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Viewing 26 - 50 out of 82 Blogs.
With the "tax and spend" bunch in the Capitol considering more taxes on gasoline perhaps THIS TACTIC is something we might consider.
"Rosewood", the trio I play in, has been hard at work in Gilley's Recording Studio, here in Corpus town.
Dennis hadn't recorded an acoustic band before so he took some video of us to display on his website, and passed some still photos from it on to me.
The area we began recording in is almost like a waiting room. The board, that has all the sliders and knobs, is almost window dressing as modern recording is digital and lots of the engineer's work is done with a computer mouse. Every function of the actual board can be displayed on the computer monitor and operated from there.
 There are different ways to record a band. We recored live, that is, we played as if we were performing with the instruments plugged directly into the recording equipment, rather than amplifiers.
Each instrument has its own track (think of it as a file on a computer) that can be manipulated, over-dubbed or removed altogether without affecting the recorded sound of the other instruments.
The singing is recorded first on what is called a scratch track. Since the microphone picks up the sound of the instruments, another recording of the vocals is made in the sound-proof booth and the original discarded, or scratched.Some of the instruments were also re-recorded in the booth. Their rich sounds are captured better this way.
There is still some of the business of the music business to attend to, fees paid to comply with copyright law and we'll have to created art for the CD cover. Dennis will work his engineering magic on the recordings to make a master CD which we'll use to burn copies. When it all comes together, its a beautiful thing.
Motorcycle Cruiser Magazine writer: Art Friedman In a message entitled "Something We Never Want to Lose" on his company's website, Harley-Davidson Motor Company President and CEO Jim McCaslin tackles the issue of motorcycle noise and the increasing backlash motorcycling is experiencing as the result of loud pipes. (click the link to read the entire article).
I see that the latest gimick to entice yuppie "bikers" to the ROT rally is V.I.P. status. I recall a time when bikers wouldn't piss on a elitist dink if he was on fire. Has times changed, or maybe just definitions? An, otherwise, real rider invited me to ROT. Their Harley will be pulled behind the RV which will carry the golf cart and ATV they'll style in on the loop when they're not being a pain in the ass in the vendor area. I told them straight out that they were the reason that "ROT Productions" will never see another one of my dollars. Last time out, no one could even get close to the bike games but there was plenty of seating for Roller Derby girls. Maybe V.I.Ps will be able to get seating for bike games, if they have them, this year.
We escaped Corpitos. RIDES AND TALES details our ride to Riverside Ranch, near San Antonio, TX. 
We encounter idiocy at the beginning of a road trip.
RIDES AND TALES has the details.
Local Police Thwart Bad Bikers
Local law enforcement agencies teamed up Saturday in a county-wide effort to discourage what Litchfield Police Chief BJ Wilkinson called "criminal intent from coming to Litchfield and the surrounding villages and towns."
The Sons of Silence motorcycle club had promoted its intention to sponsor a run with stops in Montgomery and Macoupin counties, Chief Wilkinson said.
"This particular organization is on law enforcement watch lists with a reputation for promoting violent behavior and domestic terrorism," the police chief said.
Because May is motorcycle awareness month, local law enforcement took the opportunity to set up roadside check sites on Interstate 55, Route 66, Route 16, Route 127, and Route 185.
Local Police Thwart Bad Bikers Now, do you realize the implications of the heat targeting a motorcycle club by using Homeland Security terms like, "domestic terroism"? This is a loophole for them to deny these people (for now) their Civil Rights including the right of Habeas Corpus, through which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention of himself or another person. The writ of habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action (wikipedia). You might find this link interesting as well.
The regulator/rectifier from Bike Bandit, that was delivered and installed moments before leaving on a ride, cratered 200 miles away from home (on Sunday, of course) and boiled two batteries before we could get back.
Leaving the unit installed, I exchanged a few emails with Bike Bandit and they authorized a return, shipping included.
Afterwards, we discovered that the leads from the alternator were too long and had laid on the rear tire. I contacted Bike Bandit, again, and told them that the alternator may not have been faulty except for the leads and connectors.
Bottom line is: Bike Bandit had a replacement regulator in the wind just about the same time I shipped the return. Their email read:
Here at BikeBandit.com, we strive to provide the best customer support possible.
I believe them and would trade with them again. 
Saturday afternoon, I rode the 24 miles out to Port Aransas to meet with the sexy granny. She'd enticed me with a promised dinner and a show, the show being the Texas Sandfest. People come from all over to see and participate in this contest. Just off-hand, I saw the state flags of Oregon, Washington, Montana, Kansas, Alabama and Florida. We noticed that one of the sculptures was by a Ukrainian. The "sand" in these parts, including Mustang Island, is actually "silt", silt being finer than sand. The quartz silt also has clay mixed in, giving it some adhesion and making for excellent sand sculpting material, which is one reason this event is so popular. We parked our bikes off the beach and had to walk a ways but the weather was perfect and we ain't no sissies. After, we dined on fish sandwich and oyster po'boy at the Island Cafe' before saddling up and scootering back to the big Bluff, a fiery sunset on our right, and the rising moon on our left.
