Sunday, August 14, 2005
K&W - RSM and SCP 12-13Aug2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
San Francisco Vacation 2005
Mostly a driving day, we left at 9:15 and made it to Johnny's house in Ventura pretty quick, and had nice lunch and chat with John and Shelly. At Dave's insistence, we stopped at the Madonna Inn on the way, but the famous Men's Room was busted. Still, pretty fun.
The drive itself was OK -- we passed things that reminded me of stories to tell: the Renaissance Faire, Wizzin's, Johnny's AM radio, etc.
We made it to Salinas about 7:30, drove around town looking for somewhere to eat. We found the old downtown, but ate at a Chinese restaurant in the newer part.
The freeway noise here at the Motel 6 is pretty loud, but we'll probably be OK. The room itself is not-so-bad, though they lied about the in-room hair dryer.
Day 2 - Sunday, 07Aug05

We spent almost the whole day at the Monterey Aquarium, and it was a good thing that we had big Denny's breakfasts, 'cuz we didn't break for lunch at all. There's a cylindrical glass tank full of sardines going round and round, and they occasionally open their mouths wide open for some reason. I stood Geneva in front of it and said "Open your mouth!", but I didn't think she'd do it. She apparently didn't think she would either, and we laughed for 5 minutes.
From there we drove a traffic jam to Santa Cruz, and had pizza in the old downtown. Then we walked up and down the main street, looking in the stores, and bought some souvenirs in a bead shop; a Celtic thing for Geneva and a unicorn for Acacia.
After that, we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which is a classic sea-side amusement park, right on the beach, with all the old-school rides and a big wooden roller coaster called the Big Dipper. We walked up and down the whole park, and finally bought tickets for the roller coaster. Then we were naughty and shared a Funnel Cake. Drove home and were in bed just before midnight.
Day 3 - Monday, 08Aug05
McDonald's for breakfast, then the "National Steinbeck Center", which was pretty cool, considering. They have exhibits on all the major books -- Doc's lab, the Red Pony's stall, the Boiler Tank "house", etc. Lots of the various movies playing excerpts. They also have a little art gallery there that was showing a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian called "The Graceful Envelope", with a bunch of hand decorated and calligraphed envelopes that had been sent through the mail to the U.S. Postal Museum. Very cool.

Then we went to the Roaring Camp train ride, up the mountain in a steam train. A nice ride through the Coastal Redwoods, tallest (but not "biggest") trees in the world. I had thought that we'd walk through Muir woods tomorrow to see them, but I guess we don't have to now, and can spend the time in Ghirardelli or something instead.
After the train ride, on to the Winchester Mystery House (crazy roofs, pictured), which was also pretty OK. I didn't know that all the furniture had been sold off after her death, so the house is nearly empty. Which is a good thing 'cuz the rooms are all really small, and it lets a tour group fit in 'em.
Found the Alpine Inn that we'll be at for the next three nights, and it's really cute -- a kind of mini-suite, with a main room and another little bedroom.
Day 4 - Tuesday, 09Aug05
After Denny's, we drove up the coast so we could stop at the Cliff House, the ruins of the Sutro Baths, and see the Camera Obscura, which was unfortunately closed. We didn't explore the ruins 'cuz it was freezing cold, and, as usual, Geneva didn't have much warm to wear. Besides, we had to get to the Exploratorium.
I remember going to the Exploratorium in the 70's, and it was really cool. Later, though, I seem to remember going and it was nearly empty, and lame. Now it's picked back up again, big time, and we spent the whole day in there and didn't see it all.
We went for the deluxe ticket that included a trip through the Tactile Dome, which maybe 20 foot diameter geodesic dome with walk, crawl, and slide passages snaking through it. The passages are lined in various "tactile" materials, and you feel your way through it, in total darkness. They want it to be a "change your perceptions" kind of experience, but it just seemed like a simple carnival Fun House to me. Fun though, and Geneva really liked it.
From there we went to Ghirardelli and the Cannery, mostly to spend time in the "Lark of the Morning" musical instrument store. We also got Geneva a "San Francisco" souvenir baby-doll T-shirt.
And on the way back to the hotel, we drove down Lombard, twice.
