Saturday, May 31, 2003

Another guest book script

Who will be the first to sign in?

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Bump in the road part two

March 20th, 2001. That was the day we found out that my Dad had a growth on his kidney. It duly came out, and with God's blessing, Dad has been fine. I guess if you're going to have cancer, the kidney is a good place to have it. The kidney has some kind of tough outer membrane, and cancer there usually stays there. So it was with Dad.

Ironically, they caught it while doing a scan on his lungs.

May 30th, 2003. We just found out Sue's dad (my other Dad) has cancer of the kidney. Ironically, they were doing work on his heart when they found it.

I have every confidence that this will turn out fine. When it happened with Dad (my Dad), I was very much at peace. This time, I am even more at peace. Why? Well, no matter what happens, I know it will be for God's glory. My father (Sue's dad) has been God's servant for years. Ever since I've known Susan, her Dad's been the pastor of the South Somerville Baptist Church. Before that, he was at two other churches. He's been a pastor all of Susan's life, I think. And I've never, and I mean this, never met a man more humble, more peaceful, or more meek than John Calvin Dancer. I cannot put into words how much I respect him. Never an ill word toward anyone. Never. No guile has ever left his lips that I've ever heard. Patience? The man could give Job a run for his money. He has a very strong, yet very soft spoken wisdom. Very Yoda-esque, if you get me. There's much in him that is a good pattern for how a man should live his life. And I can't believe God's done with him here on earth yet.

So those of you that pray, pray for John. Pray that he'll continue to have that peace that he's always had. And pray for my other Mom, Donna, and pray for my beloved, that they not worry. For we know about worrying, right?

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, May 30, 2003

Friday nonsense

Here's the engine that started it all: South Thomaston's Engine #4. It's a 1959 American LaFrance. If only it were an open cab. Mmm, mmm. That be it. Except, of course, for a 1929 Ahrens Fox.

It seem my Bad Mama Jama reference was a bit too obtuse. (Except for maybe my sister; she remembers it, I'm sure.) If you really wanna know, go here.

Anyone use a guestbook cgi script? I've looked at a couple. Most are too rudimentary (like Matt's). Some are just WAY too complicated. I found one that I really like. (You can see it here.) Too bad you can't center it on the page, or it screws up the cgi. Get the cgi to work right when centered, and you always leave a tag that looks like this: [/center . See, the tag's not closed. You got one you like?

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Looking Forward to Supepr

Like I need to be concerned about a meal! Still, I haven't been home at suppertime all week. And since I'm not home, my beloved doesn't bother to prepare anything from scratch. It's been cereal, or tv dinners, or whatever. Well, the whatever has been pretty bad. Last night, my supper consisted of Smartfood popcorn, and two Devil Dogs. Hopefully, my beloved will feel better this afternoon, and I'll be able to have some delicious cooking tonight. Or, I might just die. Well, not really.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Reasons 4 Love #8

Reasons 4 Love #8

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love.

I love Susan because:
She doesn't chastize me when I make a silly purchase.
She's a great baker of chocolate chip cookies.
She doesn't get on me for being a bad landscaper, and keeping the grounds impeccable.
She understands why I have to be as busy as I am.
She understands that I can't be with her as much as I'd like.
She's a bad mama jama!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Fried dough and Caleb

Ma invited us down to have fried dough last night. For those not familiar with this tradtional fair food, it really is just fried dough. Ma uses frozen bread dough. Let it rise. Cut it into chucks and deep fry it. Add toppings. Traditional toppings include butter, powdered sugar, and cinnamon. Alternate toppings include jam or maple syrup. Really left field toppings might include chocolate syrup--my personal favorite. I decided to use some of the Chocolate Nirvana that Paddy got me for my birthday last year. I really liked this combonation. And, doing my duty as an uncle, and hoping to groom a soon to be chocolate lover, I gave Caleb a taste off my finger. Boy, did he sure seem to like that! Maybe my sister will let me scan the photos for posting when they come back.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

La Gorda

I wrote this on 10/3/2001

"I'm looking for a print. Of course, I'm still looking for a copy of Andy Wyeth's "Sailor's Valentine" for my sister. Now, I'm looking for a print called "La Gorda" by Antonio Reynoso. It's a B&W print of a Reubenesque Spanish woman nude in a doorway, back to us, drying her hair. It's fantastic. And unavailable."

Here she is!

