TagYerit

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Sat, 05 May 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Rich's latest venture is jumping into the art of wall shingling. This is titled "The Giant at The Back Door.

TagYerit Tails - October 2010

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:31:00 +0000

TagYerit Tails - October 2010

We have 3 items to share with you this issue:
"The Trick or Treat Trials"
Latest Pumpkin Carvings
Expansion of the WWTP Museum

1: "The Trick or Treat Trials"
Yup! TagYerit's favorite time of year has rolled around again ... and since Salem, MA is singer-guitarist Flo's hometown, we released a song on our latest CD "Shimmer" about what it was like Trick-Or-Treating in Salem as a child. "The Trick or Treat Trials" details all the heightened anticipation of the big candy-haul night as well as the mysterious disappearance of Flo's cherished stash of chocolates. The Salem News feature the story of this song on their Living Arts page - you can see the article at:
http://www.salemnews.com/lifestyle/x124778329/Singers-latest-song-a-Halloween-treat

2: Latest Pumpkin Carvings
For years, TagYerit has been posting pictures of their elaborate "playing with light" pumpkin carvings. Plus we post the creations of other pumpkin artists who carve, paint, deeply sculpt, stencil and stack 'em. From the super scary to the silly ; to celebs and stories to the scenic ... go go peek at our vast pumpkin galleries at:
http://www.tagyerit.com/pumpkin.htm
You'll find our newest when you click the 2010 link. You can also visit "Songcarvers" which is close to our hearts since it combines our pumpkin carving art with our songwriting. While you listen to the songs, you'll see that song's characters magically appear as the pumpkin carving progresses.

3: Expansion of the WWTP Museum
Also hosted at TagYerit's website is "The Whole World Toilet Paper Museum". We never seem to be able to keep up withposting the huge amounts of interesting samples we constantly receive from our "in-the-field" collectors. And NOW, an amazing collection has just been generously donated to the museum from a retired biologist who has been collecting toilet paper samples from around the world since the 1980s. So ... we are now int he process of planning add a "wing" to house this venerable collection on our site.

Happy Halloween & Tag yer it

Rich & Flo

TagYerit gets a feature article in the Valley Advocate

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:53:00 +0000

TagYerit gets a feature article in the Valley Advocate

Check out this article that explores our music and our toilet paper collection. Pretty funny I hope.
The Valley Advocate

The Toilet Paper Museum travels to WMAS

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:31:00 +0000

For this brief moment in time, press has been falling into our laps like a succession of dominoes.
After having had our toilet paper collection on the web for over 10 years, the Smithsonian Channel filmed us talking about our collection for an upcoming episode of their series "Stories From The Vaults". Using that domino, we sent out a press release. The local paper, the Springfield Union, thought the story interesting enough to feature our collection as a cover story to the great delight of many of our friends who report their first reaction at seeing our faces in color on the cover of the newspaper out on the news stands was to fall over laughing.

But they weren't the only one's to see the article. So it came to pass that Lopez from WMAS 94.7 invited us to their station for a quick interview on the collection. One cool thing about this is the location. WMAS studio is in the Basketball Hall of Fame building. For once a destination that's hard to miss - The building is in the shape of a basketball. http://www.hoophall.com
Once we got there, the first stop of course is to get some toilet paper from the bathroom so we can get Kellogg Krew D.J.'s signatures.
What should I see on entering the bathroom than this electric hand dryer in the shape of a basketball. And people make fun of our collecting obsession? Really?

Once in the studio we get to meet Chris Kellogg, Dina McMahon and Lopez. We had a fun though brief interview. I guess there's no point in holding up signed toilet paper to show a radio audience, so the listeners would have to trust that Chris, Dina & Lopez would be able to verify that there was no sleight of hand happening.
As I said, it was fun. - but our adrenaline was in overdrive and we could have gone on talking for a long time, which thankfully they didn't let us do. It's always great to see DJs at work. When they're on the mike it seems as if their brains shift into gear. They know just what to ask and when to keep it moving. From our perspective, being in front of a microphone in a radio station is almost the complete opposite experience to recording music in the studio, where everything is measured and precise. Anyway, the Kellogg Krew were great and they were gracious enough to sign some tp for us afterwards.

Most likely, they'll be broadcasting our segment either Friday 8/21/09 or Monday 8/24/09 on their show which airs from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (E.S.T.)
You can listen live at:
http://www.947wmas.com/article.asp?id=538543

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Finished! Pressed! Printed! We've got it - we're psyched! TagYerit's new
CD "Shimmer" is in our hands. It's been a long wild road from the inception of each song to this little package. It's like a Song Mixvah! For us, it represents years of creative play-work. So now it's another exciting moment for the songwriter (that's us - Rich & Flo) ...will the music reach out and 'strike a chord' with you, the listener? Touch you? Transport you? Crack you up?
We've been working in a vacuum, so the "Listener" is the other
important part of the equation.

Since we're not exactly your love-song-pining-over-relationships kinda
songwriters - here’s some of the subjects we’ve explored:
- There's an examination of ‘collection’ addiction and hoarding as
expressed in "Neat Junk". - OK, we admit it, it could be just a touch
autobiographical ...
- You'll run into the strong willed "Pirate Bride" who's damned tired of
being stuck ashore - She deeply longs to rule the High Seas herself.
- In "The Trick or Treat Trials" Flo recounts the Halloween fixation she
and her best friend Sylvia (and others) had as they meticulously planned
their costumes & plotted out their routes in their attempts to amass huge stockpiles of chocolate. Things didn't necessarily turn out as they had hoped..
- And who was the mysterious carver on Mt. Katahdin who left the beautiful but anonymous words etched there in stone? These words inspired the song "Mt. Katahdin" and became its chorus.
- You'll also share in a rather disconcerting chance meeting in the woods
with a dryad that Tolkien might have suspected was a Close-Encounter-of-the-Entwife-Kind.
- ... and more ...