Life is good on the Third Coast.
The "Gathering of the Fools" is an annual event at a friend's, in East Texas. His friends ride in from all over. Read about it at :
RIDES AND TALES.
A local dealership hosted a metric bike show benefiting PALS. Words and pics at --> Rides And Tales <--
A sure sign of spring must be the and car shows in parking lots. Cyclone Riders MC had one such and I took a few pictures, there. FOLLOW THE LINK to read about my exciting day in Corpitos
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Legacy
Posted On 03/04/2008 00:18:59
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So, there I was, there I was, all cozy in Rancho Delux with the "no soliciting" sign on the board fence, when there comes a pecking at my door. Some goofy old shit kicker is looking for Owen, 'Am I Owen, or does he live here?'
Needless to say, I wasn't impressed by his being too lazy to read the "L" in, "Olwen", my daughter's name. I mean, its a white girl's name, from the old country. Not everyone is named Esther, Leticia or Shaniqua .
In any case, we'd long since tired of listening to telemarketed pleas for support from the spouses of Democrat candidates when this old jackass turns up on my porch on a Saturday afternoon intending to hand my kid a slick little brochure courtesy of candidate Obama. The brochure reads, simply, "Barack Obama, Committed Christian".
Later, I showed it to the Hot Granny. She told me they radio ads have really been "playing that up". I wondered aloud, why it was, then, that I thought Obama was a Muslim. Hot Granny's answer: "Because he is".
Now, while I realize the folks on the Left are masters of Newspeak and "re-defining" words and concepts, I'm wondering how they are going to spin the idea of a Democrat being a Christian, much less a "Committed" one.
One of the non-issues that separate We The People is that of equality for homosexuals. Some gay folks have a lot of resentment against "Right-wing Christians" who claim that said gays are
"An Abomination Before The Lord" (yeah, you can hear the capitals when they proclaim it).
Reckon a "Committed Christian" is somehow different from a "Right-wing" one, or are we going to find that it has been redefined to exclude Christian precepts?
If I believed that Obama had any kind of moral compass he might rise, slightly, in my estimation. But I find the idea of him being a "Committed Christian" about as believable as Hillary losing subpoenaed documents under her p.c.
Of course, we're just a buncha big ol' dumb-ass rednecks down here on the Bible Belt buckle. We don't care about NAFTA, the dismantling of the Constitution or how winking at 20 million foreign criminals will affect the United States. Sheee-it, if he's a "Committed Christian", that's all we need to know.
Tags: PoliticianscamaignObama
You ever have a memory that's trying to be triggered, maybe someone reminds you of some vauge person you can't quite bring to mind? One of my contacts had that effect, and I finally figgered it out. A passle and half years ago, I worked with a three-man irrigation crew contracted to make improvements on a golf course. While not regular employees, we got to know the regular grounds crew, including the only woman, a tall, good-looking, confident brunette named, "Debbie".
Debbie ran a huge machine called a "tree spade" that had three massive hydraulically driven shovel blades that could dig a hole big enough to hide a Volkswagen in with the touch of a button. It was used to plant trees around the country club. No-one else was allowed to operate the tree spade.
While I was there I noticed the calendars that hung around the shop. Now, you may not know this, but the companies that sell and service every kind of tractor, mower, golf cart, etc. give calendars to their customers. The calendars are (or were) "girly" calenders illustrated with pictures of beautiful women in various stages of undress. The trade name for them, I believe, is "calendars with pitchurs of nekkid wimmen on 'em".
So, I wondered, as I looked around, why, instead of the honeys, every calendar featured a cartoon gopher thwarting a cartoon greens crew. When asked, one of the hands told me to, "Ask Debbie".
I did.
When Debbie first hired on there were "calenders with pitchurs of nekkid wimmen on 'em" all around the shop. They didn't much turn Debbie on and she said as much to the guys who, in turn, told her that the calendars were up before she got there and if she didn't like them she could dammed well get her own.
The following week, Debbie went down town and stopped in Ike's Book Store. In those days, women didn't go in shoeshine parlors or down town book stores. Ike's was the kind of place that helped maintain their sleazy reputation but it was the only place in our conservative town where Debbie could purchase an explicit pin up calendar geared to the the homosexual male. That's right, friends and neighbors, she got her own calendar, one with "pitchurs of nekkid men" on it and hung it in a prominent place on the shop's wall, come Monday morning.