Day 5 - Wednesday, 10Aug05
We took the BART over to Berkeley, walked around for a while, and gave some of my trail mix to a very tame squirrel.
Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us into the libraries without an ID card. Still, Geneva proclaimed it suitable for her to go to since she'll be able to get to San Francisco easily enough. After we'd seen enough of the school, we walked down Telegraph, where all the street vendors and strange shops are.
Took the BART back to Powell, but the line for the cable car never got short enough to get on it. We walked through China Town instead, then went to Metreon, played with the interactive floor and wall, watched some guys playing HyperBowl at the sci-fi arcade, wandered through the shops, had dinner, and checked out Robby the Robot.
Day 6 - Thursday, 11Aug05
We were scheduled to just drive home today, but first we had to take pictures of all the "Geneva" stuff (Motel, Pizza, HVAC supplies, Pub, etc.) along Geneva Street by our hotel. I also decided that we needed to pull through the city one more time to let Geneva run into "Lark of the Morning" and buy the little wooden noisemaker frog that I wouldn't let her buy on Tuesday ('cuz she just. doesn't. need. another gee-gaw).
When we got there, they weren't open yet, but it's near the Golden Gate, so we drove over to the other side and took some pictures, and came back and got the frog. It's kind of clever, since it's a frog, and if you rub its back with the stick just right, it makes a pretty convincing frog noise.
Then we drove on home down the 5, telling stories, talking about movies, school, and other stuff.
All in all, a great trip. It sure makes it simpler to have only two people -- getting agreement on where to go, where to eat, when to do what, etc., is so much easier. We should do more of these...
Saturday, August 06, 2005
K&W - SCP 05Aug05
Our first time at South Coast Plaza since the Seattle's Best changeover. The atmosphere is only a little better, but the carpeted section does tend to create an area that's clear of studying kids so we can set up. It went pretty well, for there, with a reasonable amount of appreciation. A dad showed up, stalling while waiting for his family to finish shopping, and when they came to get him, I snagged them all for a while with some kids' songs. That's the son down front -- the dad, mom, and little sister are out of the frame.
On our way out, Warren was waylaid by an older couple that insisted on telling us how much better we are than the usual bands that play there. The woman was a piano teacher, and was less than complementary of the skills of the other players, and of their volume levels. That was nice to hear.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Fairies
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Vacation Plans
Geneva and I will be driving up the 101 to Monterey to spend 2 days seeing the Aquarium, Santa Cruz's "Boardwalk" amusement park, and maybe the Steinbeck Museum, then a train ride in Felton, and the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.
Then in San Francisco (2 days), we'll do the Exploratorium, go over the Golden Gate to the Muir Woods, and then take a day to walk around U.C. Berkeley, and maybe some Chinatown, Pier 39, Metreon, Zeum, etc. I'm trying to keep the activities per day count down so we won't be too rushed, but there's lots to do up there.
Daleen and Acacia will drive south, staying in Encinitas and hanging at the pool, the beach, and the tide pools, and cruising out to see the gold mine and Wolf Preserve in Julian.
The girls have found it particularly difficult to get along this summer, so this might work out pretty well. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Geneva, Off To Horse Camp
Geneva went off to Girl Scout Horse Camp on Sunday morning, for 5 days. No one she knows is going, but she makes friends fast -- she'd found a bus-seat-buddy before the engines started.
What can be better than Horse Camp for a 13-year-old girl? I'm gonna have a hard time competing with our little vacation next week...
K&W - Carlsbad - 30July05
Warren and I played the Borders-Café-to-Seattle's-Best conversion completion "party" at the Carlsbad Borders on Saturday. Normally, we don't play so far away from home, but this was (inexplicably) a paid gig ($75 to split), unlike the usual nighttime ones where we play for free. Or should I say, we play for fun.
It went OK, but was different than usual. Since it was in the afternoon (2:30-5), it seemed more volatile -- people coming and going a lot -- so we'd have a good audience for a while, then it would go dead, off and on. Strange. Also, since it was a big "coffee party", the grinder and blender were going almost non-stop, which always makes it tough.
The worst part was the drive -- it took us two and a half hours to get there. We left *lots* of time to spare, but we made it just after 2:30, and still had to set up. Pretty much settles the question of whether to play there again at night...
