Archives
August 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
1:17:00 AM EDT
Feeling Happy
Hearing MSNBC
Back on my PowerBook, with its brand new hard drive. Unfortunately, I had to reinstall OS 10.3.4, because Apple's policy is to install not the OS on the dead drive but what would have been on it when I purchased the computer. Was able to salvage most of my music files, photos, and docs--and whatever I couldn't, I transferred from my iPod, iBook, and memory cards I'd not yet erased.
Flights Chi-Atl-Myrtle Beach on AirTran were a joy--on time, large comfy seats, able to carry my guitar onboard. Took my new rosewood Gibson dread (named "Rosie"), since it cost me less than the Taylors and would have caused me less tsuris if I had to gate-check it. Landed in Myrtle Beach, and Hertz was out of Tauruses...so they gave me a Volvo S80 with a cassette/CD deck (so I had better sound for my iPod) and a NeverLost GPS! Oh, how I'm going to hate to give it back!
Typing this from my hotel room in McLean, VA. I fly home tomorrow. Had a marvelous trip to NC and VA, and a magical time performing at Airlie Gardens and Jammin' Java. All the Indiegrrls at Airlie were terrific: Martine Locke, Shelley Miller, Amy Henderson, Melanie Sparks, Kelly Buchanan and of course the inimitable Laura McLean and her band Calamity--tight and skillful rockers all. Airlie is a beautiful place, with ancient, giant oaks festooned with Spanish moss, palms and palmettos, flowers, ponds, geese, and just a stone's throw from the Atlantic. (Coulda done w/o the skeeters, but it serves me right for declining an offer of OFF because I was afraid DEET would damage my new Gibson's finish). I don't know what got crinklier in the massive humidity--my hair or my mailing list! But the crowd was huge and appreciative, the stage and PA excellent, and the company extremely convivial.
Only fly in the ointment (as opposed to black flies in my diet soda) was my capo (a pink Kyser "Capo For the Cure") knocking my guitar so badly out of tune that I wasted nearly a minute onstage tuning--and by the time I got up there time was certainly at a premium. You see, Airlie has no lights, no stage lights were permitted, we had to be done by 8pm and the band needed to end the evening with its set. Next morning, I hit a music store before leaving Wilmington, since I didn't want to do what amounted to an audition tonight with an out-of-tune guitar. I found out it wasn't the humidity, the guitar, the strings or any flaws in my sense of pitch: it was indeed the Kyser capo. This one had a bit more curvature than most of the other Kyser Quick-Changes, which left the center strings more or less on pitch but squeezed the outer ones (esp. the low E). And it has a constant, non-adjustable degree of spring tension; that, coupled with the tall frets on Gibsons and Taylors, knocked my strings several degrees sharp. The store had Shubb Deluxe (which I have at home) and Dunlop Victor, which uses the same principle as Shubb but at 2/3 the price. Bought the Victor and it has acquitted itself nobly.
Most of the drive up to VA was quite pleasant--I-95 has been resurfaced and I was able to keep up with the speed demons w/o running afoul of the Hwy Patrol (thanks to Laura for warning me where the speed traps were). iPod plugged in and set on "shuffle," car extremely comfy with great music. Was making great time; decided to grab a snack on the go outside Richmond on I-295 when I gassed up. Got back into my car and the heavens opened--gale force winds, and I couldn't see six inches in front of the car! Groped my way on to the onramp to 295N--and found myself in the middle of a virtual parking lot. Rain was coming down in buckets, wind whipping branches all over the road. We went nowhere for half an hour, till the storm passed. Found out later it was severe, with floods, 60mph winds, damaging hail (which missed us), and even reports of a small twister that did not touch down. Didn't help that the ramp back to 95 was down to a single lane. Ground to a halt again in Fredericksburg--another wall of clouds was threatening to spawn tornadoes--there would be twisting little points coming out of it and then darting back up inside it. Nobody was taking any chances--traffic didn't move again till word came via the radio from the Emergency Broadcast System that all was okay. One side effect: when I pulled into the Richmond suburbs it was 93 degrees and nearly 100% humidity. Coming out of the storm, the mercury had plunged nearly 20 degrees! By the time I got to the VA burbs of DC, it was in the low seventies, sunny and dry!
