Well, I'm working today, so I'm not thankful for that but I am thankful I have a place to work.
I have a lot of stuff to be thankful about. Here is my list:
1. God and country.
2. My sweet wifey, and sweet puppy, Penny.
3. The rest of my fambily.
4. All my friends, most of them in ham radio and music.
5. My boats and my life on the river.
6. My musical talents. They become more enjoyable every day.
Even the worst of days in the old USA is still probably better than the best of days in most other countries we know about. Don't complain about her and don't make excuses. Just give thanks.
What are YOU thankful for?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Obama, a Man with a Mission
I captured the following image off Drudge this afternoon:
Now you might look at this and ask, "What kind of an idiot can Barack Obama be?"
If would be nice to think that he is just a stupid naive idiot, but no, he's a man on a mission. His mission is more gubment intrusion, more gubment regulation, more loss of freedom for all of us.
Most of the people in congress are on the same mission.
Woe is us.
Now you might look at this and ask, "What kind of an idiot can Barack Obama be?"
If would be nice to think that he is just a stupid naive idiot, but no, he's a man on a mission. His mission is more gubment intrusion, more gubment regulation, more loss of freedom for all of us.
Most of the people in congress are on the same mission.
Woe is us.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
More Retro Stuff
I'd like to add to my thoughts old stuff from the 50's, 60's, and 70's being cooler than stuff today. See my previous post.
First of all there were TV shows, many of them in black and white. Black and white shows are cooler than color shows......they are different with a unique quality all their own. Some of my favorite TV shows were Sky King, Highway Patrol (cool old cars), Whirlybirds, Ripcord, Combat, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Jackie Gleason (the Honeymooners), Red Skelton.......I could go on. You just don't have good stuff like that anymore. With most of that stuff you could just disconnect from the world and smile and be entertained.
How about some of the long gone great actors? Humphrey Bogart, Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, the list goes on. Those guys are dead and gone, always remembered but never to return or be replaced. You just don't findem like that today.
Old guitars and amps, tube amps. Old Gibson SG's and Les Pauls, old Stratocasters and Telecasters. Old super reverb and twin reverb amps. Old Hammond organs with the mechanical tonewheels. Yeah, I know you can find reasonable facsimiles of all those today, but the new just doesn't quite stand up to the old sound wise. Old musical instruments are SOOOOOO COOL.
No Beatles, no Cream, no Grand Funk Railroad, no Creedence Clearwater Revival. Two of the Who are dead. Two of the Beatles are dead. Elvis Presley is dead. They have not and never will be replaced.
Back then you could actually drive from point A to point B with only your thoughts. If you had to make a phone call, God forbid, you'd have to stop at a phone booth. No such thing as cell calls and texting. Somehow it seemed so much simpler then.
Let's face it. I'm just a retro kind of guy........stuck in a time warp I guess. That's okay. I like being stuck.
First of all there were TV shows, many of them in black and white. Black and white shows are cooler than color shows......they are different with a unique quality all their own. Some of my favorite TV shows were Sky King, Highway Patrol (cool old cars), Whirlybirds, Ripcord, Combat, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Jackie Gleason (the Honeymooners), Red Skelton.......I could go on. You just don't have good stuff like that anymore. With most of that stuff you could just disconnect from the world and smile and be entertained.
How about some of the long gone great actors? Humphrey Bogart, Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, the list goes on. Those guys are dead and gone, always remembered but never to return or be replaced. You just don't findem like that today.
Old guitars and amps, tube amps. Old Gibson SG's and Les Pauls, old Stratocasters and Telecasters. Old super reverb and twin reverb amps. Old Hammond organs with the mechanical tonewheels. Yeah, I know you can find reasonable facsimiles of all those today, but the new just doesn't quite stand up to the old sound wise. Old musical instruments are SOOOOOO COOL.
No Beatles, no Cream, no Grand Funk Railroad, no Creedence Clearwater Revival. Two of the Who are dead. Two of the Beatles are dead. Elvis Presley is dead. They have not and never will be replaced.
Back then you could actually drive from point A to point B with only your thoughts. If you had to make a phone call, God forbid, you'd have to stop at a phone booth. No such thing as cell calls and texting. Somehow it seemed so much simpler then.
Let's face it. I'm just a retro kind of guy........stuck in a time warp I guess. That's okay. I like being stuck.
Retro is Where it's at
I was just surfing around and found this picture. It's a Kustom 200 bass amplifier. It is covered in Naugahyde. Pretty cool looking doncha think? I had one of these when I played bass guitar back in the late 60's and early 70's. I can't say it was a great amp. The one I have now is no doubt a whole lot better, but heck I was young and didn't know any difference.Anyway, it looked really cool and today I have a Kustom 200 PA amp, wrapped in Naugahyde. I use it in my studio.
I sent Kustom an email a while back and suggested they start making Naugahyde covered products again. They sent back a nice reply and said if the demand for such things picked up, they would consider it. It's all just business I guess.
Is it just me or do you people near my age think that things back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's were just a lot cooler than things today?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Evil Ways
Been having a blast with Pro Tools and those steenkin' Morbid Strangers. Here's an old Santana song. I'm doing the sangin' on this one and playing the keyboard. Hope you like it.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Lizzard is a New Grandpappy - Liberals are Humorless and Predictable - Some Days it's Good to Get Up.
Well it is with great pleasure that I announce that my good friend Lizzard is now a Grandpappy. The picture above shows my good friend Lizzard on the left and Butterbean Bayles on the right. Yeah, I can't figure why you'd name a kid Butterbean.
