Sunday, June 29, 2003

Look what turns up in the guestbook

I'm going to be pulling the plug on the guestbook due to spam. But look what got put in it today:

"I'm hoping I have the correct guestbook where I can write about "Wellman's Drum". It's beautiful and the reason for doing it is too. Wellman was my third cousin twice removed. LOVED to listen to him play that fiddle. Have some audio and video tapes of him and lots of stories to go with them...Thanks for sharing...Lorna Hupper Faircloth
Lorna Hupper Faircloth
FL USA -"

Thank you very much, Lorna. Glad to do it. By the way--how'd you find me?

(For those of you who don't know: the story of Wellman.)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

A change for my sister

Lisa was right. The blue color was a little harder on the eyes, so let's try this grey, and see what you think, shall we? (I already like it better.)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, June 28, 2003

Italian vs the Diner

A couple of weeks ago, Susan, Julia, and I went to an Italian restaurant the next town over. One of Sue's friends recommended it. Susan had veal parm, and Julia and I each had spaghetti and meatballs. The results? Eh. The meatballs were good. There was way too much sauce on everything. After I finished, there was still enough sauce on my plate for another serving. Really! And the price? It was like $11.50 for spaghetti. To high, in my book. Total for the night was about $40. No desert, and Julia was the only one who had a soda.

So last night, we went to the quintessential Maine diner: Moodys. I had two eggs, sausage, home fries, and toast. Susan has veal parm (and liked it better than the Italian place). Julia had fried scallops--the most expensive meal of the night! We were too full for desser, but bought a couple of huge cream puffs for later. Total? $30. We got fed better, got desert, and it was still $10 buck cheaper. There's something to be said for home cookin'!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

The guestbook

How long has the guestbook been up? Not even a month. And it's already getting spammed. Crazy! I don't really care though. I just put it up to teach me some CGI. I'll pull it down in a bit, but let's see how much we can trap in there, shall we?

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

A little bit of a change

So as you can see, there's been a bit of a change around here. I was randomly surfing links off of Maria's page. So many people were running so many good looking pages. So many people run Moveable Type, and there are so many cool mods for it. I'm still so green at HTML, I can't bear to think what I would kill with CSS and MySQL. So I run Greymatter, and I'm happy with it, don't get me wrong.

So anyway, I got inspired looking at all these cool sites, so I decided to search for blog templates--to get some ideas, you know. Well, I stumbled across Tart Graphics. (The link is PG-13, so don't visit if a) you get offended by the beauty of the human body, or b) there are little kids running around.) They've done some really beautiful layouts with some rather adult themes. And yet, they're beautiful--not pornographic. So the one I stumbled on first referenced a Poe poem. And of course, I love Poe. (The actual template is here: Again, PG-13) So, as you can see, I ripped it off. I even found a cool Poe quote that worked with the page. It's from The Bells: "Keeping time, time, time, / In a sort of Runic rhyme." So, thanks to the Tart for the inspiration.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, June 27, 2003

Remind me...

...to tell you about dinner tonight. Oh, and a change is comin' soon! Stay tuned!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Rosewood snare

So, I didn't bid on that snare after all. I asked the seller a question, and they never got back to me, so I was feeling a little uneasy. Even then, it went higher than I would have paid. Market price right now is between $300 and $400. I knew a guy who had one with the tage still on it. He listed it on ebay for $450, and it didn't sell. So I'd of had to pay $250 for that one, and then at least another $100 to get the parts to fix it. For that much, I'll wait until one come along intact.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Reasons 4 Love #12

Reasons 4 Love #12

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 makes me happy.
Our Freshman year in college, I had just started in a band that was really getting some work. High school gigs are high school gigs. I was now playing for real cash. Susan had just got a new job, in telemarketing I think. She took some of her first pay check, and bought me a Zildjian cymbal safe. I think of her every time I use it, and I use it at every gig. It's my main cymbal "bag."
She brought me a clean towel to replace my dirty towel the other day, though I didn't ask for one. Just becuase she thought I needed a fresh towel.
She bought me some beer last night. She agonized over which kind she thought I would like, and ended up buying me a Shipyard summer pack, with Joshua Chamberlin Ale in the mix.

(O/T: Joshua's Tavern in Brunswick is named after Joshua Chamberlin. And of course, we play there about every 6 weeks. And, they have Chamberlin ale on tap. Yummy! It's one of my favorites!)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Julia's sick of macquariums!