There's plenty of humor, true-life mishaps, reflection and melodic story
telling. - and then there's the rousing return of the "Vulgar Boatmen"
(originally heard on our "Heavy Construction" CD) as they add their
unique blend of voices to yet another song.

If you're interested in getting a copy (No presha, pal!), it's available
for $10 (plus $3 s&h) for CD ($7.50 for digital download) at
http://www.tagyerit.com/music.htm

A video of The Whole World Toilet Paper Collectors

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:25:00 +0000

As part of a news story on our toilet paper collecting, the Springfield Union photographer also took this short video. I'll post the article when they put it up.

Toilet Paper collecting video

Studio wrap up

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:39:00 +0000

It's been a busy few weeks. Ed was free the week of Monday April 20th to Friday, so it was an intensive week. By the end of Friday we just didn't want to listen to any more music at all. Not by no one no how.

Monday 4/20 - Flo putting down back up vocals for "Accelerate" & "Sylvie".

Greg: (peeking through the glass window) Are you out there?
Flo: Yeah!
Greg: Find your center
Flo: My placenta?

Greg: You just have to pick a note that actually IS a note!
Greg: That was an interesting note. - kind of a 'Thomas Dolby ate my Buick' note

Ed: That was a good idea. I liked that
Greg: Flo had a good idea? Mark your calendars.

Greg: Are you ready? I have faith in you, You're a woman. (sings)
"I am woman. Hear me roar. In numbers too great to ignore" -
They should have taken away women's rights after that song.

Greg: We watched "A Shot in the Dark", the Pink Panther movie last night with Elke Sommer. You know it's going to be stupid, but you laugh hysterically. It's exercised stupidity
Ed: That's what we should call TagYerit - exercised stupidity

Flo: That's kind of weird
Greg: Even for you
Flo: I'm throwing that in there, in case Ed wants to use it.
Ed: Don't worry, there's toilet paper in the bathroom

Ed: Maybe we'll have them (the backgrounds) come from outer space.
Flo: Maybe we should get rid of this crap.
Ed: No, we have an idea for this

Flo: (referring to the lyric she just sang) Do you think "birth" was okay?
Greg: Yes
Ed: It's the afterbirth we're worried about

Overheard during the lunch break ...
Ed: (to Greg) Have you got a napkin?
Flo: He's got paper towel.
Greg: I have to fold it for you nice
Ed: It's a napkin, not an effen flag

Ed & Rich reunite as The Vulgar Boatmen (last heard on the background of"Joy 1995). This time they're singing "licka the lollipop / tell us our teeth will rot". Well maybe singing isn't the right word.

Ed: I'm getting nervous about our having to sing our parts
Rich: Really?
Ed: That means Flo will have to supervise us
Rich: Oh? Now I'm nervous

The banter is low key on Tuesday & Wednesday
- 4/21 Flo sings her background vocals on "Neat Junk" & adds guitar tracks for "Neat Junk" & "Sylvie". Then Greg & Ed Mix "Accelerate".

- 4/22 Ed & Greg spend the day mixing Pirate Bride. There are many tracks to go through and it takes the whole day to mix.

Ed: Here's how I picture it. At first that guitar is like a boat coming in from way out in the horizon. From quieter to louder and wetter to drier on the bass and the fuckin' guitar. I could be wrong. This could suck. You know me. (Greg tries something). See that's way too tasteful.
Greg: (laughs) I'll have to work on this.
Ed: There's 4 figures, each one should be less wet. You know what I mean - so it's moving from far away and moving closer.
(note: "wet" refers to reverb effect. More reverb is wetter, less is dryer. )
Ed: So the last one will be normal
Greg: (silence working on the board)
Ed: Are you listening to me?
Greg: I hear you - just choosing to ignore you
Ed: That's okay so long as you'll know later why you find yourself on the floor.

Ed: (mumbles something)
Flo: Don't hate today
Ed: Why'd you say that?
Flo: That's what YOU said
Ed: I said, what'd you eat today?

Ed's getting pissed that Greg is fussing over the intro so long
Flo: If he (Ed) gets a little food in him - he won't be quite so cantankerous.
Greg: "Cantankerous" is his hobby - he's like a playful little gerbil that bites you sometimes.

Greg: I've got to figure out what these guys are doing (referring to Flo's background vocals)
Ed: Sounds like heroin

When Greg played back one of Flo's vocal tracks, we can hear her say quietly, "Oh my god that's awful"

Thursday 4/23 At the end of each day we take home a copy of the mix and listen to it to check for any possible problems. It's different listening to the mixes on a car stereo, small computer speakers and other inexpensive equipment. Keep in mind that the mixes are created in the studio on beautiful sounding speakers. Under those circumstances, we decided that Pirate Bride still needed work and it took almost 2 more hours till it was the way we wanted it.
Now back to the banter ...

Ed: Greg I'm talking to you
Greg: (stops what he was doing) Did it ever occur to you that maybe what I'm doing is more important than some petty thing you're interested in.

