31 Dec '11 - Happy New Year. On Thursday last week I performed in a trio for the Orange bowl committee at the Fontainbleau Hilton on Miami Beach. It was a real pretty night apart from the cigar smoke and the very strong wasabi! Last week I also received a call from a man in Holland who hired me to play only five songs at a restaurant on South Beach. I guess he found my web page on line. I played that job and was very delighted to meet he and his SO. South Beach was maddening. There were more police on the street than streetlights and the traffic was jammed. Here's wishing all of us a better year than 2011. 20 Nov '11 - Only a few days to Thanksgiving. One of my favorite holidays. I'm visiting an old friend and his family for dinner. On Saturday I performed at the Harvest Festival of Miami. It was surprisingly crowded. My neighbor capably hosted the CD table and I actually sold a few. The catalytic converter light keeps coming on in my van and I think it's causing the thing to stall. My neighbor tells me just to remove it. Motor vehicles are nothing but trouble even when they're working properly. Last weekend I changed roommates. Too soon to tell how that's going to go. My new local venue has expanded me to twice weekly. 02 Oct '11 - Well it's been a while since I've had house guests but that ended when a close friend came to stay for several days last week. We shopped cars and smoked a ton of cigars. I tasted cilantro and polenta. It was great fun even though the snoring could suck paint off the wall! I also auditioned for a local venue and will be performing there regularly. 04 Sept '11 - It all started three days ago when the disposal stopped disposing. The elbow was blocked up so I took it out, cleaned it and replaced it. Then the flush handle in one bathroom broke off inside the tank and I had to use paper clips on the pull chain temporarily. Then I went out to exercise and discovered my van was gone. It was like one of those troubling dreams where you can't find the usual stuff. At any rate it turned out to be the towing company for our community. They said the 'hang tag' was not on the rear view mirror so they towed the vehicle. It was obviously an error (and perhaps a new guy) but it still happened. The vehicle was returned later in the morning without even a 'sorry about that'. Apparently it doesn't matter that I have been parking in the same space for more than 20 years without incident. The only thing that has changed is the towing company. Somehow I think that will soon be changing again as well. But that's not all. The job I was to do that evening was double booked but I didn't know until I got there (about an hour drive south in rush hour traffic). It was really annoying and an issue where it doesn't help to get upset. While I was there a screw fell out from my sun glasses frame. Naturally it was impossible to locate. So on the next day I did my workout routine without incident, installed a new flush handle, and visited an optical store. It was all accomplished using my 'un-towed' vehicle. And people wonder why I love beer? 18 Aug '11 - Well a month has passed and not much has changed. I made a number of mods to the web site including a modestly Spam proof contact page. I'd like to improve the image gallery as well but no inspiration yet. I did make a little story of my scuba diving experience. I think it can be a lot more fun so I'll keep adding to it. I did obtain a new web maintenance agreement this week so that's something. The past several months I've been doing a great 90 minute daily routine around the neighborhood. It passes around and between five lakes. Sometimes I jog but mostly I walk. After thirty plus years of jogging the joints are much worse for the wear. Last February I made a little movie about it but the resolution wasn't very good though I did save it onto the hard drive. This date happens to be the very day and month that this blog first began in 2006 (see the bottom). 19 Jul '11 - Times are definitely changing. My Sunday afternoon sets have been cancelled presumably for the slow summer months though I think it will be a lot longer. Yesterday a huge bolt of lightening struck the lakeside bank opposite my kitchen and ignited not only a palm tree but the dried reeds as well. The whole house filled with the smell of smoke. I spent the weekend detailing the van. I even applied Armorall to the interior! Talk about boredom. 11 July '11 - Man is it hot outside. The dog days of summer arrive in the hottest months and are so named because Sirius the Dog star pairs with the sun at this time. Played a private birthday bash on the Galt Ocean Mile last Saturday. It was big fun with flowing food and drink as well as lots of dancers. I don't think I'm eating enough. My weekly gig has been cancelled because of the slow off season and now I'm flopping like a trout on deck. 15 June '11 - I guess I'm settling into the mid month rhythm of blogging. The last few days I've been experimenting with a new and modest HD video camera. The files are huge and somewhat unwieldy on this old computer. None the less I did manage to post three new HD videos (of short duration) on the video page. It's challenging to find a reasonable venue for recording; a place without too much crowd noise. I now have a new roommate. We'll see how that goes. My thrilling interview in Boston has not yet yielded a response and so far is rather disappointing. Sunday is Father's Day. As always I hope to hear from my own daughter. 17 May '11 - I think this is a record for ignoring my blog; nearly two months. What have I been doing you ask? Well, I've added a number of new tunes to my act including 'Easy' and 'Sweat'. I've managed to rid myself of a very sloppy roommate. Within 6 days there were already fewer ants on the counter. Nice enough person but clueless when it came to tending a household. They couldn't even work the sponge! I took a day trip to Boston. It reminded me of how much I like living in South Florida. Boston was enjoying a misty rain at 51 degrees and it was clear, sunny and 81 here in Miami. I updated the web site of artist Laura John. If you haven't viewed her work before then do so now. 25 Mar '11 - Well I received something of an offer to join the Independence of the Seas for a few weeks as a replacement act. It sails from Southampton, United Kingdom. I was tempted to go for it but started thinking about all the hassle involved with traveling and time zones and converting bucks to the British Pound and Euros and finally gave up on the idea. Either you work on ships or you work on land, the two don't blend all that well. It's too bad though, I've never visited Gibraltar! 15 Mar '11 - My new little ruby red hard drive crashed a few days ago. It had 171G of data on it. Most of it is backed up elsewhere... I think? Anyway I spent a week with tech support who wanted to send me an improved cable... no difference. So finally this morning I mailed it back with an RMA. We'll see. No matter how much you pay or how little it's worth; warranties and insurance companies both determine their liability and then try to weasel out of it. 16 Feb '11 - I performed on the Biscayne Lady for the first time last evening. A very nice charter party boat. It was for a meeting of the Millipore group, about 150 people. A hassle to haul my gear up the 2nd deck but a terrific group. The only rub was the guy who ran the operation. He told me to hook up to the ship audio system with a cable that was bad. Every time the cable moved the signal would either spike or crash. 9 February '11 - The weather is amazing! Yesterday I toured around the shoreline and snapped a few short videos of the many birds that frequent our lake in the Winter months. It turned out okay and I'm thinking about posting it on You Tube. For whatever reason my van keeps stalling and now the catalytic converter light is glowing. I hate this van. Moreover I'm canceling my agent friendly site 'Branchfactors.Net'. I kept it for two years and really haven't noticed any kind of benefit. 27 January '11 - Last night I played for State Farm at the Fontainebleau Resort on Miami Beach. Really beautiful place. Expensive. I had to valet my van (I hate that). Very congested. An international group of 5000 programming and television executives were having a convention. I only played 90 minutes for a small crowd but I struggled for the first thirty to remember how I did stuff. This was my first gig since leaving the Explorer of the Seas last November. It's like they say: "Use it or lose it." 1 January '11 - I guess most people have a happy new year. Even if it isn't so happy they never mention it. This year I intend to lose a few things that have outlived their sentiment. I've been saving a bottle of Moet in the fridge for several years and I don't know why it's still there. So last night I carried it over to my neighbors and we popped it for the new year... one down. I0 Nov '10 - Well I'm back. I flew into St. Thomas last Monday for an over night to meet the Explorer of the Seas and a visit to St. Kitts then on to Bayonne, NJ. It was the last half of a 10 days voyage. The AA flight was delayed 3 hours and 50 minutes. Did you know that the airport in St. Thomas closes at night? The temperature in New Jersey was half that of St. Thomas so I had trouble packing. In St. Kitts there were guys walking around with armfuls of little monkeys for photo ops. On the return flight it was the day for the New York Marathon (very heavy traffic) and the onset of Daylight Savings Time. It was a whirlwind trip but great fun. My crowds in the Crown and Kettle pub were magnificent. 18 Oct '10 - I've been working for two weeks on the creation of a DVD. Since I bought the little camera two years ago I've managed to collect quite a bit of video from my travels and even some of me entertaining as well as some large crowds. Now I'm done editing but can't get it off the computer. It processes up to 96% and then stops working. This calls for some creative maneuvering and a lot of data swapping. But it got done when by some fluke the whole operation was saved to a DVD folder that I was later able to burn using different software. It's the kind of thing that makes us remember why we are not fond of computers. 