not dead yet...

...just saying.

ventura county fair 2009

A couple weeks ago I took a day off work so our family (and Lisa R.) could enjoy dollar day at the Ventura County fair. It's become something of a tradition, as we've done this for the past three years now. Every year has been better than the one before, probably due in large part to the kids' increasing age. Additionally, the weather was pretty cool this year, even cold at times. That is a very nice switch from the usual August heat wave, let me tell you. Also, this was the first year we didn't have to bring a stroller. Hopefully we will again bring a stroller someday, but that's another story.

This year we decided to walk around the entire fair before deciding what to do. I had no idea the fair was so large. In fact, about a month ago, I was telling my friend Ryan that though nice, I didn't think the Ventura County Fair was that big. Certainly it is nothing like the LA County Fair, but it is about twice as large as I previously thought. You care, right?

Anyway, the first stop after a preemptive bathroom break and the Sheriff & CHP meet and greet--our kids love seeing cop cars driving around, but have never wanted to talk to any of them at the fair--was one of the arts & crafts buildings. I'm not surprised we never went in that building before, seeing as the arts & craft buildings were my absolute least favorite parts of the fair when I was a kid. The theme of these exhibits was collections. People had displays of their various collections... erasers, New York paraphernalia, shot glasses, dolls, super heroes, and so on. The kids loved it.

After that, we walked around all the game booths (which I never knew were at this fair), and the "big kid/adult" rides. Our kids ran from one to the next, pointing and yelling, "I WANT TO GO ON THAT!!!" After telling our kids they were chickens had no effect (which would make more sense if I actually posted about our Disneyland trip back in May), I pointed out the height requirement that prevented them from riding any of the big rides.

"Do the people that work at these shops in the airport fair have any idea what the prices are EVERY PLACE IN THE WORLD?!?! 'Yeah, $14 for a tuna sandwich; we think that's fair.'" - J. Seinfeld, "I'm Telling You For the Last Time"

The biggest expense of us going to the fair is of course the food. Even this year, with only me being able to eat fair food (food allergies, etc.), it still constituted the bulk of our expenditures. So it was in this section that I partook of my first "fair food" of the day - deep fried Oreos. At $4 for four cookies, they weren't exactly cheap, but weren't that expensive either. But still, I wish I had my $4 back. In theory, anything fried surpasses a minimum level of "goodness" right? I'm also particular about my food, however. Not as particular as a certain friend of mine, but particular nonetheless. And I say if it's fried, it should be crispy. The fried Oreos were not crispy, as you may imagine. Furthermore, the whipped cream that was sprayed all over the piping hot oreos proceeded to melt immediately, leaving a not particularly appetizing river of grease & sugar soup in the bottom of the tray.

We decided to get rides out of the way first so that we could have a leisurely rest of the day at the fair. We got one sheet of tickets and let the kids pick what they wanted to ride. The T chose to go on a race car ride with me. About three-quarters of the way through the ride, some kid's grandmother started yelling to the attendant that their grandchild wanted to get off (or something like that). The ride stopped and the kid was like what are you talking about? The grandmother herself was a piece of work. How can I say this nicely... no, I'll just leave it at that. And even though the attendant told everyone to say seated because the ride wasn't over yet, the girl in the car in front of us unbuckled herself and proceeded to walk around the track, looking for the exit. Some people...

I then rode the helicopter ride with T and Ave. I posted about this ride last year, and was a little surprised to see that Mr. AAA was the attendant this year too. See last year's post if that makes no sense.

This year, we weren't going to miss the pig races like we had the previous two years. That meant staking out our seats early. Andrea and the kids had lunch from home, and I had some more fair food - polish sausage sandwich w/ onions & peppers. One of my peculiarities with food is that I trick myself into thinking whatever I choose has to be the best thing ever. This usually means I have a horrible time deciding on anything. One time, Andrea stated the obvious - "It's not like you can never eat here again..." and that has actually stuck with me, making such decisions easier. (I know, it's such an elementary problem to have. I can't help it.) The lunch was pretty good. Not amazing, but not bad, and not too expensive, relatively speaking. Adjacent to the pig racing track was a track for the "turkey stampede." I'm not really sure what that was because a crowd of people stood around that track, blocking our view. I had to keep reminding the kids that it was okay because seeing the pigs would be much more rewarding, and we had great seats for that. A HUGE plus of the crowd blocking our view was that I had a chance to take this incognito photo of a couple wearing matching Dragonforce apparel. Dragonforce is a classical metal band that reminds me of something like Iron Maiden on fast forward. Maybe? I dunno. I don't listen to that kind stuff at all. I listen to plenty of metal of course, but I've never really gotten into the modern symphonic metal stuff. The talent is there for sure, but I can't really take it seriously. I know, that's coming from me, who listens to a lot of music other people wouldn't take seriously.

I know I'm right in the middle of the pig race story, but this is a perfect time to talk about something else. You see, I was wearing my Crucified t-shirt at the fair. For those who may not know, they were a Christian punk and hardcore band that started back in the 80s. They then changed into a crossover band, finally settling into a thrash metal style. They were easily one of the most influential bands in the harder end of Christian music. The music was great and the lyrics were too. They broke up in 1993, did a final show in 1995, and then reunited for a few (or more?) shows earlier this year. A lot of younger hard music fans may not know who they were, but their influence and notoriety was pretty big, both in the secular and Christian scenes.

So we were walking and this old metalhead guy in his fifties says, "Hey man, I like your Crucified shirt." I would have returned the compliment, except I didn't find his Cannibal Corpse shirt that cool. Come to think of it... nah, it couldn't be. But maybe, just maybe, it was "Biker James," a guy who played in a Christian punk band called Godsent Humans, and then went on to play in a band called Modus Operandi. I know he did stuff before then, and is one of the big names in the So Cal Christian Punk scene, but I only know him for those last two gigs. Man, now I hope it wasn't him, because if it was, I totally missed out. Afterward, Andrea asked me if that made my day, and it kind of did.

Until, that is, we walked into one of the vendor buildings. The display right in front of us was for some kind of ceramic garlic grater. We were walking away, when I heard a voice coming out of the speakers. "Hey you... in the Crucified shirt..." I looked over at the garlic grater booth, incredulously. Ok, this guy's good at working the crowd, I thought. But then he said, "Is that the same as the old Christian speed metal band?" I walked over with half a smile on my face, still bewildered. I answered affirmatively. He then asked if they were still together. When I said they had reunited for a few shows, it was his turn to be bewildered. So in between his demonstrations, he'd turn to me and talk about how growing up, his dad was a pastor and he hated the music, but couldn't criticize the lyrics. He also mentioned another band he liked back then--Believer--who were another pretty big name in the Christian metal scene of old. We ended up buying one of the garlic grater dishes, not really because of the above events, but because they were kind of cool. It reminded me of my Grandfather, who used to come home from the LA fair with a ton of stuff/junk from the live infomercials.

