Archive for Pencil Sketches
Ginger or Mary Ann?
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Yes I thought Ginger Baker was a woman and well, I thought Grace Slick was Black, so are you surprised?
Tomorrow marks his 70th year on our planet. Happy 70th Birthday to Ginger Baker
70 and still able to jam and is still one of the world’s greatest drummers. Can you imagine still going strong on drums at 70. I couldn’t until a few months back I decided I was going to learn. Wow.. what a work out. Not only mentally but physically. The physically part I haven’t mastered, but I am learning what a 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 is. I never knew what high hat was either, thought that was something in a Dr. Seuss Book.
Ginger pounds out a long drum solo on Toad, amazingly so, I sit and watch this, and try and listen to the “parts” of music that I have ingnored for so long.
We all take for granted the “pieces” that put the puzzle together, and until you start opening your eyes, or in this case your ears, you won’t get the big picture. I guess this can go for almost everything in life really, consider SEO, there are so many elements, and us as bloggers just know it, others sit with their mouths open in amazement when we talk about all the “elements” or “pieces”.
This can be said for music too, for all you folks out there that don’t play, I encourage you to sit down with some kick-ass head phones, I have stolen my son’s Skull Candy with Bass Effect.. listen to the music and try to focus on one instrument.. it ain’t as easy as it sounds. My husband has tried to get me to do this for years, but I honestly was just to damn lazy.
Now on my quest to learn drums, I find it amazing how all the pieces are there, but for so long, I have just chosen to hear them as one. In every facet of life, we can clump things together, missing crucial pieces, take the time today to focus on one single solitary piece of something today… it will help you focus.
If you haven’t ever watched a drum solo, go do it, there is so much energy that goes behind it.
Happy Birthday Ginger Baker – keep the sticks flying for as long as possible!
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Stumbling Your Way Finding Friends
Posted by: | CommentsTwenty some years ago, I heard a song on the radio that I fell in love with, it reminded me so much of where I was at the time in my life and yes at that time, I listened to a 
lot of country music.
The opening lyrics
There’s a room in my father’s house
Full of old heirlooms
Grandma’s Bible, Grandpa’s trunk
To a total stranger no more than junk
The closest ties I ever knew
Until I met you
Finally one day the announcer said her name – Judy Rodman – quick to go to the store, and quickly disappointed, they didn’t have it. There were no Best Buys or Super Walmarts, that’s when you actually had record stores. Oh, how I miss Full Cyrkle Records!
I had to order it, and still have the cassette to this day.
Well, twenty some years later, stumbling my way through blogging and social networking, I started investigating my stumble friends & people who were subscribed. I found in there a woman with a name that sparked a memory of those years long past.
Judy Rodman – I investigated her blog and realized this has to be the same woman whose music danced into my heart all those years ago.
I sent her a note through stumble upon asking her, and telling her how that song danced into my life all those years back and to this day I still listen to it, yes it was one and the same.
She has been a wonderful stumble friend and her blog is full of information on music and her teachings, she a remarkable woman and musical talent. I am proud to know her.
We have such opportunity in front of us with social networking and it is amazing to me the people it has brought into my life. We all want stumbles and reviews, we all want our blog’s to get noticed, but taking the time to see who is noticing us and helping us out is how it pay’s forward.
This sketch is a complilation of Judy – she sent me a beautiful picture of her playing piano at Bluebird and the one that she uses on her stumble profile. I used these two along with some photoshop work on what her song brings to my mind.
Grandma’s bible and grandpa’s trunk – and the house in the backdrop is my family home where I grew up, one of which my dad built with blood, sweat and tears.
Go look and see who may be in your group of social friends..you may be surprised at what you find.
How Deep are the Waters – Shark Week
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The week has wrapped up at Tech Jaws Shark Week – Frank over there is a good friend of mine and I am always amazed at all the information and people he finds online.
After all, he found me, over at.. the defunct entrecard – Frank has taught me about friends, family and fun.. as well taking me under his wing and teaching me the in’s and outs of blogging. As well as Business Plan’s – which my friend, I’ve done nothing with…yet..
Frank never fails to be a stumble away or an instant message answering my questions! THANKS MAN! CHEERS!
