New Phone & Impromptu Drum Jam
A couple of interesting things in my life recently...
One. Got a new cellphone. I know, not that big a deal. But it's been over two years since I got my last one, and although there was nothing wrong with the other one, I had some kind of plan with Verizon where I got credit towards a new phone every two years. Two years was up in April. So, I figured I'd take a look online and see what was out nowadays. Turns out, that if you order online, you might qualify for -additional- credits. So... a phone that retails normally for $149.00... I got for free. Not a bad deal at all. And it's still Verizon... so I know how to upload pictures and ringtones (that I created myself, of course... I refuse to pay money for a ringtone... especially when most ringtones are just -clips- of songs... and they cost more than the entire song as an MP3. Thanks, I'll just buy the MP3 and clip it myself.)
Of course, there's the learning curve. But that's to be expected. And it's more than the usual learning curve. There are a -lot- of buttons crammed on this thing (there's a whole WYSIWIG keyboard on it... and it's not bigger than a standard RAZR phone). But, regardless, I like it. A lot. Like it enough to lay down money for a clip case and a 2GB microSD chip (love the fact that it takes the extra memory chips)... and eventually, I'll prolly lay out money for a bluetooth headset... I just don't want to get one of those clunky earpieces that seems to be so in fashion today (please, it's a status symbol... just like buying yer coffee at Starschmucks... the coffee isn't any better than say, Dunkin' Donuts... but yer paying the extra money to carry around the cup with the logo, so that you can look more important than you actually are.) I'm gonna see if I can find something that's a little more subtle and low key... tho the guy at Radio Shack did show me this headset-looking thing that makes it look more like it's for an MP3 player (which my phone also is, so that works too) than a phone... I'd just be concerned about driving with both my ears covered, ya know?
Went to the beach today to catch the bandshell show of Lewd Buddha and Banooba. Which of course they cancelled before I got there (I checked MySpace much later, and surely, it was announced by Banooba while I was in my store meeting... and by Buddha while I was already in the truck on the way there)... due to the weather reports showing thunder showers a definate possibility. Lots of water + lightening + lots of electrical equipment = bad idea. So no, I don't blame 'em for cancelling.
Luckily tho, I wasn't the only one who didn't realised they cancelled the show. I ran into Frankie's cousin John in the parking lot (who happened to be on the phone with Frankie getting the news). John is a phenonimal percussionist who I had the pleasure of playing with once (Tony, Buddha's regular percussionist had been in the hospital, and Frankie had asked John to fill in for a show... John, knowing I also played, asked me up on stage and we jammed out together with Andy on kit. I remember having a hella lot of fun that night).
Well, John had all his equipment with him (with the hopes of joining the guys for a little bit, so long as Tony was okay with it), and basically decided that since no one was gonna be using it anyway, that we should just set up the equipment and take over the stage ourselves.
Long story, short... we screwed around musically for a good two hours to an audience of maybe 3 or 4 at most (and most of them being park employees)... and towards the end, had one kid come up and bust some capoiera/breakdancing moves to our beats. We played for the Rain Gods, and they showed us their appreciation by letting the sky open up and pour down on us (luckily the stage we were on had a bit of a roof). Hell, as it got later, the rain ended, and even the moon peeked out some to take a listen (along with a frog that happened to hop onto the concrete in front of the stage... t'was a little one, but I noticed it right away)... and the rain stopped pretty much long enough for us to finish up, pack up the gear and get it back to his truck and pack that up. It started again not 2 minutes into my trip from the beach to work.
All in all, pretty nifty, and although I ached most of the night, and was way tired from lack of sleep (store meeting had me up at 2pm, which means I had about 3 hours sleep today... which has been pretty average for the whole week)... it was worth it. In a way, I'm kinda glad the show got rained out... much as I enjoy listening/watching the boys play, I rather like playing myself even more.
And it was good warm-up for the weekend ahead. Plenty of playing to be done Saturday and Sunday. Good times. Good times.
I'm gonna sleep well today tho. Seriously, TGIF.