1 Oct '10 - Yesterday I posted new audio samples on this site. They were all recorded at home while wearing headphones. One thing I had forgotten about the wearing of headphones while you sing is that you don't really sing out strong. You tend to subconsciously balance the mix in your head and in doing so leave the power out of your voice. But I did get to post new audio page designs even if some of the samples have to be redone. In the future I'm going to make an effort at recording new samples as soon as I return from a contract. I have a tendency to avoid music for a few weeks while I work on household stuff. That's a bad thing. The more you sing the stronger your voice gets so you should (and my voice teachers would always say: "Never should on yourself.") make demo recordings while your singing chops are up instead of trying to do so after they've cooled. 23 Sept '10 - Well, it's impossible not to remember the great amount of rainfall that South Florida receives in September. It's been poring rain outside for an hour... and an hour yesterday... and the day before and so forth. It's annoying. The parking lot is flooded. I've been working to update my circumstance. In Madrid they made me gate check my little trolley and I had to get a new one. Iberia airlines has poor even non-existent baggage remedies. I expanded my hard drive capacity and also my cable television subscription. There were the routine updates to web sites I maintain, but the big effort for me was promotional material. I designed and printed a new two sided brochure and have been working to record new sound clips for the on-line demo pages. That means designing a new web interface as well. Even as the rain falls I'm waiting for a new disk of software to arrive that will enable me to make better edits in those recordings. 6 September `10 - I like to make the most of my time. To paraphrase the words of Jimmy Carter: "I can sleep until 9 and be rested, or I can get up at 6 and be President." Making the most of your time is essential when you're stranded on a ship at sea. There is always a temptation to eat, sleep or drink too much. I managed to read a few books and write for my blogspot. This past contract was in the Mediterranean and so presented entirely new vistas to capture. I felt the harbor in Naples was disastrously polluted and decided to collate little videos about water that I've been collecting from my travels. Also, as part of my blog, I've assembled some images of the ship as seen by crew members. This particular ship is the Voyager of the Seas but could easily be from any number of vessels. 23
August '10 - What can I say. I spent the last 8 weeks tooling around the
Mediterranean as the guitarist on board the Voyager of the Seas. The
itinerary was pretty amazing but the traveling was exhausting. We
visited Spain (Barcelona), Italy (Naples and
12 June '10 - Since returning from the 'Bahamas Celebration' I've managed to create 8 new sequences. Some are for the Irish clients so often on board ships. Making a sequence and moving it through the processes of balancing and data transference is a lengthy ordeal. Yesterday I noticed that my patch bay has given up. I've had it 20 years but I think it was a momentary power interruption. In Florida the household electricity goes out for a moment almost every day. Now I'm looking at the task of removing the gear and trying to repair it. And I did repair it. Happy! 2 June '10 - I should change my web name
to one traveling guy! I'm still somewhat shocked 3 May '10 - Well I've only just returned
from my big adventure on (of all things) the 'Adventure of the Seas'. I
got up at 5:30 am to fly into Barbados on a Tuesday and endured the 'white knuckle' taxi
ride through the streets of Bridgetown to the harbor where my ship was
awaitin'. Then after only a 20 minute walk dragging my gear in the very hot
sun, and a 35 minute wait (also in the very hot sun) while someone
figures
out what to do with me, I join the vessel. It was a short I never intended to make so much of cruise ships. I started this web site as a kind of on-line brochure and it just ballooned into the 300 meg behemoth it is today. I suppose the most honest way to treat it is to be genuine and so I post the bits and pieces of a career that takes me along with it. 28 March '10 - Well, today was to have been the day I join the Liberty of the Seas. That's not going to happen. I've heard rumors about this ship. Some entertainers refuse to return there, something about arrogant management. It certainly would have been convenient for me since the vessel sails from Miami. One trouble with these 7 days voyages is that the ship comes into port only on Sunday. At least in Miami most stores are open every day but in places like [Port Canaveral] the store are closed. I told lots of friends and guests I would be appearing on the Liberty at this time and I hope they won't be disappointed. 4
March
'10
-
It
must
be
time
for
a
new
blog
installment.
