• Category Archives Main
  • Bee Log

  • “In general there’s a lot of sameness in the songs and videos today. It all runs in to one mishmash” ~ Christine McVie

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Since it’s obviously been a while, there’s quite a few things I guess I can cover.

    Click for article @ Dallas Observer
    Photo Credit: Alison V. Smith ~ Click photo for article @ Dallas Observer

    * Fairly recently, I was shocked to see that someone I had met had passed away. Frankie 45, lead singer/guitarist of Spector 45 passed away on New Year’s Eve/Day. I had met him at Club Dada, when Unknown Hinson had swung through. Or at least I think that’s when I met him….

    He was tending bar, jumped from behind the bar to play a set, then jumped back behind the bar. I asked him how he liked his Electromatic 5120 – he said that he loved it. I was tremendously impressed that he did that – returning to tending bar covered in sweat after frantically jumping, singing, and soloing all over the stage.

    One of the things that struck me about his passing was my reflection about how I’ve never really accomplished what I wanted to do in a musical setting. Here was this kid MAKING it HAPPEN. Seems that all my musical heroes had the drive to get it done – it’s what they pursued. While Frankie wasn’t a hero of mine per se, I gave the guy a lot of credit for getting out there and doing what he obviously loved. I now wish I had that kind of drive at his age. Until he passed I didn’t realize what a fixture he was in Deep Ellum.  Extremely nice guy, and a loss to the Dallas music scene.

    That being said, I look back at the wasted years of much of my youth and wonder what I could have done with myself had I pushed myself.  Did my upbringing contribute to my lack of focus? I’m sure it did, but quantitatively, how much – and how little?  My limiting thought process holds me back, as I’m sure it did back then too.

    * We’ve been working on a bunch of different rooms in the house, but because we’ve spread the work around, there’s no one “complete” room ready for photography.  My house is definitely becoming a very swank pad (thanks babe!). My daughter, who is typically the one who has seen the worst then the “big reveal”, has also been tremendously impressed. Of course, she’s also semi-patiently waiting for me to finish reworking her bathroom – which is taking some time while I strip some more tile out.

    * I’ve been doing a ton of work on another portion of my blog, “So you wanna be in a band?” – in which I’ve reworked a lot of graphics and images and cleaned up formatting at least twice over. I contacted J Yuenger (the writer of the material) and he kindly linked his blog to mine – his original plan was to scan the magazines in after retrieving them from storage. I personally know how much of a pain that is, so I’m glad this ended up being helpful to him. I added some scans of Tattoo Magazines that made an impression on me around that time too.

    * The Wanda Jackson/Jack White album is pretty cool. I dig it.

    * Lastly, I had a hernia check by my General Practicioner when I was eight or so. I then some twenty years later stood behind him in the Montrose Disco Kroger in Houston, trying to figure out where I knew him from. It’s a little disconcerting when you realize that the dude you’re standing behind had his hands on your scrote at some point in your life.


    Main 📎and tagged

  • “A good hater; a good lover” French Proverb

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I’m going to pause a moment to lay some hate down.

    I realize it’s only my opinion, but something has been bugging me lately. I follow quite a few photographers – primarily Pin-Up photographers. Some I follow on Facebook, some I follow blogs, some I follow websites, etc, etc.

    While I am not a photographer myself, I can appreciate a bad/mediocre/great/excellent image – and discern the difference (for the most part) between the levels.

    One thing that has been really irritating me lately is the process by which a photographer will set up an excellent model, an excellent outfit, excellent makeup and hair – and then add a CLEARLY ARTIFICIAL BACKGROUND. I could appreciate it if it was done well. However, they rarely are. Green screen should be reserved for extreme circumstances – not the entire background of the image.

    I’m not going to bother linking to a guilty party. I just felt like venting.


    Main 📎and tagged

  • “Miscellaneous is always the largest category.” Joel Rosenberg

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Random items:

    * The devil went down to Georgia Chick-Fil-A

    Somewhat ironic – since Chick-Fil-A is such a devoutly Christian organization. Although I suppose they don’t have much to do with Texas Sales Tax. You’d think they would have charged me $6.67 or $6.65 instead?

    * Today I was discussing something with my daughter, and she said that she was describing something to her friends. She was telling them they should check it out and they told her,”We don’t want to read about it – just tell us!”.   These kids all have iPhones.  I remember the days of going to the library to do a book report on something that I had to research in the Encyclopedias that only the library had.  Speaking of which, Wikipedia celebrates ten years of operation this week.  I think the concept of Wikipedia is great, but unfortunately the lowest common denominator gets to update whatever they want.  I don’t know anyone that considers wikipedia a reliable source, so I’m not sure if their overall mission was successful or not.

