Normally I don’t post second-hand things here, but as soon as I saw this picture, I knew it was an instant classic.
This and about a zillion others like it can be found here.
Enjoy!
Just for fun, I thought I’d post my list of musical instruments. What would be even more ridiculous is to put them all in the room with me and take a picture of them, but I’m not sure that’s even possible. The room’s not big enough to hold all of them, and have them out at the same time. Man, do I need a studio space!
[edit: I’m in the process of editing this entry, since it didn’t translate well when I made the switch from Blogger. Stay tuned for pictures and links.]
KEYBOARDS:
Kurzweil K2500XS synthesizer – Truly the king of beasts
Roland XP-50 synthesizer
Roland JX-3P synthesizer
Ensoniq ESQ-1 synthesizer
Yamaha DX7 synthesizer
Yamaha PS-20 synthesizer – these are so rare that there’s almost no info online.
Siel MK-610 synthesizer – I’d never even seen or heard of another one, ever.
Yamaha SHS-10 ‘keytar’ synthesizer
Casio SK-1 synthesizer
Casio SA-38 synthesizer
Casio SA-35 synthesizer
Suzuki Omnichord synthesizer – Such a little treasure, and surprisingly sophisticated too!
Mattel Synsonics drum machine
Korg X5DR synth module
E-mu Proteus FX synth module
Yamaha TX7 synth module
Sharper Image electronic surf/rain sound machine
Jaymar toy piano
GUITARS, AMPS, AND EFFECTS
1961 Guild Starfire III – there’s only one Elaine in all the world!
2005 Fender American Standard Telecaster
2001 Gibson Les Paul Studio
2003 Takamine EG-334SC acoustic/electric guitar
1996 Tobias Model T 5-string bass
2007 Hofner Colorama electric guitar
1962 Magnatone Custom 460 2×12 combo amp
1965 Silvertone 1482 1×12 combo amp
1994 Fender Blues Deluxe (tweed) 1×12 combo amp
Crate GX-15R 1×8 combo amp
Smokey mini-amplifier
1989 Fender M-80 1×12 combo amp
Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer overdrive pedal – with 808 ‘brown’ modification
Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff distortion pedal – one of the really old ones
Boss OS-1 overdrive/distortion pedal
Boss CS-3 compression/sustainer pedal
Line 6 DM-4 Delay Modeler
Vox U847 wah pedal
Danelectro Hash Browns phaser pedal
Ebow Plus
Ernie Ball volume pedal
ART SGX-2000 multi-effects and X-15 pedalboard
ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS:
Crucianelli accordion, early ’60s
Ernst Heinrich Roth cello, 1963
Tama Rockstar 5-piece drum set
various percussion instruments (shakers, claves, tambourines, etc.)
Elburn piano
autoharp
Angel mini glockenspiel
Ludwig professional glockenspiel
handmade African djembe
The play reading last night was a blast. It wasn’t public, but it still felt like an Event. And hey; how often do I get the chance to see a great new play for free, eat yummy food and have good wine for free, and play the cello all at the same time? Good times.
For those of you who also love The Theatah, it was a contemporary play called “The Lights.” Here’s a synopsis:
* * * * *
Winner of the 1994 Obie Award. THE LIGHTS is a dark investigation of the lives of a young couple as they struggle to exist in a large urban city that threatens to devour them. “Korder writes up a fury in a jackhammer blast of imagination that delivers tenfold on the promise of his earlier works…nothing, however, could prepare us for the lyrical authority of [his] voice in THE LIGHTS, which resonates with jagged elegies for a lost civilization.” —NY Newsday.
* * * * *
Which is all well and good, but here are some pictures–taken by Todd S. –of the actual event:
I had a tremendous time, and I can’t wait to do it again.
I’ll write more about my sadness et cetera some other time soon, but in the meantime, it’s like I’ve always said. If you’re having a rough time emotionally, it helps to have great friends and a busy, fun life to fall back on while your wounds heal.
The trip and the gig were both a total blast. Stephanie and I flew down to Reno, then drove four hours to Elko to play at Great Basin College. We played there last year with Dirty Martini, and Steph had played there twice before that, with DM and on her own. So she has a considerable base of fans there, and it turned out that I even had a small (but strong!) contingent as well, which was surprising and cool to learn. It was just an all-around great experience.