So, I called the gallery in New York that has copies of the print. "We don't have any in stock, but we have a lead on one." A lead on one? Red flag goes up. "I'm just a working stiff here in Maine. How much are these things going for?" "Well," he says, "I have one listed in the already sold inventory. That went for $3500."

Cough!

Looks like I need to call that museum in Mexico again.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, May 26, 2003

Julia and I at the park

Julia on Dinosaur
Julia on slide
Julia on climbing thingy, that she wouldn't go all the way up. "I'm afraid of heights," she says.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Sunday, May 25, 2003

My DJ Rig

Thought you might like to see a picture of my DJ rig.

On the left is a Denon CD-425. I love this CD player. It started out in The Indigo. I liked it so much, I bought a second for my DJ rig. It worked so well, I bought a Denon HDCD changer for The Indigo, and moved the second 425 to the DJ rig--so now I run two of them. Next to that is my Audio Technica wireless mic. Inexpensive, but good sounding. In the rack case there is my Behringer DX-1000 DJ mixer. Great mixer, my friends. Lots of features, lots of inputs, good faders, and a flexible monitoring section. Below that is a Gemini power center, and below that my new Behringer 8024 EQ. Man, I love that eq! You can go into a room, play pink noise through it, measure the resulting frequencies with a measurement microphone, and acheive a FLAT tonal balance for any given room! You can then store these eq curves (up to 100) in the EQ itself, and just call them back up when you play that room again! I think I have pretty decent ears, but it would take me forver to set a 31-band eq manually to sound even remotely good as this one does! A great $200 spent at the world's best music store, Northern Kingdom Music in Rockport. (Incidently, I bought the rack case and the wireless mic there too. I would have bought the board from them, but they weren't Behringer dealers at the time.) On the right, under the second Denon CD player, is a Kenwood cassette deck with Dolby S noise reduction. It doesn't see a ton of use, but you have to have one in case someone brings a cassette they just have to hear. And, it happened yesterday. The bride's mom brought a special song she wanted played, on, you guessed it, cassette. Underneath the table is my Peavey CS-800 power amp. Not visiable in the photo: my Koss Pro 4A headphones, my Peavey TLS-115 speakers (also purchased from NKM), and two 15" Gauss subwoofers.

Now, was that interesting or what? :-)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, May 24, 2003

I hope the rest of the day isn't like this or Dracula

It's been raining here for 3 days or so. I, of course, have a DJ gig this afternoon. And, of course, I'm working at the office until noon. That means I'll leave straight from one to the other. And, becuase it's been raining, I've been putting off loading the truck, hoping to catch some slack in the drizzle. Rain Thursday night. Rain last night. So, I thought I'd wait until this morning--the last possible moment. Still rain. Ok, it had to be done. So, the pack in to the truck was in the rain.

Then I get to the office. I'm ready for coffee. This is Midcoast Internet, mind. Good coffee maker. Only good coffee, some might say some of the finest coffee. Mostly stuff roasted locally. Sometimes, Hawiian Kona, shipped from the island itself. This ain't no Maxwell House kinda place. So I get here, and there are no coffee filters!!! How can this be? We use a Bunn commercial grade maker. Thus, filters have to come from a retaurant supply house. So, they come in the giant box of 1000 or so. Someone, some where along the lines, used the last filter, and had to throw the cardboard box away. (Or, someone who runs the same machine as we do decided to take some home...)

Luckily, I had my espresso machine here at the office. It uses a steel mesh filter, so I brewed myself up a big ol' mug of think, black, unsweetened espresso. Yum!

I'm a big fan of Francis Ford Coppola's production of Dracula. Of all the Dracula's, this one seems to me the closest to Stoker's book. (Although, the little bit at the end, where Drac and Mina run into the castle together is a little bit of poetic license. Also, as I remember [it's been a while since I read the book--college], Mina wasn't as willing a victim as portrayed in the movie.) In the movie is a scene where Drac's carriage is picking up Johnathan Harker. When the horses ride up, there's something very eerie about them. It's as if their hooves aren't touching the ground; they're almost floating. I had heard that Coppola used old style camera tricks for all the special effects: no digital stuff. I wondered how that effect was done. So, I bought the Criterion laserdisc on ebay. All kinds of extra stuff, including director's comments. I haven't seen it all yet but so far...

...they don't tell you how they made that shot...

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Mickey D's Blows!

(This was actually written yesterday. I forgot to post it.)