We'll be playing a similar paid "party" at the Mission Viejo store on the 13th. The set up is different, though -- we'll be farther from the grinder, at least.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Geneva's Debut - RSM 23Jul05
Well, I finally got Geneva to come out and play and sing with me at the Borders gig. We worked up 4 "singing songs", and 4 or 5 fiddle tunes. She did really, really well. Better yet, she says she wasn't (and she didn't seem) nervous at all, and afterwards she said that "she hadn't realized how much *fun* it was gonna be!" My greatest fear was that she'd blow it big time, and/or be so stressed-wracked that she'd never want to do it again, but I guess we dodged both of those bullets.
It helped (a lot) that my mom and dad came down (with some friends) -- it's always nice to have some friendly faces in the crowd (and who's friendlier than a gramma?). Not that there was a "crowd" -- RSM was having one of their Summer Concerts that night, so the attendance at Borders was kinda light. I don't think there was any actual competition for audience, but I think that the local families that tend to go out on a Saturday night ended up at the concert, not the bookstore.
She sang "Soak Up the Sun", "Jenny Dreamed of Trains", "Lollipop Tree", and Tracy Ullman's 1979 pop hit "They Don't Know", which was probably the best of the lot. I sing harmony with her, a third up but an octave down, and it sounds pretty good, I think. It reinforces her sound -- and her courage, I'm pretty sure...
The fiddle tunes went OK, too, though we both need to work on the transitions and trying to remember how many A parts, and how many Bs. I'm not sure which one of us messed that up, but it was recover-able.
My dad took video of most of the night and my mom called yesterday to say that it turned out really well, so I'll be anxious to see (and hear) that. I'll try to snag some stills out of it, too -- I forgot to bring a camera.
I guess Geneva's other favorite part is that in order to incentive-ize her to get some songs together at all, I had promised her that she could have all the tips. We sold 6 CDs, and with some too-generous donations from my mom and her friend, Geneva made $47 towards her "iPod Fund"! That's a bit anomalous, of course, but it is a record "take", ever, for a coffeeshop gig. I reckon she'll want to do it again -- next chance at RSM (I don't think I want to take her to any of the not-so-friendly places for a while at least) is August 12. I hope to work up some more tunes by then, too ("Red Rubber Ball" to start). Now that she knows how much fun it is, maybe she'll be more willing to rehearse with me, and practice on her own.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Singing in the Car, Again
Since I've been sick, and I've got a gig coming up this Saturday, I've been trying to sing in the car a lot to get my voice back into shape -- or at least to see if I'm gonna be *able* to sing on Saturday.
I was singing along to the "Waltzing with Bears" CD, and then I got out the regular "Keith & Warren" CD, since those are, obviously, songs that I need to do, and that are in the right range for me. I sang with that one for a day, but "that guy on the CD" is too loud, and I can't really hear if I'm singing OK or not.
Then it occurred to me that I have the original, separate tracks that make up those songs: my voice, my guitar, and Warren's guitar, all in separate files. So I burned a CD last night of just the "my guitar" tracks, and now I have "K&W Karaoke!" in the car. (I could have (should have) included Warren's guitar, especially for the solo verses, but that would have involved doing a mix-down, and I just didn't have time.)
Anyway, I thought it was clever, and it's definitely fun!
Email versus Blog
Hi everybody. This email message came from the Y7alanzo blog-message forwarding system. This has turned out to be trickier than it should have been, possibly because they don't really expect you to email your blog messages to a list of people.
Anyway, the formatting of the blog and the formatting of the email version of the messages don't really jibe. I figured out a work-around, so and I think the words part will be reasonably clean, but the email version doesn't get the pictures. Most posts don't have pictures, so that's OK, but if you see a blank square in an email, you'll know that there's supposed to be a picture. You can click on the "y7alanzo" link at the bottom of the message, and you'll go to the actual blog page with that message, and you'll be able to see the picture there.
See you soon.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Comic-Con 2005
We made our annual pilgrimage to the San Diego Comic-Con yesterday. Geneva and I have been going as a father-daughter thing for the past four or five years, but this year Daleen and Acacia decided to tag along and see what it's all about.