Now I really had some fun today. Samantha, Lizzard's daughter is Butterbean's momma, and yall may or may not recall that she is the one that accused me of being a greedy racist for no other reason than I made a good living for myself through study and hard work and did not take gubment handouts.
Anyway, I went over to Lizzard's facebook page and INTENTIONALLY left the following comment about the new baby: "Thank goodness the kid is white!"
I figgered it wouldn't be long before Lizzard's liberal socialist daughters and all their friends and fambily would be wailing and wringing their hands over my thoughtless and racist comment. Well I wasn't wrong. In a very short time the page was full of comments calling me an asshole, an idiot, stupid......you get the picture.
Liberals are so predictable. All you gotta do is know which button to push and when to tweak them and BOOM! Of course they all live to be offended too. Like I told Lizzard, it is a damned shame he has such humorless friends and fambily. And my goodness, aren't those liberals an angry bunch.
By the way, Lizzard made the same comment when my grandson was born 12 years ago. He told this to his humorless fambily and friends and I'm sure they were all horrified to find out that Lizzard was a racist just like me.
Anyway, I had a GREAT time. Anytime you can piss off a liberal it was worth getting up in the mawnin!
Congradgeeashuns on being a new grandpappy, Lizzard.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Stupid, Ignorant, Bigoted People Always Seem to Have the Answers
Sometimes life at our sleepy little hospital can get a little frustrating. In particular I have become rather disgusted at the enormous amount of criticism the present hospital administrator has endured.
When she came here in January of 2007, she inherited a mess. The hospital was nearly in financial ruin. Without going through all the gory details, suffice to say this was due to years of mismanagement and inattention. When she came the hospital was hemorrhaging money. In the last 3 years she has at least managed to plug the leaks and establish a positive cash flow. We're not making a bundle, but we're holding our own.
She has made many tough and unpopular decisions, decisions that had to be made for the hospital to survive. Some folks that were not towing the line had to go. Sad but true.
The other day I caught wind of some of the scuttlebutt going around town at the local grill and the beauty shop and all those other places where ignorant people congregate to gossip. The gist of the conversation was, "That woman is just ruining the hospital." Of course I got wind of no specifics at all. I doubt the people running their mouths know any specifics.
I have come to learn that it is usually the most ignorant, stupid, and bigoted people that end up running their mouths the loudest. These same people are not privy to the monthly financial statements. I am. These same people have not witnessed "that woman" agonize over some of the decisions she has had to make. I have. These people are not in the thick of things as far as the day to day operations of the hospital are concerned. I am. I know first hand how much better off we are than we were two years ago.
I told a group the other day that if the administrator were a man and a southerner instead of a woman and a yankee, that there would not be near the furor over some of the "horrible" things she has done.
That's right. I am ashamed to say that there are a ton of people in this area that are so small minded and bigoted that they will believe a woman and an outsider is not up to the task, regardless of results.
My Daddy always told me that if you don't know what you're talking about, you can at least have the courtesy to just shut up. Good advice I would think for many of our townsfolk.
Whew! I feel better now!
When she came here in January of 2007, she inherited a mess. The hospital was nearly in financial ruin. Without going through all the gory details, suffice to say this was due to years of mismanagement and inattention. When she came the hospital was hemorrhaging money. In the last 3 years she has at least managed to plug the leaks and establish a positive cash flow. We're not making a bundle, but we're holding our own.
She has made many tough and unpopular decisions, decisions that had to be made for the hospital to survive. Some folks that were not towing the line had to go. Sad but true.
The other day I caught wind of some of the scuttlebutt going around town at the local grill and the beauty shop and all those other places where ignorant people congregate to gossip. The gist of the conversation was, "That woman is just ruining the hospital." Of course I got wind of no specifics at all. I doubt the people running their mouths know any specifics.
I have come to learn that it is usually the most ignorant, stupid, and bigoted people that end up running their mouths the loudest. These same people are not privy to the monthly financial statements. I am. These same people have not witnessed "that woman" agonize over some of the decisions she has had to make. I have. These people are not in the thick of things as far as the day to day operations of the hospital are concerned. I am. I know first hand how much better off we are than we were two years ago.
I told a group the other day that if the administrator were a man and a southerner instead of a woman and a yankee, that there would not be near the furor over some of the "horrible" things she has done.
That's right. I am ashamed to say that there are a ton of people in this area that are so small minded and bigoted that they will believe a woman and an outsider is not up to the task, regardless of results.
My Daddy always told me that if you don't know what you're talking about, you can at least have the courtesy to just shut up. Good advice I would think for many of our townsfolk.
Whew! I feel better now!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Grouch's Music Studio
I wanted to share a little of the stuff I've been working on with Pro Tools audio. What follows are some tracks which I created in the studio. Everything you hear is me, the vocals and the instruments. Tell me what you think.The One You Love: A Glenn Frey song. Morbid Strangers actually performs this one but this particular recording is just me.
Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye: An old song performed by the Casinos and many others. The Strangers were laughing at me playing this on the piano the other day, but trust me, you'll get a lot of belly rubbing slow dancers with this one.
A Whiter Shade of Pale: I just love the sound of a Hammond B3. This Procol Harum song will guarantee more slow dancing. If I can get James to learn the words, the Strangers can do this one live.
Walk Away Renee: A 1966 vintage song first performed by the Left Banke and then made famous by the Four Tops. With a haunting melody, this is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Hope that stuff helped you relax.
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