I've been wanting a laserdisc of Dead Poets Society for a while. Why the laserdisc? Well, some LDs have the extra 14 or so minutes of footage that were restored after the original theatrical release. I'd been watching this one for what feels like a week. And, as you can see, it went cheap. And what happened? I forgot to bid!!! ARGH!

McDonalds. I'm a former employee (long time ago) and a current stock holder. What are they doing? Now wonder the stock's tanking, if their restaurants are anything like ours. Here's the scenario.

Two Fridays ago, Cam-Shaft made a gut grenade run to the Mickey Ds. When he got back, a bacon, egg and cheese (BEC) biscuit for Charles was NOT in the bag. I chided Cameron: "You always have to check the bags before you leave the drive thru. They're never right the first time." So we called and spoke to the manager. "We'll come get the biscuit," we told her. Well plans changed, and we couldn't break away from the office. On Monday, I called and spoke to the manager. "Would you please mail Charles a certificate for a free BEC? Sure, no prob, whatever.

Flash forward to today. No BEC certificate here yet. Jim's got a craving for an Egg McMuffin. I volunteer to go this time. That way, I can pick up the BEC card for Charles. I swing around the drive-tru, and it's backed up to Camden. So, I figure I'll go inside.

Bad mistake.

Inside, there's only one, really now--only ONE cash register open. People are backed up. There are about four people ahead of me who've ordered, but not gotten their order yet. So the girl takes one more order before me (that's five now waiting), and then decides to go ahead and fill those orders. OK, I'll be nice and wait. After she messes up those other orders (no hash brown on one, no strawberry jelly on another), she takes mine. The total is $14.50. I hand her a $20, and two quarters. She gives me back $15 in change. I look at her quizzically. "Oops," she says. "That should be a $1, not a $10. I give her the ten, and she closes it in her drawer. I'm still looking quizzical. "Oops. I still owe you a $1, don't I."

Yes, in fact you do.

So, I move out of the way, and let her take some other orders. Orders come, and orders go. I'm still waiting. Then, another manager spies me standing at the counter for a long time. She's been working there for years. She was there when I was there back in high school. "Hey Bill, what are you waiting for?" I told her. She looks at the screen, and my order's not there. Seems someone erased it, thus no one was filling it. So, they went into computer memory, found my order, and processed it. All the sandwiches and hash browns went into one bag. They were waiting for the burritos. They all went into another bag. While we were waiting for the burritos, the person filling my order (the same manager who said she'd send the certificate, but never did) asked if I wanted picante sauce with them. "Yes, mild please," I responded. A few moments later, she returned with the bag.

"Is the sauce in the bag?" I ask.

"Yes" she replied.

I got back to the office. The correct answer would've been "No, there's no sauce in the bag."

Which leads me to say "You always have to check the bags before you leave. They're never right the first time."

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Reasons 4 Love #7 (I almost forgot!)

Reasons 4 Love #7

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love.

I love Susan because:
She agrees with me that Kimberly Locke got robbed on American Idol.
She doesn't knock me for owning more drum sets than I really need.
I love it when she flips her hair.
She thanks me for working hard so she can be a stay-at-home mom.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Mac Tanks

I came home from work this evening, and both my girls were napping on the couch. So I snuck downstairs and made some macquarium tanks. Seven in fact. And I already had two built, so I'll have nine. That's good, as five of them are already spoken for.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

On the death of my friend Ben

I first got him on September 4, 2001. He was a gift from my sister, her husband, and my nephew Eben. He was, and I am serious, the best hermit crab I ever had. He was lively, and he was fun. We got along wonderfully together. He'd run around on me, on the table, wherever. He was gentle with Julia. He played with the kitty. And now, my hermit crab Ben Kenobi has died. A year and a half. That's a good run, isn't it? I mean, he wasn't a dog or cat--he was a crab! I found another crab lover on the web who had the same problem as me. He had three crabs that molted, were ok for a couple of weeks, and then died. So was the life of Ben Kenobi, the hermit from across the dune sea. I won't be getting another soon, if ever. Ben would just be too hard to replace.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, May 19, 2003