Anyway, back to the pigs. It was worth the wait, and the kids loved it too.





I had half a mind to write thought bubbles for members of the crowd in this picture, but I don't know how to do that, and I ran out of good ideas. I like how excited the little kid in the bottom right is. I think the adult in the striped shirt looks really angry, like his pig is losing the race. And the kid on the left... I blurred his face to preserve his dignity, which just makes him look strange... but he looks hungry to me. Sorry.


After the pig races were done and the emcee was yakking on about buying merchandise and thanks for coming and all that, two of the pigs were busy raiding the food barrel. Classic.


Finally, Ave got to ride a pony. At $7 bucks a pop, it sure isn't cheap. Especially since my friend said we should try Griffith Park, where it is cheaper and the track is much larger. She loved it, though. It was a nice contrast to the three kids behind her (one of which tried to cut in front of Ava in line!). The older boy was fine, seemingly oblivious to the chaos happening behind him. So picture Ava, riding happily. Then Older Blond Boy, riding contentedly. Then you have pale pasty sister, whimpering quietly. Then you have Mom, who is trying to simultaneously comfort the whimpering girl and the brother behind her, who was screaming bloody murder. Perhaps the best part was when the Screamer was being put on the pony, Mom walked directly in front of it, causing it to start off at a healthy trot. One of the attendants jogged after the pony and got it under control. Then, Mom had the gall to chide the Screamer for scaring the horse, when she was the one who startled it. Gah!

This picture doesn't capture Ave's sheer joy, but it is a pretty cute one.


I think that about does it.

Oh, I also got chocolate covered bacon. It was pretty good, and really good the next day after being refrigerated overnight.

Tone Factor's YouTube Contest

I know it's been a while, and I've been meaning to get back to blogging more regularly. I just wanted to give props to my favorite pedal vendor once again: Tone Factor. I've gushed plenty about Tone Factor in the past, so I won't do it again here. Right now, Brad (Tone Factor head honcho) is running a contest right now, where contestants post their favorite demo video. This one blew me away. The playing is great, and is that really a Digitech pedal? Yikes. I'm seriously considering springing for a Digitech pedal (either this one or the Metal Master) because it's been too long since I filled the house with the brootalz. Ha ha. Enjoy, and for all you guitar players who read this, support the best pedal vendor around.

35 shuffle songs

It's been a while, right? Well, feels like a while anyway. Here we go... thirty-five songs long, with the added bonus of my one or two word commentary for each track. You're welcome.)

"Traps, Ensnares" by Daniel Amos.
Jeff says, "it's trippy"

"Outside Looking in" by Stretch Arm Strong
Jeff yells, "do it!"

"Every Shining Time You Arrive" by Sunny Day Real Estate
Jeff says, "heartbreak"

"Outdoor Miner" by Kick on the Floods
Jeff says, "queen vocals"

"Dave's Blues" by the 77s.
Jeff says, "fender strat"

"In the Crowd" by the Jam
Jeff says, "mod revival"

"The Ocean" by Sunny Day Real Estate
Jeff says, "it's pretty"

"Based on a True Story" by Aaron Sprinkle
Jeff says, "sleepy town"

"Power of God" by the Crucified
Jeff says, "wow"

"Is It All Gone" by the Magicians
Jeff says, "got soul?"

"Roxanne" (live) by Sting
Jeff says, "it swings"

"It Seems So Far Away" by Ninety Pound Wuss
Jeff says, "synth city"

"Real Love" by Smashing Pumpkins
Jeff says, "classic"

"Apples + Oranjes" by Smashing Pumpkins
Jeff says, "moody + groovy"

"Breathing In" by the Hero Cycle
Jeff says, "stop singing"

"Once Upon a Summertime"
Jeff says, "good night"

"We'll Last So Long" by Joy Electric
Jeff says, "snow travel"

"Three Sisters" by Hammock
Jeff says, "serenity"

"Sorry or Please" by Kings of Convenience
Jeff says, "metropolitan cool"

"Obsession" by Starfield
Jeff says, "cool drumbeat"

"Mr. Ar0chet" by Mortal
Jeff says, "scary"

"Trailer Park Love Song" by Goodnight Star
Jeff says, "remove song"

"Jesus Eternal" by Fold Zandura
Jeff says, "melancholy"

"Promises, Promises" by Madness
Jeff says, "organs"

"Yesterday" by the Beatles
Jeff says, "still great"

"Dimples" by the Animals
Jeff says, "real R&B"

"Circle of Power" by Crux
Jeff says, "righteous anger"

"Feel" by the Violet Burning
Jeff says, "breaking down"

"Second Sickness" by Desert City Soundtrack
Jeff says, "cinematic"

"Dig Dug" by the Prayer Chain
Jeff says, "angsty alternative"

"Unlethal Enforcer" by Commie64
Jeff says, "meh"

"Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland" by Thelonious Monk
Jeff says, "chill out"

"Punk Rawk Show" by MxPx
Jeff says, "played out"

"Light Up the Fire" by Parchment
Jeff says, "Jesus Music"

"Laid to Rest" by Lamb of God
Jeff says, "don't cuss"

fantastic song & pedalboard update

"Throwin' Shapes" by Minus the Bear is such an amazing song. If you already knew that, go listen to it again right now and bask in the greatness. If you did not already know that, or if you're thinking, "What's a Minus the Bear?" go listen to their song "Throwin' Shapes" and bask in the greatness.

Also, here's a shot of my newly downsized pedalboard that I mentioned yesterday.



The signal chain is as follows:

Barber Tone Press
Barber LTD
Tone Factor Huckleberry
Red Witch Moon Phaser
MJM Foxey Fuzz
Skreddy Top Fuel
Ernie Ball VPJR
Line 6 Verbzilla
Line 6 DL4

If you don't know what a signal chain is, you have more of a life than I do.

Wow... blogging on two consecutive days. Feels like it's been years since that happened. Hopefully it's a taste of things to come.

long time, no posting

Happy inauguration day (I guess). It's interesting... I didn't vote for Obama, but I kind of wanted to see the ceremony. And I don't want to keep picking on the guy, but I certainly would have no interest in watching it if "that other guy" had won the election... unless "that other guy" was the guy I actually wanted to vote for. But not to get off on that tangent. Suffice to say that I'm curious and hopeful to see how the next four years go. Oddly enough, I've been praying for Obama more than I ever did for Bush. Not sure why that is...

Speaking of that, I don't consider myself a huge fan of our previous president. Some things were good, but some things left me thinking, "Um, I don't know about that." And then there were those, "What were you thinking?" moments. But I've gotta say that the way he has handled his exit and the transition of power has really endeared me to him in a way I haven't been since 9/11. And his commuting of the sentences of former Border Patrol agents Ramos & Compean was just icing on the cake. I applaud you, sir.

