been there now!   It totally brought me back to 8th grade, skating on the wooden floor at Razorback Roller Rink in Rogers, Arkansas.

We didn't actually go to skate, though.  We accompanied our little cousin, Sweet Pea, on a birthday party up there for a friend of hers.  The place was pretty well packed, actually, which was something I didn't expect.  I just didn't think kids skated anymore!  I'm glad I was wrong - everyone seemed like they were just having a blast! 

It took a few laps around for SP to get used to the skates again - she hadn't been in a few years.  She kind of crept along the wall at first, but then she was up and rolling!  She actually spent a good amount of time helping a friend of hers learn to skate, which was so sweet!  She really has the biggest heart of any kid I know! 

Turns out they still do the "Hokey Pokey" and the "Bunny Hop", too!  I think I saw every person in that place on their butt at least once - no one was safe!  Even the "pros", whom you could tell skated all the time, ended up falling at least once. 

After the party we came home, and, as is tradition when SP is over at our place, she gets to do a stroke on the painting.  Today she picked Jenny's favorite light purple, which is funny, because it's almost the exact same color as the shirt she wore skating today!

Maybe next time Jenny and I will bring our socks and actually venture out on the rink floor!  We can do the couple's skate. 

I blew out my pop top, stepped on a flip flop...

So we got to see Ma tonight.  She's leaving on a mission trip to Thailand in a couple of weeks, so she made a trip up here first so we could see her before she made the big journey!  Plus, she wanted to spend some more time with Savannah (Erica's little baby girl). 

We made our usual trip to El Maguey down on Watson.  We've gone there for years and years!  Gotta love the margaritas there - the same margaritas which inspired tonight's stroke: a bright yellow/greenish/neon-ey color, mixed with some gloss gel.  Hey, margaritas were on my mind!

Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?

Lookit that, lookit that! 

Well, nothing much happened today, other than annoying work crap, so when I came home to do this, I realized I didn't have a whole lot to talk about.  I was pondering my next move, but couldn't decide upon anything, so I turned it upside down to see if anything jumped out at me.  For some reason I just wanted to do a quick streak of bright white, so that's what I did.  Of course, as soon as I thought the word "streak", I immediately thought of Ray Stevens.  What, doesn't everyone?

Anyway, I oughta get in there to get cleaned up for practice tonight - I haven't played drums in about a month, so I'm pretty psyched about that!  As I go in the other room, I might just get a wild hair and streak in front of Jenny.  Maybe I shouldn't.  Too late!  She's done been mooned! :-) 

It's "Aunt" (ahhhhhnt), not "Ant"...

Well, folks, today's another quick installment - I've got class tonight (ya mean every other night you have no class, Dave?  Har Har!)  so I just figured I'd put the first thing that popped into my head down onto the canvas.  Today is July 7th, 2010.  It is the 8-year anniversary of my Aunt Phyllis (whom I talked about last night) passing away from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).  She was really a great lady - it just took me years to realize this.  When I was young she was kind of hard on me - wanted me to be very proper, speak with correct grammar, etc.  All the things a little brat from the country has no use for!  But, like my favorite teachers in grade school and high school, who were also hard on me, making me really work, she turned out to be my favorite aunt.  Yes, I realize she's also my only aunt, but I really did come to appreciate everything she did do for me!

I went to meet Mr. McFeely from "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" in Forest Park a few years ago when he was doing an appearance for Channel 9 (our local PBS affiliate).  I introduced myself, and as soon as I mentioned Phyllis' name, his eyes lit up and he immediately asked for my address.  He had a whole bunch of photos that were taken in 1971 when Phyllis was a guest on the show, playing her harp for Mr. Rogers (they were good friends, both being very interested in children's education) and wanted to send me copies.  I've got them around here somewhere, but I don't have a scanner.  I looked around online, but all I found was a blog with descriptions of all the "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" episodes.  Apparently she also played harp for some music on an episode in 1975. 

Anyway, today's stroke was inspired by her harp.  It's a little darker, but hey - it's all abstract, right?  You can use your imagination!  :-)  I miss you, Aunt Phyllis!

None more black...

