• family,  Photography

    Mother’s Day 2006


    I went to the cemetery for the first time in a couple years today. It was a busy day for that sort of thing (as one would think). Everything is pretty much the same; it’s still a tranquil place. To think, it’s been almost seven years, it’s staggering really.

  • Bluegrass,  Flatpicking,  Music

    Recording attempts

    Last night I attempted to record four flatpick tunes, and eventually to create a Steve French, Musician site on MySpace. I was unable to get the recording levels right on three of them (I blame the Samson digital pre-amp) and I can’t seem to get the musician page set up right on MySpace.

    In any case, one of them did turn out okay; the volume level is very low (just like me!) but it’s not terrible.

    I played Cooley’s Reel, which is an old Irish fiddle tune in E-Minor. I do it a bit faster than it’s normally done, but I think it turned out okay. I originally heard this song done by Steve Kaufman, but the actual music I got from BluegrassGuitar.com. I do both lead and rhythm on the song.

    You can download it here (right click and choose “Save As” (Command-Click on the Mac)).

    Thoughts?

    UPDATE: Eric remixed it for me, which helped the volume levels a lot. The file is updated.

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  • Bluegrass,  Music

    Another open mic night done

    Due to the small number of entrants, I wound up doing six songs. They were “Walkin’ Cane”, It’s Raining Here This Morning”, “Red Clay Halo”, “Ruby Ridge”, “Blackjack County Chain” and “Tin Foil and Stone”. Tin Foil and Stone was the new song for the week. I think I’m going to work in a Guy Clark song for next week.

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  • Europe,  Germans,  Weirdness

    What’s wrong with German people?

    You would think that this article German cannibal jailed for life for ‘ultimate kick’ couldn’t get any stranger after the opening paragraphs of

    A self-confessed German cannibal has been jailed for life after a court here found him guilty of murder for killing and partly eating an allegedly willing victim he had met on the Internet.
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    The court in the western German city of Frankfurt found that Armin Meiwes, known as the “cannibal of Rotenburg,” killed his victim to satisfy his sexual urges.

    Meiwes, 44, immediately said that he would appeal the sentence, signaling another round in a long legal process that has laid bare a hitherto secret market in cannibalism.

    but it really does get stranger from there.

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  • America,  Bush,  Politics

    Funny line

    I was reading part of the transcript of Rumsfeld vs the heckler (who’s a moderately well known anti-Bush activist, I’ve heard him on Democracy Now before) here in Atlanta last week. I came across this gem:

    CHILD: Mom, do you have an Altoid?
    MOM: Yes, I think so. Look in my purse.
    CHILD: I don’’t see any.
    MOM: Oh, I thought I had some.
    CHILD: LYING BLOODTHIRSTY MONSTER!

    I’ve always wondered how is it possible that people can believe the government, particularly this one, is more capable of a grand conspiracy than a grand failure.

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  • Personality,  Tech,  Weirdness

    Anniversaries of no consequence

    • I recently went three and a half weeks without rebooting my workstation, which is possibly an all time record for me. (I usually average two weeks).
    • It has been 12 years since I’ve seen a doctor. Three more years and I’m a common-law Christian Scientist!
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  • Adages,  Quotes

    An odd quote

    G.K. Chesterton:

    There is more true simplicity in the man who eats caviar on impulse than in the man who eats grape nuts on principle

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