    * Lowest common denominator – why is it that so many people think they’re “special”? The attitude of, “Oh, it’s not a big deal if I do it” Case in point, my childhood home was located across the street from Johnston Middle School. (Go Greyhounds!). Due to it being located in a suburban neighborhood, of course there was never any parking for anyone around three p.m. or so – when school was letting out. Some parents would get the bright idea that it was O.K. to park in our driveway (Point A). Usually, we were getting out of school ourselves, so we’d arrive home and find some idiot parked in our driveway. We’d park our car at the driveway entrance so they couldn’t back up – then we’d walk up into the house. Sometimes the parents would get VERY belligerent with my mother – which was always amusing. Half the time they’d back AROUND our car and jump off the curb, cursing us out the entire time. Was it our fault that they decided that they could park on private property? Other times, kids would park their asses on our front porch (Point B). My mom made a point of going out and picking up the kids books – making the parents come and get them from us. I’m not sure of the exact wording my mother gave these people – I don’t know if she was training them very well because they seemed to continue doing it. If it was a glare-and-they-should-know-better-attitude, well, we all know THAT doesn’t work.  Telling them that it was private property would have worked a little better, but probably not much.  One of my grand gestures was to spray kids who cut across our front lawn with a garden hose. Unfortunately, I was in elementary school and thusly several years younger than the targets. One of my friends was there and defended me by tackling one of the kids who was tearing around trying to kick my ass.  Good times.

    Later in life, I saw a drug deal go down on the side of my house (from Point C) because the idiots assumed that because their van was facing away from the school that nobody could see them. Idiots.

    * I did end up cleaning out almost all the VHS tapes in my entertainment center. After I opened each drawer, I realized that I no longer needed 90% of the tapes. Even though I still don’t have a VCR anymore, eventually I’ll figure out a way to cheaply transfer them digitally.

    * Whenever someone says “hashtag”, I immedately think of the number sign made out of browned potatoes. Speaking of which, I’m hungry. Later.


    Main 📎and tagged

  • “The computer screen, TV screen, cell-phone screen — they’re all coming together.” Andy Donchin

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    I’ve been looking at my entertainment center – it’s in need of some reorganization.

    Mostly, I need to get rid of all the VHS tapes that I’ve got bumming around inside it. There’s about four or five drawers that are just FULL of VHS tapes.

    Some I want to transfer to my PC, others I’m “eh” about.

    I was looking for one tape in particular:

    In a rather distinctive grey, red, and yellow box – it’s a tape I fondly remember “borrowing” from one of my best friends.  I don’t recall if it was his or if it was “the Peck’s”. Either way, it’s one of those tapes I’ve held onto forever.  It’s a sentimental favorite.

    Along with all those slides that I’ve since quit transferring, it’s just another project I can start……and get halfway done with.

    Although, with a VCR (which is a technology that no longer exists in my home), I could leave it running and walk away.  That, and the fact that some of the videos are more or less fully available on YouTube (w/corresponding flv grabber), I can get them without having to do any VHS work.

    I’m just getting lazier and lazier.


    Main 📎and tagged

  • “If an ass goes travelling he will not come home a horse.” Thomas Fuller

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare 4 Comments

    My newly teen daughter is now traversing the neighborhood with her friends.

    As the debate rages on as to if society these days is just more dangerous (or if we’re just more paranoid) or if the good ole days were more innocent and carefree (possibly), I have to come to terms with the fact that my daughter is ultimately more mobile than ever.

    Of course, my parenting style is infused with my own life experiences – such as walking around the neighborhood of my youth against my parents wishes.

    My earliest trips “out” were with my friend – we would walk down to Cunningham Pharmacy (in Houston). Past the Goony Golf, past the Library, down West Belfort, to the corner of South Post Oak. This is prior to the Kroger-plex that exists now. Just south down South Post Oak (at the time) was the AJ Foyt Dealership. Belden’s was also on that corner next to the Pharmacy. This was Belden’s first location, prior to moving to Braeswood square, where it currently resides. Can’t find pics right now, but I’m sure they exist.

    Anyway, the reason that we would walk to this particular pharmacy was because they had the BEST candy selection. Seriously. Tiny candy coffins witch candy skeletons that went together like a puzzle, Gatorgum, and my first exposure to Big League Chew.  Obviously, no kid could get enough of BLC, since it was impossible not to stick the whole bubblegum pouch into your mouth and strain your drooling jaws into submission.

    But, I was a candy addict, and Cunningham Pharmacy had the candy fix I needed. I also ended up picking up a lot of Puggles and Smurfs there as well. My Puggles were a little more masculine……..uh……..scratch that. They weren’t masculine at all. What was I thinking?

    Anyway, I also then think about the early trips that I took to Westwood Mall that were EXPRESSLY forbidden by my parents – that I did anyway.

    So, I have to consider that my daughter will do things that I won’t like, but at least she’s got a cell phone (which did not exist in my life in the late 70’s/early 80’s) and is – so far – willing to text me her location when she’s walking around.

