Father's Day Re-visited

Nice day today. Later in the afternoon (of 6/27), high pressure moved in and a dry northerly breeze provided some welcome relief from the humidity and heat. The Cubs lost to the White Sox and I took a little nap. But I did sing today at The Villages as they were having a big "picnic" ... that ended up being held inside due to the temperature and humidity still in place at noon. Rousing myself, after my nap, I went out to a Mexican restaurant for an enchilada, chips and some salsa ... very good. Then I stopped out to sing at a friend's karaoke show downtown and left there to find a place to dance. Unfortunately, the only nearby place to dance, a bar called the Red Lion, had music that was *much* too loud (DJ problem, not the equipment itself) ... so I quickly gave up on that and decided to come home and finish a book I'd been reading. After the book, I was re-energized and went out to listen to some singers and then, about 12:30am on the 28th, I got home and decided it would be good to watch my Father's Day present, Gran Torino. It's a great movie that goes well with coffee, Hot Tamales and M&M's. So I thank my sons (again) for that movie ... and I'm sure I'll watch it again as time goes by.

Well, tomorrow (later today) I need to do some work on the bicycle and also change plugs in the car. We'll see what else transpires to make it another great day.

363 Days to Father's Day

Yesterday was my 31st Father's Day ... it was a good one, although Tiger did not play very well at the U.S. Open. I spent the day walking, riding bicycle, walking some more and watching the U.S. Open Golf Championship. The boys sent me a BluRay movie, Gran Torino, which arrived today. And it's really getting warm out ... good thing too, since it's already the 2nd day of summer! On today's bicycle ride, the heat was palpable as I heard and felt the road's tar bubbles under the tires. Good sweatin' weather. This evening I had dinner at Carlos O'Kelly's (Mexican restaurant) and watched the fireworks show (right out my back window) over at Hiawatha Hogwild days. I tell 'ya, it's really exciting around here!

I sang using my new Fender PD250 amp system this evening ... and it worked really well, according to both me and the audience. That was my test run in preparation for Saturday's show where I'll be singing outdoors. Frankly, I think it's probably not the greatest idea in the world to have an outdoor party in 90+ degree weather at a rest home ... well, ours is not to question why ... I just hope the audience is successful at *not* keeling over .

It'll be a fun time ... good night.

Terminator ... Goes On

Memorial Day ... always a good day to take in a movie. Today I went to see "Terminator Salvation". In the (seemingly) never ending saga of Skynet and Terminators and John Connor, it's a pretty good action movie that puts interesting pieces of the story of the future together. Don't hesitate to see it, but it will often not make sense to you unless you've seen at least the first two Terminator movies. And even where it does come through, it will be all the better for seeing the first shows. For example, in one scene John Connor says "I'll be back" ... with different inflection than Schwarzenegger, of course, but it did elicit a few knowing chuckles from the audience. And the first appearance of the T-800 (Schwarzenegger style) Terminator is impressive (but, no, it's not actually Arnold). There is one confusion point here as, in the original (1984) movie, the Terminator was described by Kyle Reese as "Cyberdyne Systems Model 101". I can only guess that the model (T-800) in this latest movie is just a very advanced version of the Model 101 (because it looks like the same unit, i.e. Arnold). So maybe they didn't have one available to send back (to 1984) to kill Sarah Connor in the original movie. Note that the next model shown (in Terminator 2), was a T-1000, so the T-800 appellation *does* make some sense ... but it's still a puzzle and, maybe, an error in the latest film.

It's also a good movie to wait for the DVD/BD to arrive on store shelves, especially if you're complementing your existing set of movies at home ... but, either way, it's a good show, if long on action and short on character development. Of course, the characters were largely developed in the 80's and 90's. As a completely separate aside, I recommend against buying anything to eat or drink at the theater, since they are just mind-bogglingly high in price. Even a small soda at the local first-run theater here in Cedar Rapids is $3.75 at a size of about 8 ounces. Decent eats (still just junk food, remember) and a drink at a movie cost more than a meal at a good restaurant ... that's just wrong.

Perfect Day

Today was about as perfect as days get here in Iowa. Mid-70's with a light easterly breeze and a clear sky, full of sunshine. The kind of day that makes it into books where readers lose themselves in lilac laden breezes and in the drone of bees, overloaded with the promise of honey.

This all prompted me to take my usual walk of 3.2 miles and then mow the lawn, after first raising the blade 1/2". The lawn looks pretty good but it's almost time to start working on the fence area out back as well as the edging around the front bushes (also trimmed today).

I also decided to stop in to see the doctor about losing my voice as it's turned into a bit of bronchitis now and I want to be sure to be over it before next Wednesday. Got some antibiotics in case it's a bacterial type infection but I think things will be well in a few days.