Other than that not much else is new. The weather outside is warmer, but my office is still freezing.

I've started using V-Picks. There's been a lot of talk about them on various message boards, a lot of it overblown hype, but I decided to give them a try. It's a little early to tell, but I'm liking them so far.

I also decided to ring in the new year with a smaller pedalboard. (yes, that's right.) Since I don't play that much anymore, I decided to downsize to my old pedalboard. I liked being able to have all my pedals in one place (on the gigantic PedalTrain) but it was just so big. I narrowed it down to essentials and extra flavors, if you will. The blessing and curse of my pedal choices are that most of them are some form of dirt (overdrive/fuzz/etc.). This means that I can swap those in and out at will and still maintain a similar sound... sonic differences but functional sameness. I will readily admit that I spent a lot more time last year buying gear and fooling with it than actually playing. So this year, it's time to simplify and actually play guitar.

Speaking of which, I used some money received towards the end of last year to buy a new guitar. It's crazy, isn't it? I barely have time to play one guitar, and I keep getting more. What a strange sickness music gear is. I think I will devote an entire post to the subject of guitars, especially since the way this came about is kind of interesting (to me at least). But to tide you over (since I am certain you all like looking at guitar pictures and/or pictures I have taken as much as I do), here it is:



I'm still playing drums in Mainstream w/ Brian, Dave, and Clyde. Sunday was probably our most fun set to date. I don't know what it was, but something just seemed to click. The creative juices were flowing like crazy. I did make a few bloopers, but actually kept enough wits about me to cover them up and make it seem like I did things on purpose. I had a blast sitting behind the kit and worshiping at full volume.

I cancelled my emusic.com membership because I decided I didn't need to spend the money. I've been listening to a lot of old Jesus Music from the 70s. Kind of random.

And on the odd chance there's someone reading this who likes music on the slow and dreamy side of the spectrum, check out Au Revior Borealis. I've been spinning Dark Enough for Stars a lot lately and enjoy it more with each listen. Moody, ambient instrumentals are mixed in with more traditional slo-core/post-rock songs that feature just about everything I like about that genre—lazy vocals, solid but subdued drums, and dreamy guitar soundscapes full of atmosphere. Good stuff.

"ryan started the fire"

In all seriousness, looks like fires are back again. This morning we took a long walk to watch the helicopters and look at smoke from the Sylmar fire. There's a golf course a couple streets over and helicopters were picking up water all morning. Every now and then I still hear them.

Sounds like at least one friend's house may be gone. I've got a friend/co-worker who lives in that area as well and I haven't heard anything from him. So who knows? I know God is sovereign and in control and we can take comfort in that.

Here's the smoke we could see from streets around our neighborhood.




Here are some helicopter shots.




Everyone was getting into the picture taking. It was a little eerie to see people camped out in their pickup trucks watching the helicopters. People kept streaming out of the neighborhood to watch the happenings.

I hope that this guy is some sort of freelance photographer. Otherwise, he is way too serious about his hobby (note accessory belt).


And here's scooter guy, who couldn't be bothered with taking off his helmet. After all, wouldn't want everyone to see his helmet hair.

you say goodbye, I say hello

Some of these may not actually happen; some have happened already.

Goodbye: $30 and front window tint (that was there when I bought the car)
Hello: No longer having constantly check my mirrors for the CHP

Goodbye: Fulltone Full-Drive 2
Hello: Barber LTD

Goodbye: Fender Mustang
Hello: Hagstrom Viking

Goodbye: Los Angeles County
Hello: Ventura County

Goodbye: The last vestige of my nonconformity
Hello: That face website that Andrea convinced me to join

Halloween 08

birthday bash, part 2

My actual birthday started out with us at church. Normally we attend both morning services, spending the first service in the cry room with our kids and the second service in our Sunday School class (sometimes with the kids, sometimes without).

We've chosen the cry room option rather than sending the kids off to the nursery & Sunday School because we want to establish the tradition of worshiping as a family. It's not that church-going should only be a tradition. The world is full of people who attend church because they've always done so, or because it's just tradition, or because they feel guilty if they don't.

My wife and I, like most of those reading this blog, attend church because we love our Savior and His people. But one way we can establish the fact that Christ is the head of our home is by openly prizing Him before the kids. And church is a great opportunity to do this. Some people have suggested that our children may be too young to sit through a church service. I disagree. We have been working on training the kids to sit still and quietly listen to what is said, and we have seen great progress. We try to keep a level head about it because after all, 3 hours is a long time for toddlers to sit still. That said, we believe that what we are doing is important and worthwhile so we try to sit together for at least one service every week.

Anyway, because of our exhausting day on Saturday, we were not able to go to both services. Let me tell you—the cry room during second service is a whole 'nother ballgame. Wow... just, wow. When the service started, we were the only ones in the room. The TV was blasting so I turned down the volume just a bit. As the morning went on, I started to regret that decision more and more. It was so noisy in there. Granted, it is a cry room and you can't expect it to be like a library. But wow. What a circus.

Later that afternoon, Andrea's parents came to our place and watched the kids so we could go out for my birthday. Andrea kept the details a secret, directing my driving in vague generalities. All she told me was take the 210E and exit at Lake Ave. We drove past the area that less than 24 hours later would be full of flames. Interesting timing in that regard.

When Andrea said turn left off the freeway, my first thought was The Hat. I've mentioned on more than one occasion that we should go to The Hat some day.

I happened to guess correctly. But what I was not expecting was that this was just the first stop of many.

Andrea's plan involved picking items of food that I liked and then researching to find out the area's best offerings. We were at The Hat to get onion rings, and they were really good. I don't know if they were the best I've ever had, but they were really good. They were really yeasty, which I liked and Andrea didn't. There sure were a lot of them, too. I'd estimate about 3 onions worth of rings inside that brown paper bag. I knew we had more stops to make so I paced myself accordingly. We ate about a third of the rings and then headed out with the leftovers in tow.

The next stop was Fredo's Phillys for Philly Cheesesteaks. Fredo's was a little hole in the wall place, which is usually a good sign. Andrea got a regular Philly (meat, onions, cheese) and I got a Philly Hoagie. I know it's kind of "wrong" to mess up a Philly by adding the cold lettuce and tomatoes, but I happen to like the variety. I topped it off with a Hank's Root Beer, which was excellent.

The sandwiches were really interesting because the meat was sliced a little thicker than every other cheesesteak I've had. This imparted more of a meaty flavor than I'm used to. On just about every other example I've had, the cheese flavor tends to overpower the meat flavor. Make no mistake—Fredo's Phillys still oozed cheese all over the place, but the meat flavor was still quite distinct. About a third of the way into the sandwich, I really started to hit a wall. I managed to eat three-fourths of the sandwich before calling it quits. I could have continued if I really wanted to, but I knew that dessert was coming.