This is a sketch of Andy McKee, I am using this picture of him and him as a reference because this is not normally something I would listen to and online networking is something not all people are into, but the possibilities are so unlimited.
No matter how deep the waters are, we need to test them to find our place.
Stepping into shallow waters is your best bet when it comes to finding your niche. Don’t dive into the pool until your certain the waters are deep enough or shallow enough in some cases. My son introduced me to Andy McKee and when I read his bio – it explains how he brings something new to the industry.
We should all bring something new to our own lives, whether it’s people, hobbies or music.
Frank – thanks for showing me some of the ropes and opening my eyes to many things.. we love you with all our hearts..
Everyone else reading this, learn from others, teach others and never forget to listen to someone that you may not always listen too.. no matter what, there is something they can teach you.
Swamp Blues – Lightnin’ Slim
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Lightnin’ Slim or Otis Hicks, left our world July 27th, 1974…
Leaving a mark on Swamp Blues – debuting back in 1954, Bad Luck – If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.
I wasn’t even a glimmer in my dad’s eye..but know I’ve heard the name before, and needed to do a little research, low and behold, I figured it out.
Lightnin’ Slim backed mainly by drums (my new hobby) and harmonica, he had a gritty sounding voice and sang Louisiana Swamp Blues, with tunes such as – I’m Tired Waitin’ Baby, Your Old Enough to Understand and one of my favorites – Rooster Blues
Those tunes bring me back to New Orleans 22 years ago, when mom & I sat and drank Mint Juleps (nasty, nasty drink) in a seedy bar on Bourbon Street.. Listening to the musicians that were born with blues in their blood.
When I listen to someone like Lightnin’ Slim, I am instantly transported into a dark, smoke filled tavern in the south. A tavern that the heat is so thick you can see it, the sound is so profound, it rises through the floor into your toes through the floor boards and grabs you buy the heart so you will sit down and listen. No one listens anymore, they always interject….
One where people meet, to talk and share their stories. Stories of how life brought them to this point, whether that story are sad or true, you get a sense that this is where the heart of blues is and will remain clinging to the walls, or clinging to the worn out bar stools. Their is history there, a history of music and people that walked before us.
Take today to remember someone that walked before you, someone who paved the way, someone who brought something to the table that we often don’t think about.
What Happened to Gravity?
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It’s been all around us and no one seems to have a good solid answer.
Do you recently feel that you do not have your feet planted firmly on the ground?
Are they being cradled by faith or held up by some unknown force?
I have listened lately to several people say things, things that are out of character for them. So many of the stories and feelings are very similar, that I have to question what the driving force is, why now, why so many people have so many questions that are along the same lines?
What is the feeling in the air? Is it the economy? Are the planets shifting? Is it the negativity flying through the air waves on the nightly news?
What happens to us when we feel that our feet are not on the ground? We begin to see things from a different perspective, albeit, that’s not a bad thing. Focus seems lost and concentration is at a minimum.
Are those that are closest to you feeling the same or have your emotions just overflowed onto them? I find that when my feet are not on the ground that I begin to ask questions that I normally wouldn’t.
When our feet are planted firmly, answers do come more easily, but is life supposed to be easy? Is uncertainty part of our growth process? Can we live in a world of constant questioning, no way, can we live with the constant negative spin of the world around us.
When was the last time you turned on the television and picked up a positive story?
Do you hear from co-workers, family members and friends…
“I’ve been wronged”
“They owe me this, that, the other thing”
“That’s not how I would do it”
Take the great depression, do you think that anyone that lived through that era would be able to make a negative spin out of a “free loaf of bread?”
Perhaps our feet may not be grounded, feelings out of sync, questions flying around about the uncertain economy and the future, but somewhere out there, there is someone to hold you up, someone that is in your corner. That is the positive force that we as a country have lost.
Everyone is aware of 9/11, it rocked our country to the core – do you recall the emotion it brought out in people across the country, people became kind and concerned about others, people held doors for strangers, they said good morning, people took time for others…
Someone, something, somehow can help us get our feet back on the ground, it’s a matter of believing not only in others, but in yourself as well.