Unfortunately, it seemed like a pretty sedate Con this year -- not sure
why, exactly. None of us actually read any comic books of course, but
there's always plenty of just "pop culture" stuff that we do like to
see, and of course the Geek Show is always amusing. There were plenty
of costumes, as usual,
but it seemed like there was less movie
excitement than in years past. Maybe 'cuz "Lord of the Rings" is all
done.
We did like all the "Corpse Bride" stuff, and we saw a presentation about "Narnia" which was overlong, but kinda cool. Our "Creator of Kim Possible" friend, Chris Bailey, who draws us up a souvenir every year, couldn't make it this time but we found his booth and told his friend to say hi for Geneva, so that'll have to do.
Acacia's not as voracious and omnivorous a consumer of all things pop as Geneva is, so she found it mostly boring and too long a walk, so I guess Geneva and I will be solo again next year.
Saturday, July 02, 2005
K&W - Yorba Linda 01Jul05
We played at Yorba Linda last night. It's the first Borders we've played that's undergone its Seattle's Best conversion. Although there's some confusion about whether or not we still get our paltry One Free Drink, it's pretty nice, and it especially worked out for us because they divided off a living-room-sized section of the (formerly too) large space by carpeting it, and setting Big Comfy Chairs around it. The effect was to make a Special Place for the band (us), with an obvious, designated Listening Area around it.
There happened to be some friendly, interested people, even before we started, and they actually sat in the Listening Area, and, surprise!, listened. And even as people got up and left, other people would come in and take their place -- even knowing what they were getting into! Almost as important -- the people who weren't in the Area (just by knowing that there was such a thing), were aware that there was a Concert going on. This makes a huge difference in how it goes for us, which is, mainly, based on how much Appreciation we get/feel. If the crowd gets the idea that we're just background Muzak, they talk, fail to applaud, and generally ignore us. If they get the impression it's a Concert, they still talk to each other, but quieter, with a little sensitivity. I mean, I don't like to seem selfish, but if I want to play for nobody, I can do it at home.
Anyway, I sang way better than could have been expected, considering the walking pneumonia, but I managed to get through the songs before needing to cough. (And, I brought the regular hand-held mic on a stand, instead of the head-mic, so I would be able to turn away from it before coughing.)
Since it went so well, I'm considering adding it to my list of places I'll do as a solo (which, so far, is just RSM). RSM appears to be popular, and tends to be booked pretty solid, but Yorba LInda usually has a lot of openings in the schedule. If it's gonna be warm and friendly, I may be able to fill some holes in my schedule by volunteering for spots out there.
Also noteworthy, though, is that the latest schedule shows Mission Viejo booked on Fridays and Saturdays -- it used to only do Fridays for some reason. I bumped the manager about that -- I wonder if bringing it to her attention made her go fix it. Anyway, MV always had that "too big" feel like Yorba Linda, but if they did a similar thing to it, it might become a Nice Place To Play, too. Could be a great prospect, especially with the doubling of the available dates, and not being such a drive as Yorba Linda.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Lame Movies
We watched "Temple of Doom" the other night, 'cuz we're working our way through the DVD set, and it wasn't as bad as I remembered it, probably because I wasn't stuck in a movie theater, forced to watch the lame "Ooh, isn't this gross" scenes.
It occurred to me that the degree to which Spielberg/Lucas movies are reviled matches the degree to which they decided to pander to 8-year-olds. The 8-year-old gross-out scenes in "Temple of Doom", and the 8-year-old fantasy-fulfillment "flying a spaceship and accidentally winning the battle" scene in "Episode 1", (not to mention Jar-Jar), might be fun for, say, an 8-year-old, but us adults are just insulted.
(I read somewhere that Lucas said that the first three movies are aimed at audiences that match the age of Anakin in each one. I don't know if that's true, or he made it up to cover himself after the negative reaction to "Episode 1", and it made a handy excuse. He is, after all, the King of the Ret-Con.)
These guys need to remember that their main audience is adults who want a bit of child-like fun, not actual children.
Borders Blurb
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Singing in the Car
I used to try not to sing in the car, so as not to look like a dolt. You know, you look over and there's some guy with his mouth going, but there's nobody in the car with him. Either he's singing with the radio, or talking to himself. I don't know which is more embarrassing...