Today is the last day for KFUO FM, Classic 99 to be on the air.  I am very, very sad.  I know I've written about this before, thinking that the date was prior to this, but today is definitely the day.  Everyone on the station is giving their goodbyes, they're playing the best music ever, and it's just generally a big, emotional "Sayonara"!

I still cannot put into words how much this affects me.  I've listened to KFUO as long as I've been up here in St. Louis - almost 20 years now!    A little history:

My mother, Jo Ellen, was classically trained, as was her older sister, Phyllis.  Mom went on to be a music/band/choir teacher, and Phyllis went on to found the Three Rivers Young People's Orchestra, as well as to become the director of education at Carnegie Hall. Needless to say, there was a definite love for classical music instilled in my brain!

I remember going to Pittsburgh as a child (around 9 or 10 years old) to go to different camps - arts camps, music camps, etc.  We didn't have anything like that in Cassville - duh! - so Mom was glad to send us up to "the big city" to get some experience up there.  I tell you what, I learned so much up there it's not even funny!  I won't even go into all of it here, because it may incriminate some people (as well as being some good fodder for another blog, yo).

I remember very well being picked up by Aunt Phyllis at the airport there in Pittsburgh, and traveling back to her house.  Every single time on the radio she had either jazz or classical.  Mostly classical. Every time I hear classical music, really, I think of travelling with Phyllis to her house there in  Pittsburgh.  Makes me feel really good, actually.  One of these days I'll get back there to see that house.  I don't care what the family living there says, I really wanna see that house!

Well, I guess you're wondering what's up with the stroke tonight - it's black, which may upset my painting instructor, but I gotta stand by it.  It's in honor of the albums of "Beethoven's Fifth" that I've got upstairs.  I love to spin them when I can (and I can now, since I finally have a turntable again!).

God bless all of you at KFUO, and may you have a long career ahead of you!  And hopefully we'll have some classical music here in St. Louis really soon!  And now, off to have a good cry! :-)

My mama talk-a to me try to tell me how to live...

Oh, hey, man - far out!  I, like, totally lost track of time, man!  I've just been sitting here all day trying to finish up a couple of books that are due Wednesday.  Jenny went out to see the Eclipse with her friend, Carrie, so I had a few hours to myself, so I've just been sitting here all day trying to finish up a couple of books that are due Wednesday.

The first book was called "Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography", by Tommy Chong.  It was all about him growing up, and then he and Richard "Cheech" Marin getting together, and the rest is history.  It was a pretty entertaining book overall.   As you can imagine with someone who has been consistently stoned out of his gourd for almost 5 decades, he tended to ramble on and change topics very often.  The whole book was almost a practice in "stream of consciousness" kind of writing.  Very interesting, though.

The second book (which I'm still reading on) is "The Road To Woodstock" by Michael Lang.  It's his story of how he put together the biggest cultural phenomenon of the 20th century.  It is very interesting (and is much more coherent than Tommy Chong's book!).  I'm pretty sure I was born a few years too late - I would have definitely been there at Woodstock!  I know it was just an amazing time!

So I figured my stroke today should be a tribute to what these two books had in common: copious amounts of cannibus!  They certainly did (and still do) enjoy their weed!  And for the record, I got the color of the weed from a textbook.  Yeah, that's it, a textbook.  Move along, now.  Nothing to see here. 

KA-BOOOOOMMM!!!

So, Happy Fourth of July, folks!  We really didn't do a whole lot for it, actually.  Usually her brother or dad have a barbecue, but they're both out of town. We just didn't have a whole lot to do,  so after church this morning we decided to take a drive. 

We headed down south on I-55 to the village of Kimmswick.  It's what you'd call a "quaint little town", I guess.  It's got a bunch of cute little knick-knack shops and soda/malt shops, and also a few little country-style restaurants.  We ate at one called the Blue Owl that we'd heard about years ago, but every time we were in the area the line was clear out the door, so we never ate there. 

We thought it was going to be the same today, because there were a bunch of people in the waiting area, but I guess they were all with the same group, so we got right in. 

Jenny and I decided to get two things and split them, so we got the fish sandwich and a BBQ beef sandwich.  Both were pretty good - nothing really all that spectacular, but we both enjoyed it pretty well.