Julia's sick again. She just got over strep about a week ago. Then this weekend, she got a fever on Saturday. Sunday she was feeling a little better, so we went to church in the morning. Evening services, she and Susan stayed home, and I went alone. Then last night, fever came back. We called the doctor on call, but she never got back to us. (Great health care, huh?) So today, Sue called and got an appointment with another doc. Turns out not only is the strep back, but she's got pneumonia too.

I sold three Macquariums today. A local office pulled three of there old machines out of service. One's going back into the office, one's going to the owner's home, and one's going to a local vet office. And, they may take another one for the daughter, who is also a vet in Massachusetts! Now that rocks Neddick! I'm going to use the money a place a bid on a Tama rosewood that needs a good home.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, June 23, 2003

Busy Day

Busy day for me today. I went to the office at 8, and pulled tech support until 9. I had a 10 o'clock that was supposed to take an hour, but took 1 1/2. Then Kiwanis at noon. On lunch, I shipped out a bunch of ebay comics I sold. Then I had a 3pm that lasted about an hour. Back at the office until 4:30, then downstairs to wash dishes. I wasn't at my desk very much.

And Susan was busy too! She cleaned all day long. The house looks good, and smells really good! Of course, now Julia's fever is back. She had strep a week ago, and it looks like it's back.

Thanks for the notes on Julia's photo. I agree, she is a sweetie. And I agree with Jim--I'm going to be in big trouble when she's 15. I'm practicing my junkyard dog bark! Roooof! And yes Jim, that is the School House Rock CD you see in the photo. Also seen is my video camera bag, and the other black box is my record cleaning machine. The "power supply" is actually my computer. I like the juxtaposition of the 1950s phone on the Athlon 2000.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, June 21, 2003

For the boys at Northern Kingdom Music

For those who don't believe it, here's Julia (so you know I didn't just pull some photo off the Internet) using my 1958 Western Electric rotary phone. The handset also toubles as a club to ward off attackers. It's fun to see people's reaction at my house when they hear a phone ringing. Phones nowadays just burble and beep--they don't ring.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Whoops! No brass!

I remember one time, years ago, when I forgot to take a snare drum to a gig. I said at the time "I own 5 snares, and not a single one are here." Well, last night I remembered that my cymbal bag didn't have any crashes in it. No biggie. I went downstairs before I left for the 9am gig, and grabbed a couple from the practice room, and through them in the cab of the truck. I went to the gig, and remembered that the cymbal bag wasn't in the back of the truck at all, but in the garage. Whoops! Well, I had two crashes, and used a tambourine instead of a hi hat. Much better than when I forgot the snare. I used toms that night, and put the tambourine on the snare stand.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, June 20, 2003

Broken CDs and Dresses

So Blind Al gave me this Sony CD player months ago. I've been using it down in my practice room to play along with on the drums. A few months ago, I had this gig with a band called Spork. They gave me a list of tunes, which I downloaded and burned to CD. Somehow, the CD slipped of the tray of the CD player downstairs, and went into the chasis somehow. No big deal. The player still worked, and I hit the gig ok, so no big loss. Until this weekend. I'm playing with Spork again, and thought I might brush up on the tunes. So at lunch, I decided to rescue the CD from the player. Holy Cow! Somehow, the CD got under the patter! I had to take the whole thing apart! How did it get in there in the first place. You'd think if there was room to get in there, there'd be room to get it out. I couldnt find it.

On to dresses. Why don't women wear dresses anymore? I love dresses. (Not on me, mind!) A dress just does something that just really brings out the beauty of the female form. It makes a woman more feminine. Well, to me anyway. I'm not trying to be misogynistic. God made the female form different than the male. A dress makes that form look the best, in my opinion. And nothing says spring/summer like a dress. The way the fabric almost floats, without clinging. The way the fabric billows in the breeze. A nice floral print, or perhaps a gingham. I think I need to buy my beloved a nice new sundress!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, June 19, 2003

Future Post Here

I have an idea for a post. I've no time to write it. Someday, I will bemoan the death of the dress, and its effect on the female figure.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Ghostwriting chicken

Remeber that time I was consulted about working with some cgi for an order form? Well, another page writer wanted my help with some cgi stuff, including a guest book. So, I started playing around with some guest book scripts to see which ones would fit his needs. Tonight he called for some advice. Seems he was going to do it on his own. No prob, really. I just find it ironic that whenever I put some effort into cgi for someone else, they never use my work!