Rich: I registered Piratebride.com
Greg: Did you hear that Marilyn Chambers died?
Flo: Who's that?
Ed: made movies
Rich: Porn
Flo: Did you say that piratebride.com is a porn site
Rich: No, I said Marilyn Chambers was in porn movies
Rich: Maybe she was in a pirate bride movie
Ed: Well she did have booty and a great chest

Fortunately mixing "Sylvie" (aka The Trick Or Treat Trials) went pretty quickly especially after Pirate Bride had taken so long.

Flo: There's still a ghost voice
Greg: Well there's supposed to be a ghost, it's a halloween song.

We were also able to mix "Neat Junk."

Friday April 24, 2009
- Flo recording background vocals for "Mount Katahdin"

Flo: Can I tap my foot?
Greg: Sure if you want it on the track .... You could take your shoe off
Flo: OK
Ed: Take your pants off too. that will help.

Greg: Are you ready?
Flo: Yeah
Greg: Just remember what Eddie said. You don't want to make him mad.

Greg: Just in time - click your toes together
Greg: What you should do is join a marching band over the summer
Ed: You can carry the drums
Greg: A uniform - Rich will like that ...do you like feathers?

- Rich played the chime (bell - singing bowl) on "Mount Katahdin" ... well, Rich hit the chime and then Ed & Greg moved them on the track to where they sounded good.

Thurs. April 30,2009
- Flo recorded background vocals for "Dryada"

Greg: Are you ready?
Flo: Yeah
Greg: Do you want me to tell you a joke
Flo: No, I heard enough on the ride over.

Flo: That part repeats do you want me to redo it
Greg: Yes, If I have to suffer, then I want you to suffer along with me. I've given up on my christian philosophy. So you WILL do it again.
Flo: Okay
Greg: You're awful accepting of my change in philosophy.

Greg: If you died tonight we have one good enough, but seeing as how you're here, let's get a better one.

Thursday May 7, 2009

Some math whiz decided that 5/7/09 is Odd Day, one of 6 events in a century. It's where the month/day/year are consecutive odd numbers. (unless you use the European notation). I suspect fans of set theory can find other numerical anomalies to fill up the other 36 thousand plus days of the century.

Not that I can't relate to a fascination with insignificant numerical displays. I have a thing for digital clock numbers - Any that read the same right side up and upside down ... like 9:06 & 11:11

Flo explains what background vocals she'll be adding to "Neva Prepared"

Greg: Where does this start?

Flo: in the beginning

Ed roars

Greg records one through: Sounds pretty good, but I need to record the beginning again.

Ed:I'm not happy

Flo: Ed you can get rid of any of this you don't want.

Ed: Okay. You're done. Come on in. No, no - I'm just kidding.

Flo (sings): "A startled snake"

Greg: I've been taking new medication for reptile dysfunction

Ed to Greg: don't you love me?

Greg: That's one word for it

Rich & Flo add the shout outs on the tag at the end. Greg processes some of them to sound like they're coming through a telephone. He's been wanting to use this effect on other songs. Finally got his chance. Then he spent some time getting the bass on the D part to be more dominant. He tried a number of approaches. The Max Bass program did the trick.

Neva Prepared is the last of 8 songs. We'll take a short break from the songs before mastering, so we can hear them with fresh ears. In the meantime we'll be working on the graphics.

Getting There

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:55:00 +0000

Getting There:

A break down of a typical (for us) studio day ...
By Thursday morning, Rich's amp is downstairs ready to go in the minivan and Flo's bun-tar & Rich's bass are sitting upstairs in their cases.
Noon - Flo is having a smoothie for breakfast while Rich is eating lunch.
12:30 - Rich gives the buns a run around the yard. It's a beautiful sunny afternoon, near 70 degrees, but since it's too early in the season, there's very little shade and the buns spend most of their time looking for the shady spots.
1:30 - put together dinner, snacks, notes etc. for the studio & prepare bunny suppers (for Louise to give them @ 6:00ish) We won't take a break for supper. Rich eats while Flo is recording & Flo eats while Rich is recording.
2:30 - load equipment etc. in the min van. The length of the 2 bass cases are a perfect snug fit between the wheel wells. Wonder if this was a result of intelligent design? synchronicity?
2:45 - leave driveway. Flo has a small pot of soup perched on her lap, while Rich drives
3:00 - arrive @ Ed's. He's just back from driving his route. Grabs a few sandwiches and we head west.
4:10 arrive @ Derek studios ... Greg starts moving wires sets up amps & mics, boots up the Mac and the TagYerit hard drive and we're running the first song of the day by 4:45

Ed: "We're going to do the vocals first."
Flo: "I just want to warn you I'll be peeing a lot".
Greg: "Why's that?"
Flo: "I had a bowl of soup for lunch and a smoothy for breakfast"
Greg: "You've been drinking again"
Ed: "What's first?"
Flo: "Neva Prepared"
Ed sings " Momma neva prepared me for this - Why I have to stop the song to take a piss".

Greg, "Are you ready? We're gonna roll this. Are you scared?"

Greg: So we want to hear you feel the emotion
Ed: Flo you sounded like you were mumbling
Flo: Cause I missed the intro
Ed: And don't you forget it
Flo mimics strumming the guitar to help her find the right spot.

Greg: Okay, let's listen back
He plays back the track but turns a knob so that a chipmunk voice sings over it.