And come it did. We headed to Old Town Pasadena to a place called 21 Choices. It is pretty much the frozen yogurt equivalent of places like Maggie Moo's, Marble Slab, and Cold Stone. Except it's much, much more. They mix their own yogurt flavors daily and have a ridiculous amount of mix ins available, everything from fresh fruit to candy to cereal to cookies... you name it and they've probably got it. And to top it all off (no pun intended), the service was excellent. Our server was very helpful and friendly. After much deliberation, Andrea decided on Snickers yogurt with Twix. I settled on Mayan Chocolate with Circus Animal Cookies. Meanwhile the guy in line behind us was having trouble deciding what flavor of yogurt to get. The server said, "Let me get you some samples!" She came back with a spoonful of every single flavor. Overkill, yes, but the manner in which it was done exuded warmth and friendliness. I would definitely go back to 21 choices again. Somehow I managed to eat the whole thing despite my full stomach. Then again, it was really good, and I do like frozen yogurt.

It was nice to spend a few hours with my bride and not have the kids along. We ended up talking about them quite a bit, though. It was nice to be able to walk and hold my wife's hand instead of my children's hands.

Random side note: on Sunday morning as we walked across the church campus, Ava was holding Andrea's hand. Andrea was holding my hand. I was holding Trevor's hand. And I felt really goofy.

But yeah, it was nice to get away for a few hours and just relax together.

We drove back home and talked with Andrea's parents for a little while. Then they went home and we watched the prior week's episode of The Office.

Then on Monday night, we went out for dessert again. Andrea's original plan was to have Monday night's dessert after 21 Choices on Sunday night, but I'm glad she decided not to do that. So Monday night we went to Dippin' Dots. Once Trevor figured out that the dots were indeed ice cream, he enjoyed it. He got a Watermelon Ice; Andrea split a Strawberry Ice with Ava; I got Caramel Brownie Sundae. Tasty, but nothing compared to the previous night. Still fun, though.

That just about wraps up my birthday happenings. On Tuesday night, I bought something with some birthday money I received, and last night I came home to find that my new (to me) iPod had arrived safe and sound. The Live dot com cashback deal was at 30%. Birthday money plus a refurbished & recently discontinued model plus 30% cashback (in 60 days) meant that I got a new iPod with plenty of storage and I still have a couple bucks leftover. And all for less than my old 4th generation iPod color cost (see below)*.

Win!

Getting it set up was kind of a nightmare: the iTunes update kept freezing, and then I discovered that the iPod was originally formatted for a Mac, and then the restorer kept freezing. But finally I got it working. The music files on my computer are kind of a mess right now. Actually, the files are more organized than ever, but iTunes can't find most of them because I've moved them all around. So I've only got about 2GB on the iPod at the moment, but what a good 2GB they are!

And let me tell you... gapless album playback makes it all worth it... every single penny. The flashy menus and new features are just "nifty gifties" but eliminating that split-second pause between tracks that are supposed to be linked together makes me smile.

* As far as I know, that is. My old 4th gen. iPod was a gift from my parents, but I think I remember them asking me if the price they were going to pay was fair.

birthday bash

"Sunken.anchor - Dude, it's your birthday!"

So read a thread I read Monday morning on a certain message board I frequent. I certainly appreciated the well-wishing, and it was a nice way to cap off the weekend.

On Saturday, Andrea organized a bridal shower for her sister at her parents' house. That meant I had the kids for the afternoon. It was suggested that I find food in the kitchen, but since the kitchen was occupied by five or six stressed out women, I figured eating out was a much better option. I gave the choice to Trevor and he picked "the Donald's." We drove to the golden arches and proceeded inside. My future brother-in-law Mike planned to meet us there.

I don't understand why McDonald's is so popular. You know, with locations in most countries worldwide and the signs they used to have boasting of how many burgers they'd served...

J. Seinfeld said it best:

And why is McDonald's still counting? How insecure is this company? 40 gillion, 80 million, zillion, billion, killion, tillion... What is this? Does it mean anything to anyone? "89 billion sold." Okay, I'll have one. What is their ultimate goal? To have cows just surrendering voluntarily? Showing up at the door—"We'd like to turn ourselves in. We see the sign... we realize we have very little chance out there. We'd like to be a Happy Meal if that's at all possible."

But really, I don't know why or how people prefer McDonald's food to just about every other fast food joint out there. Burger King? Carl's Jr.? Wendy's? Certainly none of these are high class establishments, but I'd eat at any of them before eating at McDonald's.

But I digress.

Trevor likes McDonald's, mostly because of the kiddie playgrounds. Sadly, the location I picked did not have said playground and he was not too happy about that. I ordered them each a cheeseburger—"cheesyburgers" as Ava says—and ordered myself a Big Mac. We split an order of fries.

I used to think McDonald's fries were pretty good; now I think they are pretty much not good at all.

T ate all of his fries, his whole cheeseburger, a couple bites of my Big Mac, and about a third of Ave's cheeseburger. She ate all her fries and the remaining two-thirds of her cheeseburger. T was still hungry and kept asking for something else to eat. Mike had still not arrived; I did my best to deflect T's persistent cries of "I'm still hungry" while reminding him that he only needs to ask for things one time. Mike arrived and ordered his food. I ordered T a "Snack Wrap" or whatever they call it. Chicken strip, cheese, lettuce, and sauce in a tortilla. White Trash Burrito is more like it, I think. The sauce options were honey mustard, barbecue, or ranch. I thought ranch would be most pleasing to the T.

We went outside and I unwrapped the W.T.B. for T, who took literally two small bites before pronouncing that he was no longer hungry. I wasn't hungry but I wasn't about to waste the food/money, so I ate the thing. It was okay but I wasn't a fan of the ranch flavor. I would have preferred the honey mustard, but I thought T wouldn't like it... and as I write this, I'm kicking myself and remembering that Trevor does like mustard. Grr.

Later that night, T was telling Andrea that he didn't like the burrito very much. I said, "That's because you didn't even get to the chicken part; you only ate the lettuce." His astonished look was priceless. There was chicken?

We went across the street to Camarillo High where they were having some sort of Michael Scott Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run for the Cure deal. At the gates was an Emergency Response vehicle. Trevor looked inside but didn't want to go inside. We walked around the track and looked around while listening to really bad karaoke versions of "Love Shack," and "Come Together," among others. On our way out, Trevor said, "An ambulance!!!" Guess he forgot about it already.

We spent the next few hours at the park. Lots of swinging. Lots of slides. Lots of running around. The weather was so nice and the park was busy but not overcrowded and suddenly, Camarillo was looking VERY appealing. We'd like to move out in that general direction someday but are thinking that for now, we'll probably stay in our current geographic area. Days like Saturday make that decision a lot tougher.

The next few hours were filled with swings, slides, roughhousing, sand pyramid making, kite-watching, and general fun. Eventually I got the "all clear" call informing me that the bridal shower was wrapping up. We headed back to the house and then headed home.

