Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

Volume: Lots of It

I played some guitar this morning. Judging by the above screen shot from my Apple Watch, I may have changed up the recording workflow a smidge.

Oh yes, yes I did.

I played through a speaker. Instead of using my Fender Bassbreaker 15 and my Vox MV50 Clean amps with their direct line outputs and speaker cabinet emulation functionality, I plugged into my Fender Deluxe Reverb. In the next photo you can see that the power light is on and it is glorious.

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I then did the craziest thing ever. I took the volume knob and turned it up. Way up. It wasn’t full blast, but it was close enough for a Thursday morning. In the next photo you will see proof.

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The volume was a smidge under nine. Again, glorious. Spectacular. I had an overdrive pedal boosting the input signal as well and it was distorting nicely. Tube amps are just the best things ever. I should have actually brought the volume down a little as the signal was over compressing to the point of being a squashed, squirely mess, but that’s okay. I’m just making demoes, right?

I played my SG because it was out of the case and sitting on the stand next to my desk. I probably should have played my Les Paul Custom, but this was fine with me. I ended up adding rhythm guitars to one song and leads to another. Oh, and I also added vocals to two songs. Fun. I probably could have snuck in a little more 50/90 challenge work, but I had to get ready for work and didn’t want to risk being late.

The one question that remains to be asked: Are my ears still ringing (about an hour after I stopped playing)?

Why yes, yes they are.

Glorious

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2024 50/90 Challenge Day 70/90

70 days feels like a milestone. It also feels like THE END IS NIGH!

I’m so far ahead of things this year that I shouldn’t panic, but I also wouldn’t be me if I weren’t panicked over something stupid, right?

Yesterday I added two new song forms. Just bass and drums (both MIDI) and that puts the pipeline over 50. 51 to be exact. I also wrote lyrics and melodies for two songs. Progress was adequate for a work-in-the-office day.

Furry Critter Freedom

At some point earlier today my wife was able to drop a bowl on top of our little home invading mouse house guest.

When I got home I was able to slide the bowl and its contents on top of a piece of paper, flip it over, and carry it outside where I could set our mouse house guest free. It squeaked a lot as I was trying to pick it up, but when I tipped it out of the bowl outside in the yard it didn’t move at all. It just sat there on the ground. It was clearly alive, just shocked out of its brain.

I figured it was too embarrassed by the whole experience to make any kind of move while I was watching so I left it to its own thing and started walking back to the house. As I was walking through the door I distinctly heard the tiniest, faintest squeak that sounded exactly like a mouse version of William Wallace in Braveheart shouting, “FREEDOM!”

I’m totally serious about that last part. Totally. I mean, would I lie to you about something like that?

In the Office Day Photos

Obligatory I’m-in-the-office-today-so-I’d-best-snap-some-photos-before-I-leave-the-house pics, which are by definition either cat pictures or guitar rig pictures. This time around it’s guitar rig pictures. Variety is the spice of life and shit.

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Still very pleased with my cheap-o third party lens, but I really need to go outside and do a photo-takin’ walk around somewhere to really put it through its paces to know if I got a really good deal or just a regular good deal. Next week we are on vacation but are just staying home (a staycation, as it were) so I hope to have a few opportunities for photo walks. I’ll let you know.

Mouse

Jen sent me this mouse hunting video a few hours ago. The mouse got away. It is still in the house somewhere but it is currently avoiding the kaiju-esque cats.

Now… do videos from Flickr work on WordPress.com? Let’s find out. (note: the embedded video player from Flickr for some reason includes about 10 miles of white space in the actual post. Scroll down… WAY down to see the clip)

Mickey

I am in the office today. That’s a shame because Jen is sending me play by play updates of the cats playing with a (terrified beyond measure) mouse in the kitchen.

The poor thing doesn’t realize that the cats are trying to play with it. I don’t think the cats are smart enough to know they are supposed to be mouse hunters who eliminate the home invaders. They just see it as a super fun toy.

Jen sent video. I might have to share it. The cats are adorable. The mouse is also adorable, though scared out of its wits by the two gigantic, furry, monsters that are chasing it around.

The last time the cats had a mouse cornered and I wasn’t home Jen was able to drop a bowl over the mouse and the cats lost interest quickly. When I got home I took it outside and set it free. Here’s hoping we can do the same today.

Goal Within Goal Within Goal

So I am doing this 50 songs in 90 days challenge thing. If you have spent more than two seconds on this little pagey page you might have seen me post something about it.

July 4 through October 1. 90 days. Three calendar months. I also have a personal sub-goal along with the 50 songs thing. It’s to do an RPM Challenge style album in each of the three months. That’s either 10 songs written entirely within the calendar month, or 35 minutes of music. In July I somehow, magically, ended up with 20 songs. In August I only managed 14. Those combined with a few songs that were started in one month and finished in another had me at 42 songs on September 1st. That means that in order to finish the album in a month for September I have to get to 52 songs. Okay. I can do that.

I have a third goal now. It’s a mini-goal based on the three times in the past that I have completed the 50 songs in 90 days challenge. The first time was 2014. I ended the 90 days with exactly 50 songs finished. There was a 51st song but I never finished it. I still haven’t. The next time I completed the challenge was in 2020. I finished with 51 songs. Suck it, 2014! I beat you by one! The next time I pulled it off was 2021. I finished with 52 songs. Victory is mine, once again! 2021 rules, 2020 drools!

That leads me to this year’s goal within a goal within a goal. This year I want to get to 53. 50 songs completes the main challenge. 52 will give me the secondary challenge. 53 will give me the third challenge. I have 40 songs complete right now and nine more in progress. I have to finish those nine and then add four more.

I can do it. I think. Yeah, I can do it.

But first… it’s bed time.

PS: Still not watching the debate, but social media (which I know is an echo chamber based on my personal political beliefs and all) is hinting that Vice President Harris is effectively mopping the floor with the fascist fucker’s Nixon-esque flop sweat. Sounds epic.