Flo coughs. Ed echoes her cough. Rich & Greg laugh
Flo: What did I miss?
Ed: Oh nothing
Rich: Ed's echoing your coughs. We're laughing at your expense
Ed: It'll cost you 50 cents to find out what we're really laughing at

Greg: Do that part again. It needs something else
Flo: like a 'p'
Greg: You goota pee?
Flo: No, I sang 'In the shi' of my relations' Came out sounding like 'shit' instead of 'ship'.

Greg goes off on a political rant. Then he says, "Enough about these small minded assholes. Never mind, I shouldn't be going on about myself"

Flo singing vocals for "Mount Katahdin"

Greg: What the F just happened?
Ed: What?
Greg: It stopped recording. Wait, let me see. Flo sing anything.
She does and it works fine this time. Greg turns to Ed, sitting 8 feet away from the board on the man-eating couch, "Eddy, don't touch these knobs."

Greg: That's your cue
Flo: Oh sorry
Greg: Those stories they told about drugs in high school? They were all true

Ed: I don't like the 'into'. Can you sing either 'in'' or 'to'?
Flo: No, I like it
After spending a few minutes discussing the relative merits of good vs. bad meter. Ed begrudgingly concedes, but comment, "I think we should add lots of 'intos' as a chorus it would be into-ative (sic)."

Flo: I think I need to hear that 'yeah'
Retakes the line
Greg: Did you like that 'yeah'?
Flo: Yeah

Flo working on vocals for "Neat Junk", a son about collecting funky stuff.

Greg: You have to give it more. Are you excited about your collection?
Flo: Yeah, but this part comes in quieter
Greg: Still have to have a reason to want to listen

Ed reflecting on the songs, "She should write a Broadway musical. I want to produce it."

Greg: You know what this song needs?
Rich: What?
Greg: What I was hearing is xylophone or marimba
Ed: That's nice. Keep hearing it

Flo singing "scuba gear"
Greg: Sing it again. I want it to make me want to get wet
Ed: Come over here. I'll get you wet

Flo: I need to do the end again
Greg: Are you ready?
Flo Yeah
Greg: Okay, now don't fuck it up

Ed: She has six songs sung. Rich records his bass on "Pirate Bride" & "Sylvie" while Flo gets a chance to rest & eat supper.

On Pirate Bride, Rich had trouble hitting the groove, Greg says, "Boy Rich gotta cut down on that fucking coffee."
Rich: I'm just trying to be artful

Flo: Did you get it alright?
Rich: Yeah, At least that's what they tell me.
Greg: Yeah, that's Rich - he even thinks Obama's all right.

Ed: Oh oh, it's kind of funny there - it's got that LSD kinda mindset
Greg: Not bad for a white boy

During a conversation about the number of projects that Ed has done with Greg, and that TagYerit's first CD was recorded analog on tape.
Flo: It was amazing to watch Greg cut tape. I even saved some of our project that was on the cutting room floor.
Ed: I used to watch him splice tape. He was the master. Greg - he used to do things with tape - I'm telling yah. You know, aside from the sexual things.

Flo records rhythm guitar track on "Sylvie".

Ed: Greg, give her another track. She's got another part and then we can quit if you want Flo
Flo: I'm alright
Ed: You look tired
Flo: No. I'm just trying too hard
Ed: That's an understatement

Ed (about the "Sylvie" lead guitar track): I'm excited. This is some of that old Floey

Greg: Some interesting shit there ... in an alternate universe with string theory.

Notes from Derek Studio Day 2 & 3

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Notes from Derek Studio Day 2 & 3 (Thursdays March 19 & 26)

The Cast:
Rich (bass )
Flo (rhythm/lead & vocals)
Ed Vadas - Producer
The Couch
Greg Steele - Engineer
Locale - Derek Studios, Dalton MA

This is our 4th recording project @ Derek. Ed, (producer), & Greg (engineer) have a healthy push & pull, keeping a banter going, often trying to get a rise out of us, the hardworking musicians (i.e. Flo & Rich). More than once, Flo has asked them what they thought their wives would say, if they heard them. I should mention for those who don't know us well, that Flo can swear with the best of them. Still there are times when the goading has a purpose. for ex. If Flo is trying to sing an angry part, she might not get it right until they taunt her with something totally politically incorrect, and then she really does get pissed.

Jopey nailed all his drum track on Day 1, Saturday March 7, now on the 19th, Rich finished bass tracks for Accelerate, Beyond De Feet, & Dryada. Flo recorded vocals and guitars on Accelerate and guitar tracks on Dryada. And while Rich & Flo were doing all the "real" work, what were our esteemed producer and engineer up to? Here's some quotes ...

Ed (wondering what's holding up the works) "C'mon! We're on a limited budget & limited talent".
Ed, "Now where the f*ck did he go?"
Greg, (in the midst of hooking up mics & chords), "Hey, It takes a long time to make the magic happen"
Ed. "Listen Merlin, If you don't hurry it up, I'll stick a wand up your butt & that will really make some magic happen."
Greg, "Oh boy! Gee really? Thanks"

Greg: "That's the spot you're going to come in. No animals will get hurt."

Greg, "Play me a little bit, so I can hear what you're gonna do. Better yet don't" (and he heads out to take care of something else)

Greg to Flo, "Would you like to try another guitar for a different tone?"
Ed, "Give her a smelly Tele"
Flo who has to date recorded all TagYerit material on the Rabbit Guitar asks fretfully, "Will it make me sound like everybody else?"

Greg, "Tune that guitar again"
Flo, "(expletive deleted)

Greg, "I'm going to take a whole other track so I'll have some options."
Ed, "Moptions? Is that what you use to clean up problem areas?"

