meloncutter musings

Where Has It Gone.

2009-10-05T01:04:00.003-04:00

It is just after one in the morning. I woke up. Snot streaming everywhere. Can't sleep. I think my annual fall cold is biting me on the ass. I might not be singing for the next week.

I picked up another mixer board for the studio a couple of days ago. I can use this one in the drum room to pre mix the drums before they hit the main board. This will reduce the number of channels I am using on the main board before they go to the recorder. Hopefully this will reduce the number of tracks I have to cut just to get a good drum sound.

Poot traded his white Les Paul for an old guitar someone had in his attic. I think he did alright. He got a 1967 Fender Jaguar in return. Worth better than 10 times what his Les Paul was. I know it was a good guitar he got because, when we took it to the music store all the employees got down on their knees and started praying to it.

Chances are I may have a bass player. He retired from the road after having spent the last few years playing for Shawn Costello. After Shawn Costello's untimely death, no opportunities have arisen for this bass player. This could be good. He is looking to play on a more local level and we like the same music.

I can't believe that it is October already. Where has this year gone? I think I missed most of it.

Later Y'all.

STiiLPOiNT Update.

2009-09-29T04:35:00.003-04:00

STiiLPOiNT played a show at Baja's in Newnan Georgia this weekend and rocked the place off of it's foundation. I have yet to see the video of the show but Giggles told me that it was their best performance yet. These boys are going far. We are recording them this week with a goal of releasing their next CD on January 30th. Catch STiiLPOiNT on their Myspace page to get all the details and hear their music.

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There is nothing left but the cleanup now of the great flood of 2009. We have had running water for a few days and even though they have lifted the boil water advisory, we still don't quite trust the water to drink. The devastated areas just down the road from us are still struggling to put their lives together. Each night the news is full of reports of personal loss and tragedy. It is sad. But each night you see a little bit of recovery and some shining light as things slowly come back together.

The weather bureau and the officials have labeled this as a 500 year flood. Many area roads are still closed and will be for some time as roadways have washed away or bridges have washed out. For many, memories of this will last forever. I am just glad I live on a hill.

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Delta and I have shifted gears with DGO to just being a duet. The pain of finding a drummer and bass player that have enough dedication to work and create is just to much and has held us back for too long.

We are changing our performance from an all around band to just the two of us. It will do for smaller venues and opening performances. We plan to cover light rock and country tunes along with our original material. About half of our show is original material now. (With more on the way.)

Later Y'all.

The Rains Fell.

2009-09-22T00:07:00.003-04:00

The rains fell. I can remember some nearly 40 years past. Back home in Kansas a deluge came. We lived on a small truck farm at the edge of town. A creek ran through our property. The property upstream of our small farm was owned by the city and right at the property line, they had built an earthen dam as a flood control device. The area was not a natural pond or low area.

We had received several inches of rain. It was probably 1969 or 1970 that this occurred. The creek was rising and the dam that the city had built was gathering a large volume of water behind it. It was not long that the waters began to go over the top of the dam and the creek really took off.

We watched the water rise. Soon it was around the house. It was an old house with a converted coal furnace and large grates in the floor. We heard a loud thump and the house shifted just a bit. A basement wall had given away. I remember looking into one of the furnace grates and seeing water leaking into the duct work.

Sometime during the preceding time the earthen dam had given way. I remember looking as we left the house in knee deep water and waded the 150 feet to where the barn was. Our car was there. My dad's truck was setting in the driveway on the creek side of the house and was inundated. We left all we had and went to spend the night with a relative. I was maybe 9 or 10 years old at the time.

The water did not rise far enough to get into the house proper and we had to replace one entire wall of the foundation wall in the basement. It is an eerie feeling to have to leave your home in the middle of the night unsure of your future.

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I set here watching the news this evening and dredging up memories. I send my thoughts out to all of those here in the central and western portions of Georgia who are probably feeling now, as I did as a child. Some lost their lives today and many, many lost their homes, business and belongings.

Sometimes Mother Nature must exact her toll.

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We have no running water here at the house right now. As soon as the water quit running I drove to the nearest store and bought a load of bottled water in both cases of small bottles and gallons. I had probably the 10th buggy load of water in the line at the store. I took a case of small bottles and 4 gallons to the little old lady next door. Her health is bad and I knew she would not be able to get out and shop. I might have to go to work stinky tomorrow unless I stand in the rain on the deck and wash. I probably won't though, the little old lady next door doesn't need a floor show along with her water. She would probably want a lap dance too.

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Many of the roadways are closed. Many bridges washed out. More rain on the way.

Later Y'all.

Wound Up Tight!

2009-09-20T01:40:00.002-04:00

About an hour ago a thunderstorm rolled through. We took a lightning strike real close. I mean CLOSE! It blew a couple of breakers in the house and my computer monitor has a few funny colors on the screen. I got up and ran through the house and checked for fire.

The lightning actually hit a house 2 doors down from us. There are 5 fire trucks there now. There is no actual fire but they are checking it closely. A friend of Poot's lives there. He was eating a bowl of cereal at the time the lightning struck his house. His right arm is numb and he can't feel his tongue. The paramedics are checking him. Leave it to Poot to be right in the middle of things.

I would imagine that I am up for the night right now.

I liked to near shit myself. When the lightning hit, I was out of bed and down the damned hall before I woke up. I am sure as hell awake and wound up tight now.

Later Y'all.

Four in the morning.....

2009-09-15T04:12:00.003-04:00

Ok, so its four in the morning. No one else is up. I think the spouse farted a few minutes ago, but that is the only sound in the house.

Giggles started the driving portion of her drivers education class last night. She didn't run over anyone or anything so I guess that is good. I got a good deal on a riding mower that a friend rebuilt. He delivered it yesterday and after I mowed the yard with it, Poot jumped on it and drove if for about an hour. I think that with Poot driving the mower he will just keep the grass wore off and we wont need to run the blades.

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A few weeks ago, Snot, the young man that had been living with us for the last couple of years put us in a bad position. For the last several months we have had things come up missing. With the bands and recording and all the things going on it was considered that fans, musicians and others that were coming here to record, listen, audition or be groupies were lifting things and pocketing items. It finally got to the point that I locked up the Willie Room and controlled tightly who had access to the house.

Snot kept his room locked. One day Poot got in there and found many of the missing items. All of these were items that Snot had denied seeing or had blamed someone else on their disappearance. Many things were never found.

Snot has a bad dependency on prescription pain killers. I blame his doctors as he gets large quantities of these through prescription from doctors. I think the only problem was that he was using more pain killers than he could get through the legitimate pharmacy. He was taking our stuff, selling it and getting his drugs that way.

We evicted him. If he were my own kid I would maybe try to get him some help but he has his own family. They are aware of the problem and know why he is no longer living here. It was found out that they threw him out for the same thing and that is why he could not live with his family. I wish him well. We are still discovering things missing. His problems and presence nearly split my family and brought the spouse and I very close to divorce. Things are so different here at home now that the change is amazing.

Sometimes you just can't help those that don't want it and they will take every advantage of kindness no matter who they hurt in the meantime.

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We haven't recorded or practiced much in the last couple of weeks. Someone has either not felt well, had a cold or something that prevented us from wanting to be in a closed room together. We are going to try for a practice/recording session today.

Later Y'all.

Yes, It Is TWO In The Friggin Morning.

2009-09-12T02:06:00.004-04:00

Yes, it is Two in the morning. For some reason, I crashed last night about 7:00 pm and now I am wide awake, with my pot of coffee and time to blog. I need to be working on some songs but, who cares?

I thing Giggles, my darling daughter, is still up. I can hear chatting coming from her room. She is on the phone. Still! She, at some point today has to go to her baby setting job.

I am not sure Poot is even home. He might still be at Tater's. They cancelled their practice last night as there is a cold virus running rampant in these parts and it is hard to sing with a face full of snot.

I have cancelled my last 2 practices for the same reason.

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I was reading an article yesterday that the little stickers that comes on your fresh produce is soon going to be a thing of the past. They are now going to start using lasers to burn the information into the food. This could be a good thing from some angles, and bad from others.

On the bad side, This will alter the appearance of the food you buy with having a permanent set of markings. If you are making a dish where the appearance of the vegetable is needed, having little words and numbers etched into the surface of the item may not give you the appearance you are after.

On the good side, from what the article says, this is perfectly safe, is environmentally friendly and is cheaper for the companies. The best part is, for me, that I won't be cleaning those annoying little stickers up from all over my friggin produce department any more.

Those friggin stickers only stick to the product you buy and you have to struggle to remove them at home, usually by hacking the poor vegetable or fruit to death with a knife to remove the sticker. The rest of the fall off and get stuck to my display racks where I spend hours removing them. They won't let me use a large knife as it tends to damage the displays. It will be interesting to see how this works. Look for this to begin appearing on your produce shelves in late fall.

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Uncle Fuzzwinkie is coming over today. He is currently unemployed. He lost his job because he was placed in a job that he could not do and made a bad mistake. He was fired. He has filed a grievance and has hopes that he will retain his job but the outlook is bleak. We will do what we have to do I guess.

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The fall season is rapidly approaching. We cut off the air conditioning about 2 weeks ago and just run with the attic fan now. Soon the trees will begin to turn color and pumpkins will fill the stores and appear on porches throughout the neighborhoods. I am still looking for a drummer and bass player. I am not looking as hard as I was before, but if the right person comes along we will plug them into the slot. Another day goes by........

Later Y'all.

What Are Your Plans.

2009-09-02T06:24:00.003-04:00

I think I just swallowed a bug. I am not sure. It may have been a bit of undissolved coffee creamer. But as it went down, the picture in my mind was some kind of bug. Damn!!!!

I have been giving some thought to what my activities will be during the month of December 2012. Since the world is allegedly ending on December 21, 2012 from some type of solar event. I figure now is a good time to start making plans.

I figure that I will apply for every credit card known to man sometime in January of 2012. When I get the cards, I am going to max them out with a party starting in about May. I will be available for sex with about any lady that wants to from May to December with the last three days of the existence of Earth being a no holds barred humpfest. That would be on December 18, 19 and 20 of the year 2012. Y'all can come over to watch and participate if you want.

I look at it this way, the spouse will probably kill my fat ass on December 22, anyway after I pull all the shit I have planned.

So what are your plans for the big event?

Later Y'all.

A Dream Come True......

2009-08-30T10:09:00.003-04:00

It was cloudy and lightly raining off and on yesterday. We arrived at the location and waited in the sprinkling air. Three nervous young men walked around. They were there to do a show.

With the rain looming, the sound equipment could not be set up to be ready. One by one, two by two and the occasional car load, a crowd began to form. The radar on the internet showed clear skies behind the last little rain cloud overhead. The sun was shining to the west. It was getting late.

Finally the sound crew began setting up the PA system, soundboard, lights, amplifiers, drums, microphones and running the thousands of yards of cables, wires and electrical cords needed to make the show.

Soon, albeit an hour late, The first band appeared on stage. Local youth with aspiring talent performed. They are an average garage band with hobby level talent that needs work. But they are kids and they get good attention from the audiance. Not a bad show for kids.

The next band is not bad either. They are my age to a little younger. They perform original music that is not too bad at all. They lack a lead guitar and the vocals are a little shaky but they do alright.

When the second band is done, three nervous young men move their amps to the stage and do some sound checks. They move into their first song. Everyone stands during the first song. The crowd moves to the front of the stage, listening, watching and getting into the music. A local DJ from a radio station asks the sound technician to begin recording the band. They record the rest of the show.

The show is the most powerful show in the history of this concert series. I myself have played this same venue many times. I can not in my wildest dream ever hope to compete with the show I saw last night.

The three young men that comprise the band called STiiLPOiNT are now a powerful force on the rock music scene. All three of the young men have struggled and driven themselves to become what they are individually and when you mesh those three individuals together, it becomes magic.

I saw my son's dream of being a rock musician of note come true last night.

Keep an eye on these guys, they are going to go far.

Later Y'all.

Hay Y'all.

2009-08-20T03:11:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know, it has been awhile since I have posted. Much has been going on.

Currently, my band is just recording and writing music. It has been a slow process with only about 1 day a week available that the three of us can get together with our hectic schedules. My schedule should normalize here in the next couple of weeks.

Poot has quit my band. He was recruited to play in another band with my blessing. This band is currently (according to reverbnation.com website) the number one ranked rock band in the state of Georgia. They are currently ranked number 41 nationally.

The name of the band is STiiLPOiNT. They can be found on myspace, facebook and at Stiilpoint.com. This band is going places and will be a major influence on the rock music scene very soon. And yes that is spelled right. Two II's and one L.

I am in the process of converting the whole downstairs of the house into a full blown recording studio. This eats up a lot of my time along with all the recording that I am doing for myself, Stiilpoint and others. I think I am at the busiest point in my life.

Giggles has her learners permit and is attending drivers ed. Nuff said.

Poot will be going on tour soon. They will mainly for now, work the southeast but will by next summer, be touring nationally. The is chatter of a European tour in the offing after the National tour. The boy has hit the big time.

Later Y'all.

Hey! I Am Still Kicking.

2009-07-10T03:09:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine pointed out to me that I haven't done a post in "Damned near a month" and she needs her input from it. So I guess I had better post something before she kicks my ass.

This last month has been crazy all over for me. Work has been wild, the band scene has been wild and the home life has been wild. So here is an update.

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Hour cuts and increased productivity are the norm at work. They are driving us very hard to get things over and above what we have been forever doing. In our division alone they are replacing 6 to 10 department managers a week due to the stress levels. They are threatening to replace me and several other produce managers if we can't get what all they want done. And make note last year they said to do more but we have to take hours away from you.

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This year they took more hours away from what I was running last year and once again increased the work load. I guess if they want my job they can have it. Pretty soon they are going to run out of people to run their departments. It is a big mess. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

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Poot is no longer playing bass in the band. He is playing at a skill level far above anything that I can do. I venture to say he may have been given his break. He was recruited to play for an active band that has played for a label. They have recorded, sold albums, toured extensively and are getting radio play with their prior recordings. They are now working to put together a new show, a new album and begin a new tour. I am not releasing any information yet until their press releases hit and their tour begins.

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So with Poot off on his own music career, I am now looking for a bass player and a drummer. Finding a drummer with the right fit has been a serious challenge. I am finding that is also true with bass players.

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I do have a fantastic lead guitar player on staff. I call him fingers. His guitar abilities are magical. We are still writing music and are going to focus on getting some recordings done. We have been playing at various open mic events to mingle and meet local musicians. We have hopes of finding a drummer and bass player through these events.

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The Spouse loaded up with me and went to the last open mic at a local tavern Wednesday night. This was her first trip to a bar in many years. Neither of us drink so most likely we were the most sober people in the bar. I was taking a break from the stage as several other musicians were up on stage playing. We were visiting and watching the people in the place and generally enjoying ourselves.

I got to watching a woman on the dance floor. She was doing some type of weird interpretive dance moves while the song was playing. She was wearing a mini skirt with tights and a shirt with string straps. I spoke with the spouse about something and looked back and the tights were gone.

Before long, I was watching and I saw a pair of panties go flying from the dance floor. Pretty soon, I saw her top go flying as she got up on stage with the band wearing only the mini skirt.

All I really have to say is if you are in your 40, have skeeter bites for tits, long flowing black hair and are that drunk, I will laugh when you take off your clothes in a bar for no apparent reason.

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I am picking up a large amplifier this week. I have found that my current amps just don't quite have the kick to play larger venues where using mics through a house PA system can't be done. I love the sound and tone of the amps I have but they just don't quite have the oomph needed to stand on their own. I have been wanting to get a good half stack anyway.

This year has just flown by. I can't believe it is well over half done. It seems all I do is work on one thing or another and just keep hitting a brick wall. It will get better if I keep at it. I hope.

Later Y'all.

Losing My Addiction.

2009-06-17T03:55:00.002-04:00

Well, I am glad that I never used that spray it up your nose cold remedy. That stuff must really burn the innards out of the sinuses. I wonder now though if I had got some and sprayed it up my ass if my farts would have quit smelling. Dang!

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My new assistant manager starts today. He got the nickel tour Sunday and went to a meeting yesterday. So today is his first official day of getting beatings like the rest of us.

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The water pump is going on on my van. I am taking it to the shop today and leaving it for repair tomorrow. I just hope it can make one more trip to work and back before it goes to crap.

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We auditioned a drummer yesterday. He did ok. I think we will give him a shot at making it work. He is very quiet and is not very flashy but he can drop in a pocket and maintain a steady beat. Hopefully he will stick with it.

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We finally turned on the air conditioning yesterday. It hit 90 degrees for the first time this year. We have been running the attic fan and keeping fairly comfortable up to this point. The air conditioner unit in this house is barely able to keep it cool for this size of house but it is more bearable than the 90 degree heat outside.

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I find myself spending less and less time on the internet these days. It just seems that there is never a free moment or any free time to do much of anything. I am just always busy. I guess I just haven't had the need to blog lately. I must be losing my addiction.

Later Y'all.

Giggles Gone For A Week.

2009-06-08T22:52:00.003-04:00

Giggles left for JROTC summer camp today. She sent a text a bit ago that she had made it safely. Tomorrow she gets to rappel from the 80 foot tower and do a bunch of other things. I think she is having a good time.

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I bitch and complain about the traffic on the highway in front of the store where I work all the time. It seems it is always busy and 10 times as bad during rush hour. Yesterday, a couple of guys in a plane lost power and actually had an open area on the damned road to make an emergency landing on the highway. Those are some lucky dudes. There are days it takes me 20 minutes just to get out of the parking lot. Other than around four or five in the morning I have not seen sparse enough traffic to allow the landing on the road.

They did this feat about 11:30 am just at the start of the lunch rush. I can't believe that it happened without some fat woman running them off the road.

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We are auditioning a new drummer tomorrow. Hope this one works out.

Later Y'all.

Snot Made It.

2009-06-06T06:33:00.002-04:00

Poot's friend Snot Graduates from high school today. He has lived with us for the last 2 years. His parents are separated. His dad is in the military and has been overseas. His mom doesn't care. She threw him out of the house, would not feed him or clothe him. She takes the child support money and blows it on whatever. Not on Snot anyway. She pawns anything he gets as a gift except what he keeps here. It has been a financial hardship for us to keep this kid fed, clothed and even paying his few bills from time to time, but we have a lifelong friend and hopefully have made a difference for this young man. That is all that matters.

This is a big day in this young man's life. He got 6 tickets to use for the commencement ceremony. His mom gave them away. We are not sure if even his dad, who arrived late last night, will be able to attend the ceremony. We won't be attending.

His mom is throwing some little shindig at her apartment tonight and invited all her friends. It is hard telling what she has planned but we will not attend because I will probably say something that will not be well taken.

I hope all we have done will give this young man a shot at making it in the world. I would do it again in a heartbeat, and probably will. These kids, like Snot, are the future of our country and many parents today tend to forget that. I will contintue to help him and guide him to get him off into hopefully a successful life.

Congratulations Snot. You made it. Go forth and change the world for the better.

Later Y'all.

Getting Back Up To Speed.

2009-06-03T21:13:00.002-04:00

I am back to getting 2 days a week off now. That is a relief. I am so tired. I think my body is going to fall off of my penis. My penis is the only thing I haven't used. Well I do pee with it. That's about it. I wonder since I don't use it any more if I could rent it out. Maybe just loan it for use by those that don't have a penis. Hmmmmmmmm. I might have to explore this option.

Anyway, Work is getting better. I have rid myself of the dead weight and things are starting to fall back into place.

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I expect to get a call from a drummer within the next couple of days. We will audition and interview him as soon as possible. Our ex drummer informed us he quit today. That's too bad, we fired him 2 days ago. Why does it seem that drummers have to be weirdos, drunks or screwoffs?

We are getting back to focusing on recording and getting more copyrights done. We are still vigorously writing songs and working on that angle.

We have started taking bookings for later in the year. One booking will be a dance in October. It is a private affair that should be a good gig to play.

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This is my second posting this week. I am on a roll.

Later y'all.

Things Are Calming Down.

2009-05-31T21:38:00.003-04:00

We performed our debut public performance last night. Everything went well. Our set was well received and post show critique was positive. Other than we need to learn many more songs, I think we are ready. Now we will settle down into writing and recording to finish up our CD. We may be in the market for a new drummer. I plan to talk to the drummer we have now and see what his intentions are. He missed the show Saturday night. We lucked out and Tater was available to stand in for him. Tater has played with us before and knew our music so we were able to fake it.

Things are work are steadily improving. My new assistant manager will start in about 2 weeks. He is well known to me and will be a good move for the department. Morale in the department is rising and things are coming along.

Poot caught a big as spider just inside the front door of the house tonight. It was almost tarantula level in size. He was going to keep it as a pet. After I got done pissing myself and went and wiped my ass, we came to an arrangement that the poor spider will not be living here. I don't do spiders. Ever!

Later Y'all.

Dang It's Been 2 Weeks.

2009-05-19T18:51:00.003-04:00

Wow! The last 2 weeks have been a whirlwind. It seems all I do is work and sleep. I have been working mostly 7 days a week and still trying to keep up with the band getting ready for the show.

The search is still on for the new assistant produce manager. Nothing new there. We are doing our band practices over night usually starting around midnight and ending about 3 or 4 in the morning. The show is coming together quite well.

Things should ease up some next week at work. School is out as of this weekend and the kids will have more availability to work and can ease some of my load in the daytime. Maybe I can get back to paying a little more attention to doing some writing on the blog.

Later Y'all.

Yes I Am Still Kicking.

2009-05-05T06:43:00.002-04:00

I guess I have been neglecting the blog. The couple of emails I got asking if I was still alive kind of reminded me. Thanks guys.

At the moment I am burning the candle at both ends. Work has been demanding and I am in the process of a couple of personnel changes. I had to terminate the employment of my assistant manager after his decision to get stupid with drugs and alcohol. I am in the process of recruiting a new assistant from within the company. While I wait for this to take place I will most likely be working 6 or 7 days a week.

We are preparing for our public debut show on May 30. We are rehearsing 2 to 4 days a week not including our own individual practice times. I still work on recordings and stuff at other times. Sometime in the middle of all that I sleep.

So yes, I am still alive and kicking. The blog, for now, is about number 783 on my top 10 list of things I need to do.

Later Y'all.

Another Day.

2009-04-28T07:06:00.003-04:00

I was starting to get worried about this swine flu thing. Then yesterday I heard an announcement on the radio that you can not catch swine flu from having sex with fat chicks. It is a whole different type of swine involved.

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I have had a rough couple of weeks. I nearly quit my job. Had a few issues here at home. But I am again calm and things are back under control. Sometimes there is never a friend around when you need one.

Some items have come up missing out of the Willie Room. Nothing critical like guitars or anything like that. But little things like extra strings, Picks and patch cords. Now my wireless headphone system has turned up missing. The boys don't know anything about it after the severe torture session they went through but I have a hunch at some point the boys left the front door open.

There is a neighbor kid that is constantly knocking at the door. I think at some point he slipped in and got ahold of some things. I am watching him. The studio is now under lock and key and stays that way when I am not home.

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Today is another day in the studio rehearsing. Although we will have to do it without headphones as I have too much of my cash tied up in other projects at this point to pick up another headphone system. We will just muddle through like normal.

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I am working up cover songs like mad. Only this last year have I let myself move into the roll of lead singer. All my prior singing has been harmonizing and background vocals. This is an interesting twist to what I have been used to. Fun though.

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I am wearing my hair in a pony tail now. It has finally grown out enough to tie up. One of these days I will put up a picture of it.

Later Y'all.

No Idea. Not A Clue.

2009-04-23T07:20:00.003-04:00

I pulled up the create post page this morning to write this posting. I have sat here for several minutes just looking at the screen with no idea what to write. I have no thoughts or ideas. My head is swimming with words for lyrics and music but there is no inspiration to write anything here.

The Hawghunter has taken a turn for the worse. His kidneys have failed and his heart is growing weaker by the day. My only wish is that he would have gotten help sooner and maybe this would not have happened. I do know that coming back to work right after his surgery did not help him and may have caused this problem. It is highly doubtful he will return to work. His sister is putting him in for early retirement.

We have band practice today. We will start at noon. This evening I will work on more recordings.

Not much I can think of today.

Later Y'all.

A Wonderful Thing.

2009-04-19T19:02:00.003-04:00

We start with a new guitarist this week. I think he will work out well. We have known him for several years and he just recently moved close to our neighborhood. We have mailed copyright applications in for songs. We are recording a lot now. We are working on our line up of cover songs. We are learning, building, getting tight and becoming one as a musical unit. Our time is drawing near to go forth.

We have ordered business cards and we are creating artwork for song and cd covers. We are getting ready to have promotional pictures made of the group. We are designing a poster to advertise our bookings. We are preparing to get our business license and get our tax numbers and shit stuff that the government requires. We have an attorney and have talked to an accountant. So many little details. So much investment of time and money. So much yet to do.

We have a soundman and a soundman apprentice. We still need to invest in a lighting and effects system. There are always little needs here and there that make things sound better or run smoother and we try to get them as the need arises.

We continue to write music and words and work towards making new songs. Every little glimmer of an idea or thought; every little glimmer of music, riff, tune or beat gets thrown out and analysed to see the potential or the motivation for the creation of a new song.

I started on this path to find the right people and collect them into the right group about three years ago. I have seen many come and go. There were many promising starts that failed because those becoming involved in my project did not wish to be a partner or they just did not have the vision that I see us becoming.

Many who tried just did not have the dedication to music in their hearts. To most, music is a hobby. To me it is my life and passion. I see music in my head. I feel it in my soul. It consumes me from my inner core.

Is it my destiny to do this? I don't know but if I do not try, I will never know and I will not feel complete in my life knowing that I just did not try. If I try my best and fail, then at least I will know that in my heart, I did all I could.

Our time draws closer. Each passing day, each passing minute. It draws near.

I have the right people, at the right time in the right place to make something wonderful. There is no leader. There is only the group. To think, act and create as one. A Wonderful thing is being born.

Later Y'all.

Hell Of A Ride.

2009-04-15T04:49:00.002-04:00

I had to go to a meeting yesterday for work. It was held down on the east side of Atlanta at some office building. Leaving from the store at about 6:00 am it only took us just over an hour to get there. Coming home at 4:30 pm was a different story. It took us over 2 hours to get back to the store. Traffic was just a mite bit heavy. It made for a nice 12 hour day on the clock. (Riiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!!!)It was a hell of a ride.

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Tonight I am recording a young man who seems to have some great talent in the singing area. I work with him. He will not be part of our band as our styles vary greatly and the genre he sings in would not fit with what we do, but I am excited to record him as I can be.

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Friday, Giggles is going to her Cadet Ball being held by her JROTC class. We have her dress. (That cost my fat ass a chunk) She is cutting class Friday to get her hair and nails done. We have an appointment for her already. (That is going to cost my fat ass a bigger chunk) She has a date. (I have already explained to the young man that I can drop a running deer at 600 yards with my rifle and taking him out would be no problem for me.) She is excited and is looking forward to the event. I am sure she will have a good time.

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Evidently the boobs on the album cover idea is not going over too well. I have not received any to pick from. I guess I will go with another design.

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Tomorrow we get back on track with practices. Probably tomorrow night we will record some vocal tracks. It seems to be taking a long time to get this going but with research I have done, I know that for productions by bands who work in the studio will work for weeks, many hours a day. That is with a full production staff and way more resources than I have and a whole lot more time. So I don't guess we are doing too bad.

Later Y'all.

Happy Easter.

2009-04-12T02:59:00.003-04:00

It is 2:30 am on Easter Sunday morning and I am up. I don't know why. It was typical preholiday craziness at work yesterday. I am just so frustrated with work that I am ready to quit. Some things are just not worth the abuse and headache no matter what the pay. Most days I would rather pick up turds with toothpicks than go to work and put up with inept management, lack of direction and abuse. Hopefully soon the powers that be will see that our store is coming apart at the seams and put some people there to get it back where it was and needs to be.

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I was thinking about using pictures of breasts on the first album cover for the band. I am collecting various pictures of breasts to see what is out there for me to use. If you would your boobs to possibly be considered for use on this project please send me pictures of them. I have not yet decided that this is the direction that I would like to go with this project but having the raw data to select from might cause me to lean more that direction. Just think, your boobs could be famous.

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The rib I messed up a couple weeks ago is healing nicely. I can sleep on that side now if I lay in the right position. It is still tender in that area but for the most part has been tolerable. I know I feel it most when I have gas pressure. But a good healthy 22 second fart will generally ease the pain.

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I have wondered why there are no minnow flavored foods. There are no snack crackers, chips, drinks or frozen entrees. What about minnow roll ups like they do with fruit. Or minnow flavored granola bars.

That ain't right. Call your congressman today.

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I have to take the Baby to the luthier soon. I am getting string buzz on the high E string on the first fret. I guess its time for its spring set up before the summer concert season sets in. I should take Merle and Mater in too. Do those of you who own musical instruments out there name them?

Later Y'all.

Not My Favorite Holiday.

2009-04-09T04:12:00.003-04:00

Of all the holidays of the entire year, I dislike the Easter holiday the most. People seem to be more rude, mean and impatient than any other holiday. I don't know if that is because of it being the big holiday of the spring after people have been cooped up for the winter and they are moving into spring to do all the things that warmer weather has in store for them or what.

During my career in Law Enforcement we always dreaded Easter weekend. It seemed many bad things would always happen on this weekend. Normally a senseless violent death would occur. Those in larger metro areas would just think it was business as usual but in small town Kansas, it was a major occurrence. I have few pleasant memories of Easter Weekend.

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Yesterday at work was a complete disaster. My assistant manager called out sick and I had to deal with all the little old biddies on my own along with a truck and holiday shopping. Nothing I could do would make things run better. I arrived 4 hours behind and never did catch up. So with today being my day off, I get to go to work and try to catch us up so we are ready for the big holiday inspection on Friday. Yes, I hurt when I got home. I used half a tube of analgesic heating rub on my legs. Yes, I got it too high up my thighs and toasted my testicles. Yes, it fried my wiener too. It was not a good night.

I guess band practice can just wait a week. It will be a week from today before I get another day off.

I would rather set in the middle of an interstate and smack myself repeatedly in the scrotum with a large ball peen hammer than work on a Wednesday. Would that make the hammer a Ball Peenis hammer? HEAR THIS OLD FRIGGIN PEOPLE, WE HATE YOU!!! Why can't the old people just stay in the home and be mean to each other instead of raising hell at the grocery store.

With all the food borne illness running rampant lately, one has to wonder if the target of all the salmonella and stuff might be directed at a certain group. I think if they check back to the employees and executives of these companies you would find that they worked in grocery on old biddie days.

Get em guys!!

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Snot mowed the yard for the second time this year yesterday. For the most part, we have had enough rain this spring to bring us out of the drought. The grass and weeds are doing well.

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The Hawghunter is still in the hospital. He is still retaining fluids and they are attempting to get the fluids off his system. I have no idea how long he will be out this time.

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I think I shall head back to bed now. I need more sleep before I head to work and enjoy my day off.

Later Y'all.

Dang, Its been awhile.

2009-04-04T20:45:00.003-04:00

The last several days have been brutal at work. The Hawghunter has been sliding backwards with his health. Last Wednesday, I visited with him and told him to get to his Doctor. Thursday they admitted him with heart problems. It's so sad. He is a severe diabetic. He can barely walk on a good day and he insists that he is going to work and not go on disability. It has been tough carrying his load and ours too. We are so far behind and things look so bad. We just can't keep up. I hope this next 2 weeks that he is out we can get things put back together.

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The new drummer is working out great. He is very professional and very competent. He is fitting well with the group.

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I have been deep into song writing mode for the last several days. Much do to keep my focus away from the hell at work and much just because my creative juices are flowing. Delta is completing paperwork on getting our copyrights on several things and I am recording and practicing constantly. We still have another 9 songs to get recorded and completed but it is progressing steadily now. I can see now by the end of summer we will have enough songs for a completed CD.

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I have been approached to record a demo for another band. They already have their backing tracks cut and just want to record the vocals. They are just looking to complete a few demo songs and don't have a big budget to go to a regular studio. I think I can help them out. We start next week.

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Wednesday I evidently ate something that just didn't quite agree with me. Thursday I had the shits. Friday I had the shits. Today I had the shits. Trust me, that Imodium AD crap will slow it down, but it won't stop if you bend over to pick up something heavy. I hope tomorrow won't be quite as shitty a day as I have been having lately.

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The spouse and I were on our way to the grocery store earlier. We passed by a place that had a sign out front advertising "CHICKS FOR SALE". I got excited and the spouse took my 20 dollar allowance away from me. Damn.

Later Y'all.

Drummer On Board.

2009-03-29T06:23:00.003-04:00

We have our drummer I think. We practice with him on Tuesday. My first impression of him during his interview and audition was very good. Soon now we can start booking gigs.

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I am working mostly evenings now. With the new policy that department heads can't work early shifts my hours have changed alot. In some ways for many things I have more time and in other ways it has taken time away from me. I am not getting up very early in the mornings now like I used to. The best part, I haven't seen the spouse in 3 days. She leaves for work before I get up and she goes to bed before I get home.

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We have added another song to the Myspace page. More will be added as we go along. We have to get some more pictures taken and put up too. Things are starting to move along now.

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It has rained for the last 5 days down here. We needed it. I have noticed several ponds that were very low to nearly dry that are now once again full. I am sure the fish like the fresh water.

Later Y'all.