More on the English language and Sporks

Ok, so I play in this pick-up band. We call ourselves Spork. This is, in fact, the same band as Billy Rhythm and his Uptown Rhythm Kings. The difference is that the Rhythm Kings play jazz, and Spork is a party/rock/funk band. Anyway, we've just booked quite a few gigs here in the area. We're playing a local club one weekend a month for the summer. Anyway, I thought I'd make a little flyer to discuss the gigs. I want to call it the "Flinging the Gravy" tour. Clarke want's to call it the "Hold the Slaw" tour. So I was doing some info scoping on the net about Sporks, and found that some feel the spork is the decedent if the runcible spoon. Strange, I thought. The runcible spoon was, I thought a made up item by Edward Lear. The website says Lewis Carol "invented" the runcible spoon in his poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter." Carol uses neither word in his poem at all, much less together.) Lear uses it in his poem "The Owl and the Pussycat." This site also says is was coined by Lear, but this sitethis site says that the runcible spoon was part spoon, fork, and knife, and was made from animal horn.

I still think it was a fictitious utensil, invented by Lear.

Also interesting: Lewis Carol invented some nonsense words that have now made it into the proper English language, like "galumphing" and "chortle."

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, May 16, 2003

Custom Choppers

My boss Mike and I were taking a ride down to the garage of my Big Boss (JP) a couple of days ago. Mike began telling me about this show on the Dicovery Channel about custom motorcycles. Now i like motorcycles as much as the next guy. I can ride one ok, but I've never owned one, nor do I have a license. It just not a super desire within me. But I thought the show sounded interesting. The show features various custom motorcycle builders, and one was Orange County Choppers. (Now I know Orange County Drums and Percussion out of California. This Orange County is different; it's in New York, I think.) So I poked around their site, and they had some cool stuff. Then I found this. If there ever was a Billy Rhythm model motorcycle, this would be it. The yellow is awesome! (I love yellow, as you can tell from my Gretsches.) And, the cool 40's lines are just what I need. Imagine me in my zoot suit on that?! I could!

(Oh, and nephew Eben: check out the Spiderman bike and the Riddler bike.)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Hi, my name is Bill, and I need help

I say "Rock on!" entirely too much. Saying it at all is too much. Help me stop saying it.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, May 15, 2003

Tequila and other foodstuffs

Here are some crazy fun facts about tequila! Just kinda came up at work. Have you ever tried it? I haven't. What one food/beverage to you just have no interest in ever trying? Tequila is one for me. Also, pickled beets--I don't need to try them to know I won't like them!

Carol at The Pastry Garden let me sample some of her onion tart. OH MY! Onion lovers in Maine, you will need to try this! You won't be disappointed. While I was there, I also had a creme roll filled with buttercream (Yum) and a Boston Creme cupcake (YUM YUM!) The frosting on the cupcake was very soft, and very chocolatey. Assistant chef Susan commented the chocolate was too bitter. I said "Can chocolate be too bitter?"

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Mixing one's metaphors on American Idol

On the English language, or the death thereof; I overheard this somewhere. Someone started the phrase ''She who rocks the cradle...'' and somone too caught up in 21st century lingo answered ''Rocks the world!'' I'm gonna rock your world, all right--with a frickin bomb!

Speaking of rocking the world. Here's what the rundown of how American Idol should end. Clay should be voted out. His performances last night were awful. His rendition of "Mack the Knife" had Bobby Darin rolling in his grave. Clay will not end a note quickly. He has to hold the last note of every phrase. "Oh, the shark bitesssssssssss, with his teeeeeeeth, dearrrrrrr." Listen! He really does do that. Second place? Reuben. The Velvet Teddy Bear has a good voice, but last night his performances were weak. It almost sounded like he had a clold. Kimberely Locke should win. She has the best voice, and the most artistic control. She can belt out all Southern Baptist gospel, and also get soft and breathy. She should win. IMHO. (And, she likes Sade and Maxwell, so you know she's aight!)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Reasons 4 Love #6

Reasons 4 Love #6

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love.

I love Susan because:
She has the most wonderful skin. Smooth, a little tan, and very nibble-y.
She has the most wonderful back. It's like a runway for my kisses!
She has the most wonderful eyes. I thought no one could have deeper brown eyes. Then she gave me Julia!
And then, of course, there's Song of Solomon 1:13.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Tests, daughter, fish, and drums

I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamt that I took a red Ludwig Vistalite bass drum, heated it with a torch, and molded it to look like the bass from a Trixon Speedfire kit. I remember (in my dream now) thinking "Why on earth am I doing this to this otherwise fine instrument?! I'm destroying it!" And then, I tried to rationalize to my self: "Oh, the hardware is not in good condition, so it wasn't a big loss." Dreaming of drum restoration faux pas? Have I finally gone over the edge?

