good times....

well... Aerosmith was fun... but it was the friends and family we shared ti with that made it fun.. not the organization of the concert itself... that part actually sucked...



I mean, dont get me wrong... the band played well.. but the set up, the PA, the lack of TV big screens, the beer sales.... well.. it all sucked...

But oh well.. I'll just avoid a David Carver production next time around... stick with DKD and the folks who know how to do it right....

Our Neighbors and friends were there... and, well... we'd have had fun anywhere with those guys.. and always do..


We also had a fun time doing other touristy things...

and then it was back to work...


Oh.. , and I cant forget the Trooper concert, we opened... got to meet them... all that jazz
Well worth the sleep deprivation..

This weekend... Lots of catching up with the unpacking, and then a real treat.. My Guitar mentor was in town, and we got to go jam with a Mutual friend who was celebrating his 50'th...

he got a wicked new keyboard too!! Small little footprint, but man.. it kicks Ass.

Yamaha MM6 I think...

to top it all off... got the studio in "somewhat" working order... still a mess.. but were getting there...

whew... back to work tomorrow....

Multi Tasking

How much of a geek would I be If I was caught Reading Harry Potter at the Aerosmith Concert...

Just a thought...

Maslow's hierarchy

Seem to have less and less time for this stuff... but such is life I guess... family and work first, then the household stuff... then some music stuff and then, if there's time.. some blogging..... but all in good time.. just seems theres always something a little more important lately.. or at least more urgent..

anyway.. its been a wild ride these past few weeks to say the least...

first there was the move... Boy, was that a lot of work... In hindsight, I should have hired professionals... just thinking about it now makes me tired... but we had lots of help.. and not only was it good to have, it felt good to have friends who would bust their backs and knuckles up for ya like that.. I just hope they understand it will take us a little while before were ready to have the "thanks for helping" party....


this pic on the left here is taken (while driving, opps) from my phone, in the Rental van, with all my buddies following behind.... We had our own little convoy going..

Were still not finished unpacking.. theres stuff we cant find.. and stuff we forgot we can't find until we need it.... I can't get in to the garage.. BUT I am determined to re-claim it if its the last thing i do... (My dad bet me I'd never park my car in there and I just have to prove him wrong.... lol) and believe it or not, I still havn't organized my music room... its in the worst state of all the house... Priorities I guess...

We did, however remove wallpaper in my daughters room and a bathroom, primed both.. and got 2 coats of paint in the former... I have to sand the later before putting on new paint.... got my Big screen mounted, then remounted, and all the wires run... Connected internet, phone and cable to my music room, connected internet an phone to Trena's computer desk... painted the upstairs hallway and downstairs hallway... presurewashed a good deal of concrete outrside, hauled 18 bags of leaves to the curb and burned as many in a little fire we had, and cripes... theres more.. im just too tired to think of it all for now..

Suffice to say, we've worked our arses off.. but is all worth it.. The house is 20 yrs old, and needs a little TLC, but I do love it... its got Character... so on ward we go!!! Im just so tired... but it will all be worth it in the end..

Works going GREAT... man.. did i ever luck out... Its a job I'll be good at, with people I like, and a company I can see spending the rest of my career with... PLUS!! its truly a 9-5 job.... thats not common in my field... usually its more like 7-7 plus... so I'm counting my blessings!!! Until Oct Im just taking courses.. which is kind of boring, but its a tremendoues luxery to be able to focus on these courses like this and not have to take them while actually working... Come Oct, I'll be gun-hoe to make sure they know i can earn my keep... so I'll likely put in a few extra hours then.. but its worth it....

Music's on the upswing as well.. turns out my Next Door Neighbor Runs his own recording Studio.... How cool is that.. man.. these past 5 years have been one odd/cool coincidence after another... not the least of which is that Im living in Stillwater.... anyone care to guess the name of the band in one of my all time favorite movies was??????? You guessed it.. STILLWATER... anyway... now Im just sounding like a geek...

Speaking of which.. We (aka the FULL CIRCLE band) will be opening for Trooper a week from today!

I dont care how big of a geek it makes me.... Im taking my HOT SHOTS album and getting them to Sign it!!!!