Written by sandina Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
1:17:00 AM EDT
Feeling Happy
Hearing MSNBC
My long weekend down South
Back on my PowerBook, with its brand new hard drive. Unfortunately, I had to reinstall OS 10.3.4, because Apple's policy is to install not the OS on the dead drive but what would have been on it when I purchased the computer. Was able to salvage most of my music files, photos, and docs--and whatever I couldn't, I transferred from my iPod, iBook, and memory cards I'd not yet erased.
Flights Chi-Atl-Myrtle Beach on AirTran were a joy--on time, large comfy seats, able to carry my guitar onboard. Took my new rosewood Gibson dread (named "Rosie"), since it cost me less than the Taylors and would have caused me less tsuris if I had to gate-check it. Landed in Myrtle Beach, and Hertz was out of Tauruses...so they gave me a Volvo S80 with a cassette/CD deck (so I had better sound for my iPod) and a NeverLost GPS! Oh, how I'm going to hate to give it back!
Typing this from my hotel room in McLean, VA. I fly home tomorrow. Had a marvelous trip to NC and VA, and a magical time performing at Airlie Gardens and Jammin' Java. All the Indiegrrls at Airlie were terrific: Martine Locke, Shelley Miller, Amy Henderson, Melanie Sparks, Kelly Buchanan and of course the inimitable Laura McLean and her band Calamity--tight and skillful rockers all. Airlie is a beautiful place, with ancient, giant oaks festooned with Spanish moss, palms and palmettos, flowers, ponds, geese, and just a stone's throw from the Atlantic. (Coulda done w/o the skeeters, but it serves me right for declining an offer of OFF because I was afraid DEET would damage my new Gibson's finish). I don't know what got crinklier in the massive humidity--my hair or my mailing list! But the crowd was huge and appreciative, the stage and PA excellent, and the company extremely convivial.
Only fly in the ointment (as opposed to black flies in my diet soda) was my capo (a pink Kyser "Capo For the Cure") knocking my guitar so badly out of tune that I wasted nearly a minute onstage tuning--and by the time I got up there time was certainly at a premium. You see, Airlie has no lights, no stage lights were permitted, we had to be done by 8pm and the band needed to end the evening with its set. Next morning, I hit a music store before leaving Wilmington, since I didn't want to do what amounted to an audition tonight with an out-of-tune guitar. I found out it wasn't the humidity, the guitar, the strings or any flaws in my sense of pitch: it was indeed the Kyser capo. This one had a bit more curvature than most of the other Kyser Quick-Changes, which left the center strings more or less on pitch but squeezed the outer ones (esp. the low E). And it has a constant, non-adjustable degree of spring tension; that, coupled with the tall frets on Gibsons and Taylors, knocked my strings several degrees sharp. The store had Shubb Deluxe (which I have at home) and Dunlop Victor, which uses the same principle as Shubb but at 2/3 the price. Bought the Victor and it has acquitted itself nobly.
Most of the drive up to VA was quite pleasant--I-95 has been resurfaced and I was able to keep up with the speed demons w/o running afoul of the Hwy Patrol (thanks to Laura for warning me where the speed traps were). iPod plugged in and set on "shuffle," car extremely comfy with great music. Was making great time; decided to grab a snack on the go outside Richmond on I-295 when I gassed up. Got back into my car and the heavens opened--gale force winds, and I couldn't see six inches in front of the car! Groped my way on to the onramp to 295N--and found myself in the middle of a virtual parking lot. Rain was coming down in buckets, wind whipping branches all over the road. We went nowhere for half an hour, till the storm passed. Found out later it was severe, with floods, 60mph winds, damaging hail (which missed us), and even reports of a small twister that did not touch down. Didn't help that the ramp back to 95 was down to a single lane. Ground to a halt again in Fredericksburg--another wall of clouds was threatening to spawn tornadoes--there would be twisting little points coming out of it and then darting back up inside it. Nobody was taking any chances--traffic didn't move again till word came via the radio from the Emergency Broadcast System that all was okay. One side effect: when I pulled into the Richmond suburbs it was 93 degrees and nearly 100% humidity. Coming out of the storm, the mercury had plunged nearly 20 degrees! By the time I got to the VA burbs of DC, it was in the low seventies, sunny and dry!
Written by sandina Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
