What Has Made You Smile Today

Won’t be long now and McBee will have all the bitches :grin:… Definitely growing into a stud!! Thanks for the update Mr. Pipes!!

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How are your tomatoes doing? My cherry tomatoes are doing OK and the best tomatoes are doing horrible. Jalapeno aren’t doing very good either…
I was thinking maybe this heat has something to do with it but idk…

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Ok, yeah our soil is mostly sand and gravel so we grow in pots. I would like to get a garden going someday. I think I would enjoy it also…Not to mention the price on produce is ridiculous…

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That’s cool as hell bud!!
My mom’s got a brown thumb, so I’ve always been too afraid to try. But I’ve got massive respect for those that can!

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I understand completely, damn leaches.
A raised garden is a great idea and I thought about that too. That seems easiest and fastest route anyway.

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@anon96069639 how dare you use delicious bluegill for fertilizer lol and @Eddie you could do raised beds or blend compost into your ground soil, if you plan on living where you are for a while then compost in the ground is an amazing option, do it for a couple years and you won’t even need shovels or hoes to work the ground, compost amends the soil structure over time and you can bury your arm to the elbow after a good couple years. Compost is really a magical thing lol

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Not a bad idea considering if the ballot passes this November, I’ll be growing weed too :grin:

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Rabbits and deer are tasty too! Lol and @Eddie where you living? I’m always interested in places that are going legal, the more that do it the more likely Indiana will eventually too, despite Eli lilly’s Objections lol

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If you have the space you can also make leaf mold, not quite the same as compost but still very good for amending soil composition

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Michigan and yes I agree. The more people realize the benefits and get over the taboo they were taught, the better. All I can say is vote ,vote ,vote!!

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I’ll be voting when/if it comes up for my state, that’s a fact. :wink: Y’all may not like it, but I’m voting regardless. :innocent:

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Of course, you might like it too. Who knows!!!

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You’ll love my inauguration outfit.

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Smile, or maybe laugh, or maybe just shit my drawers.

This week’s homework assignment:

How many more times Led Zeppelin
Night Moves Bob Seger
She’s not there Santana
Europa Santana
A little help from my friends Joe Cocker

Gonna try to work Europa up on the upright if there’s time.

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Both no doubt. None of them are too difficult although Europa uses some non-standard tonics which is some interesting listening. Takes me back to the big band days. Everything was in 3 to 5 flats.

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I get that for sure. Patterns, numbers, and ears are what I use 99% of the time with rock. Swing era music was all read it down. We carried just over 500 charts so no way was I going to get by with memory. I took a quick listen to Europa and snagged a score to speed the learning curve up a little. I could hear harmony they were creating instead of following standard roots. I also like to read something down now and again to try to keep up the reading skills a little. The keyboard player wants to start another project based on jazz and he is read only.

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It’s been a minute so I’m sure I couldn’t jump right in and sight read at this point, but ya, we carried quite a selection. Our director would chat it up with the crowd and call numbers before each set changing it up on the fly. Did a lot of shows with that group. There were always requests for smaller groups and since I was the only bass I was pretty much in on all of that activity as well. Three to five of us would split off and go do the smaller shows. Got involved with everything from country to rag time on the side. On woman still did her show from the USO days, I believe WWII. She was a total hoot! What an entertainer. Loved working with her just to hear what she came up with. Half of the show was her comments and jokes in-between songs.

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It really was an amazing opportunity. I was with them for about 12 years. I learned so much it was insane. A lot of music educators and retired professionals as well as some like myself. I was one of the least trained of the group but I had had enough education early on with schooling and private lessons on other instruments to be able catch on and learn. We had probably one ringer in each section that was out of this world. Probably what amazed me the most is that I was never treated as a lesser musician and there were no stupid questions. I always felt very comfortable at least after the first couple of years which were a drink from a fire hose. I miss it sometimes and sometimes I have to watch my attitude toward what I play now. Rock is fun and like all music a lot of energy can be developed but sometimes I open my mouth and something stupid falls out like “ok crap, back to the same old three chords”. That really isn’t fair. It’s all about what you do with those three chords that counts. Sometimes it’s harder to make something super simple expressive than say something from your buddy Lionel, Mr. Technical. He made me nuts, lol. Every song was like a speed drill combined with numerous technical exercises, but it all fit together. Every time we pulled “flying home” I though “oh holy shit, hereba weba goba!” There were some amazing authors in that era.

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Amen I say onto you!!! My swing chops have not gone to waste. I’m fortunate with the group I’m with right now. I can stray quite a bit and push the envelope and they’re right there. What you are doing is amazing as well. A good impromptu soloist is golden! That is where I lack. I can not envision bass as a solo instrument. It is simply not there for me. My minds ear just does not hear that. I’ve worked up like two solo’s on the bands insistence but to me they both sound like shit.

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I’m enjoying the read… But I figured I’d “wave” (from the tiny fish in a big pond kind of way. lol) :wink:

I started in music (from a “legitimate” POV; ie: theory and sight reading) on violin at about 7 or 8. I really wanted to play guitar, but I was a runt compared to a big assed dreadnought bodied acoustic, which was all the school could provide. I wanted an electric, but understandably, mom wasn’t going for it until she knew whether I’d stick with it.

Anyways… I did violin (rather proficiently) for a couple years until I got bored with it. Then I switched to trombone. I enjoyed that for about two years as well, but by the time high school was rolling around, it just wasn’t “cool enough”.
:roll_eyes: :laughing:

So, in high school, I switched to percussion. And while I loved it (snare, tri’s, quads, cymbals, xylophone, etc) the music director was a prick.

So after the first year in HS band, I dropped out of things and focused on other areas (wood shop, metal working [casting, milling, etc], welding, and electronics. By the time I was sixteen, I was finally able to get a job and started putting some money together for a pawnshop guitar. lol

Unbeknownst to me, and through a series of unfortunate events, I inherited part of one of my cousin’s rig. This included a Tiesco Del Ray, a 1972 Fender Super Six (100w, all tube -much to my mother’s chagrin… :rofl: ), a Nu-Wa fuzz and wah pedal (from 1969), and an old Ross phaser (orange two-knob jobby)!

And that opened the world I’d been craving since 6 years old. I was hooked. I LOVED the sound of tubes instantly. So alive with subtle nuances and sweet harmonics, and the warm glow. The funky sounds I could get out of the phaser… The grit from the fuzz setting the preamp tubes on virtual fire… And a soon to be added Boss DM-2… I was in heaven.

Anyways! lol
I learned to play guitar mostly by ear. Primarily by firing up the stereo, and playing along. I tried several times to take lessons, but it was such a difficult time to find an instructor to communicate with (who didn’t want to just sell the music store’s books, and beat you over the head with college-level theory). I finally found ONE who I took lessons from for a while (who was both able, and willing to see my POV and approach), but unfortunately I lost him to the Air Force band after only a year or so.

Sorry for rambling down memory lane, but it all just kinda bubbled out. chuckles

I’ve always admired and respected those who could both read AND convey emotion, as I recall too well what it took to do so from my earlier years in violin and trombone, xylophone etc.

It’s always amazed me how technically incredible some players are… But then they can’t express any emotion. Where I can come up with melodies and rhythms all day long, but I suck at soloing. LMAO (But I’m working on it!)

/waves and smiles from the rhythm guitar corner

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