By the time we got there, we were all pretty exhausted. The kids had leftovers and Andrea and I had Popeye's. (Those of you who are following Andrea's blogs about eating healthy don't need to be told that Popeye's was not her first choice.)

Whew. What a busy day. And that wasn't even the birthday-related part. It turned out that Andrea's parents weren't able to watch the kids on Saturday night so my birthday dinner was postponed until the next day...

voices (only)

Tonight at Bible Study I'm thinking of doing the songs completely a capella. It'll be different for sure, but I have high hopes that disaster will be avoided.

little reminders

Today I overslept. I woke up at pretty much the time I needed to leave to go to work. So I skipped showering, washed my face and my hair in the kitchen sink (since the shower was occupied), and then got ready as quickly as I could. On the way to work, I passed a pretty big accident on the freeway. The radio said about eight cars were involved; I counted about that many, but a couple of them were fused together so it was kind of hard to tell, plus I am really annoyed by people who rubberneck on the freeway, so I try not to do it myself.

It got me thinking... If I had woken up on time, I might have been in the accident. Maybe. It would have been possible, anyway. If I had taken a shower and gone to work later, I could have been stuck in a whole lot of traffic. Maybe. It had already cleared off to the shoulder, so it may not have been that bad, but probably worse than I experienced.

As it was, I had just a little bit of extra traffic and no accident.

Demonstration of grace? I believe God is sovereign, even concerning small details, so you tell me. I certainly have no problem thanking God for minor circumstances like not hitting too much traffic. I just wish I did it more often.

new amps are fun

Many, many years ago, my friend Kyle gave me his old guitar. He had upgraded from a Squier Stratocaster to an Epiphone Les Paul sometime before this. He had installed Sperzel locking tuners on the Strat and wondered if I wanted to take them and put them on my guitar. "Sure," I said. He just gave me the whole guitar since it wasn't working anyway. Some problem with the electronics. I popped the hood, as it were, but didn't see any loose solder connections or anything, and that was about the extent of my knowledge. And yeah, that's pretty much still the extent of my knowledge of electronics.

Long story short—relatively speaking—it has been sitting in my closet for the past... probably 10 years at least. I had plans to fix it up someday, but that day never came. Maybe someday I'll get a vintage white maple-necked guitar and get to put a black pickguard on there like I planned to do with the Squier. Maybe not. I decided that it was not happening anytime soon, so I put it up for sale. I figured someone could either part it out or fix it up themselves. I learned that it was a 1993 Korean-made Squier Strat. This meant that it wasn't worth big money, which is pretty much what I expected. I took a quick look on ebay to price the parts separately, then came up with an asking price and posted it on a couple message boards.

It received more interest than I expected. The first guy declined because he was looking for a particular model, but the second guy wanted it. He didn't have enough cash to meet my asking price, but he offered a trade to compensate. I preferred a sale, but the trade offer intrigued me. The piece he was offering was a mini amp head, made by one of the guys on the message boards. I'd previously been interested in these mini amps, but didn't think spending the money was justified. Maybe I should have gotten one a few months ago when the guy started making them, since the price, though still a great deal, has already doubled. I thought about it, and went for it. I figured, cash plus mini amp for a guitar that lived in my closet... in my old room at my parents' house. Yeah... definitely worth it.

The amp is a 1 watt solid state head, powered either by 9-volt battery or power adapter. The front panel, if you can call it that, has an input jack, a gain knob, and a power switch. The rear panel, if you can call it that, has a speaker out jack. It's capable of driving most speaker cabinets. The videos the builder posted online sounded really good. Outstanding, even. And to top it off, it sits inside a small pedal enclosure.

Here's a picture of the test rig:



I wanted to see how well it took pedals, and the Top Fuel was handy. Besides, since it is a solid state amp, I figured it would take fuzz pedals better than overdrives.

I ran my Fender American Strat Deluxe into the Skreddy Top Fuel into the Noisemaker Effects Mini Amp into a Mesa 2x12 speaker cabinet.

The volume is perfect for home use, and I could see myself using it for those non-drummer settings. At maximum gain, it's about the level I use at home with my other amps. The base tone is nice and neutral, not overly bright or dark. And the gain range is perfect for pedal usage; it goes from pretty clean to a medium amount of drive.

For what it is, it sounds really good, and I don't mean that as a backhanded compliment. It's doesn't just sound good for being a mini amp. It sounds good period. I always thought it'd be cool to show up to play with my speaker cab and a tiny amp. Now I get that chance.

And now that I think of it, Kyle has always struck me as being generous. That's cool.

random thoughts

1. Our office building recently installed flushless urinals. Flushless urinals + room with no windows = bad idea.

2. Double Cheeseburgers at Del Taco are really good. They're even better when you use a coupon to get it for 60% off the menu price.

3. Nerds are the best candy. Free Nerds are even better.

4. On Monday the mailman dropped off a new fuzz pedal for me. That means that something on my pedalboard has to go, and it is no easy choice. My new toy is a Subdecay Flying Tomato. It's a silicon fuzz pedal with a bunch tone-sculpting features. Brian Marshall at Subdecay is really earning my respect as a builder. His big thing is creating products that allow the user to adjust a given pedal to their current setup. Where many fuzz pedals just have volume and fuzz knobs, the Flying Tomato also has bass and treble controls, plus an optional input buffer that allow you to place the pedal anywhere in your signal chain. (Many fuzz pedals work best at the beginning of the signal chain). Perhaps the coolest feature is the bias knob, which controls the amount of power going into the circuit. With the bias turned down, you gan get sputtery & glitchy sounds; with the bias full up, you get a nice sustained sound. In between those two extremes is where I've used it most (so far).

5. I used real drum sticks at church on Sunday. It felt so much better than the "acousticks" I normally use. Practice on Saturday was okay, but I felt a little rusty. The ideas were not coming. Sunday was entirely different. Everything flowed well, and the ideas flowed nicely. It's the most "free" my playing has been in quite a long time. I got good response about my volume as well. I guess drum sticks are the way to go. Heh... the sound guys are going to love that.

6. I heard a friend of mine is in a band and that he actually has decent guitar gear. When I knew him, he was a great player but hat not-so-great gear. I'd always think, You know, ___ would really love this pedal. Oh, wait a minute, he's probably still playing a Carvin through a solid state Peavey. Never mind. At lunch today I snooped around and found the band website. As expected, he's still got the facial hair thing going on.

7. It's easy to feel coordinated and athletic when your competition is a three year old child. Yeah, I rocked Trevor at soccer. And I don't even like soccer.