One. Got a new cellphone. I know, not that big a deal. But it's been over two years since I got my last one, and although there was nothing wrong with the other one, I had some kind of plan with Verizon where I got credit towards a new phone every two years. Two years was up in April. So, I figured I'd take a look online and see what was out nowadays. Turns out, that if you order online, you might qualify for -additional- credits. So... a phone that retails normally for $149.00... I got for free. Not a bad deal at all. And it's still Verizon... so I know how to upload pictures and ringtones (that I created myself, of course... I refuse to pay money for a ringtone... especially when most ringtones are just -clips- of songs... and they cost more than the entire song as an MP3. Thanks, I'll just buy the MP3 and clip it myself.)
Of course, there's the learning curve. But that's to be expected. And it's more than the usual learning curve. There are a -lot- of buttons crammed on this thing (there's a whole WYSIWIG keyboard on it... and it's not bigger than a standard RAZR phone). But, regardless, I like it. A lot. Like it enough to lay down money for a clip case and a 2GB microSD chip (love the fact that it takes the extra memory chips)... and eventually, I'll prolly lay out money for a bluetooth headset... I just don't want to get one of those clunky earpieces that seems to be so in fashion today (please, it's a status symbol... just like buying yer coffee at Starschmucks... the coffee isn't any better than say, Dunkin' Donuts... but yer paying the extra money to carry around the cup with the logo, so that you can look more important than you actually are.) I'm gonna see if I can find something that's a little more subtle and low key... tho the guy at Radio Shack did show me this headset-looking thing that makes it look more like it's for an MP3 player (which my phone also is, so that works too) than a phone... I'd just be concerned about driving with both my ears covered, ya know?
Went to the beach today to catch the bandshell show of Lewd Buddha and Banooba. Which of course they cancelled before I got there (I checked MySpace much later, and surely, it was announced by Banooba while I was in my store meeting... and by Buddha while I was already in the truck on the way there)... due to the weather reports showing thunder showers a definate possibility. Lots of water + lightening + lots of electrical equipment = bad idea. So no, I don't blame 'em for cancelling.
Luckily tho, I wasn't the only one who didn't realised they cancelled the show. I ran into Frankie's cousin John in the parking lot (who happened to be on the phone with Frankie getting the news). John is a phenonimal percussionist who I had the pleasure of playing with once (Tony, Buddha's regular percussionist had been in the hospital, and Frankie had asked John to fill in for a show... John, knowing I also played, asked me up on stage and we jammed out together with Andy on kit. I remember having a hella lot of fun that night).
Well, John had all his equipment with him (with the hopes of joining the guys for a little bit, so long as Tony was okay with it), and basically decided that since no one was gonna be using it anyway, that we should just set up the equipment and take over the stage ourselves.
Long story, short... we screwed around musically for a good two hours to an audience of maybe 3 or 4 at most (and most of them being park employees)... and towards the end, had one kid come up and bust some capoiera/breakdancing moves to our beats. We played for the Rain Gods, and they showed us their appreciation by letting the sky open up and pour down on us (luckily the stage we were on had a bit of a roof). Hell, as it got later, the rain ended, and even the moon peeked out some to take a listen (along with a frog that happened to hop onto the concrete in front of the stage... t'was a little one, but I noticed it right away)... and the rain stopped pretty much long enough for us to finish up, pack up the gear and get it back to his truck and pack that up. It started again not 2 minutes into my trip from the beach to work.
All in all, pretty nifty, and although I ached most of the night, and was way tired from lack of sleep (store meeting had me up at 2pm, which means I had about 3 hours sleep today... which has been pretty average for the whole week)... it was worth it. In a way, I'm kinda glad the show got rained out... much as I enjoy listening/watching the boys play, I rather like playing myself even more.
And it was good warm-up for the weekend ahead. Plenty of playing to be done Saturday and Sunday. Good times. Good times.
I'm gonna sleep well today tho. Seriously, TGIF.
posted by Phrogie at
4:28 AM
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