My beautiful daughter made it to the front page of the local paper. Every Tuesday, they print a question, and then pictures of four people they randomly stop to answer the question. Julia was at my first gig on Saturday, and the reporter asked her "What do you like best about spring?" Of course, my little girly girl answered "Flowers." Anyone who knows her knows that that had to be the answer!

Colostomy Jones, the algae eater I used to have in the Macquarium, died. He was ceremoniously removed, as are all dead fish in the Mac, with BBQ tongs. I figured I'd leave Moto to himself for a while. But, algae has begun in the tank. I cleaned it out just a few weeks ago, and now it's back. So, today I bought a plecostomus. Vote here to name the new fish. So far in the lead: Funk the Monk(fish). Although Eben's vote for the then unnamed Moto was Smith, and I rather like that name too. But he doesn't look like a Smith--to bumpy and ugly.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, May 12, 2003

Hello, my friends, hello

That's it. I'm alive. I'm busy. More later. Maybe. But I'll sum up:
a) two gigs on Saturday
b) tv is back on
3) I'm going shopping in Augusta tonight

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, May 10, 2003

Quite a scare last night

Got home around 11pm after the girl scout DJ gig last night. Came in, kissed the wife. I looked in the cage of Ben Kenobi, the hermit from across the dune sea. I thought he was dead! He looked like he had just fallen out of his shell. "I think Ben's dead," I said to Susan. "What!" she exclaimed. "He was just moving around earlier." Her eyes started to puddle. I looked in his cage. Behind his body was some juicy looking orange stuff. I thought to myself "My goodness, his body split in half!" That's when I realized what happened--he shed. His old skin was in front, and his new pinky self was in behind. Yea! He's ok! So, were supposed to keep him extra moist for the next 10 days, and leave him undisturbed. And we leave the old skeleton behind so he can eat it; eating the old skeleton gives him extra calcium.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, May 9, 2003

Stupid stuff, just kick me in the head.

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Divine Comedy Inferno Test

--

" Time I am. And I prefer
a good friend Amy Susan because:She tires to NY, and
a
few days.
If you can get mushed
together. to mom for my
primary funk snare. That
way, if I can
give blood types, and
an entirely new sound. "

That's what came out when I sent this page through the Amazing Poem Generator. I like the "to mom for my primary funk snare" line. Perhaps it's a revelation: Mothers Day is coming up. Perhaps Mom wants a snare drum good for funk. I'll get her one, and report back how she likes it.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Susan's poem

I love the way that you place
gently
upon my cheek kisses

as you would your
fingers
around the stem of a glass,

or as you would brush your
hair
from your forehead

smiling

Set this day by the hand of Billy Rhythm [Link] [Get More Here]

New Blog online

Buddy David Clarke (1/3 of Billy Rhythm's Rhythm Kings) has a new blog. I'll be adding it to my daily list of sites to visit.

Got a strange call last night. Seem an old buddy of mine was going to help out his girlfriend's daughter's girl scout troupe, and volunteer to DJ a dance for them. The girls were going to round up the equipment. Well, they rounded up a big home stereo. While it may be nice in a living room, there just ain't enough guts their to fill a hall. So Matt called to ask if I'd DJ it. Of course, my rates can't compete with free, and I'm sure they don't have much budget. Still, Matt was so desperate to pull this off for the girls, he said he'd pay me out of his own pocket. Now that didn't make me feel right. So I cut him this cool deal: I'm going to rent him my gear, set it up, show him how to use it, and tear it down. He stays and plays the tunes. He gets it for 1/2 what I'd usually get. He's happy, I'm mostly happy (I'd like to have the night off), and the girls get their dance.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Reasons 4 Love #5

Reasons 4 Love #5

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love.

I love Susan because:
She showered first on Sunday morning, allowing me an extra 15 minutes of sleep.
No matter how mad she gets at me, she always sleeps in bed with me--never the couch.
She never complains about the amount of drums I own.
She watched "Tales of the Gun" with me, even though she'd rather watch "Star Search."

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

The full Charlie Jones Update

Ok, so here's the whole story on the pink sparkle Charlie Jones model drum kit. Two of us here in the office play drums. Another guy (Charles Jones) thought perhaps he'd like to start playing a little. Well, Charles is as well known in these parts as I am. And he hooked up with this guy who had an old drum set kickin' around. So, he lent it to Charles. Charles brought it home. I gave him some older heads I had kicking around, and helped him unload it into his garage.

