A Tribute to My Dad

Back in September or so I had an idea to do an album of all the songs my dad used to do when he was playing guitar and we were just kids. My mom always had records going in the house, and my dad's playing and singing obviously had an influence on my getting into "the business". It was his guitar I started with, and I used his old guitar lesson books to start figuring it all out. I thought a record of me doing his old songs would be a nice "Thank you", and my mom would probably like it, too.

He started playing during the big 60's Folk Revival, and was into guys like The Kingston Trio, The Limelighters, Peter, Paul and Mary, and such. It seemed like an easy thing to do at the time -- there were 3 or 4 obvious songs, and I didn't think it would be hard to come up with enough tunes to fill an album. And since most of 'em were, supposedly, Folk Songs, it seemed like it would be easy enough to learn 'em...

But, I unexpectedly stalled out pretty early on the song list, so I asked my brother and sister, who remembered the bands involved, but not many more songs than I'd already thought of (except my sister came up with "Moon River", which I'd never have remembered). Dad's old friends Bill and Mary Jane weren't much help, either, apparently they weren't hanging out during the guitar-playing period.

Lacking a certified list (and not wanting to spoil the surprise by asking my mom), I had to rely on memory, and it was a little confusing 'cuz there were songs that I remember from my youth, but can't really place if I know the song because my dad played it on guitar, or because my mom played the record a lot. Some were obvious, and I could "hear" my dad's voice singing several of them in my head, but others -- not so much.

Anyway, once I had a list, I had to come up with the chords and work up some arrangements. That was generally pretty easy, but "Moon River" can be pretty elaborate, but I wanted to go back to the original simple style. I found several different chord sets for it, and kind of mashed 'em together, and whittled it down to a simple-sounding setup. "Lemon Tree" is a lot harder than it sounds, especially since it goes pretty quick. I came up with a cool way to play "Four Strong Winds", with Drop-D tuning, capo 2, so it works with Travis picking. Like on the Christmas CD, I overtracked some lead guitar on some of 'em, even though I don't really know how. Fortunately, I could edit together little pieces of almost-right takes into one whole-sounding solo. Don't tell anybody.

My dad and I went through his old song book after I'd given him the CD, and although there were lots of songs in there, I didn't find any that I remembered him playing (or even remembered at all), *except* "Today" (...while the blossoms still cling to the vine...), which I can totally hear him singing. I may have to record that one when I get a chance, and burn a Version 2 of the CD with that one added -- even though it's yet another slow song, in three, with the old "1, 6m, 2m, 5" chord progression; same as "Try to Remember" that's already on this CD (and a million others that aren't). Since I sound the same on every track already, it's pretty hard to figure out a way to get these almost-same songs to sound different than each other. But I'll think of something...

Anyway, I really liked playing some of those old songs, and there's nothing like just doing it to learn more about the whole recording process. And, I think it turned out pretty well, even if it was a lot of work for an audience of two.

Acacia Gets Straight A's

Not that there's anything wrong with B's...

Her report card for the first trimester of 5th grade:

Reading: A
Writing: A
     Spelling: A-
     Speaking: A-
Math: A
Social Studies: A
Science A+
Art: O
Phys Ed: O
Penmanship: S+
Technology: O

The "O" means Outstanding. Her worst subject/grade is Penmanship with a "Satisfactory Plus". Reminds me of her dad...

Christmas Songs CD

Well, I finally built my Christmas Album. I decided that it was now or never, so I just took all of Thanksgiving vacation to knock it out. I had thought that it would be pretty easy, since the "Waltzing With Bears" CD went pretty quick, but it turned out to be a bit of a nightmare.

One problem is that I don't do the Christmas songs nearly as often as I do the kids' songs, so I can't play 'em mistake-free in a take or two. In fact, some of 'em, I can't play (and sing) mistake-free at all. It's usually better to play and sing at the same time, but on songs that were hard or unfamiliar, I had to resort to playing the guitar part first, and singing over it in a separate take.

So I did a few songs with both parts together, and a few with them separate. And then my amplifier died (I need two amps (mine and the Princess one) to do two parts), so I was stuck doing all the rest of the songs in two takes, even if they were easy. That's not *so* bad, but it meant that the vocals had moved from the new amp to the old amp, which has a totally different effects (reverb) processor, and in the process of playing with all of the dead amp's knobs to try to revive it, I lost the bass and treble settings. So the reverb and EQ settings were completely different between the pre- and post-amp-death recordings.

Individually, the songs didn't sound too bad (probably since I'm not much of a "sound guy", so I don't know no better), but strung in a sequence (say, on a CD), they were desperately different-sounding. I wasted a bunch of time (this is weeknight evenings, by now) trying to modify the separate tracks' recordings to match each other, but it was mainly no-go. So I had to re-record half the vocal tracks (which were actually probably improved for it).

Then I spent the rest of the week listening to test CDs in my car on the way to and from work, just trying to get them all to sound at about the same volume. Since they were all done with different methods, on different amps, with different settings, and even different microphones, they were at all different volume levels. Anyway, enough whining -- I learned one Important Lesson: choose a method, and stick to it. (That's why the "Bears" CD went so easy -- it was all done the same way.)