These days, though, I pretty much *have to* warm my voice up in the car on the way to the gigs, and, honestly, I sing better on the weekend if I've been singing some each day running up to it, so I've been forced to overcome my reticence. But I feel a little less stupid because I'm singing with the radio *professionally* -- I'm not one of those *amateur* radio singers...
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Acacia's New Earrings
Acacia got her ears pierced at the mall. She's a brave one -- no problem, apparently (I wasn't there). They're getting smart, and they get two girls, with two "guns", and punch 'em at the count of three. That way you don't know how bad the first one is, and get too freaked to allow the second one.
Anyway, the starter earrings are little pink flowers made of crystals. She's pretty happy.
Monday, June 20, 2005
KC - RSM 17Jun05
Fair to middlin', this time. I was all prepared to do lots of kids' songs, presumably for some in-attendance kids, since I had some copies of the new "Bears" CD available, but hardly any kids came in -- just two little girls that were there for a few songs, and had to leave. Actually, my kids were there, and two Indian Princess dads with their kids, and a mom friend with hers, but they all disappeared into the Kids' Books section all night.
I stupidly neglected to count the number of CDs that I came in with, so I don't know how many vanished but it was 3 to 5 I guess. Pretty decent tips/donations. I tried a new sound setup -- put the monitor on top of the StageMate (which was on a table to my left), pointed at my head. Might have been a big mistake, actually -- I could clearly hear any and all mistakes, bobbles, vocal warbles, etc., which made me more tense than usual, when I know I made mistakes, but can pretend that no one heard 'em. This setup makes it very clear to me that the mistakes are very clear to them. Does it serve to keep me on my toes, or paralyze me with fear? The latter, I'm afraid, so the performance was hindered, I think.
But, at least, I had no troubles at all with the "cutting out guitar" problem. It seems to definitely be that short cable (that I'm now, of course, leaving out of the setup).
Monday, June 13, 2005
San Diego Campout
Big weekend down at Campland in San Diego with the Indian Princesses. It's our annual Family Campout, so all the wives and siblings were there as well, and we have the annual sand sculpture "contest", for which, for the 7th year running, I'm responsible for design work, and, usually, 90% of the construction work also.
This year, though, I had lots of help from the other dads and even the girls. I got them started building me some bumps that I could carve into the pieces I needed, and they went to work! And even closer to the end, when it's usually all me trying to carve the details, I had several dads that could do good work with just some instructions. It came out pretty good, though I think the face came out more gargoyle than sea-serpent. I knew I needed more time to prepare -- if I'd'a done a mock-up in Play-Doh beforehand, I'm sure I could have done a better face. I need that 3D vision in my head. Next year.

I also brought 40 copies of my newly-recorded Kids' CD, and "gave" them away. I suggested that people could throw a couple of bucks at me for supplies, but then the Nation Chief layered on a bit more guilt than I was comfortable with, and increased my "take" considerably no doubt. I didn't know if 40 would be too many or too few (there were about 80 families there), but it turned out to be just right -- I "sold" 'em all, and didn't have anyone asking for one after they were all gone. I'll have to burn some more before the next Borders gig -- I think they'll be popular when kids come in. (Acacia loves to help -- pushing buttons, feeding the drive, peeling the stickers, sticking them on with the little machine, putting them in the cases -- she thinks it's an Arts and Crafts project.)
They needed some "stall time" during the Saturday night Campfire, so I got to play several songs. Unfortunately, the way the light was set up, I could (mostly) read the words, but the shadows of the binder's rings were covering big chunks of the chords. I've never played that badly, but I just kept the vocal coming as I played random chords hoping to eventually hit the path again. I was awful, but nobody complained -- they either didn't notice, or were too polite. Let's hope it was the former.
I played a lot better in the big tent on Sunday morning, with my ever-popular "I'm an Indian Princess" song. Maybe it helped blur the memory of the fiasco the night before. I looked up and it looked to me like everyone was singing along...

Thursday, June 09, 2005
Waltzing With Bears CD
I've been meaning to put together a CD of kids' songs for a while. I don't really want to be Raffi, but when families come into the coffee shops, the kids make a pretty appreciative audience, and, of course, I know a bunch of kids' songs from my Indian Princess "career". Also, it turns out to be lucrative, since the parents turn out to be more likely to tip when we play kids' songs than when we play regular songs.