After hearing Flo's lead for "Dryada", Greg said, "Either she's crazy or she's a genius." Then he added, "Flo, I think what you should do is get a heroin habit
& smoke a lot of shit & it will really open you up."

Flo."I went to the wrong note."
Greg, "How can you tell?"

Day 3 March 26
Rich recorded the bass tracks for Mt. Katahdin, Neat Junk & Neva Prepared. Flo finished all known guitar parts & lead vocals on Beyond De Feet & Dryada. And she did the rhythm guitar on Neva Prepared.

Imagine a room about 15' square with one corner cut off. That corner becomes the diagonal wall that faces into the recording room with the help of a 2' h. x 4' wide window. The window worked well when the room was first built, but now as Greg sits at this station, he has to look around a large Mac monitor that blocks much of the view. The floor is carpeted except for the area where Greg sits on his desk chair. There he has a wooden parquet floor, which he slides across from side to side as he adjusts knobs & patch chords on some of the dozen pieces of equipment that blink & pulse and whir in perfect synch to the music. The finish on the floor is gone except for the corners which attests to Greg's constant tweaking.
The Mac screen shows a series of black sine waves across half a dozen gray horizontal roads. Flo's singing a new vocal track for Dryada. The new live track being recorded grows across a red roadway.

The song Dryada is about meeting a tree spirit (dryad) who is speaking in her native language. As Flo sings into the microphone "Ah da Keena Ah da keena wayah", Ed sits next to me on the couch singing his own spin (off microphone), "Ike & Tina, Ike & Tina Turner."

Ah yes, the couch. The back wall of the room facing the board has a most benign looking monster, posing as a couch. You must be very careful if you decide to sit there. This beast will do its best to ingest you. If Ed weren't such a big man, it would certainly have swallowed him whole. As things are, Ed must make a supreme effort to escape this sponge that pretends to be a cushion. I am not exaggerating that I watch Ed huff & puff for 5 minutes until he was red in the face before he was able to free himself from its gravitational pull and stand upright. For a moment I thought I was witnessing Ed have a heart attack. I'm just a skinny guy, so I do my best to sit gingerly on the edge. I don't doubt that more than one band has lost a drummer to its bottomless depths. For years, Flo has begged, threatened and tried to bribe Greg to ditch the couch. She can't remember EVER attempting to sit in it, since in her mind it reeks of boy cooties (lost drummers?).

(back to Dryada)
Greg, "We should do the Pink Floyd thing and have a bunch of children sing it."

Flo, "I've put a breath in there, like a breeze blowing through the trees. It's a girl thing."
Greg, "It's brilliant".
Ed (to Greg), "Can you hike the breath up about 8 dbs?
Flo, "Can you hike my breasts up too?"
Greg, "That'll be extra."

Flo, " I keep tripping over the word 'sensation'."
Greg, " Just sing it from the top and I'll plug it in & you'll never know what hit you."

Ed, " Great! what song's next?"
Rich, "Beyond De Feet"
Ed, "Oh, the ankle song".
explanation: the song's about how the music travels from a musicians hands to the dancer's feet.
"It's their insides going through their hands and coming out your feet". So we came to calling the song "Beyond De Feet".

Flo, "I want to redo the E part"
Greg, "Do you want moreroll time?"
Flo, "Yeah."
Ed, "Chicken shit."

The Leap Year Patriot

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:29:00 +0000

Check out this video on The laziest American made by a friend of ours.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1568b00337/leap-year-patriot-from-jm-finholt

The Impeachment That Never Was

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:20:00 +0000

The Impeachment That Never Was…
Story & painted pumpkin illustration by Kathy Luttkus

I ‘impeached’ George Bush in my backyard, fueled by the belief that only elbows – and not impeachments – should be kept off the table. The process wasn’t hard. I purchased a can of peach halves (in heavy syrup), picked out a pumpkin at the farmer’s market, painted on a dumb facial expression, bought a gray wool suit from a thrift store, found a red, white and blue polyester tie on the dance floor of a Libertyville chili cook-off, and scored some Mickey Mouse cufflinks on eBay.

I accomplished in two hours tops what our representatives couldn’t do in five years. All 34 vertebrae of a good and sturdy spine aided the creation of the impeached pumpkin. But in the end, it was a little testicular fortitude that accomplished the task, even though I am a woman.

A scary precedent is being set by not impeaching a guy like George Bush. A majority of Americans agreed that Congress should impeach Bush if Americans were wiretapped without the approval of a judge. The 2006 Democratic takeover of the House and Senate meant – according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – that people were calling for a "new direction." But the Democrats didn’t keep their pledge for a change of course in Iraq, just as George Bush didn’t make good on his promise that the economy would grow. By 2007, the Democrats preferred the beatitude about inheriting the earth to being called peacemakers, whose only reward is to be deemed children of God. For them, regaining power mattered above all else.

John McCain said in June that he didn’t agree with Dennis Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment, yet in 1999 he voted for President Clinton’s impeachment because a president must be “held strictly accountable to the rule of the law.” (Behaviors of mavericks often defy logic.) So, manufacturing wars, lying about weapons of mass destruction, authorizing illegal wiretapping, and condoning torture of prisoners doesn’t even warrant a slap on the wrist, neither does killing and wounding more than 34,000 Americans and hundreds of thousands Iraqis. Presidents just can’t do something really heinous, like hang out in boardrooms with bereted interns who make nasty handbags. In 1998, Republicans put politics ahead of country when they impeached Bill Clinton. In 2008, Democrats put politics ahead of country by not impeaching George Bush.

Was there any satisfaction for me in carrying out a symbolic impeaching of my president? Perhaps a little bit, but not much. I would have preferred seeing a chapter in future history books detailing how President Bush endured the House passing articles of impeachment, probing questions by a responsible Congress, subpoenas, and sworn testimonies. Vermont Congressman Peter Welch said history would impeach George Bush. That may be true, but hopefully we’ll also see a few paragraphs about how Congress failed the American people.

Story and picture © Kathy Luttkus 2008

Who will get us to the clean energy finish line?

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:46:00 +0000

The Clean Machine takes the lead, but the Mean dirty carbon-chugging machine is still too close for comfort.

Even though the economy is in the forefront of everyone's mind right now, ultimately the environment stands to gain or lose the most over the long term. If we can point our economic engine in the direction of clean sustainable energy it will help the economy by directing job growth in new and exciting directions.

Backyard windmill anyone?

The Boys of Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:44:00 +0000

The Boys of Illinois

I'm sure I'm not the first to consider two men in comparison. The civil rights issue brought to a head by the first Illinoisan President, Abraham Lincoln, who had lost his senatorial election bid and yet because of that, went on to become president. Lincoln had less legislative experience than Barack Obama ... yet went on to be one of the most memorable presidents in US history.

On a side note, showing how some issues never change ... during the Lincoln Douglas debates, Lincoln defends his votes when in the House of Representatives for voting against the war with Mexico (as illegal) and yet supporting the troups by voting for the allotment of moneys to provide them with adequate supplies and equipment.

On a completely different side note ... it's curious that the "conservative" administration is responding to the current financial crisis with its sudden support of a very socialist mindset when trying to head off disaster with its bailout of major financial institutions. This pumpkin headed punster will refrain, at the moment, from deciding whether this is a good move or a bad move, but we sure do find it curious. We guess that socialism is really not so bad if it means helping your wealthy buddies stay wealthy.

Polly The P.O.ed Pumpkin Wakes Up to another Prez Election Year

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:41:00 +0000

Oh Yeah! It's Political Pumpkin time again. Since TagYerit's pumpkin pages receive hundreds of thousands of visits during these months ... the world's YOUR stage ... We're putting a call out to all you interested parties, be you pundits, pumpkin carvers, pumpkin painters, or just someone with a promising idea. Send us your pumpkin pics and ideas.

Pumpkins (and TagYerit) are avid environmentalists and are still pissed off and reeling from 8 dismal years of Bush's Reblican REGIME. Now, since McCain has aligned himself with Bush's failed policies 95% of the time, you can just guess where the pumpkin patch votes will go ...

So we're looking for:
pumpkins with strong pro-Obama visuals and statements
AND
pumpkins portraying McCain's record (like his support on issues such as torture; oil drilling; Iraq, etc.)

Even if you're not a pumpkin carver - send us your best ideas and we'll attempt to carve as many as we can

Help us and the pumpkins make this the year of "No more Business As Usual with Greedy good ol' boys in the White House/"

Life is NOT a contest ...

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:15:00 +0000

This is not a test
Reality is not tv
Most of the world will never know about you
Fewer will (or should) even care.

When we're visiting friends or relatives who happen to like to watch American Idol we get a chance to see what the fuss is about. Sure some of these folks are talented. For me, if I'm forced to watch, then the judges are the show ... you can learn something from a few of the things they say, but it struck me that the draw for audiences is that the producers figured out how to make it a sporting event. I guess that's great if you like to watch sports.

Imagine if Rapheal, Reuben, Picasso, Dali and all the others had to compete for best painter. Now there's a sport I'd watch ... before long they might be slinging paint at each other. Well, before I get too distracted, my point is that in spite what your publicist might tell you, they didn't create because they wanted to appeal to the masses. They looked inside their souls and beautiful (and / or) thought provoking enduring art
came out. That they may have become popular is only because what they found in their souls just happened to match what many of the rest of us have sensed in our own souls.

Now I confess, on occasion that I've entered TagYerit's songs into contests, but never for a moment deluding myself that we'll ever win this week's flavor of the month contest. Just hoping to get a few more folks to hear our songs. That's all.

So what's my own flavor or reality this week? Ah, it's spring. Watching the brown of pre-spring transform to a wide palette of greens. If that just happens to be your flavor, or if you're even remotely curious about how that flavor translates in song ... Here's a clip of TagYerit's song
Amelia And All That Is (aka The Great Unfolding)

available at ITunes

along with other of your favorite digital outlets ...

AMELIA, and All That IS (The Great Unfolding)
©1995 Rich & Flo Newman (BMI)
Around the quiet islands of snow
Could it be I see the green start to show
I surprised a secret slender sprout
Hiding under an iced-in brick that I pulled out
(Chorus)
Seems like everyone's breath is holding
Waiting, waiting for the Great Unfolding
Its freezing but as I look around
Red clover is pushing up through the ground
Tiny new leaves in packages done so precise
Unfolding origami when it's time to capture light
Seems like...
Tiny spirals to huge feather fans
Fiddleheads to ferns
Shades of brown to 'Emerald City'
I just blinked, the scene had turned
How many years have passed that I failed to see
The early stages of this meadow mystery
Like purple cigars that are rolled up really tight
Turn to blooming violets almost overnight
Each bud is a whole pollen package store
Sitting right there hoping
Some thirsty bee is first in line
when it comes the time to open
Seems like...

Thought I heard Tweet minor for half a sec
Are the blueprints being drawn
Those brilliant flying architects
Just labor on and on
So you'll see me on the ground with my head bent real low
Not 'cause I'm feeling down or got no place to go
I'm just moving in close for the bestest best of shows
Taking my seat in the very front row
Waiting waiting for the Great Unfolding

Seems like everyone's breath is holding

Shopping Spree Game

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:40:00 +0000

I had a roommate once who got his MBA in business. Poor guy couldn't balance his checkbook. Turns out Presidents and congressmen can't either. Some people think all you need is a bigger credit card or else just print more money.

So here's the deal - How would you spend $3 trillion

$3 trillion. That is what Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates the war in Iraq will cost our country. It's crippling our economy and causing our Iraq recession.

To put this colossal amount of cash into perspective, we've partnered with Robert Greenwald and our friends at Brave New Films to bring you a game to help people really understand what $3 trillion dollars can buy. Get ready to go on a 3 Trillion Dollar Shopping Spree!

http://www.3trillion.org/

And guess what? With that kind of money you can be selfish and still do good!
Check it out!

Winter's Officially over in our yard

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:29:00 +0000

3 pictures showing the demise of our winter snowpile

This last picture was taken just before noon on Saturday April 13th ... the snow pile in its final gasp!

We take great pride in our snow pile. Unlike the mall parking lots, this is a handbuilt snow pile from the furthest reaches of our driveway. It's a sign we had a good snowfall when the pile lasts to April 13th in Amherst.

The Car Graveyard at Easter

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:09:00 +0000

Here's a few pictures from our favorite car graveyard. The mannequin head was a new discovery. Our easter egg. You can see the whole set HERE.

You can see the whole set HERE.

A Few Photos Early March

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:53:00 +0000

Here's a few pics from Amethyst Brook, Amherst after a recent rain storm.

The Rock (Amethyst Rock)
The Bridge
The Brook

(prints of these and more are available at Dot Photo)

I held a jewel...
I held a jewel in my fingers
And went to sleep
The day was warm, and winds were prosy;
I said: " 'T will keep."

I woke and chid my honest fingers, --
The gem was gone;
And now an amethyst remembrance
Is all I own.

~Emily Dickinson

Music Promo 101

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:38:00 +0000

Just like most people online who are out to get your money, I know of no secrets for you achieving success. Unlike them, I'm not interested in your money except if you want to buy our music. But I have been studying these things for a while and I'm posting as much for my own benefit (to remind myself) as for anyone who might accidentally discover this blog. Trust me, I do plenty of things wrong, but that's okay.

I'll try to skip most of the jargonese you typically find like "It's not who you know but who knows you." I guess that stuff's fine for selling books. This is just a start. I want to keep these in short bursts.

Best book for networking - actually for getting along in life - is probably still one of the originals, "How to Win Friends and Influence People", Dale Carnegies 1937 book.

Become a "renaissance man" (or lady). i.e. learn to do things yourself. Even if you end up hiring someone else, try it first yourself. And I mean everything..

After we finished recording our first CD and while we were waiting for the pressing, I went to our local library and read every book I could find on marketing and publicity. While you're doing this, make sure to learn how to write a press release.

Volunteer. Yep best way to learn. I volunteered at a local radio station once a week for about a year. I wanted to know how CDs arrived, how they went through them sorted them etc. not a pretty picture, but you want to know these things. Funny thing, they couldn't figure out why I was doing it. But they appreciated my work and they actually offered me a job making sure the Sunday morning polka show was broadcast. I passed on the offer, but you see how this can work for you.

Volunteer. Music Conferences - you bet. I've covered this on our website and I'll get back to it another time here on the blog, but here are a few links
Loud Music Festival 1996 & 1997

Music Musings - this includes concert reviews as well as the Sonalysts MixxMag music festival (see I practiced a bit of e-journalism - also published Indiegrrl Fan Ezine for a few years)
http://www.tagyerit.com/musings.htm
1998 Nemo Music Festival in Boston

1997 Philadelphia Music Festival - be sure to check out Patt Smith's keynote speech

1998 CMJ - College Music Journal

We did Music Conferences and Festivals for a number of years. Not sure why I stopped posting summaries, but I'll sum up some of our other experiences in a future post.

To be continued ...

Crazy Dancing - ALSO the bunny pin!

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:22:00 +0000

We put one of our bunny-guitar pewter pins up on Ebay this week.

Bunny Guitar Pin on Ebay - proceeds for Best Friends Animal Society

For the story of the bunny guitar visit www.tagyerit.com/rabguit.htm

Now onto the dancing ...
As long as I can remember, I've always been a wild freestyle dancer. Not sure if that term "freestyle" really applies to me, since I don't know what its semantic uses signify, BUT I just know how to get up on a dance floor and my feet vamp the beat. But terminology aside, anyone who's seen me will attest that I'm a fun dancer to watch.

When I really get worked up into it, it feels very magical. So how did it really start. According to my older sister, when we were kids I asked her to help me to learn to dance and she just told me I should go off and do my own thing. So I did. She meant it as one sibling to another - to get me to embarrass myself. Instead it worked.

Maybe, that's why she later became a movement therapist, cause she saw how well it worked on her first victim (to which I'll be forever grateful). The truth is that over the years she has been working her movement therapy magic. A few years ago she designed a great fun tool for her movement practice - I could tell you more about it, but I'll just let her website and blog do that.

http://www.octaband.com
http://dancetherapymusings.typepad.com

Of course I've had other influences, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention how important our mom was in getting me to love music and dance. I keep threatening that someday I'll videotape myself dancing to some of our tunes, then you'll see what I'm talking about.

The Middle of Nowhere

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:36:00 +0000

I've often wondered, how not to tell a story by going back to its chronological beginning. The biggest problem for me is figuring out how much back story is necessary before that "beginning" makes some kind of sense. So I always feel like I'm really telling the story from the middle. Well discovering a blog for the first time is always coming in on the middle and wondering how much you might have missed.

Would it make sense for me to periodically repeat stuff or just leave it to your imagination to wonder where in the world I could possibly be coming from?

So here then is the capsule as of today ... Flo & Rich Newman are the creative centers of TagYerit the band and TagYerit the website and all these offshoots such as this blog. But as in any division of labor, the web labor is principally Rich (that's me the guy who typed this out).

Speaking of labor, so this Rich guy, that's me has many skills with varying degrees of success in each skill. But, I like to think the primary skill is problem solving. So feel free to comment me and maybe I'll have a suggestion. I like making stuff from cast-offs. ... Recently built a U-shaped shower curtain hanger from the remnants of an old brass bed. If I could have found something like this in the right size it would have cost over $500 and not been as good. In the past I've done a fair degree of carpentry remodeling as well as antique restoration and a limited amount of wood carvings. ... but there's always pumpkin carving .... But I'm going to leave off this in the middle even as it seems I'm just getting started.

Just this one more thing. See Flo loves to build snow mounds and the Snow Ziggurat pictured above is her mound, with a little design assistance from our friend and housemate Matt.

Snow Pics

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:17:00 +0000

The Fairy Flush Toilet Paper Wedding Dress (Revised)

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:22:00 +0000

© (p) FloraLee Newman 2008
The following was the invitation that we handed to friends at L&F's wonderful annual Mardi Gras party (The theme was 'Love & Marriage):

"Dear friends & family,

The Fairy Flush and Peter Tapilo would like to
make you "privy" to their little secret. ...
They've decided to take the plunge!

Mr. & Mrs. Claug D'Raynz and
Mr. & Mrs. Scott Brown-Tapilo
announce the union of their daughter
The Fairy Flush to Peter Tapilo

The wedding will take place at the
Lovely Septic Meadows Pavilion

The flushing bride requests your presence
At a ceremonial soldering and the
traditional tossing of the waxed ring."

The Fairy Flush also included the following poem on the invitation:

"Surprise - it's me. The Fairy Flush
No one thinks about me all that much
I reside and work inside your tank
Yet, you never utter a word of thanks
But it's true - If I was not around
There'd be a whole lotta SH**
NOT going down!

When the handle's pulled
I get in the zone
Each swish, valve, pipe's
The perfect tone
I know how to make it swirl the best
As of your deposits I help you divest!"

Those of you already in the know will connect The Fairy Flush & Peter Tapilo to their other personas as curators of the Whole World Toilet Paper Museum
The inspiration for the tp wedding dress came from Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com

The Fairy flush created her dress in her spare time (when the toilets were not in need of flushing) over the course of a week. The approximately 3 1/2 unused rolls were not missed by the flushers. The dress was held together with various tapes, including double sided tape, regular scotch tape & packing tape. The chords & straps for the dress were also made from tp. The dress held up pretty well over the course of the party, though the "lace" did take a beating and The Fairy Flush wishes she had had a bit more time to style it prior to the party.

Birds & 2nd Dinosaur Age

noreply@blogger.com (TagYerit) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Birds?

I'm not a "bird watcher" but I love to watch them. Sometimes I wonder if they're an omen or portent as some of our ancestors used to believe.

Friday night I turned onto Jackson St. in Northampton, and there's a car stopped in the middle of my right lane. As I started to pass and curse the driver under my breath, I realized that about 3 feet in front of the car is an owl sitting there on the road watching us all. From my quick glance I'd say it may have been a barred owl. Instead of cursing, I ended up being grateful to the attentive driver. I'd guess if the owl was there as a warning, it was a private message for the driver and not for me.

However, Saturday was different. I was standing in our yard half watching our 2 bunnies playing near the fence when out of the corner of my eye I realized a large bird was flying down not 4 feet from me about eye level. It happened too fast for me to identify it, either an owl or more probably a small hawk - wingspan of approx. 3 feet. It did not seem to be on an attack dive, there was no swooshing or anything. Then it immediately headed up on a pine tree across the driveway. I tried to get closer for a better look but it took off. What was that all about?

Fortunately it never saw our buns nor did they see it. So I guess it was there for me to piece together. At the moment, I figure it was our friend Teddy saying hello from the other side.

While I'm at it, these don't seem to have any cosmic significance on the forecasting horizon, but last week there was a pileated woodpecker on the tree right outside the house. Of course it was gone by the time I got the camera. It was quite striking looking though with its red head contrasted against the snowy field just behind it. AND in other bird news I saw 4 wild turkey over on Harkness Rd.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Interested in a relic from the 2nd Dinosaur Age?

Currently offering the following on Ebay ...
Vintage Texaco Motor Oil 5 gallon can

How much am I bid on this piece of history? Evolved from dinosaurs and soon to be relegated to a museum. One day you'll be taking your grandkids to a museum and you'll see an oil can artifact such as this and say, "I remember when cars were run on fuels made from old dinosaur fossils." And your grandkids will respond, "How quaint grandpa!"
More info at:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130197234385&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DSelling