But after all that, I'm mostly proud of most of it. I think the main flaw is that it's all me, all the time -- and it gets monotonous, literally. I tried to vary the sound, but, like John Hartford said, "Style is based on limitation".

To add *some* kind of variety, I dragged my old bass out and added a bass line to "Blue Christmas". Originally, Warren was gonna do me a lead solo verse, but he got too busy, so I got out my swap meet electric guitar and figured one out for myself. I think that's the thing I'm most proud of on the whole CD -- only because I've never played lead guitar, ever, so I have no idea how to do it. But I just played the song over and over while fiddling around on the electric, and some kind of thing emerged. Not sure how good it is in the grand scheme, but I like it. So I'm on that track four times: guitar, bass, vocal, and lead.

Somewhere I got the notion that my mom really likes "Silver Bells". I don't usually do that one, 'cuz it really requires the vocal harmony. But on the CD I could double track myself, so it worked. And I put in the "chimes" with the electric guitar (although it took me a zillion tries to get it (mostly), 'cuz they go by so fast), so I'm on that track 4 times, too.

On "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas", I was trying to add *something*, 'cuz it's pretty repetitive. First I tried to add autoharp, but even though it sounded pretty good live, the mic only picks up the "jangle-ness", and none of the actual, like, notes. It made it sound like one of those Gamelan bands from Java. Cool maybe, but not exactly what I was going for. So I scratched that idea, and got Acacia's cello out. Took me a while to learn how to play it well enough, but I got the hang of it, mostly, and mixed that track kind of quiet.

On the last song, "I'll Be Home for Christmas", it was clearly too short (like most of 'em), and it's just one verse repeated twice, so it was just begging for an instrumental verse in-between. The original recording I'd done was pretty good, so I split it in two and inserted a new guitar-only verse, and then added an electric guitar "solo" on top of that. I just played a slightly-ornamented version of the real tune, though -- no made-up solo this time.

Anyway, if you're reading this and don't have a copy of the CD:
(A) Who are you?!?
(B) There are MP3s at http://68.5.108.28:2222/DISK%201/Christmas%20album/MP3s/

KC - Yorba Linda 02Dec2005

Well, I had my, as it turns out, only shot at playing Christmas songs at Borders on Friday (and my first solo gig at Yorba Linda), and it didn't work out anything like I'd hoped. I played and sang OK, but the crowd just wasn't into it/me. I got a little appreciation later on from a nice older lady and a pair of Asian Studyin' Girls, but mostly dead silence.

It may have been the sound -- I was using the store's amp, and I thought it sounded really good, but the recording is way over-reverb-ed, so I wonder if that's what it sounded like in the audience. If so, I can see why they seemed so underwhelmed. (The only song that came out half-usable was "When You Wish Upon a Star", which I put up on keithandwarren.com as the Song of the Week.) I really gotta figure out how to figure out what the sound sounds like to the audience.

The only real fun I had was the little Asian girl (7-ish?) who, although terribly shy, kept creeping over to listen. I played several songs just for her, 'cuz she was actually listening. Since I'd brought a stack of the new Christmas CDs, and nobody was taking/buying them, I gave one to the little girl -- or tried to. Although I told her mom that it was a Christmas present, I'm pretty sure she snuck over and put a fiver in the jar when I wasn't looking.

We've had at least one Really Good night at Yorba Linda, but this wasn't one of them. Oh, well. The Good Ones certainly make up for the Bad Ones.

Princess Campout with Horses

Busy weekend! I ditched work a little early to get Acacia right after school and go see the new Harry Potter movie -- she had her heart set on seeing it the first day. We both really liked it.

Then we went down to the campout, arriving pretty late. But fortunately, we didn't have to set up the tent in the dark, 'cuz Acacia stayed with a friend ("camping sleepover!") and I went home to bed so I could get up early enough to go to a required Living Trust seminar on Saturday morning. After that, back down to the campout to have dinner and play at the Nation Campfire.

Which went *really* well. An unforeseen consequence of my distributing "Waltzing with Bears" CDs to essentially the whole nation is that my campfire audience suddenly has an intimate knowledge of not only the songs in my repertoire, but the full lyrics thereof. When the chief calls me up to play a song, there's a pitched battle of girls calling for their favorites. "Lollipop Tree" is a big favorite these days 'cuz they all like the part where I pretend to cry.

When I got to, inevitably, "Bears" itself, I asked if anybody knew the words, and got almost universal affirmative screaming in return. So I asked 'em to come on down and sing it with me. Fortunately, there was a pretty big stage area, 'cuz I got about 50 little girls -- and it was a ball. They were singing out, having big fun, and the dads were enjoying it, too. A lot of guys told me afterward that that was a great idea.

Sunday morning's assembly was similar. I did "The Marvelous Toy", with a lot of in-seat participation, and the dads got it in their heads to do "the wave", several times, while I was singing. Took some concentration not to lose my place with that going on out there. Later, before "The Indian Princess Song", when I repeated my plea for somebody to step up to take over the guitar playing for next year, when I'll be (supposedly) graduated out, up went a chant for "One more year! One more year!".