8. On Wednesday we went to opening day of the Ventura County Fair. It was not too crowded, and not too hot. Andrea got a tri-tip sandwich that was disappointing. I'm really glad I didn't get one. Instead I got a gigantic (foot long) corn dog. And I also got a corn polish sausage (is that what you'd call it?). After that, I was stuffed... and kind of sick. Because of time and money, we let Trevor pick one ride to go on. He picked the same one he rode last year: the helicopters. You'd know about that if I ever got around to posting about last year's fair experience, but I don't think I'll be doing that now. I went over to the ride operator and verified how many tickets we'd need.

Me: Excuse me...

Angry Adolescent Augusto: Mmm (nodded but didn't look over)

Me: Excuse me (louder)

A.A.A.: Yeah?

A.A. Augusto must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. He angrily motioned that he (apparently) had to keep his eyes glued to the ride in progress and so couldn't turn and look at me. Yikes. I was just making sure he heard me the first time.

Me: If I'm going to take my son on the ride, do I need 3 tickets or 6?

See, last year, Trevor went on a ride and I was pretty sure I could accompany him without needing tickets. That was why he went on more than one ride last year.

A.A. Augusto held up three fingers.

Me: Three?

I wanted to make sure.

A.A. Augusto again showed me his tres dedos and nodded his head in annoyance.

So guess what happened? I bought 6 tickets so Trevor and Ava and I could go on the helicopters. We got to the front of the line, and...

That's right. In broken English, Angry Adolescent Augusto conveyed that I needed three more tickets. Three each for the kids, and three more for me since Ava was under the height limit.

Me: But you said...

A.A.A. shook his head

Me: But I asked you how many and you said six.

I don't know why I bothered... language barrier and all. So after explaining to Trevor that the man made a mistake, we got back in line (after I simmered down). Ava had to ride the stroller instead of the 'copters, but she recovered quickly.

After the fair, we went to Andrea's parents' house. Later that evening, we picked blueberries with the kids and two of their Aunties. I carried Ava for most of that experience (and was really sore yesterday).

When I was in fourth grade, my class went on an overnight trip to Placerita Canyon. I remember only a few random thoughts from that trip--I was afraid that bugs were going to crawl inside our sleeping bags since we were open-air camping, and that my teacher was surprised that I ate a bowl of Corn Flakes with no milk and no sugar--but one memory sticks out even more than those. We were going to take this nature hike deal, and we were gathered outside some ranger station listening to the ranger tell us about something... naturey. The path was lined with melon-sized rocks. I looked over at a kid named Matt M. I still see him at church occasionally. Anyway, crawling all over his shoes and legs were a ton of gigantic black ants. Since that day, I always wondered what that was like and hoped I never had to find out.

So back to blueberry picking. I was standing there holding Ava and I kept feeling this poking around my ankles. I finally thought to look and what did I discover but that I was standing on top of a nest of red ants. They did not take kindly to this intrusion; a whole lot of really mean red ants were crawling all over my shoes and jeans (and biting me whenever they found my skin). I brushed them off as best I could, but they were really persistent. I had to kill them to remove them, because it was tough to just brush them off... they just wouldn't let go. Grr...

Before long, Andrea was their next victim.

And then Trevor.

And then Lisa.

Stinkin' red ants. Grr.

9. Songs for Sunday were "The Solid Rock," "Son of God," "Lamb of God," and "How Great is Our God." Lots of "of God" songs, but not on purpose. Something weird was going on. The guitar sounded out of tune when I was playing, but when I checked the tuning, I was in tune. As soon as we all played and sang, though, something sounded really wrong. It was distracting to me but I had people tell me it sounded fine out in the audience. Oh well. As I told a friend, "You win some; you lose some." Not every worship set will go exactly as planned, but people can still enjoy the time. And based on the singing volume, people seemed to. And for that, I'm thankful.

mountain excursion - colorado 2008

The weekend following our 3rd annual Mammoth trip, Andrea and I left the kids at my parents' house and headed off to Winter Park, CO for Andrea's cousin's wedding. I anticipated traffic so we left pretty early. Of course there was no traffic so we got to the airport pretty early, even with a gas station run for fuel and food. We sat in the parking lot and listened to talk radio for a while until we both had to go to the bathroom. Before long, Andrea's family arrived. Our plane rides were pretty uneventful. I don't suffer from motion sickness so my recap isn't as interesting as Andrea's.

Once we got to Denver, we had to get rental vehicles. We ended up with a Chevy Suburban and a Jeep Cherokee (I wasn't driving either one). I remember that it took forever to do, and that I was very hungry. Most people don't know this about me, but when I get really hungry, I get really cranky. I couldn't figure out what was taking so long. The cashiers must have worked at Target previously. We stopped for lunch at Qdoba. After that, we had a long drive up into the mountains.

I'd never been to the Rockies and quite enjoyed the terrain. It was interesting to drive through a bunch of really small towns that looked like leftovers from 150 years ago. The weather was kind of chilly. Sometimes it was refreshing, but sometimes it was just cold. The air was clear and crisp.

The actual facilities were pretty nice. We stayed at YMCA of the Rockies - Snow Mountain Ranch. The rooms we stayed in were kind of like a cross between a dorm and a hotel. There was a big cafeteria and a smaller grill where we ate our meals.

The first night there was a bonfire and we had S'mores. It was freezing. On the way there, we somehow became the leader of the caravan. This was particularly humorous since we didn't really know where we were going. Mike just kind of drove around and the five or so cars behind us just followed.

The second day people played games in the gym and just kind of hung out. That afternoon was the ceremony, held in a little chapel. It was nice and it was short. The reception food was good. Eventually the dancing started. I'm sorry, but the DJ wasn't very good. There were a ton of technical problems. Then two guys who were friends of someone (the bride & groom?) who were supposedly DJs stepped in for a few songs. At first I thought that if I was the "official" DJ, I'd be a little miffed. But they weren't any better (unfortunately). I was hoping for something cool, but it just didn't unfold that way. My ears were killing me by the time we left. If we had our own car, we probably would have left sooner, but since we didn't, our ears took a pounding. I think I already damaged my ears enough when I was young and playing in bands. These days, I can't take much before I start to hurt.

The next day we just kind of relaxed for most of the day and then headed back to Denver to fly home. We had lunch at Qdoba again. At the airport, I noticed the hideous Mustang by Luis Jimenez. Our flights home were pretty uneventful too. I had to fly by myself from Phoenix to LA because we changed our flights last minute. Andrea and I reunited in LA and then headed to my parents' house to get the kids. Then home, then bed.

3rd annual post-tax season mammoth trip

It's funny... Andrea didn't remember much about our most recent trip to Mammoth, and I don't either.

I know that there wasn't much snow, but there was still snow within a short driving distance. One afternoon we sledded a little. I took Trevor down a hill that was a little too steep. It was kind of narrow too, and there were trees at the bottom. This meant that I had to stop us by putting my feet out in front and running into the trees. The first run was actually okay: he enjoyed it and I was able to stop. On the second run, however, my feet caught some dry branches and sent them flying backwards. I know this because I caught a twig in the lip. I'm surprised (and relieved) that Trevor didn't get hit in the eye or something.

