Birthday number 53 is near for me. My maternel -Ma tante (aunt) Doris sent me a 30 year old photograph as a gift. On the right are my maternal grandparents, Henry and Cecile. Karry and I are on the left, circa 1978. My middle name is for Henry, who was an automobile mechanic.
Continue reading “Photograph”
Fire in the neighborhood again
Pfft. The power went out only for a second. Enough to reboot. Later the sirens came.
We’re told it was woodpecker this time. Last time it was a flaming squirrel.
With a light breeze at my back, I feel better about this. It’s not moving fast and it’s going the other way.
A nervous neighbor gets the woodpecker story. Photos by Skip.
Makeover
My blog gets a much needed makeover today. I’ve posted a Craig Padilla synth pop classic from 1996, The Gift, for your listening pleasure while you look over the new format. I hope you like it.
Geese waterski on the Sacramento River in Redding, Fall of 2008, photo by Skip
5000 views and counting
Since I’ve been posting my music, I thought I’d check on Craig’s YouTube channel to see how our music video was doing. We’ve had more than 5000 views as of today. There are several positive comments, which is rather like getting worldwide applause in slow motion. This was a live-in-the-studio performance of Stellar Nursery, and the music we recorded here ended up on our most recent CD, Analog Destination, released on the Groove Unlimited (Netherlands) label in May 2008. We split the video onto 4 parts to fit YouTube’s format better, and here is the first part:
If you click on the video directly, you can get to the other 3 parts of this song, and see some other Craig Padilla videos.
Clemency
This musical fragment is tentatively titled Clemency. I grant you clemency herewith, and hope that you offer me the same, because I may need it someday. As may we all. Let’s keep this word handy in our lexicon. Mercy can sometimes be in short supply.
This musical sketch by Craig and me goes on for a little more than 13 minutes, in longwinded contrast to yesterday’s synth-pop piece. It’s not exactly ambient, but not melodic either. It floats somewhere in-between, and remains thus unfinished. Some of it “works” (in musical terms) for me, and some less so. It requires a bit more listening to see what we can learn and perhaps adjust. Or perhaps put it back in it’s box, out of sight and out of mind. If this sketch doesn’t “work” for you, I beseech your clemency. And offer mine. It is what it is. We were just looking for a spark of some sort.
You and I have been on a bit of a musical journey this week. I like the little Ovi music player widget very much. As I wrote on my music page, all work and no play makes us dull. So the old saying goes. Work and life are inextricably tied together when you do real estate for a living, and you can’t really separate your work from the rest of your life most of the time. That’s OK. But late at night, when at the controls of a musical instrument, I sometimes feel as though I’m not at work. As mentioned when I started posting music sketches earlier this week, your mileage may vary.
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Cosmos sulphureus (Yellow Cosmos) appropriately near Sulphur Creek -photo by Skip
Red Bluff synth-pop by Craig Padilla
Click on the play button to listen while you read. If you don’t see the Player, you may need to refresh the browser page. This piece was recorded live at the State Theater in Red Bluff a few years back, and is titled Trance Formation. The event was a fund raiser for the State Theater, which is hoping to undergo a renovation similar to the Cascade in Redding. It’s a fine old building, deeper, and I think larger than the Cascade. I helped with the stage setup, and my friend Craig Padilla performed solo. The performance was augmented by lighting services donated by Morpheus Lights of Redding. Those folks do many of the big-name stage shows, so the lights were simply amazing. The show was well attended, and the Red Bluffian crowd enthusiastic, as you can just hear toward the end of the recording. I think you’ll find the music to be very catchy. Enjoy! 
Backyard double petunia by Skip. Not the flower, the photo.
Ambient music piece
Ambient music, as defined by me, is music that sets a mood of some sort, and is interesting, but not so interesting as to be distracting or serve as a central focus of concentration. It’s good background music for mental activities or other such abstract endeavors. I like to think of it as music that you’re very likely to hear whilst you’re shopping in your favourite retail store. It’s not too heavy or distracting, it just provides a calming and relaxing experience and that’s definitely what you need when you’re shopping. In my opinion anyway. I think you can also refer to it as muzak – a type of soothing music that can be played in many places or buildings. This type of music is beneficial when you have a task to be getting on with and you don’t want to get too distracted.