Flattering. And, truth be told, what with Trailmates continuing to be the bust that it is, I'm tempted. Acacia seems to be amenable, Allen and Meagan seem to want to do another year, and maybe we can talk Todd and Arielle into it... We'll see.

Anyway, after all that, Kevin (who in the Marine reserves) took a few of us who could make it to the stables on Camp Pendelton for an hour-long ride. It goes without saying that Acacia loved that part.

K&W - RSM and MV - 11/12Nov2005

Friday at RSM was kinda medium. Started off with lots of people there, played OK, but about halfway through, the place was stone empty. I've never seen a café with literally nobody in it. Fortunately, it didn't look like it was our fault -- the waiting-for-dinner crowd always empties out when their tables come up, and the others just got finished with their studying or whatever and went on home. At least, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. In the last half hour, though, some more people "my age" showed up and were liking us pretty good, so it ended well.

Saturday was one for the books, though. We got there, and the helpful staff had brought out the amp and two speakers, on the stands. Nice. I got there first, and started setting up all my stuff, now including a notebook computer to snag a recording, adding to the complexity. Warren got there and started running all his wires, and, since the staff had *not* cleared us a space to play in, and we needed little tables, and, and, and -- anyway, we finally had everything in place at 8:10. I fired up the amp to start the sound level setting process, and, nothing. The power light on the amp glows, just barely, but no sound.

We screw around another 10 minutes swapping every conceivable component: cables, power cords and wall sockets, instruments, speakers, channels, jacks -- but nothing. We finally give up and I go home to fetch my amp.

While I'm gone, Warren finally flags down a store employee who looks at the amp and says, "Oh, this is the Dead One" and fetches the Live One from the store room. Warren takes the time to write "Dead" on a napkin and leave it on the Dead One, in hopes that no other band gets to have this experience...

By the time I get back with my amp, Warren's got everything set up and we were playing pretty soon thereafter -- "only" 50 minutes late.

The upside was that, by that time, the café was calm and quiet, and I do love playing in a quiet place. I can hear myself, and there's less distraction, so I can really perform. And the results were terrific. The gig the night before makes a great dress rehearsal, I felt good, I could hear good... The resultant recording is pretty darn good.

I got a few decent takes the night before, too, so I've implemented a new feature on the K&W website -- "Song of the Week". It'll be a live take of a song that we captured recently, with a link on the top (Schedule) page, so (maybe) people will see it. This week's song is "Desperado", which I've recently added to my book, and which is working out pretty well.

Sally Ride Science Festival at UCI

On Sunday, I took Geneva to the Sally Ride Science Festival at UCI. It's a program she's started to encourage girls to go into science and engineering. There was a street fair with booths -- run by Actual Female Persons -- showing science stuff. Then we went into the gym and Sally gave a little speech and took questions. After that the kids got to choose two workshops to go to -- Geneva likes biology so she did "the bugs one", and one about fish.

Meanwhile, I was in a class about "Helping Your Daughter Get Into College". Pretty informative really, but how can it be that I have to start thinking about her college already?!? Ack!

Ice Skating with the Princesses

Acacia and I went ice skating on Wednesday night and had a great time. She's been doing a lot of roller and blade skating lately, so she's a pretty good skater these days.

There was a problem with the pizza, and in retrospect, I should have asked for a different pair of skates 'cuz my left one was way too sideways-slippable, but we had fun.

KC - RSM 04Nov2005

Another rough one. I used the store's amp again (so I could record, for what that's worth), and, again, couldn't get it to sound right. Oddly, halfway through the night, I inexplicably decided to turn the right-hand speaker 10 degrees further away from me (I originally had it pointed towards myself 'cuz I forgot to being my little monitor speaker), and it sounded pretty good, then. I guess the direct feed is just too harsh, but through a little speaker cabinet wood, not so bad.

Anyway, the bigger problem was that there were not one, but two groups of people who had come in to talk. And when I say, "talk", I mean "holler". Some kinds of joyful reunions of old friends, I guess, but they were really loud. Probably trying to hear themselves over that jerk with the guitar...

Clearly, they have a right to be there (probably more right than I do, given that they bought some coffee), so I can't really complain, but it made it pretty hard to play. More great training for the harsh realities of the performing life, I guess. First time ever that I even thought of just packing up and going home in the middle of a gig, though.

Todd and Tammy come by, but didn't stay long (probably 'cuz they couldn't hear anything anyway), and I had a few appreciative customers -- one a big Simon and Garfunkel fan. But most of the night was lost in the noise.

Still, I sold 4 CDs, and unaccountably made $20 in tips. It's strange that we used to get $4 or $7 when we thought it went pretty well, and these days we get $20 or $30 even when it goes not-so-good. A chunk of that increase is explained by the CD sales, I guess. And, sure, I know that I am (and we are) getting better all the time, but I can't believe the audiences can tell the difference, so much. I mean, we're not *so* much better than the "us" on the April 2004 CD...

My Halloween costume

OK, we're encouraged to wear costumes to work on Halloween, but there's not a lot of enthusiasm. I guess the Chinese people, understandably, just don't get it, so there's no response there...

Anyway, I usually wear my Space Camp astronaut jumpsuit, but this year I "accessorized" it with my cowboy boots and hat. "Space Cowboy", get it?