We did have some relaxation... My mom took care of our little one for a nite and we went out to a housewarmer that ended up at the pouge fado...



I was D.D. and I gotta tell you.. it was a blast... I got to jam a little bit with some new friends, and got to hear some great live music! even got to see good friend, Brad Davidge in his new band Soul Kitchen.. But trying to keep a bucnh of drunks under control in downtown halifax is about as easy as herding cats..... You'd think it shouldnt be hard, but then one gets away on ya and almost gets tackled by 4 boucners trying to recover the flag he stole from the bar... (funny, so funny we were almost laughing too hard to interveen, but you had to be there..

But you kind of realize your not 19 any more when all the kids walking by you smell like the cologne/perfume section at Sears, and you smell like Deep Woods Off!!!

As I looked at the state my hands were in when I got home, I thought of all the clues a CSI would find on them to what i'd been up to all week long... Yup... I watch too much TV!!!!

First Session in new Studio Location!

We havent finished unpacking yet, theres stuff everywhere.. stuff on the floor, in boxes, were tripping over tools and other miscellaneous paraphernalia but Jon's got a deadline, and I had committed to getting my end done in time..

truth be told, I thought I'd be unpacked and set up sooner, but I seriously underestimated the amount of work involved in all this moving stuff...

Anyway... Jon's at the Sonic Temple tomorrow to mix down some of the tunes for his upcoming CD and I had to get my keyboard tracks down... so we pulled a late nite to get caught up...

To help get the last of this stage done, Jon came over himself to help out, Even brouht Coffee's but I also wanted him to hear my tracks before I put them on CD.... While the first two are basic Organ/Piano stuff, I took some "Creative Liberties" on the third tune and didnt want him to hear it for the first time at Sonic when he's paying by the hour and go "what the F--K is that"

I kind of took a Neil Young/Bon Jovi type of tune, and Kind of did an "ELO/PetShopBoys" synth thing over it... anyway... He liked it!!! so thats cool... He compared it to some of the new stuff he's listening to from bands like the White Stripes, etc.... so I took that as a compliment...

One more tune to do for this phase, then I have some more time before stage two... I'll need it.. We have a LOT of unpacking to do still, and painting, and drywalling, and wiring... and I'd go on but it makes me tired to even think of it...

I'm really looking forward to going back to work tomorrow... I could use a break!

Back in A New York Groove!

Well, Im not really Back in a New York Groove, But I am back online at least.... and that songs been stuck in my head all day for some reason.... (Ace Freely, from back when the entire Kiss Line up had solo albums back in the 70's)

Anyway... Whew!!! Moving is a lot of work.. I dont ever want to do it again..

to make matters worst, My wifes freaking mad at me right now actually over a few holes strategically placed in the walls and/or ceiling here and there... I tried to explain that if you want high speed net and/or phone and/or digital cable/sat in a room where there wasn't one before in a 20 year old house... it requires a little surgery.... And a little drywall, crown molding and some cove molding here and there can work wonders....

Oh well.. guess i'll just have to rush on getting it all done.. On the upside, the "DogHouse" is very comfortable...

Just have to clean up some stray cables and such, and my Music Room will be fully Functional at last..

I know some other people who moved same time as us, and they were in an "living" withn a day..... to those people I have one question... "HOW"?

we've been over a week, and were still not done.. but, then again, we've been doing some "surgery" to the house in addition to the move itself, so much of our pains have been self inflicted...

Anyway... gotta shot some thanks out.. then its back at it..

I had the Canada Day long weekend going against me, but we did get some much appreciated help..

Mike Lamoureux
Mike Tighe
Michelle Rizok
Wayne Smart
Shonneth McKinnon
Stephen and Carolyn Macdonald
John Devereaux
Richard And Bev (Trena's Parents)
My Mom!
and Im sure theres someone very Key that I can't remember right now, but its late, Im beyond tired, and heavily medicated, so I'll have to think on it and re-post later...

some neat pics will follow soon..

Nite all..

opps... almost forgot..... I got the TV up on the wall!!! too bad theres no more Sopranos to watch!!!