At the Indian Princess planning meeting last Thursday, we were confirming that I'll be playing "Waltzing With Bears", as usual, at the campfire on Saturday night, and one of the guys said "You should record that song! My daughter loves it." That set me thinking that I really ought to get the CD done, and Now Was The Time, so I could have it available at the campout this weekend. Also, since we just got a new, screaming fast PC, it looked like the planets were aligned.
(Warren is generally un-enthusiastic about kids' songs, so I don't think he'll mind being "left out" on this one. Besides, getting back in to Jim's home studio (to do more-than-two-tracks recording) doesn't seem likely anytime soon.)
The new (tower) PC, as opposed to all my notebooks, has a Line-In jack -- not usually a thrill, but I've been without one for a long time. Line-In jacks are stereo (my notebooks' Mic jacks are mono), so I figured that I could record the voice on one channel and the guitar on the other. It took some crazy cable patching, but I got it wired up (with alligator clips for part of the path), and was able to record both sources, simultaneously, into Audacity with perfect separation. Of course, then the problem is that 100% of the guitar on the right and 100% of the voice on the left sounds funny. I had to separate the stereo tracks into two (identically long) mono tracks, and bring them into Cool Edit Pro's Multitrack view, slide each of them a little off center in the stereo pan (one to each side), and do a Mix Down. That basically bleeds the two tracks onto each other's side, so they sound "together" (but not Dead Center (aka mono)) in the stereo space.
And, it turns out that Audacity will play back the tracks it already has while recording a new one, so I went back and overdubbed vocal harmony on a few songs. That was pretty fun, singing along with myself. I blend really well with me...
Anyway, I recorded 12 songs, all day Sunday, and two more Monday night. I did some post production on Tuesday night to remove some of the glaring boo-boos, and Acacia and I burned 30 copies last night to take to the campout tomorrow. I don't know if that's optimistic, but I think that a lot of the kids will want to take one home with them. (I don't know if the Dads will be blessing or cursing my name after the 3 hour drive home from San Diego on Sunday.) I can bring any leftover CDs to Borders and get rid of 'em eventually.
Also, since I have 'em now, I posted links to MP3 versions of the songs on the KeithandWarren.com page. And, since kids always want to sing along, I worked up a lyrics sheet and put that up, too. That way I don't have to print up a bunch of copies myself and put 'em in the CD cases.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
New PC!
Since I've been working for PC manufacturing companies for the last 20-odd years, it's been a while since I've had to buy a PC. But the machines in the house are getting pretty sad, so I broke down and bought a new desktop (or, more correctly, "mini-tower") from Dell (who else, anymore?). I got the chance to set it up on Saturday, and I gotta say it went easier than I expected. That Windows XP (my first encounter with it (!)) works pretty good -- found all the stuff, set up pretty easy. But there's always a "but"...
I use Windows 2000 at work, which has the whole "multiple user partitions" thing going, but there's only me on the thing, so it's not an issue. At home, the XP is cool to be able to give each user a different wallpaper, and, more useful, their own program icons and browser shortcuts. (Here comes the "but"...) I don't know how to let multiple users access the same programs. Some applications' install programs ask, "Just you, or everybody?", but most don't seem to.
I installed Google's "Picassa", to use to catalog the huge library of family pictures we have. I installed it in Daleen's "partition", and it searched out all ten zillion pictures and created its database. But when I go to my partition, I have the program icon on my desktop, but there's no pictures. (Admittedly, this allows for different people to have different picture libraries, but it should allow the opposite as well.) So, to see the pictures, I either have to re-index the whole thing (takes a long time, and creates a huge database file), or log in as Daleen.
Of course, I tried to "fool" it, by going to my file manager and moving the database files from Daleen's directory to the "All Users" directory, but it wasn't fooled (still no pictures from my account).
Maybe I'll figure it out eventually, but the whole point is that this is supposed to be dummy-proof. I shouldn't have to (a) try to trick it, or (b) try to figure it out.
Oh, well. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. More complaints later, no doubt.