Unfortunately, almost nobody else did without a lot of prompting. Clueless...

Halloween Costumes 2005

As she was at school last week, Acacia went Trick-or-Treating as a gypsy. Trouble is, she hasn't really seen any "real" gypsies (not even Esmeralda in "Hunchback"), so she was kind of faking it. She pinned a bunch of little jingle bells all over her skirt, and that made it special. I told her that she should be wearing the scarf on her head, not tied around her hair, and she loved the idea, and that helped.

Geneva didn't have any ideas this year, and it's tough on an eighth grader, 'cuz they're so self-conscious. But I got down my old "Sergeant Pepper" jacket, and she went for it. A little red duct tape down the pants, and she was all set. She probably should have kept her hair down, but I guess she decided she looked like a girl, rather than a hipppie, that way. We wish we'd'a had a brass instrument of some kind for her to carry, but she made do with a borrowed pair of drumsticks.

Halloween Campout Pumpkin Display

	We had an Indian Princess campout this weekend, right in front of Halloween, so we had an inter-tribal pumpkin carving competition. It wasn't about individual pumpkins, it was the tribal theme that mattered.
	I came up with this "Angry Peasants Storming Frankenstein's Castle" idea (concept art above, reality here).
	Acacia and I did the dismayed-looking Frankenstein, and all the other kids just had to portray "angry" (with a little design help from me).
	I brought along some lamp oil and we made little torches ('cuz what's an angry mob without torches?). That really made it look cool at night when the judges came by. And we managed not to burn the forest down.

Acacia's Pumpkin 2005

Acacia got a "free" pumpkin at the Indian Princess trip to the pumpkin patch, almost two weeks ago, and since we're going camping tomorrow, last night was our last chance to carve it. I asked her what she was thinking of this year, and her idea was "Ballerina!" Hmmm. Kinda hard to do that one, any other ideas? "Unicorn!"

So I Googled up some unicorn silhouettes, and we knocked this one out. It came out pretty good, even though the pumpkin was really strange on the inside -- way stringier than I've ever seen.

Now I gotta do/supervise 14 more tomorrow at the campout, but that's another post.

Halloween Costume Parade!

Today was Acacia's school's annual Halloween Costume Parade. The whole school, Kindergarten through 5th, parades around the playground in their costumes, while the parents' cameras snap away. It's better than Halloween itself, 'cuz you get to see a couple hundred cute costumed kids, instead of the 15 or so we get at the front door every year.

The girls were mostly the same as usual: fairies, angels, princesses (Acacia and her best-friend Cezanne were gypsies (though, truth be told, she didn't look much different than every other day)). But the boys have a new possibility this year: Napoleon Dynamite, and there were several of those. Lots of Batman, too, with Spiderman largely dropping off the charts -- presumably because there wasn't a new movie this year. But the surprise winner, I think, was Darth Vader -- lots and lots of Darths. I guess the kids were more impressed with Episode III than us grown-ups were.

KC - RSM 22Oct2005

OK, well, that didn't go very well at all. Several reasons, I guess -- a completely unresponsive audience for one. Polite, possibly even authentic, clapping, but no real *listening* going on, most of the night. I tried to just ignore that and play anyway, but my concentration was further compromised by a group of 8 or 9 boys, seemingly unattended by any parents, running in and out of the store most of the night, hassling me, talking loudly right in front, etc. They were pretty awful, and it was a real challenge to remain civil. Good practice, though, I guess.

And, possibly the main reason: I had set up a notebook to record the whole thing. I used the store's amplifier, because it has line-level "Tape Out" jacks, which I ran to the notebook. Unfortunately, I set the levels too high, so most of the recording is clipped in the loud sections. Not much of a loss, though, since I didn't perform very well anyway. Whenever there's a recorder running, it's all I can think about, and I end up performing really badly, 'cuz I'm trying too hard not to make any mistakes. It's like *trying* to go to sleep -- the harder you try, the less likely it is to happen.

I guess (hope?) that the solution to that is the same as the solution to general stage-fright -- just do it, again and again, until the novelty wears off.

Anyway, it wasn't "bad", exactly, but it was certainly disappointing -- especially after how well it went two weeks ago at South Coast Plaza. I was hoping to get a little of that "on tape", but, no magic.

We have an Indian Princess campout next weekend, but I'll be back at RSM again in two weeks for another try. I hope it goes better -- I'm not sure my performer's ego can take that much bruising again.

Guitar Surgery

I spent a couple of hours yesterday re-engineering my guitar. My original intent was to build a new saddle piece, thicker than the current one, and moved "south" to lengthen the bass strings to fix the intonation. Of course, moving the saddle means cutting the bridge piece, which is irreversible, so that's a little scary.

But, I've also been annoyed lately by the lack of response in the lowest string. This is caused, probably, by the fact that I've got it set much higher than the other strings at the saddle end, so it doesn't rattle which means that its sound has more saddle material to get through to reach the pickup. So I cut it down some more, as much as I dared, and started thinking about the neck itself, which, upon inspection, was starting to curve upwards. The resultant high action is the theoretical source of the intonation problem, too, so I tweaked the tension rod in the neck to flatten it out.