We played outside this time, in the ampitheater right in the middle of the campus. It was a warm, breezy night, and it was particularly beautiful. Steph played acoustic guitar and piano–they wheeled a real piano out to the ampitheater for us to use!–and I played electric guitar, accordion and piano on a few songs too. We were totally on. We barely missed a note, and we felt totally in sync with each other. After some of the tough gigs we’ve had lately, this was a welcome relief. Total blast, and I have a feeling we’ll be back down in Elko again before too long.
After dropping our instruments at the hotel, we decided to try our hands at gambling. I tried a slot machine at the first place; put in a dollar and instantly won eight dollars back, so I took that as a good sign and stopped. We walked through the rest of the place and were unimpressed, so we walked across the street to a larger, more bustling casino. We each got a drink, and she played blackjack for a while. I don’t know how, so I watched. She got on a nice little winning streak too, earning twenty dollars from the five she started with, but she left empty-handed after a few more hands, despite one of the other players’ advice, “Hey, you should quit now, while you’re ahead.” We walked around again, and I decided to try some slot machines again, since I’d had good luck with them before. I started with twenty dollars, got down to almost nothing, and then won thirty five, so I decided to quit too.
The drive back was really nice. Steph had about a million phone calls to take care of, so I drove the whole way back to Reno. We stopped at a wide spot in the road called Trinity, which I think used 
to be a mine, but has since been reduced to a rest stop on one side of the highway and a dilapidated truck stop sign on the other. We stopped for a few minutes so I could take some pictures.
At the rest stop there, we encountered the most foul and disgusting porta-potties either of us had seen in our entire lives.
Steph opened the door to one and instantly stepped back, hands over her face in horror. “I’ve never seen anything that disgusting before,” she said. With a statement like that, my morbid curiosity was piqued, so I took a peek. The inside was smeared with feces, and there was an enormous pile of it on the back of the toilet seat. Repulsive. We both cracked up laughing, and I said, “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
Good-hearted Steph gave the unknown person the benefit of the doubt and said, “Maybe it was dark, and they just couldn’t see what they were doing.”
“But there are huge flood lights everywhere. I can’t imagine they wouldn’t be able to see. I’m gonna have to ‘poo-poo’ that theory.” (Now THAT’S good comedy.)
We arrived at the Reno airport and ate at a really good little brew pub there. The flight, however, was pretty rough. Despite the nice weather, there was lots of turbulence. We were all getting increasingly nervous as the plane kept shuddering and lurching. Finally it settled down and so did we. But once again, when we started our descent into Portland, it happened again. It was very nice to be down on solid ground again. And can I just say how nice Portland’s airport is? It’s really beautiful, especially in the evening sunshine.
I hung out with NeighborFriendSusan for a little while, since I hadn’t seen her for a few days, then I went to bed at 10:30. Slept until 11:30 the next morning, when BoringFish called to see how I was doing. We talked for a while, then I got up and decided that today is the day I’m going to get my pictures framed and hung in my apartment. I chose my favorites and took them over to the photo printing place, where they’ll be done any minute now, so I’m gonna head back out. I’ll take pictures of my new-and-improved apartment once I get them hung. I daresay you’ll be impressed with the new look.
Sunday, after my gig down in Gleneden Beach with Susie Blue, I drove the hundred-mile trip up curvy Highway 101 to Cannon Beach, where my mom, stepdad, brother, sister-in-law, niece and baby nephew were. As soon as I arrived, I made dinner for everybody. Mom made a delicious salad, and my stepdad made an amazing dessert.
After all that, we walked down to the beach. The house they rented was directly in line with Haystack Rock, so it couldn’t have been easier to get there. After driving two and a half hours to the gig, playing the gig, driving a little bit and then stopping at the factory outlet stores in Lincoln City (where–among other things–I got a new blue hoodie to replace the one I left in Salem a couple of weeks ago), then driving four more hours up the coast (stopping to take a few pictures along the way), it was an exhausting day, but completely worth it. It was great to see everybody, and here are some pictures:
