Back To Painting

We're back in business in Finn's room. We decided to do something a little different.

Diversion

I treated myself to my first ever brand new drum set. It's a Pearl Rhythm Traveler, with mesh heads that give the same feel (almost) as the real ones, but they do not make anywhere near as much noise. I can practice in near silence and not even disturb anyone in the house.

I fashioned a platform to keep it off the ground.

Some friends at work have a band and let me sit in on a practice when their regular, real drummer could not make it. I played 10 or more songs, probably playing more than I ever have before with other musicians. It was a rip, I hope they invite me back again.

Approaching Anniversary

I quit smoking 9:00 a.m. November 14th, 2007, at the Poughkeepsie train station. My other anniversary hits 20 months soon.

Jesus Jones Should Re-IssueTheir Hit

A woman on the radio talks about Revolution
when it's already passed her by.

Bob Dylan didn't have this to sing about,
you know it feels good to be alive.


I was alive and I waited for this.
Right here, right now, there is no other place I'd rather be
Watching the world wake up from history.


I saw the decade in when it seemed the world could change
In the blink of an eye.
If anything, then there's your song.

(Jesus Jones, "Right Here, Right Now")

The song was inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union. It came out in 1990 and peaked on the charts a month before August 1991 coup in which Gorbachev was kidnapped.

When this past week happened, I remembered the wonder, joy and amazement - even sorrow - I felt then. I remembered the song, specially the line about Dylan. There is no other place I'd rather be.

All of us here at Vaclav's Hovel wish Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and their families well. Good luck.

Cara's First Presidential Election!!!

Too much to handle, I know. She said it made her feel old - no longer a teenager. She turned 20 last month.

Halloween

Finn had a huge (2' tall) punk that he asked me to carve.


Cara is far better at this than me. Here's her cat-kin:

I sliced the bottom off this one to make it appear he's rising out of something.

A neighbor's haunted yard:

A deliberately blurred shot.

We were overrun again - some 100 kids and more, but we had to shut down because we were too liberal with the candy. A lot of houses folded early. I like this town.

He Ain't Kenny Baker And I'm Not ILM

Here's the R2D2 costume in practice
Being attacked by something less than a Jedi, the lid is solid armor.


It was a little difficult to see, and tough to reach around with the candy bag.

Being only a six year-old, he took a few spills and the costume suffered. It was tough to walk in, hard to see, and awkward. Design flaws noted, will improve next time. It lasted about twenty minutes before he fell and lay on the ground helpless like a turtle on its back. I righted him and got him out of it, then one of the neighbors put a cape on him & he continued hunting for candy happy as a pig.

Everyone who saw it in those glorious 20 minutes was amazed, and that's what counts.

Post-Script: you see the kid with the scythe in the photo above? I was walking ahead of him in the group last night when we passed a streetlamp. I noticed his shadow to my left growing long and passing me - a shadow of a hooded figure with a scythe, growing taller and more ominous with every step.

I wonder if anyone knows who Kenny Baker is....