Needless
to
say
I've
given
up
the
wireless
life
and
will
have
to
be
content
with
cables.
Since
returning
home
I've
added
14
new 1 February '10 - Back at last! I notice a musty scent in my studio and discover a quantity of mold under the throw rug. It's a mystery... how did the water get inside? Still working on that. I had to replace the hard drive on my studio computer. Then I tried hooking up with a wireless router. It's a LinkSys model (WRT54GL) that was well reviewed. I think it's weak and will likely return it. Who needs a wireless router if you have to stay near the antennae for reception. I mean weak like 20 feet away there is no signal. 5 January '10 - A
week of the New Year has already passed. I actually got to celebrate NYE
twice. Apparently
the British and Scot New Year is celebrated 5 hours earlier ( 28 December '09 - Spending the holidays on a ship at sea. It's an interesting non-denominational experience. We have a huge tree, Santa came to visit, we wrapped gifts for the hundreds of children and enjoyed an updated crew menu in the Windjammer cafe (it was closed to guests). There was caroling. So many children. Thanksgiving week there were 1400 children on board. Christmas and New years saw more than 1100 per voyage. The ship is filled to capacity. Whenever there are lots of kids the lounges are slow. No changes have been made to my schedule. Yesterday I had to sit-in at passenger drill for a Russian Ice Cast member who had returned home in an emergency. It turned out she was back before the drill began and there were two of us. I actually had to change my crew number to hers. Now I'm hoping to change back. 13 December '09 - Once again I've surpassed any previous level of incompetent blogging. Needless to say I've been busy participating in life instead of recording the events. I've been away on contract and without web posting access for the most part. I've also come to realize that when crewmembers complain about the ship they are actually complaining about not being at home. The holidays are only a constant if you are still at 'home for the holidays'. I'm suffering from a noticeable lack of media. No public radio or TV... it's the worst. Instead, I have weekly brow beatings from the Musical Director! I have my car in the port but I have no where to go. I miss my pillow and my coffee maker and my TV. Luckily I have a good house sitter and I've been looking around for a suitable reward. So far I have read my fourth book and am well into my fifth. I've written thousands of words about this ship experience. Each day I write a little bit about what it's like to be here and some of my logs will become rants on Sensible Soup. I have plenty of photos and videos. For some reason I have expanded my DVD collection. 30 August '09 - Well it's good to be at home! Again I'm not so good with the blogging thing and will try to do better. The last few weeks I spent trying to bring my house into the 21st Century. While I was on contract America went all digital. My old laptop worked as always on the ship but it was a relic. When I got back it crashed hard and I thought it was a goner. It took a week to get it rebooted and working again but I don't trust it to travel. It
was
an
interesting
contract.
The
crew
of
a
large
ship
used
to
be
more
my
own
age.
I
used
to
be
thinner
too
but
not
anymore!
I
went
through
some
of
the I also began a new web project for a lovely woman who does nail designs and manicures. Naturally I know nothing of this issue but I think the design of the web turned out okay. See it here. 25 July '09 - Well, I decided
to return to Royal Caribbean and have spent the last several weeks on
their vessel Explorer of the Seas. It was pretty much as I remembered
it. One new item was the traveling to New Jersey. It was essential to
slim down my gear and luggage.
It
was
still
$180
in
baggage
fees.
I've made a 16 May '09 - Last week I started to work on a new web design. Each design improves your skills a bit more. This particular design is for a company that does institutional fire and security alarm installations. Needless to say I know squat about the business of security! I know a lot more now for sure. 26 March '09 - I've decided that it's better for me to post a blog to a location other than One Busy Guy. I can't seem to keep it up very well. Most of my thoughts don't really concern issues revolving around my act. The world is a much larger place than this web site regardless of my grand posturing! I'll continue to keep postings available here for the bulk of my endeavors but the newest blog will be at sensible soup. 6 January '09 - Wow! It's been two months since I got back to this little writing project. It's something of a task because you aren't writing to anyone in particular. It's more like a broad set of remarks that doesn't give away too many details but is still significant! For the 2nd time in 30 years I was off on NYE. Many of my friends were working as side men for other acts. My favorite flute player performed at the Versacci Mansion on South Beach. Last week I did perform at the newly re-furbished Fountaine Bleau hotel on Miami Beach for the Orange Bowl Committee. I'm in the process of re-designing my home studio. It's just too congested. I may have to sell a few things to make space. I have already sold my beloved old truck and my classical guitar. The truck needed a lot of work and the guitar hasn't been played in 7 years. You can still hear the guitar on several of my recordings. Try this link for a fun read: shoe nightmare. 4 November '08 - I write this as the last of campaign '08 launches into the voting booth. As is nearly everyone, I'm weary of the constant talking points that don't fully address our questions. Maybe we can finally put the current administration behind us. The current climate has decimated my local musical community. So I've been busily perfecting other skills. Got a new 22" monitor and have been working on my photoshop skills. I did play at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show last weekend. Mixed feelings. Any one boat is likely worth more than I will earn in a lifetime. Then again, at least I can love my work. 1 October '08 - Well we just finished having some big rain here in Miami. We started the year with Lake Okeechobee down by 10 feet and that loss has been eradicated. I recently opened a You Tube channel and have been peppering the site with video links. As soon as the sun returns I'll be making a greet video for the landing page. Over the weekend I performed in a trio at the Hyatt in downtown Miami with a new pan player. We had to start at 9:30 am on a Sunday! It was nice to be singing. 25 August '09 - I've heard that Labor Day weekend is the peak of Hurricane season, just as Groundhog's Day is the middle point of Winter. I agree. There have been many significant storms in the three weeks surrounding Labor Day including Fay and Andrew. One year my house got burgled during a storm threat while I was on the Majesty of the Seas. This is the strangest August yet. Between Hurricane season, the Beijing Olympics and the Presidential Campaigning there is nothing for we solo musicians. So we troop on. I've been tweaking my programming skills by learning PHP and MySQL. I've also placed a few modifications in the HTML code of the sites I maintain. I know that there is little inspiration to be found by how clean is my house. If the house is cluttered and dusty it means I'm so busy being creative there is no time left for cleaning. Otherwise a spotless house means there is nothing else to do! 07 July '08 - It seems I've fallen into a 'once a month' blog thing. I suppose that's better than nothing at all! It is now just after the July 4th holiday. In past years my neighborhood would ring with ethnic celebrations of all sorts. Music would blast long into the night. Families and businesses and companies would host picnics and dinners and pool parties. This year is different in many ways. Firstly, it rained pretty well all weekend rather crippling any fireworks display. But I think there's more. We're a sad nation. America is waging an on-going war inside a sovereign nation who was not our enemy. The borrowed money has seriously undermined the value of our good old greenbacks. The national debt has skyrocketed. Fuel prices have gone astronomical with no end... ever. Companies downsize for survival; jobs are lost. It seems like plenty of Americans have confronted a very real holiday's end. 06 June '08 - It's official... I am a lousy blogger! Sometimes I have nothing to write and then suddenly too much to say. The entire months of April and May as well have slipped between my fingers. I performed for terrific dates at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Miami, a quartet at the Marriott Harbor Beach and a private bash for Celebrity Cruise Lines. I even survived befouled drains only to revisit an old knee injury. Perhaps most importantly I'm still here. It was great to hear from a few CD owners who looked on line for me. 29 Mar '08 - Well I decided it was time to add video to the old pages. Most of the gigs in Europe require videos for audition purposes. I was horrified to see how things have changed photographically... not the camera but the subject! As Jon Lithgow is noted to say in the Quote Pages: "Time sneaks up on you like a bug on a windshield". Still I must persevere. Business is still way off. People who suffer in this crappy economy don't use a lot of live music. Once again I'm making preparations to rejoin the ships. I suppose the best recent news is that I was able to unblock the disposal! 09 Mar '08 - I first placed onebusyguy.com on line in
1999. It was a shabby production of hokey clip-art and flannel. In time
I learned to use tables and various adornments like floating objects and
tool tips. Safe to say that things have improved immensely! One day I
undertook to create a site for a friend. I had no intention of charging
for the work though I later gave in for a modest fee. Since then I've
had the privilege of designing
11
separate sites 29 Dec '07 - One shouldn't wait too long to update a blog. So many things happen that you can't really address lucidly. At any rate it's almost New Years Eve. This is a traditionally busy time for Musician's but not this year. I will be performing at a private residence on NYE in a trio with flute and keys, but it's a long drive. We did the same work last year and it turned into a shoe nightmare for me. People often say that the first few minutes of the New Year set into motion all the succeeding moments. For more on this see the NYE Page. Well that might actually be correct. As the year ends these are some new tasks that have drawn my pursuit: I'm upgrading my cell phone, the old flip phone won't stay closed. I'm trying to learn new sequencing software (Cakewalk). I have a new tenant (Carl). I'm reading 'Deception Point' from Dan Brown and have been enjoying 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' on DVD. I plan to launch an 'agent friendly' web site that has been designed (no last name, no contact information) as soon as I think of a domain name. And we say goodbye to 2007! 18 Nov '07 - Happy Birthday Jeff! Even if I don't have the chance to tell you in person. Well let's see, it's been a few weeks since my last posting. No one can say that I talk too much! I played private gatherings at the Pier Top (Hyatt Pier 66). A revolving facility high above the intracoastal waterway in Ft. Lauderdale, and a private charter cruise (in a trio) on board the Sun Dream. There was a devil of a time getting all the gear onto the 2nd deck (no elevator). I also played two private homes for family celebrations. Mostly I've been trying to convert all my existing midi files to an IBM compatible format. More difficult than it seems AND additional programming skills to learn. It seems everything to be done means I sit in one place and hunch. Technology changes and mine is slowly being outmoded (they don't make this stuff anymore). This morning I watched as a demolition crew brought down the Sheraton Bal Harbour to make way for a new St. Regis Hotel. I performed pool side there 5 days weekly for a couple years. My gear has outlived the hotel. 22 Oct '07 - Well I had to toss in the towel. In the Fall of 2002 (19 Oct) I tried to flesh out this grand vision of an on-line radio station I named WGBR.Net. It was an abbreviation for 'The Gallery Broadcast Page'. I had several guests including comedians, local musicians and even one Cruise Ship Captain. But alas I couldn't get enough participation. It's an awful lot of work to write movie reviews, conduct interviews, do travel news and of course all the other minutiae associated with web programming. I took the site down but I still own the name and have parked it on the server for One Busy Guy. But I didn't give up yet! 11 Oct '07 - Farewell to a dear friend, Mr. Don Cohen. For those who know little of South Florida, or it's formerly burgeoning local music scene, Don was 'the great uniter'. A decent, honest promoter and manager who labored more for the music than for the profit. Don initiated several local events that went on to become institutions including The Musician's Exchange and the Riverwalk Blues Festival. Last night (Wednesday 10 Oct '07) hundreds of local musicians gathered at the former Hollywood Playhouse to celebrate a life. The evening was a mix of music and eulogy, and it was very well done. The list of performers was extensive. Performers who came together and likely were first introduced to each other through Don. Good bye my friend and thanks. As you would conclude each phone conversation: "Peace Brother." 05 Sept '07 - Happy end of Summer to you! It has been stiflingly hot this Summer in Miami. It's always very hot but this year seems to be extreme. It's 'I can't breath' heat. On Monday I performed in a pan trio at the local Mardi Gras Casino. It was outside in the Veranda area. A large stage with some intriguing lights. I'm posting a photo of the stage area if it turns out. What is there about casinos that attract so many beautiful woman? Maybe I've been single so long that it's now the only thing I notice. Though it was the same on Royal Caribbean... and that was when you could still smoke tobacco at the tables. 