We'd thought about going further south to Bonne Terre to see the old mines and some things like that, but we didn't feel like driving that much - especially after all of the driving we did last weekend, so we just went on home and relaxed, cleaned the house up a bit, and listened to all the POP, BANG, BOOM outside.  I sure hope it quietens down soon, but I ain't counting on that! 

Smell that smoke...

Well, kids, today Jenny and I (mostly Jenny) are doing our first full-blown barbecue-ing of the summer.  We're gonna go have dinner with our friends Jeff and Carrie, so we're BBQing hot dogs, chicken breasts and hamburgers.  Mmmmmm! 

Jen's got the barbecue thing down.  It must be in her genes - both her dad and brother are absolute kings of the grill!  I think Jimmy (her brother) has 3 or 4 of 'em out in the back yard now, plus a smoker!  I, on the other hand, can pretty much burn Wheaties.  :-)

Don't know what else we've got in store this holiday weekend.  I know that John Legend is performing tonight downtown as a part of Fair St. Louis.  I'd love to get down there to see it - Jenny and I are both big fans - but I don't know if we can handle the crowds!  We may just kinda lay low and do our own thang this weekend, really.  Haven't had the chance to do that for quite a while!

Anyway, today I figured I'd whip up a little barbecue sauce and throw it on the canvas for ya.  I'll go get you a napkin.  That stuff can be a little messy! 

There she was, just a-walkin' down the street, singin' "doo-wah-diddy-diddy-dum-diddy-doo"...

So I started tonight with the full intent of completely unloading on y'all.  Then I got to thinking about it and I decided I really don't want to do that!  I could be like every other blog and just focus on the negatives in my life, and I know I've done that to a certain extent, but I don't wanna do that tonight.  Let's just suffice to say that it would be greatly appreciated if there were prayers and good vibes and thoughts going toward my wife right now.  She really needs it. 

Anyway, to make a long story short (and not really tell you anything right now) it's been a shit day, and to make up for it I'm watching "Moonlighting".  That always makes me happy. I've told you before about how much I love Dave and Maddie!   I'm also getting ready to do some major rubbing on Jenny - her feets really deserve it, and I love to do it!

Today's stroke is for Ms. Dipesto's outfit in the particular episode I'm watching.  I haven't seen a lot of these in years, so I'm  kinda catching up on them when I can.  Do bears bear?  Do Bees be?

Blooooooooooooooooz!

No, I'm not depressed or anything - just figured I'd just stay with the theme I had inadvertently started this week with multiple vowels in the subject line. 

Back in college somehow I got hooked up with a guy named Greg Hunt with the St. Louis Blues Society, and was able to help out, being a drum tech (and just general backstage help) at the St. Louis Blues Heritage Festival (now known as the Big Muddy Blues Festival) for a few years.  I actually made a lot of great contacts through that, as well as getting to meet and work with some amazing musicians, many of whom were known worldwide.   Many of the greats from the St. Louis blues scene played there - Bennie Smith, Henry Townsend (who held the record for most decades releasing an album - he released one in every decade from the 20s up until his death in 2006 - 9 straight decades!), Etta James, Solomon Burke (who's drummer asked me to go on the road as his drum tech, but I declined in order to finish school - apparently I probably would have ended up just doing his laundry and stuff, anyway), and the always amazing jazz trumpeter/flugelhorn player Clark Terry.  

A couple I remember from elsewhere included Solomon Burke (who's drummer asked me to go on the road as his drum tech, but I declined in order to finish school - apparently I probably would have ended up just doing his laundry and stuff, anyway) and Coco Montoya.  I know there were many, many more, but we worked long, long hours - usually 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. or midnight 2 or 3 days in a row (plus free beer), and that was many, many moons ago, and I just don't remember them! :-)

Anyway, I had a great time doing that, and learned a lot, not to mention meeting people I still talk to today.  Today's stroke is for John May, Mark O'Shaughnessy, Tom "Papa" Ray, and all of the countless others with the St. Louis Blues Society who work their butts off to keep the blues alive in St. Louis and around the world!