Now, this post isn't supposed to be political or have social import or any value other than entertainment, but, let me add a little commentary:
Given the climate of the times, any number of lawyers in our town would have jumped at the chance to make their rep presenting Debbie's sexual harassment case in Federal Court, but Debbie didn't file suit.
It wouldn't have been any stretch for country club management to come down on her side, if she'd run crying to them. No, instead of alienating the crew, she turned a battle of will into a battle of wits.
Now, you just got to love a gal like that.
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Legend
Posted On 02/21/2008 11:02:13
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Frank’s been gone these many years, having ridden the Hanging Trail into the next life. He was a good old boy and his son is made from the same cloth. I knew Frank had played music but a conversation with said son revealed that, as a youth in the Texas Hill Country, Frank’s sole transportation had been a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
He would secure his guitar to the bike and putt on over to his gigs in the different towns.
Now, all that sounds pretty romantic till the seasons of the year are taken in to account. Winter can be danged cold in the THC.
One such winter Frank had a gig a few miles away at a drive-in restaurant, such as were popular with the younger set in those days. Being a hearty type, he bundled up, strapped on his guitar and got in the wind.
It’s just as well he did, too, as there were patrons under the drive-in’s canopy waiting to be entertained.
Nothing less than a spectacular entrance would do, especially since a goodly portion of those patrons were of the eyeful Hill Country honey persuasion
As he entered the lot he gunned his engine, then cocked his wheel and performed a lovely power slide across the lot and right up to the canopy. Where he promptly fell over, boots frozen to the foot pegs.
The sky was overcast, the temperature in the mid 60's, the wind was blowing and some mist was trying its best to be rain. It was the kind of day that cried out to be ridden in.
This day, the luckiest girl in Flour Bluff, and I, did something we hardly ever do. We rode south.
Actually, there's a park 50 miles away in Kingsville, TX, she likes to bird watch in,
Dick Kleberg Co. Park.
King, Kleberg and Kenedy are all important names in this area, connected with history, philanthropy and the King Ranch, once largest in the world.
The park is not manicured to sterility, it's even a little down at the heels, maybe. I like it. 
The creek that runs through it is named "Escondido (ess-cone-THEE-tho) Creek. In English that means "hidden" creek and I suspect is was, in times past. There's something of a dam across it to make a pond for the park. We walked across the dam to the undeveloped side of the creek where my companion proved, still again, that she cannot stay on the path (its part of her charm). 
The old pier has certainly seen better days, but is a good vantage point for the dedicated birder. 
The Sexy Granny was delighted that we ran up on a flock of beautifully colored, noisy, scolding Green Jays. They are Deep South Texas birds that hardly ever fly north of our town and a species she was hoping to see. Personally, I could give a flip, I just like watching her walk around.
This started out on a whim, painting a long unused windshield, black. While there were those who appreciated the novelty of a painted windshield on a cruiser, some suggested I shorten it. 
Since clear plastic is even harder to photograph than chrome, having a black painted bug catcher to cut seemed like a good opportunity for a how-to.
I’ve shortened fork mounted Memphis Shades® windshields before. This was bar mounted.
Note! I have never modified a coated/laminated windshield such as Honda OEM.
Begin by making a pattern of the windshield.
I like to use heavy brown paper. Laying the paper flat against the front of the plastic crease it around the edge and tape it on the back.
I used the mounting hardware to “index’” pattern so that I could remove it then return it to the original position.
Once the paper is secured, run the edge of a pencil around the edge of the plastic to trace the pattern. Remove and cut away the portion of the paper pattern where the top of the windshield is.
Alt: Use an Xacto® knife to cut away the top portion of the paper while it is still taped to the windshield.
Determine the shape desired and how much the shield will be shortened and trim the top of the pattern accordingly.
The photo shows a pattern traced on the black windshield and cut in half to give an idea of where we are going with this.
The white mark is 2" below the top edge.
 Mask the area of the windshield where the cut will be made with duct tape. Use the cheap stuff, it’s only to transfer the pattern and keep the plastic from being scratched during cutting.
Lay the pattern back on the plastic and trace the top edge onto the duct tape.
 
The cut will be made with a saber saw and the finest hacksaw blade you can get your hands on, a new one.
Cut right to left, slowly (southpaws, reverse).
Once the cut is made rub the edge with a rag or gloved hand to remove excess plastic.
The edge can be dressed with a file or sander. I like the Mouse.
Some also wipe the edge with acetone to make it clear.
Measure twice, cut once.
“I cut it three times and its still too short.”
I made the cut with the shield mounted on the handlebars and shoved it back during the process. That caused me to cut a dip in the top. I sanded it out, and then decided to make the shape rounder.
The second time I hand held it and got a smoother cut. Small imperfections can be sanded out.
Tags: Windshied How To
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