That looked really good, but made most of the strings rattle like crazy, 'cuz I'd cut the nut to match the bent neck. So, I ended up buying and fitting a new nut and not working on the saddle/bridge at all. I think it helped, but didn't cure, the intonation problem, but it's also easier to play, I think, so that'll be nice on those long gigs. The intonation is only a little bit out now, so I think I'll live with it for a while, and see how it goes in real life.

Keith and Geneva video

I borrowed the Mini DV tape that my dad shot at the "Keith with Geneva" show at RSM on July 23rd, so I finally broke down and installed the Firewire card that I bought 6 months ago, and it worked, first try. Why does it surprise me when stuff works these days?

Anyway, I snagged the whole 54 minutes (11 gig), sent it back out again to a blank tape for me to keep, and also re-output it as WMV (which took 75 minutes of slogging). I also snagged a single song ("They Don't Know"), with Geneva singing, which clocks in at a manageable 8 meg, to show it can be done. Not sure what to do with it -- maybe I'll post it on the K&W songlist page with the MP3s.

The software ("Movie Maker 2", comes with XP) can also snag respectable still shots at 640x480 right off the movie. They look pretty good as-is, and processed down to blog size, they're quite usable. And I get to single-frame through the whole movie to find just the right shot -- still camera shots tend to catch the singer in an "F" or some other funny-mouth pose.

Smells Like Christmas!

This morning was the first morning that was cold enough that I needed to turn on the car heater as I was taking Acacia to school. As it finally heated up, she said "Smells like Christmas in the house". At first I thought she was smelling some pine scent that I hadn't noticed, but then I realized that she was associating the smell of artificially heated air with Christmas, since the Christmas season is when we start using the furnace in the house.

Ah! The cheery scent of burning duct-dust!

K&W - RSM and SCP 07-08Oct2005

Strange weekend. RSM, usually my favorite place to play, broke our streak of "pretty good" gigs, and SCP, usually one of the worst places to play, was one of the best gigs I can remember.

The RSM gig wasn't all that bad, really. It was unusually empty, but we had some nice people listening. Geneva did fine for her songs, as usual. But I felt completely "off", mainly 'cuz the sound was inexplicably terrible. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, so I couldn't fix it, but it was muddled and confusing and I couldn't tell what I was doing, so I couldn't perform well. We struggled on, of course, but it never did feel right.

Conversely, at SCP on Saturday, the sound was crystal clear. I could hear myself (guitar *and* voice) perfectly -- from full voice to whisper, strumming or barely picking. It's baffling, 'cuz this was with essentially the exact same setup, speakers and amp-wise, and I didn't touch the amp's knobs between Friday and Saturday. Apparently, it was "the room", either the shape, or the ambient noise, or something.

Also, my parents' old friends, Maryjane and Bill Wiley came by, so I had someone to play to, which always does wonders for my performance. (Jessica Ching came by too, later, though she looked bored the whole time.) It definitely becomes a feedback loop for me -- the clear sound and sympathetically focused attention helps me sing better, and hearing one song go really well makes me give it up even more for the next song, and on and on, and up and up.

My voice is back in shape, finally, after that bronchitis or whatever, and/or the clarity of sound made me *think* my throat is back in shape, which encouraged me to do little things that I don't usually expect to get away with, or can't usually hear whether or not I did/can. It was an amazing feeling -- to feel like I could do anything, and it all worked. Not to keep ranting about this, but it also made me connect to the songs more myself -- I was starting to choke up during both "Jenny Dreamed of Trains", and "Puff". It's hard to sing with a lump in your throat.

(I know, I know -- what a old softie I've become. Truth is, it took me a long time to *stop* choking up on those two (and "Pooh Corner" -- that's why I don't even *think* of adding that new third verse). I usually only get through them by deliberately *not* thinking about what I'm saying.)

Another strangeness -- it seems to have been Repeat Night. We kept getting new people come in and requesting songs that we'd already done. Since most of the crowd that was around the first time would have been gone by then, I went ahead and did 'em. I hope Bill and Maryjane didn't mind too much -- they were there most of the night. By my recollection, we did 49 songs, but 7 of those were repeats.

Anyway, small crowd, even smaller *listening* crowd, low tips -- but still the best night for a long time. Makes it all worthwhile. Sure wish I'd'a had a recorder running.

House of Blues Field Trip

Yesterday I took some time off of work to be a chaperone for Geneva's school's field trip to the House of Blues. They took all the instrumental music classes, so there were 220 kids, 4 busses full. (These are all pretty good kids, so the chaperoning part was pretty easy duty, though they got pretty loud and rowdy on the bus. My stash of Cat's Cradle strings came in handy to entertain quite a few of 'em on the bus.)

The House of Blues has a "Schoolhouse Band" that puts on a great, hour-long "educational show", basically on the topic of why they're called "House of Blues" when most of the shows they put on are Rock and Roll. It was really well done, interactive so the kids were involved, and in a great format. The two singers traded off doing narration about the evolution of the blues from West African rhythms up to Hip Hop, with the band playing examples along the way. Sometimes it was a phrase or two, sometimes most of a song. They always kept the kids connected by getting them to sing, shout, or dance along, and the narration never got too long before another song came up.