    It will have to do, I suppose.


    Main 📎and tagged

  • “You’d have thought we threatened to release the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.” Herb Kelleher

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    How did you spend X-mas week? I bet you didn’t decide to host guests on the preceeding Monday of Christmas Day and remodel your entire dining room like we did!

    Long in the works, we started several weeks ago by procuring a console in the hopes that it could be used as a side console table where liquor could be stored – or at least hide the cat litter boxes in it. Scored off of Craigslist for $20, it only took some transit gasoline and some manpower to get it to the house. Deciding that we would host pushed the remodel process a lot more quickly than we had originally planned.

    Console:

    Before:


    We lightly sanded it, and spray primed it – finishing with a flat black paint.

    Table/Chairs:

    We also had my original dining room table and chairs from my childhood home. This remarkably modern dining room set is somewhere around forty years old. Surprising how timeless they ended up looking. Unfortunately, the natural dark wood finish did look a little dated – or at least did not fit into our overall plan. Originally buried (and unused) under tons of household detritus, we cleaned it off and prepped it for paint. Sanded both table and chairs, spray primered and finished with a flat black.

    Before:

    Flooring:

    Beyond the actual furniture, the dining room floor itself was a disaster.  When the house was purchased, the crappy carpet was pulled and it was discovered there was nothing but concrete floor.  For the remainder of the years that I’ve owned it *6* the floor has been nothing but unappealing and unwelcoming concrete. At this point in the remodel project, we had already extended the paint into the dining room.

    Before:

    Stymied for last minute, easy flooring options, one of Rochelle’s co-workers suggested vinyl flooring.  Easy enough for the novice to pull off in several hours, we rolled the dice. It came out great! Each piece of vinyl was 6″ x 36″ and attached to itself – like a giant carpet of vinyl (when done anyway).  Looks like wood, durable, easy to install.

    After:

    David sucks at painting, so Rochelle handled most of the paintwork involved in the dining room furniture and the console.

    Console after:

    Table and chairs after:

    Casual observers will note the trippy seat cushion pattern – which is actually the original upholstery for these chairs!  The chairs had been recovered twice, but we found the original trippy blue/green/yellow worked great with the black furniture and the mood we were trying to create.

    Chair detail:

    After that, all that was left was decoration.

    The final product:

    It came out excellent – especially since this project was more or less put into motion on a Monday evening, and finished on the following Saturday morning.


    Main 📎and tagged

  • “Never give a sucker an even break.” W. C. Fields

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    Have you ever been swindled? Seriously taken for a ride?

    I have.

    Some people don’t understand how it happens, and are skeptical. They read stories about Nevin Shapiro and Bernie Madoff and remark to themselves (about the victims) “Well, they should have paid more attention. They should have known better.”

    I’m here to tell you – it happens to the best of us.  I was young(er) and was taken advantage of in a similar fashion (financially).  I should have known better. I should have. There was always a small element of “it’s too good to be true”. And of course it was. But I can understand how people could be sucked in the same way.

    All it takes is that one person – man or woman – who can keep spinning the tale, leaving enough of a margin of error that doubt is erased. They’re usually born with that skill.  I was even warned by a close friend of the shyster – but I was so deep I didn’t listen. Even if those people asked for some kind of assurance, I’m sure that they were lied to – as I was.

    A lot of people were mad at this guy (who still to this day remains relatively secluded and hard to find). They asked me if they should “visit” him. Luckiliy, I was able to let it go.

    I consider it one of my most expensive life lessons. Unfortunately, it was one that I had to learn for myself.

    Every once in a while, I google the guy. Just to see what scam he’s up to now. I occasionally wonder if he ever thinks about what he’s done – and how he justified it to himself.


    Main 📎and tagged

  • “An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.” Samuel Butler

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    To the small Asian lady that walks around my block at all hours of the day:

    I apologize for almost hitting you with my car (again) as I exit/enter my driveway. Either I’m not awake, you’re moving quickly, or the trees at the front of my property block the view of the sidewalk. I understand how you will no longer wave back when I acknowledge my error in almost killing you. Again. Every time it happens, I promise myself that I will be more careful – and I do so but I notice that it takes almost precisely as long for you to resume walking around my block before it happens again.

    I’m not trying to keep my neighborhood dangerous, there’s just something about your walking pattern that I just don’t notice. Really.

    Sorry.


    Main

  • “There are just two people entitled to refer to themselves as “we”; one is the editor and the other is the fellow with a tapeworm” Bill Nye

    Posted on by The Thousand Yard Stare Comment

    In case anyone was interested, my blog visits spiked on December 6th, when J Yuenger wrote a piece on his website about his Guitar World Columns that I’ve posted here.

    Visuals – which either let you know how awesome that it was that I got more visits thanks to him, or how lame my visitor count was before he mentioned it.


    Main 📎and tagged