Does any of that make sense? Well, like most art music, you know it if you hear it, and writing about it won’t help you get it. This 8 minute piece “Lunaria” mostly works for me on that level, but stands unfinished. Maybe I’ll finish it now. Maybe not.
If you are interested in hearing more music of similar nature, you can check out my fellow musician and friend Darrell (aka. Palancar) Burgan’s online “radio station” Stillstream. Some of what you hear on Stillstream falls outside the true ambient definition, but that keeps it interesting. Stillstream is a zero-revenue enterprise. Artists contribute their music, and there are no ads. Worth a listen. You might find you like it, and if so you should tell a friend. You probably won’t hear much of this genre anywhere else.
Firecrew at the Sundial Bridge, photo by Mary A. Thanks!
New music player
Clicking on the widget above plays a 17 minute piece, tentatively titled Sobriquet, that Craig Padilla and I whipped up a while back. Not really sure where it was going, or if it would ever be finished and released. It’s more of a sketch, like a painter might sketch out a piece that ends up leading one in another direction entirely. These musical sketches languish in the studio. I thought I might post a few here and there because…well, just because. I like hearing them now and again myself. It’s good music for working on projects, at least for me. Your mileage may vary! Nokia’s Ovi music player widget is pretty cool. If you like what you hear and simply must have it for your iPod, let me know and I’ll point you to the MP3 file online. You can also click on the “envelope” icon and share it with friends.
I would recommend listening to it on an MP3 player because then you will be able to listen to loads of other files too, one after another, without having to fiddle with the device. If you want, you could find podcasts, songs, and whatnot on youtube and use a youtube to mp3 con to convert them into MP3 files. This way you would always have something to listen to!
I’m quoted in the RS
A good article about buying foreclosures by David Benda appeared in the RS on Sunday. It was thoughtful and accurate. Read it HERE.
Mother doesn’t go out anymore
Just sits at home and rolls her spastic eyes
But every weekend through the door
Come words of wisdom from the world outside
Sunday papers don’t ask no questions
Sunday papers don’t tell no lies
Sunday papers don’t raise objections
Sunday papers ain’t got no eyes
Joe Jackson – Sunday Papers A cool song indeed.
Fall fishing inside Redding city limits
A cold wind blows through the Homeshow
We’ve had a booth at the Homeshow in Anderson for several years now. This Fall show was very lightly attended, coming on the heels of the stock market problems. In the past, it’s been a decent way to meet people in a non-threatening environment. We give out schwag (free promotional items like Custom Water bottles). A memorable moment from today was when a woman took my offered schwag, and when I recited my usual spiel “Please remember us if you know anyone buying or selling a home,” she replied, “I’m an agent myself” turned and walked off. Took my schwag, and cut me off at the knees all at once. That was harsh. Ow. You gotta have thick skin in this business. I marvel at her, really. I could never be that cold.
Ultimately, trade shows are an excellent opportunity to bring your products and services to a wider audience. However, in order for your exhibition to be a success, you need to make sure that you are as prepared as possible. For example, if you want passers-by to be drawn to your table you need to make sure that your corner of the exhibition hall is as inviting as possible. This year, I invested in a bright and colourful poster that I designed and printed using an online template on a website similar to MyCreativeShop. It definitely worked to our advantage as it captured the attention of quite a few people!
We have already started making plans for our next trade show. We want to come up with a new trade show banner, as well as more professional promotional material that we can utilize at events like this. Anyway at this show, the new, much lower valuations hit several people very hard. They had leveraged all their equity or whatever, and were now seriously upside down on value. Gosh, nothing like making people REALLY SAD to make a good impression at a trade show. We need a new reason to speak with people.
Things could be so different now
It used to be so civilized
You will always wonder how
It could have been if you’d only liedIts too late to change events
Its time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth
Depeche Mode –Policy of Truth Too true.