They covered African chants, slave tunes, spirituals, southern rural blues, Robert Johnson, W.C. Handy, Chicago blues, Jazz, Gospel, Rock, R&B, Muddy Waters, Aretha, Eric, Jimi, Sly, James Brown, Funk, Rap, Hip Hop, up to, I guess, Jet -- and a lot more that I've forgotten already. They were all really good, but the guitar player was amazing. He had to cover every style of guitar, all the way back in time, on a Strat and a wooden National for bottleneck. His "Purple Haze" was spot on. I was impressed. The kids had a great time, but it was probably more interesting to me than it was to them -- kids never care about their Heritage...

Birthday Party at Mom's!

We had a birthday party for my sister and I at my mom's house yesterday. My dad dragged out the old 8mm projector and we watched movies from Christmas 1955, when I was 14 months old. I'm wearing one of those one-piece footie-jammies, and I look *exactly* like "Henry" in the old comics.

We also watched a later Christmas, and what was alarming to our post-millennium eyes was the *guns*. My brother and I got guns, guns, and more guns for both Christmases. You don't see too many 14-month-olds kids with a pair of six-shooters strapped around the waist of their jammies anymore. Western-style revolvers in holsters, "Rifleman" style rifles, dart rifles with a target... All guns, all the time!

And here I am, not a serial killer at all. How'd that happen?

K&W - MV 01Oct2005

Another good night at Mission Viejo. Warren got there before I did and talked to Cidne, the sweetheart of a manager there, and she told him that she's got my "Waltzing With Bears" CD playing non-stop in her car. And, of course, that we'd have to play it for her, which, of course, we did.

We started early (7:30), 'cuz Warren wanted to leave partway through to go see a favorite band of his that doesn't play very often. I went ahead and kept playing until 10:45. Longest gig ever, I think. We/I played 51 songs (that I remember) in that time, sold 4 CDs, and brought in $38. Not sure why the tips lately are so much better than they've ever been. Mysterious.

I did try something new -- "introducing" each song before we played it. This, hopefully, gave Warren a little "heads-up" which he normally gets precious little of, and filled the time while we were tuning or I was flipping through the book looking for the song. Maybe it helped, but I felt kind of stupid introducing songs like "Something" and "Fire and Rain" -- as if anyone wouldn't recognize 'em...

KC - RSM 24Sept2005

Well, it finally happened. When Warren and I started playing in coffee shops, 3 and a half years ago, I thought that probably, eventually, someone would come up and ask us to play a party. We did get a gig last November, but that lady had seen the article in the newspaper, and hired us without ever having actually heard us.

Anyway, last night, a lady came up as I was packing up, and asked if I did "private affairs". Her mother passed away recently, and she thought I would fit in to the memorial service she and her sister are planning in November. I told her that I'd certainly love to do it (despite it being "in the L.A. area"), and gave her a card so she can contact me. I gave her a CD, so she could play it for her sister (and to keep me in her mind). It'll probably never happen, but it's nice to be asked.

Otherwise, a nice, if sedate, gig. Started off fun when Isaac from Trailmates came in with wife and 4 little girls. His oldest daughter was visibly thrilled to get to ask for songs off the list, and I ended up doing almost all the kids' songs I know. That was fun, as was, later on, when I had a little boy that came and sat right down front, so I handed him the shaker on "South of the Border". He did all right on that one, but, of course, wanted to shake it on all the songs from then on out. I convinced him that it didn't really work on slow songs, though, and ran out of fast ones soon enough.

Geneva was there briefly, and did only three songs. She did well, and it's always good practice for her, even if it's brief. Altogether, I did 47 songs for the night, sold only 3 CDs, but, inexplicably, had another good tip night -- $42. It didn't really feel like a motivated crowd, but I guess you never know.

I'd been working up "Desperado" over the week, and didn't really know if it was gonna "work", since it's such a cliché these days. But I pulled it out at the very end, 'cuz I had a pretty good feeling about the 6 or 8 remaining listeners, and it worked quite well. It's weird -- some songs sound great at home, but just seem to lie there when I do 'em at the store, and others work fine. I can never tell which, until I try 'em. "Desperado" might be a keeper.

KC - La Habra *and* K&W - MV 17Sept2005

I played the La Habra Borders' "First Pour" party from 12:30 to 2:30, and then Warren and I played at Mission Viejo at 8:00. I was afraid that my voice and/or fingers wouldn't hold up for two gigs in one day (4.5 hours total), but I did fine. The 5 hour gap helped a lot, of course. I'm sure I couldn't do 4 hours in a row...

I'm feeling repetitious saying "It went pretty well" every time, but I/we really haven't had a "bad gig" for several months now. Actually, La Habra started out looking like it was gonna break that trend -- when I started, there were only 7 disinterested people there. And the setup is pretty lame, with the drinks pick-up station right next to the "band corner". But after 4 or 5 songs, my mom, dad, aunt and uncle came in and saved the day.

It's pretty clear that a small group (or even one person!) that's really listening can change the whole dynamic. For one thing, I play better when I have someone to play to. For another, the group that's clapping are modeling that behavior for the others. And when passers-by hear the applause, they're more likely to wander over to check it out, and possibly stay, and snowball the whole process.

Anyway, they really helped get the audience "working", and by the time I had to pack up the place was full and really with me. I made $30 in tips -- best so far for a solo, I think.

And there was an older lady sitting up front with her daughter, and she seemed to be *really* enjoying it. She recognized all the songs, and was really appreciative. When I started the distinctive guitar intro to "Scarborough Fair", she clapped! Like at a concert where people clap whenever they recognize a song from the intro chords or words. I've never had that before...

I hope the girl that followed me at 3:00 appreciated the warmed-up audience I left her. Us Borders performers don't often get the benefit of an opening act.

The Mission Viejo gig went well, too. My voice was a little weak at first, but actually warmed up as we went along. I was afraid that we'd have to quit early (i.e., when we're *supposed* to stop, not when they start closing the store), but my voice was OK, and my fingers seemed to go past hurting into numb, so that was OK, too.

The usual gang of regulars were there, of course, but they're starting to know and like us, so that works out OK these days. We've heard from them before that most of the bands that play there are loud and/or annoying, so they like it when Warren and I come in. And we made $35 in tips -- not as good as The $79 MV Anomaly last time, but better than the previous record otherwise.

The one unexpected issue with playing two gigs in one day was trying to remember which songs I'd already done. During the second gig, I'd look at a song sheet and think "Did I already play that one, or was that this afternoon?"

Lemonade Stand for Katrina

Acacia and her little friend Arielle set up a Lemonade Stand with the proceeds going to the victims of hurricane Katrina. They set up on the busy corner down the street, and brought in $15, which they split and took to their schools to put in the collection boxes there.

The sign says "Help the Katrina Victims! Buy Lemonade!"

New Blurb at Borders.com

I just noticed that I got a new blurb on the Borders webpage for my upcoming performance at the La Habra store:

Keith Comer
September 17, 2005 12:30 PM
Keith is an accomplished guitarist and singer whose performance is both stylish and musically fulfilling.

Wow. "Stylish" and "Musically Fulfilling". Where do they get this stuff? The guy's never even heard me play, but he obviously has a degree in marketing, and that's almost the same thing...

KC (and Geneva) - RSM 10Sept2005

Geneva managed to fit a little practice time into her schedule this time, so I brought her along to the gig again, and she did really well. That practice stuff appears to work...

This time, rather than intersperse her songs among mine, we just played all her stuff in a block, mostly so she could go home early with Daleen, but it actually worked out pretty well that way. Last time, it seemed like the transitions between fiddle tunes and my acoustic pop were pretty awkward. This time, we had worked up "The Star of the County Down" as a duet (she plays some verses, and I sing some, and we're together on the last chorus), so we played that as the last song of her block, and it slid into me singing solo much nicer. Inadvertently clever.

She played well, and sang pretty well, though she's still too self-conscious to inject much of her own personality into the songs. I can't really expect her to at this early point -- you just really have to perform in public lots and lots of times to start to relax and "let it fly". I hope she'll stick with it long enough to get that feeling.

We sold 6 CDs, 5 "Bears" and 1 "regular", which seems odd since there really weren't that many families with kids there. The jar had 42 bucks in it, which is darn good. We reached a compromise on the distribution thereof -- I kept $2 per CD sold to cover the costs, and gave her the rest. That's still pretty good money for a 13-year-old. Especially for 15 minutes' work...

We/I had a very nice audience -- a lot of people seemed to wander in specifically to hear me play, and they were very quiet. I really feel like I play and sing better when I can hear myself, so quiet helps a lot. Usually it doesn't really fall silent until the last hour, or half-hour, but this audience was really listening so they were quiet just about the whole time. And genuinely appreciative at the end of each song. I had about 10 people stay all the way to the very end. I couldn't seem to muster up any of that interplay that Warren and I had at Mission Viejo last weekend -- these people just seemed to want me to go on ahead, and wouldn't even speak up to request songs. It felt oddly "respectful". Never got that before.

But, with the quiet, and my voice clear after the first 3 or 5 songs, my playing was oddly focused (and accurate), and I think I sounded pretty good. It'll be interesting to see what I can pull together on Saturday, solo for the first time at La Habra.

Another Paying Gig!

Hey! I got another paying gig! The Borders guys sent out a request for "mellow solo" acts to play the Seattle's Best remodel re-opening party at the La Habra store on the 17th, for 75 bucks, and I was the first to respond, and I got it.

Of course, since they were specifically asking for solo acts, I'll have to do it without Warren, which I've only, so far, done at nice friendly RSM. But, for 75 bucks, I'll tough it out. I've always said that the whole point of this exercise was to push myself -- like a roller coaster, if it wasn't scary, it wouldn't be fun.

The other tough part is that me and Warren are already booked for Mission Viejo that same night, so I'll be playing two gigs in one day. I've done two gigs on consecutive days, and it gets a little tough voice- and finger-wise, but I'm willing to risk it. The La Habra gig is 12:30-2:30, and the Mission Viejo one starts at 8:00, so there may be enough of a gap that I'll be OK.

We played the Carlsbad and Mission Viejo re-opening parties, and both were pretty awful, as gigs go. Less attention, more commotion, more coffee-making noise. I can see why they have to pay to get bands to show up for the afternoon ones. I'm not expecting this to be much fun, but even a bad afternoon playing is better than a good one sitting at home, and it's nice to get paid once in a while.

K&W - MV 03Sept2005

What happened?!? Mission Viejo is usually a "pretty OK" place to play -- the setup isn't very conducive to good audience interaction, and there's a lot of bored (and loud) "regulars" that just hang out there and talk, ignoring the band.

Last night *seemed* to go just a little better than usual, but apparently went *way* better. We usually sell a CD or two, and make between zero and 12 or 15 bucks in tips. I had brought 7 CDs, 3 of the kid's songs, and 4 "regular" -- the same 7 CDs I had brought to (and sold none of at) my solo gig last week, and the South Coast Plaza gig the night-before-last. Inexplicably, they sold out last night. We had people complaining as we were packing up that we hadn't brought any more!

And the tip jar was *jammed* full of money. Seventy-nine bucks! More than double the previous record (which was artificially inflated by the presence of over-tipping friends and family).

My singing and playing was essentially the same as the night before -- a little kludged up, but OK. The only explanation is that we had a better connection with some of the people. Since we start at 8:00 there (it's 7:00 at the RSM and SCP), there were already a lot of people there. I had brought a lot of the song list sheets, so I personally passed them out amongst the tables. That may have started something. (At the other places, I either leave a stack of them on the "tip table", or put them out on (empty) tables.) I was also a little more "talky" than usual, which is a feedback loop -- the more people seem interested and listening, the more I'll talk, which engages the people, etc.

Anyway, not the most fun night I've had, but certainly the most profitable. I guess I'll have to try repeating some of those "techniques", and see if we can duplicate the success. We're not really in it for the money, but it is fun to get some -- kinda validates the effort.

K&W - SCP 02Sept2005

South Coast Plaza isn't usually terribly friendly place to play, but it went pretty good, despite a rocky start due to my continuing throat problems. But after 8 or 10 songs the kludge cleared up some, and I was singing pretty well.

We were happy to see our crazy but sweet old Toshiba friend, Jean, who never fails to be surprised at how "healthy" I look, despite my heart attack of, what, two and a half years ago now. Nice of her to be concerned, though.

My brother and his wife came by, too, right in the middle of "Long, Long, Time". I think that was the best I've ever performed that song -- it was inexplicably getting to me as I was singing it. That happens once in a while, and it's quite a thing. It pays back a lot of the bad nights...

KC - RSM 27Aug2005

Another solo gig at Rancho Santa Margarita -- this time without Geneva because school started and with all the excitement, she hasn't had any time to rehearse her songs. It went quite well. My cold (or whatever it is) has backed off a little, so I can sing OK, most of the time. A friend from work came by (!) and wanted me to do "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" (her favorite), but it's really high and my voice was cracking and failing all over the place. Embarrassing, but she claims to have loved it. I managed most of the other songs without too much throat kludge.

It was an unusually static crowd -- small groups came in and stayed for a long time, listening, not reading and ignoring. That was pretty great, 'cuz it gave me a chance to connect with them better (and made me think that I was doing pretty well, to keep folks there for so long). I was also a little more talky than usual, for some reason, and that went over pretty well.

The downside was that when a crowd is less stationary, there's more Leaving going on, which is when the tip money comes out, if it's going to. Still, I made $14, in tips only (no one took any CDs) which is pretty good, considering how many people I had. It doesn't sound like much, but I was expecting a lot less, and was flattered. One couple was there til the very end, and when I was shutting down and they were getting up to leave, I said that I play there quite a bit, etc. She said, "Oh, yeah, we've seen you before. We'll be back." Quite flattering, that.

And I had new strings... mmmmm... new strings... In Heaven you get new strings every day...

First Day of School, 2005

Today is the first day of school. Acacia and best-friend Cezanne are in fifth grade, and in the same class for the first time since first grade. All this *and* a new Tamagotchi -- life is sweet.

K&W - RSM and SCP 12-13Aug2005

We played RSM on Friday, with Geneva (her second outing). We had just gotten back from our week on the road, and were probably still too tired, and certainly too un-rehearsed to do very well. we held our own, but not our best work.

Then Warren and I played Mission Viejo on Saturday afternoon for the Seattle's Best refurb Opening Party (for money!). Fair to middlin' I guess -- I was still tired, my voice was partially worn out from the night before, and the audience wasn't doing us any favors. I guess I can tell why they had to pay to get performers out for these afternoon shows -- neither this one nor the Carlsbad one two weeks ago went very well. Maybe it's my fault.

San Francisco Vacation 2005

Day 1 - Saturday, 06Aug05
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...

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.

Fairies

Acacia and her best friend Cezanne were playing "Fairies", with makeup, fancy clothes, and perfume. That blue on her cheeks, she says, "...isn't makeup, it's Sparkle Powder"!

Vacation Plans

Since we have the new puppy and nowhere to "board" her this year, we can't take a traditional Family Vacation, so I hit on the idea of taking separate vacations instead. I'll be taking Geneva for 6 days, and when we get back, Daleen will take Acacia for 4 (they have less travel time -- the actual "fun phase" works out about the same).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.