We drove our new van. I tried my best to employ different driving styles so that we wouldn't be sitting at 2000 rpms the whole way.

We went with my parents this year. That was cool. They had to leave early because someone (my Mom, I think) was sick. That wasn't cool.

One day we had lunch at Schat's. My sandwich was almost as good as the previous year's. I can't remember what kind it was. Andrea didn't like hers.

We got some clothes at the outlets.

We had dinner one night at Pita Pit. I don't remember what I got there either, but it was tasty.

Hmm... that's about all I remember. Oh, we also stopped at some random gas station in the middle of nowhere and got ice cream on the way home because the ice cream shop we visited two years earlier had turned into a restaurant. And on the way up to Mammoth, we got beef jerky from a really small stand on the side of the road. The shack employee (who may not have even been legal?) was listening to the Pope give an address of some sort.

Yeah, that's about all I remember.

weekend and then some

Friday - Our Bible Study has been studying Romans. We most recently discussed the doctrine of original sin. It was a great time and a very clear presentation by Ryan D., our shepherd. To prepare during the week, I pulled out one of my old textbooks from college (A. Hoekema's Created in God's Image). As such, lots of the material was familiar by Friday. Additionally, it corresponded very nicely with some of the music I've been listening to (which is a discussion for another time). Suffice to say that God is amazing in His grace and love and holiness.

Saturday - I grilled burgers and corn and we had a picnic on our front lawn. It was pretty warm, but it was really fun. The burgers looked a little iffy but they turned out great. The corn was not as good as last time I made it, but it was still pretty tasty. I was going inside to get silverware when I felt something hit my hair. I heard a loud buzzing so I instinctively whipped my hand over my head to clear away whatever was there. Turns out it was a wasp. Thankfully, it was already gone by the time I flailed at it. I was happy to preserve my lifelong streak of never being stung by an insect. I did see it flying away, which prompted me to look around. There under the eaves of the roof was a nest about the size of a golf-ball. Some half a dozen wasps were on the surface; a couple others were flitting about. I laughed to myself since I had recently been discussing the fact that I had never even seen a hornet in real life with some message board friends who were asking how to get rid of them.

Sunday - I was privileged to help with music at my friend Ryan P.'s church. It was a blast. The body of Christ is by no means limited to our church, and times like Sunday remind me of that. The church is quite a bit smaller than our church, which was really nice. Everyone seemed really friendly too. I ended up seeing and briefly talking to Brian A. It was kind of a what are you doing here? moment, although I figured Ryan invited him.

Last week I was telling my co-worker Byron G. about the arrangements for the weekend but didn't tell him where it was going down. On Monday, he came into my office and asked if I was at such and such church on Sunday. I confirmed and wondered how he knew that. It turns out the maintenance guy for the building where I work goes to the church with his family. He saw me on stage and was like, "Hey, I seen that guy at (name of my work)."

It was a special treat to help out since Ryan plays guitar for my favorite band. In all honesty, I was a little intimidated by that at first. After all, it's not every day that one gets to play music with one of their musical idols. But I had a wonderful time worshiping with the musicians with whom I shared the stage, and I trust, with the rest of the congregation.

We had lunch @ Stonefire Grill with Ryan and his family, and also with the guest speaker and his family. It was a lot of fun. I saw one of my favorite college professors there with his family, but I always feel weird about talking to old professors. "You probably don't remember me... and that's okay because you shouldn't really remember me because I was pretty quiet in class... etc." And of all the things I learned from Dr. C.W. Smith, one thing that always jumps to the front of my mind is him telling our class, "You should never ask someone, 'Do you remember me?' Why should they remember you? That's kind of an arrogant thing to ask, don't you think? Instead, you should just introduce yourself as if you haven't met them, and then let them remember you on their own." (paraphrase)

Later, Ryan saw him and chatted for a bit. And it turns out that Dr. Morley was also the mentor for the guest speaker who was eating with us, so I ended up being the only one not to talk to him. Oh well; should'a, could'a, would'a.

During lunch, Ryan told me that a member of one of my other favorite bands was also in attendance. I guess he was friends with the guest speaker or something like that. So there I was... in the same room as two guys who play guitar for two of the bands that have influenced me more than any other... and they're listening to me play instead of the other way around! Humbling for sure. It's funny because after the service I saw him and thought you know, that guy looks kind of like F____ K_______, but it's probably not him.

Speaking of guitar, I would not be myself if I didn't talk about the gear I used. That serves as a warning to those of you who are bored to tears by this stuff. You can stop reading now... the rest of the post is just gearhead nonsense.

My new guitar made its live debut on Sunday. I also changed around my pedalboard (yes, again) because there was just too much on there that I wouldn't be using in a church setting. I'll probably still wire up the big board again, if for no other reason than that it's really, really (really, really) nice to be able to put power strips under my Pedaltrain and leave everything connected. Because of size limitations, I had to unplug a handful of cables before putting my board away.

My revised rig was as follows:

Agile Harm 3 - This is my new one. I've not yet divulged a whole lot of info about it, so here it is. It's sort of a semi-hollow guitar. I say sort of because the only hollow section is the upper chamber. The center is solid, as is the section featuring the controls. Because of this, it has a bit more openness than a solid-body guitar, but it's definitely not a ringy as a "full" semi-hollow (like a Gibson 335 or Epiphone Sheraton or Epiphone Dot). It has a short-scale neck so it plays more like a Gibson than a Fender. It has no fretmarkers except for two dots at the twelfth fret, which I think lends it a sleekness not often seen. Indeed, it looked, well, amazing sitting on stage under the lights. It has three mini-humbuckers that actually sound great. The five-way selector switch puts them in different combinations just like a Fender Strat, and every position is very usable. Furthermore, the body shape is an original, designed by a few individuals from the Harmony Central message boards (hence the name "Harm 3"). And best of all, it was cheap. I think it cost $350. It's certainly not up to par with a guitar that costs two or three times more, but without a doubt you get more guitar than you pay for (that comment is what drew me to this guitar in the first place).

and

USA Fender Strat Deluxe - This is still my #1 guitar. It's really versatile and can cover all the ground I need it to. If I'm ever not sure what will be asked of me (happens quite often playing church music), this is the guitar I bring. In addition to the standard 5-way switching of Strats, the Deluxe model has an additional 5 settings available. Honestly, I don't even remember about the alternate settings unless I'm just messing around.

into

Ernie Ball VPJR (volume pedal) - Normally I have my volume pedal after all the drive pedals so that I can control the gain with my guitar volume knob and raise or lower the overall volume with the pedal. I couldn't fit this pedal on the board, though, so I just put it first. Not a big deal. It was crucial for all the swelly atmosphere I needed to play.