12 July '07 - Well, the July 4th week was really busy for yours truly. It rained a lot here in Florida and many feared fireworks would be cancelled. I performed at the St. Regis hotel on Lauderdale beach. It was the shiniest place I have ever seen! Then my friend Jim became ill and I had to sit in for him. He's better now and just in time. I love to sing but too much singing is a bad thing. I've been trying to keep up this blog for about one year now. I confess that I see no reason why anyone would want to read this drivel! There really is nothing much to say of interest. I'm painting my house (inside)... do you care? Legal holidays disrupt my blockbuster movie membership... any interest? Another brother has gone, now we're down to three... that interests me. 2 June '07 - Well it's the first day of hurricane season. I guess we're going from drought to flooding winds in a single step. Already I'm getting cancellations. Nothing more fearsome than standing outside with $10k worth of gear when the rain threatens! 21 May '07 - What a busy weekend it was. I performed for a private retirement party on Friday night. It was a totally first class operation in South Miami. On Saturday afternoon I had a terrible job at a condo conversion site. It was hot and empty and I didn't like it at all. Saturday night found me back at a local restaurant a few miles from home. And lastly I was rained out from a second day at the condo conversion. Big rain. Over the curb and up to the rocker panel rain. It's the way of things in Hurricane season which seems to be arriving a bit early. Anyway, I was so whipped I turned in at 7pm. Just livin' the life. 13 May '07 - Happy Mother's Day I say! I keep forgetting to update this page. If you wait too long between updates there is so much to say you don't know where to start. The past few weeks I've been performing in the busiest restaurant ever. It must have great food but I haven't tried eating there just yet. Inside or outside I've made great tips. I reckon it's been a progressive few weeks. I always say that you have to work on every facet of your life each day. What ever you ignore becomes a bigger issue. I finally got both air conditioners to work properly and I even repaired the rear wiper blades. The only thing I don't know how to do is get rid of the ducks. We have Muscovy ducks all over the place. It's too bad there aren't aggressive because then humans would do away with them. 14 April '07 - Okay I admit it! Just when you think you're beyond all that, a sneaking teenage style crush plops itself into your day. Suddenly the routine activities take on a new sheen. You start examining the old bod and discover you're crusty on the ends and soft in the middle... like a pancake on a too hot griddle. There's a reason single guys are single. They just aren't that good with relationships. On the other hand; What relationship? You're the only one who knows. But will it always be like that? Who wants to be rejected? On the other hand you're not so good with relationships. Besides, most people have someone already. 23 Mar '07 - I notice it's more than a little demanding to keep up a blog... I just do my best. It's been a pretty adventuresome time. In the past two weeks I've done my solo act twice and have appeared in a duo, two trios and a quartet. I was beat! I forgot to put the carafe under the coffeemaker.. messy. I'm better now. I crafted a web test page that the intended never purchased. I guess it's become a spare design. I designed a web site for my homeowners association long ago and now it appears I may be the newly elected president. I can always tell how inspired I am by how neat the house... no inspiration neat house, plenty inspiration trashy house. 1 Feb '07 - I don't think there has ever been a slower start to any year. Even my friends wonder what's up? This is supposed to be a great time for local business since the Super Bowl is in town this weekend. I've been spending my time 're-tooling' my web design. In the past few months I've been busy designing webs for others and it was a good experience to imagine their navigation. I got to thinking I should do that for myself, especially if I want more traffic. 21 Jan '07 - If there is one constant in the music business it's that the first two weeks of January are really quiet. It's a good time for vacation 'cause no one will miss you! The recent web I've been designing has gone into double overtime. The company guy responsible for supplying information sent very little and most of it wrong. It doesn't have to be so troublesome. Either you want the web or you don't. This is a thing we can control. In fact we can control most things if we pay attention. Yesterday I went outside to start the truck and discovered a dead battery. It discharged completely because I left on the headlights. This is something that can be controlled if I was paying attention. 31 Dec '06 - Happy New Year's Eve! Tonight I'm playing for a private home in West Palm Beach in a trio. Ever since I stopped working ships I've done fewer dates as a soloist and more in combos. It's always better to be busy so I'm not complaining. Lately I've been working up several web sites. It's like you never know when to stop constructing. Nothing is ever perfect. At least with a painting or a sculpture there comes a time of completion. Electronic publishing means that nothing is ever done and can be easily updated or corrected. Years end always drops new tasks into your lap; bookkeeping, taxes, clearing away the holidays... stuff like that. I'm not really certain I like this whole blog stuff but I am trying. It's just one more thing to do. Let's see how it goes over the next few months. 