Sure would be nice to fire up the grill and make a few burgers on Memorial Day. It's been quite awhile since I've done that. I suppose I will if I have a friend or two around ... otherwise, it doesn't seem to be much fun. We'll see what happens.

Should be a good weekend for motorcycle riding as well ... hmm, so many things to do, so little time. Next thing is to get a few new singing gigs ... need to expand my exposure a bit. But, no rush there, I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to accomplish that, even though I sometimes wish I'd started earlier. Well, you just do what you can do with what you have.

It's a good day to watch Clint Eastwood in Pale Rider ... my kind of preacher.

Finally, today would've been the 60th anniversary of my Uncle Don and Aunt Elaine. She only made it to March 27 but I really wanted to dance with her today at their celebration in Fargo. Have to figure out when I'll make it back up there to see my Uncle. It's about time for him to buy me a beer ... eh?

Of Hamburgers & BLT's

Almost *had* to head up to Toad's in Cedar Falls for a BLT this evening (they have the best!) but ended up doing some riding on the bicycle and then stopping out for a quick burger. My voice is slowly returning and I really hope to be singing again by Memorial Day ... if not, then by Wednesday of next week.

Anyway, I decided that it might not be a bad idea to log some stats at the "beginning" of the riding season (or 2 months into it ... ) so here's where I stand today:

Weight: 157.5 lbs.
Height: 70"
BMI=22.6
BP: 113/66, Pulse=55
2009 Miles Ridden: 560
Age: 56.17 years
Resting heart rate: 46
Eyes: Blue, still twinkling
Smile: still there ;)

And tonight I have a couple of movies to watch and some cherry licorice to consume. Well, I'll also be gargling with warm salt water and having a warm tea/honey/lemon drink. Slowly but surely, the voice is returning ...

May Flowers

Such an interesting month, May. The mirror of September with its warmth, but not too warm, cool nights and sunny days ... better, though, as the window to summer instead of the doorway to winter. As of this May, it appears I have a new mom, one of my best friends turned 80, and I'm really having more fun singing than I ever thought possible. Last Friday I sang for a crowd of about 300 at a local hotel. It was a 45 minute performance but it seemed to pass in about 5 ... so much fun, ending with a standing ovation, an encore and even a request for an autograph (honestly! ... I know, weird, eh?). Fortunately, by the way, my speaker stands arrived just the day before (whew!) ... they were an essential part of the setup.

Almost as important, I worked on my pumpkin bread recipe and, after 4 attempts, ended up with something that seems to be pretty good. Quite a few people tasted and enjoyed it ... I now feel ready for the next potluck dinner .

So May has been interesting, even though I haven't finished cleaning up the fence area in my back yard ... that will come ... and even though I haven't finished sealing my deck (but it's still not even summer yet, so I have time).

Right now my voice is gone but I hope it returns soon ... so many songs, so little time.

New Microphone, Misc News

My new Shure microphone arrived today. It is an SM86 and requires separate (phantom) power but there is a significant difference in sound between it and my (old, reliable, Shure) SM58. So I'll take the SM58 along as a spare but plan to use the SM86 for performances. The phantom power supply box I bought is a Rolls (Mic Power II, PB223) which handles up to 2 microphones (48 volts). I'm not sure if the Rolls is the best power supply but it is a switcher and is supposed to be very "quiet". Plus it was also available from zZounds and I therefore got free shipping as the mic already had free shipping and they just threw them both in the same box (nice).

For singing gigs, I've decided to transfer all my equipment from my (smallish) carry bag (open at the top and made of heavy cloth) to a spare duffel bag that's not doing anything else right now. That will give me room for the extra equipment (mic, power supply) as well as space for an additional XLR cable and, whenever desired, video hookup equipment to drive a separate monitor/TV.

In other news, now that the bathrooms are updated (whew!), I donated the two old toilets to Habitat for Humanity and got them out of my garage. Next on the agenda is to clean up the front entrance with a fresh coat of paint and then clean up a stack of old wood off the back walkout. Having braced the two 4x4's at the ends of the deck earlier this week, I think the house will then be in pretty good shape for company (well, except for an incredible amount of vacuuming, etc., on the inside). Even though I'm not terribly domestic, I'm confident I can get the inside cleaned up if I just pace myself ;) ...

Next week I have 4 singing gigs and can't wait to use the new mic ... plus I talked to a hospice worker last Monday who asked for several of my cards to pass out to places she knows of where they might like to have a singer from time to time. Right now the only new place I have coming up is at Mercy Hospital towards the end of May. It's all fun ... and it does help keep me off the street, hehe.