When I came home from a long day at the office, I made home made chicken cordon bleu for my beloved wife. What did you do for the love of your life today?

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Reasons 4 Love #11

Reasons 4 Love #11

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:
When she asks me how my day was, she really wants to know.
She made me the lemon squares she's been promising since Christmas. :-)
She's a very caring daughter.
She's comfortable to sleep next to.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

The later explanation

John's surgery went fine. All the cancer was contained in the kidney, so it looks like everything will be a-ok, thank God.
--
Back in the early days of midcoast.com, billing day was quite an event. All the staff would gather together to fold bills, stuff envelopes, and lick stamps. At lunch time, the boss would buy everyone pizza.

Things are slightly different now. A machine folds the bill, stuffs it in the envelope, and seals it closed. Another machine puts postage on the envelope. Billing day now takes 3 people 6 hours or so. Still, the boss buys lunch for everyone. Of course, it's not always pizza. A few months ago, we tried Chinese for everyone. And of course, during the summer,we cook out on the grill. But since Paddy just came back from Sheboygan, we had a Brat fry. Boy was it good! (Huge picture, for those of you on dial-up.)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Afterwork update, with some leftover weekend stuff

I've got some auctions running. A local college professor happened upon a trove of 70's horror comic books. I'm trying to sell them for her, with a little something in it for me, of course!

Don’t forget to pray for my father-in-law John. He went in to have his kidney removed today.

Today for lunch, it was Johnsonville Bratwurst. I’ll explain later…

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, June 14, 2003

Citizen Keith is back

Ketih hadn't updated in a while, and I wondered where he went. Then the page disappeared altogether. So I pulled his link. (I also pulled Dean's textism's link. He's only posting once every week or so.) But he's back, and I'm glad.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Chicago, last night's gig, tonight's night off

Chicago. Two big thumbs up for this concert, people! What a show. When we first got there, the band was all set up. "Chicago" was proudly displayed on the bass drum. Well, no opening act I guess. There was no curtain, either. Everything was in plain view. No real stage set-up to speak of. Just a riser with exposed 2X4, and a couple of cut out fingers of flame looking thingys. The band was announced with stage lights up--they just walked out on stage as their names were read. It was par for the stage show course--there was none to speak of the entire evening.

But there was music! Plenty of it, too. They played almost 2 hours. The played all the big hits you could think of. They played 80s hits I'd forgotten about. They played "Make Me Smile" like right off the album. If you're not familiar with Chicago, they did what many rock/fusion/prog bands did, and ran whole sides of records together with segues between tunes. Think BS&T, or Moody Blues, or side 2 of Abbey Road. They played "Make Me Smile" like that, with all the interludes, and with "Color My World" right in the middle of it. Very cool.

Musicianship was aplenty at the show. The three person horn section are all original members. And boy can they make three horns sound like a big band. I was very impressed with the trumpet player. Trumpet takes a lot of air to blow those high notes. As trumpeters get older, it gets harder to reach the high notes. Physically, it's just harder. This guy hit them all, just like on the record, and just as cleanly. The bass player sounds just like Peter Cetera. (Peter was the original bass player, and left the band in the 80s to pursue a solo career.) He sang so well, you with eyes closed, you'd hardly know it wasn't Mr. Cetera. The horns and one keyboardist are original members. The other keyboardist (they have two!) and drummer have been with the band since the mid 80s, I think, so though they're not original, they've been with the band almost 20 years. And they were one tight unit. The only mistakes I caught were the trumpet player was signing "Wishing You Were Here," and forgot the opening line. In my book, no big deal. (Why just last night, Blind Al called a tune that we don't play regularly. When we do play it, he starts it. Last night, he asked me to start it so he could tune his guitar. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the feel of the tune--and I helped write it!) Also, the guitar player hit a chord change one bar too early once. Unless you were a musician, you wouldn't have caught it.
--
And speaking of last night... We played a benefit gig for the DAV. There was hardly anyone there. We then found out that the local American Legion was holding an auction for the Rockland Veterans Memorial. I guess all the vets were there. Everyone donated their time so the vets could have all the scratch. The take? $83. Thanks to my buddy Jim and his sister Carol for coming out.

Then there was a band after us. They had the same kinda crowd, which was none. Some interesting things about them: the girlfriends/spouses of two members came, and helped lug equipment! The drummer's girl even helped him set up! Those days are gone for me! Susan can only see me play so many times, and she saw me play A BUNCH in the early 90s with my band "The Draw." She was at every gig, and most rehearsals.