Barber Tone Press (compressor) - I really only used this one to smooth out the U2-style delay parts that are oh so prevalent in modern worship music.

Tone Factor Huckleberry (fuzz) - I didn't use it. I'm still not sold on using fuzz pedals through my small amp. Maybe there's not enough headroom. Not sure. They usually end up sounding to... boxy?

Skreddy Top Fuel (distortion) - This is my go-to pedal for solos, but since I didn't have any... it didn't get used either.

Fulltone Full-Drive 2 (overdrive) - This was my main drive sound for the two "big" songs we did ("Let Your Kingdom Come" and "Beautiful One"). I also kicked it on for a lot of the atmospheric volume swells to give them a little more character.

Tone Factor Sugar Baby (tremolo) - We did the Anathallo version of "Before the Throne of God Above" which meant I needed less space and more roots. I know that this is the favorite guitar effect of a certain sound scientist who reads this once in a while. Too bad he wasn't able to hear it.

Red Witch Moon Phaser (phaser... duh) - I also used this one for "Before the Throne." I had the rate set pretty high, and the depth backed off a bit. If that doesn't make sense, think of a fast tremolo with some warble and that'll get you pretty close.

Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (delay) - This was on for a lot of the atmospheric stuff. Feedback turned up quite a bit, long delay time, decent amount of vibrato. Very atmospheric.

Line 6 Verbzilla (reverb) - I used a long plate reverb for all the atmospheric parts. I really like this pedal... it sounds great and can pull off normal and "out there" sounds.

Line 6 DL-4 (delay) - I used this one for all the U2 parts as well as some of the atmospheric sections. Some people like them and some people hate them. I like it but don't love it. Still, it's very intuitive and works for me.

into

Crate V1512 - Class A tube amp made by St. Louis Music, the same company that owns Ampeg and Crate. It has 3 12AX7s and 2 EL84s stock; I recently switched out the first 12AX7 for a 12AT7, which lowers the overall gain. Since the amp is only 15 watts, it would start to distort pretty early. Swapping in the 12AT7 means I can turn the gain knob up about halfway before it gets noticeably distorted. Previously, I could only go about 1/3 to 1/4 of the way up which meant I'd have to run the master volume that much higher. Mine came with a Tone Tubby hemp cone 12" speaker, the same configuration as the one I tried in my local shop. I was really surprised about this amp. I agreed to try it out to humor the sales guy who was trying to offer a modern alternative to the Fender Champ I asked about. I was surprised that it actually sounded really good. Crate/St. Louis Music has since changed the amp significantly and has moved production to Vietnam. Mine was made right here in the USA.

Monday - I don't remember much about Monday except that I was introduced to the music of Matthew Perryman Jones and Blake Aaron Guthrie. Some of you are no doubt familiar with their music but I wasn't until Monday. I'm a bigger fan of the first than the second, but both are pretty good. All right... I'll amend that. M.P.J. is quite good and B.A.G. is pretty good. Oh, and I was thinking a lot about the sermon from Sunday (at the church we were at), which deserves its own post.

Tuesday - This was free hot dog or ice cream day at Wienerschnitzel. Unfortunately the closest location is in Canyon Country. After driving there, we found that (by all appearances) they were only offering hot dogs, not ice cream. And the line was long. So we ended up going to Foster's to get not-free-but-not-expensive ice cream. The kids each had a jr. cone and Andrea and I split a Nutter Butter twister. I liked it but Andrea said she'd have picked a different flavor. Andrea also made falafel for dinner, which was great. I had fun getting crazy with the kids too. A couple of clowns are what we have.

Which brings me to today, Wednesday - Today was a good music day. I listened to these albums:

Andrew Peterson - "The Far Country"
Matthew Perryman Jones - "Throwing Punches in the Dark"
Exeter Flud - "Exeter Flud"
Jeremy Enigk - "World Waits"
Midsummer - "Inside the Trees"
Midsummer - "Driftwood" film score
Yo-Yo Ma - "Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone"
Surrounded - "Safety in Numbers"

More could be said, no doubt, but I'm tired and ready for bed.

2nd annual post-tax season mammoth trip (photos)

Here are extra shots from our trip that didn't fit in the narrative:

2nd annual post-tax season mammoth trip

In April (yes, last April... of last year... I'm a bit behind with the updates), we embarked on our second annual trip to Mammoth Lakes, CA. This has become our way to celebrate the end of tax season.

Our Jeep is pretty old so we opted to take the car instead. The seats weren't as comfortable, but the road noise was probably at least 50% quieter. My car also has an AUX in jack so I was able to use my iPod. The car doesn't have as much cargo room, however, so we were a little cramped. I had to load and unload the trunk a few times before I could get everything to fit. In my younger, band days (the Persecuted/die Verfolgten and 2 Many Daves/the Spectaculars), I was given the nickname of "the Pack Master" on account of the way I squeezed our gear into small spaces. I'm obviously way out of practice.

Ava did fairly well on the trip up, though we did have to stop a few times so Andrea could nurse her. If my memory serves me correctly, we were about 15 minutes north of Lone Pine when Ava decided she needed to eat.

Immediately.

I pulled the car around and headed south towards civilization. After a few minutes of screaming, I pulled over to the shoulder and then onto a gravel service road. As Andrea took care of Ava, I walked around to stretch my legs. I couldn't resist snapping a couple promo-style shots of the car.

We stopped somewhere for a snack on the way up. (McDonald's? We sat inside... I had a chicken sandwich... there were lots of high school kids inside because it was the only place to hang out)

That night we went to Berger's Restaurant (used to be "Berger's" but it was sold and rebranded "Burgers" which is really lame.). Apparently Thursday night is not a popular night to dine out, because we were one of three filled tables. I remember going to Berger's when I was younger, and this occasion did not disappoint. I ordered a Buffalo Burger (as in bison meat, not buffalo wing flavor) and fries. It was delicious.

On Friday, there wasn't that much snow on the ground, but we went out to play anyway.

We went to Schat's Bakery for lunch and had what we believe to be the best sandwiches we've ever eaten. I had hot pastrami with smoked Gouda and the works. The bread was incredible (no surprise). We also spent a little time at the outlets. Andrea got a snow jacket. I was really excited that the sporting goods store where she got the jacket was playing a satellite radio show of 90s alternative. I recognized Hearing Soundgarden's "Spoonman," Stone Temple Pilots' "Unglued," Oasis' "Supersonic," and Veruca Salt's "Seether" definitely brought back memories.

It snowed a little on Friday night; on Saturday, we got a chance to play in the snow. There still wasn't as much as last year (no sledding), but there was enough to enjoy.

That afternoon, the clouds kept rolling in. Could it be that lots more snow was coming?

We woke up to this:

We should have spent more time outside; we played for a few final minutes on that day right before we left. Trevor started crying when it was time to go because he was enjoying it so much.

Overall, a great trip.