4 Nov '06 - Well it's November. High Temps in the mid to upper 80's, low's in the low 70's... great weather. Last night I played a wedding rehearsal up in Jupiter. It was a grueling drive but a fun gig. 176 miles round trip! Although we were inside at the Carlin Civic center, the beach weather was still 'in your 'face'. I'm always amazed at the number of friends and family that show up at these events... something like 100 people. I doubt I could fill my own living room in a similar celebration. Note to self: remember people like to give speeches at these things so set up another mic. 19 Oct '06 - Did you know that the wearing of long hair is a time honored tradition among men? Check out photos of men throughout history. In fact it wasn't until WWI that sailors were required to go with a 'crew' cut. Ever notice that the people without hair make the long hair rules? It seems the more men shave their heads the greater predominance of male pattern baldness. Most of my years saw the wearing of hair pretty short. It's more work to maintain but gives you greater flexibility in appearance. Anyway I'm being pressured to cut off my hair. Apparently some suits can't tell if you're the performer or the lawn crew. I think the long haired men should be left alone, go after the tats and windowpanes instead! 25 Sept '06 - Finally it's Fall! Floridians love fall because the utility bill starts to drop. Work picks up as well. Which is good cause it's always dead as hell in the Summer. I guess if you live up north the utility bill increases. No one wants to brave a possible hurricane and so work plummets. A hurricane can really knock the fun out of your day! I seem to have brought a nasty germ back with me when returning home from New York a few weeks past. Sneezing, coughing, aches and pains... it's a good thing I didn't have that much to do. I did play for a great private party last Saturday in Light House Point. A beautiful night on the water with a Sushi buffet and cold beer. It was great! I did my best not to look sickly. I have also designed a new business card and I'm scouting for a print shop. 10 Sept '06 - What a week! The hurricane fizzled out (that's good), gas prices dropped a bit (that's good), some work got cancelled (that's bad) and my older brother Dave passed away at age 62. I spent the last week commiserating with the remainder of my family in upstate NY. It was amazing to witness the hundreds of well wishers who came to see him! Dad used to say he had a "...marryin', buryin' and graduation suit". Those seem to be the only times we ever get together. There are always the well intended promises to stay closer but they seem to evaporate in a very short while. Anyway, we love Dave. Dave is gone. 29 August '06 - Welcome to hurricane season! All the pundits have predicted a dreadful summer based on the experiences of last years horrific ordeal. I'm happy to say that things seem to be very much better than anticipated. You may think that's a good thing and yes it is. On the other hand all the state, local and federal agencies have made extensive improvements to their storm preparedness regimen. It appears they're desperate to test these improved systems. This means that the first storm of the season (Ernesto) gets the royal treatment. Media has pretty much terrified everyone (especially the elderly) with grim possibilities. The storm isn't slated to make landfall until 2 am Wednesday and already fuel stations are pumped dry. Water has disappeared from store shelves, work is cancelled and much more. They've even trotted out the hero of hurricane Andrew, one Bryan Norcross. Oh yeah, one more thing... Ernesto is not even a hurricane. It's a tropical storm. 21 August '06 - It's not healthy to be idle. Whenever I'm not busy performing I get busy learning. I'm working on a new medley of Caribbean rhythms. I recently used the new wireless mic and noticed how sensitive it is to interference. I've also been busy posting a new web site for a friend (Lynn Ellis). It's really been raining a great deal but we've had a surprising lack of hurricanes. South Florida isn't for everyone but I like it! 18 August '06 - Welcome to the first edition of my new blog. Everyone is blogging these days. I can't imagine that I'll have something to say that has not been said before, but I'm giving it a try. There's nothing so slow as August in South Florida... unless you consider September and October! It's a good time to take a vacation. Most musician's try to do studio work in the 'off season'. Lately I've done a few performances at the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Miami. It's great to meet a nice bunch of people who want to learn marketable skills instead of complaining about a lack of opportunities. Hats off to you guys, I'll sing for you anytime!
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