Also, the drummer last night needs a lesson in tuning. Yuck! Bass drum tuned way too high. Toms tuned too high too. But the band itself was ok. Guitar player had a good voice.
--
I've got the night off tonight. I'd like to do something with the fam. What would you suggest? I said to Camshaft "I've got the night off. What should I do?"

He said "Enjoy it."

I told him I was looking for something a little more specific.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, June 12, 2003

Fozzie Chicago


You are Fozzie the Bear!! You are a born jokster,
although most of your jokes are absolutely
horrible! You are very friendly and have a
terrific imagination.


Which Muppet are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Tonight, I'm on my way to see Chicago (the band) with my beloved wife. I'll give full details later.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, June 11, 2003

The lunch hour play list

Did something I'd not done in a while. I ate lunch (onion tart from the Pastry Garden) at the break computer, and listened to some MP3s. The selectins?

Frank Zappa
--Don't Eat the Yellow Snow
--Nanook Rubs It
--St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast
--Father O'blivion
--Cosmik Debris
--Dynamo Hum

Chef
--Chocolate Salty Balls
--No Substitute
--Simultaneous

Don McLean
--Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)

Robert Cray
--The Price I Pay

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Reasons 4 Love #10

Reasons 4 Love #10

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:

On March 2nd, 1989, she agreed to be my girlfriend. (We were Juniors in high school.)
On February 14, 1992, she agreed to be my wife.
On June 11, 1994 (nine years ago today), at 2pm in the afternoon at the South Somerville Baptist Church, she said "I do."

Happy anniversary, Honey.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Grammar test from Ron

[take the test] - [by krystaljungle.com]

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, June 6, 2003

Sonny True

Just got of the phone with Sonny True. Seems he needed a drummer for a last minute gig. Alas, they tasty grooves of Billy Rhythm have already been spoken for. Otherwise, I'd of gone. Billy Rhythm: have cash, will travel.

And do you know what Sonny said of me? "The biggest thrill has been playing with drummers like Bill Batty..." Aw, man, you make me blush!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, June 5, 2003

The Billy Rhythm Snare Drum Matrix

A silly page I was playing with.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, June 4, 2003

Reasons 4 Love #9

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 likes American Chopper as much as I do.
She's got great curves.
She takes great care of a sick daughter.
She made me brownies.
She wants another baby--and so do I!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Coffee!!!!!!!!!!!

What's the best thing to wash down 3 espressos? Answer: A cappuccino! Ereererere! Slightly wired, I feel.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, June 3, 2003

Drums and fire engines. Is there anything else?

Yum! The Tama Cretstar was only made for a couple of years. It was the same basic drum as the Granstar, except the Granstar was covered with a plastic covering, and the Crestar was lacquered. A year or two later, the Crestar line was renamed Granstar Custom. So to have a badged Crestar kit is quite rare. (Sadly, I used to have a Crestar catalog. I didn't collect drum catalogs then, so I threw it away!) And, to have it in my favorite color--Heather Metallic--(I also liked Lipstick Red) is also rare.

You know, Honey, Fathers Day is coming!

Speaking of Fathers Day gift giving... Really now. I've already got Dad's Fathers Day present. I can't wait for him to get it!

Man, did lunch fill me up today. I had the European box lunch from the Pastry Garden. 3oz of proscuitto (which is a lot; it's like $10 per pound), gorgonzola, fontina, melon, focaccia, and a slice of onion tart. Brrp. Luckily, Paddy made some espresso to cut through it all, or I'd be rolling around the office.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, June 2, 2003

Summer!

Horay! The grill made it out of the garage this evening. Steak marrinated with soy, worchester, and hoysin, and potatoes and onions in foil. MMmm! Tomorow night? Chicken marrinated is Catilina dressing, and pasta. (Gotta love that side burner!)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Quizes I've already taken

The geek test has been making the rounds here at the office. Paddy was upset because he scored higher than (who we previously thought) uber-geek Ron. Here's geek quiz #2. After I'd taken it, and seen the results, I realized I'd already taken it. It looks like I've become less geeky, though...

You are 36% geek

You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator. Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend. You [to Geek]: We need more than that, Scotty. You'll have to stay until you can squeeze more outta them engines! Geek [to You]: I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain, but we need more dilithium crystals! You [to Normal]: He wants to know if he gets overtime.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

Take the What High School
Stereotype Are You? quiz, by Angel.

Of course, I had already taken that one too. A year ago!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]