Time went by.

Charles didn't touch it. It sat where we dropped it. The guy who lent it to him moved to NY, and didn't want it back. Charles wanted to clean out his garage. So he offered the pieces to Barry (the other drummer in the office) and myself. Barry took the A Zildjian hi-hats and the Camco pedal. We gave the nasty, cracked cymbals to the office guys to shoot up at the range. I took what was left: some Pearl DX drums, miscellaneous hardware, a Zildjian 20" ride (fairly heavy, no inked logos), and some crazy cymbal that's half china, half ice bell.

I got the drums home. The 22" bass drum was trashed. It had come all de-laminated and splintered. It also looked like it took quite a hit around the spur region, as it was all stove in. I decided to scrap it. That left me with a 10" and 12" tom, and an 18" floor tom. Two small toms, and a huge floor? I bet this set was originally from a bigger double bass kit that was split in two.

I decided I would make a "hip-gig" style kit from the leftover pieces. I stripped the hardware off the bass, and re-drilled the floor tom to accept those pieces. (This section was where I made my only misstep. In order to drill as few holes as possible, I thought I would use the holes from the floor tom leg brackets, and put the bass drum spurs in those holes. After drilling, I realized that this places the bass drum spurs more under the drum, and not perpendicular to the drum. Luckily, I figured this out beforerewrapping. I doweled the extra holes.)

I ordered bass drum rims from Sam Barnard, the same place I bought the wrap. I also had to order some long tension rods, as the bass drum t-rods were too long to use on the smaller 18" bass. I also bought a universal Tama Starcast hoop mount for the snare. That way, I can mount the snare off the hi-hat stand. And that's my favorite part of the kit: the only stand is the hi-hat stand. Everything else mounts off the bass.

Sound? I've got Evans G1 coated on tops of toms, and G1 clears on the bottom. The bass has a coated G1 on the front, and a Pinstripe on the batter side. No muffling anywhere. It sounds great! I'm very impressed with the 12" "floor" tom. I can get it low enough to pass as a floor. The kick is a blast to play. I can't wait to play a jazz gig with it!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, May 6, 2003

BLT Heaven

I just ate the best BLT I've ever had in my life! I had Carol from The Pastry Garden slap some onions on it for me. And it was complete synergy. Toast, tomato, lettuce (not iceberg, I think), onion, and bacon came together to give me rapture. Well, maybe not rapture. But it was awesome.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, May 5, 2003

Headache

Migraine. Since lunchtime. Great day for one too--I was at an ad design conference in Augusta, 1 hour away. It started around lunch time. I thought some food would help, and a cup of coffee. No dice. Finally made it home around 5pm. Went straight to bed. It's now a little after 8pm. Still have it. Bummer. I'll elaborate on other stuff later.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Sunday, May 4, 2003

Some Drum Photos

Julia playing the pink sparkle Charlie Jones model drum kit.

The Charlie Jones model kit at a club, complete with a little BR logo I made. (I have a professional one on order, but it's not here yet.

A better picture of my yellow Gretsches.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, May 2, 2003

The Friday post

Diana Krall and Elvis Costello to be married. He must have a nice personality. :-)

I've got tonight off. I'm watching Julia tomorrow, as Susan will be celebrating National Scrapbooking Day. I think the plan is to rake the lawn, weather permitting. Tomorrow night, I play in Bangor. I'll be playing the Charlie Jones pink sparkle kit. Then Sunday morning, I'm skipping church (gasp!) and playing drums for a local steel drum band. They're having a competition, and need someone to play the kit for them. The leader runs a local Italian restaurant, so I'm trading him a meal for the family in exchange for my services. Don't worry--I'll be in church Sunday night!

(This part is left over from last Sunday.) I'm at Walk America right now. For the past 5-6 years, I've donated my DJ services for the walkers. I play about 1/2 hour before the walk, and about 1 1/2 hours after. Of course last night, I played the Lucern Inn, which is almost 2 hours away. I DJ'd a wedding there. So at least the gear was already in the truck. Too bad it rained like a dog last night. (That's an old Lincoln Blake theory. You can add the metaphor ''like a dog'' to ANY phrase and it still kinda makes sense.)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]