Hi Anneke!

She was born today at 2:53 am in a fairly intense way.

So far, so good! She likes open E chords on guitar.

It's Like Crafting, Just With Sound

UPDATE: (Yes, I played the instruments, too)

Normally this stuff stays offline, with good reason. But I built a piece of sound from scratch.

Anyway, this was more of a mixing exercise, just with homemade tracks. Ignore the singing, but check out those levels!

Tyrone Dupois - End of the Day

This was originally written by Doug Paisley (below, right). Check out his album "Constant Companion".

Stunning

A guy that I was lucky enough to be friends with died.

We worked on the Meth documentaries, a bunch of other local TV collaborations, as well as elliptical buddies at CalCourts. He moved to Washington a few years ago.

I can't really go into what a nice guy he was, because others have done it better. But he was a gem, and stuff like this really makes you realize that life is not fair.

Search continues for killer of Auburn father of two

Guess Who Got To Ride In A Tiny Plane?

To be exact, a 1954 Cessna 182.

The Sound of Sasha

You Want To Be In The Band?

Anybody interested in long-distance (or short-distance) audio fun?

Accordionistas? Folkies? Spoken wordies? Anybody with a mic?

Email you know who and say "I'm in." Could be fun!

SoundCloud: The Tour from SoundCloud on Vimeo.

Glad You Asked

What's the funniest thing I've seen in a while? It's the "Early Rap Topics" meme that overtook a certain corner of Twitter today. (Better than #slatepitches, which is saying a lot.)

Mixed Media

Media Item #1: Switzerland



Media Item #2: The Criminally Underated Catherine Feeny

Sara and I were lucky enough to catch Come Gather Round Us in a few settings, including a furniture store and rickety house. They are fantastic. Capital "F."
One of their members, Catherine Feeny, has a new solo record streaming at her site and she's also playing at Mosgo's on October 3rd. Those are high-quality songs, people. Try "The Bell and the Anchor" or "People in the Hole."

S-Pain

So I bought T-Pain's iPhone app, which is basically Auto-Tune and a few Auto-Tune enabled Karaoke songs. You sing, it pitch-shifts you. This is the first experiment, where I asked Sasha to talk in to the mic. She asks to watch Yo! Gabba Gabba on the iPhone instead. I took that clip, loaded it into Audition, cut it up a bunch, found some beats, and did this.

Carribbean Update

I got a sore throat, showing signs Sunday. Fever, night sweats, acute pain when swallowing and talking.

By Thursday we were in a hospital where English might be the third most-spoken language. Maybe second. Either way, it amplifies my empathy for ESL speakers, especially parents, in the States.

Diagnonsis: Strep throat. The Dutch-accented doctor sent me along with some super-heavy antibiotics and a "I hope your wife doesn't get that." In/out = 1 hour. Sara's been superchamp about getting everyone cared for.

(As for the whole hospital experience, it was pretty cake. We called, he said come down, we did, and $70 (US) we were on our way. A few months ago I went in for strep and it cost $300. What the hell?

*********

So, that's the c0-dominant force in this otherwise awesome trip! I've been resting like there's no tomorrow, and during Sasha/Mike naps, Sara's been getting her pool/beach time in.

(I finally saw Project Runway and was happy to bid adieu to that freak who made the chicken+egg dress.)

Sara's skin is golden brown, and Sasha has yet to burn.

Normally I'd be all "Let's try Kitesurfing!" and "Let's go get lost!" and "Let's vandalize a McDonalds!" So, in a way, it's a good thing.



Sasha's also been enjoying the beach and pool, in mixed doses. Her attitude towards swimming pools has completely swung around. She really likes playing in the sand.

She also has been talking a lot, for no reason. "Who made that circle?" "There's an iguana...Why?"

We've been making the most of it, and it'd be stupid to complain about purely bad luck (someone remind me of this when I'm not on meds). Being sick is much easier on vacation, and letting it get the best of you is extra-senseless here.

I'm on the mend, and we've still got some exploring to to do! Sara's skin is golden brown, and Sasha has yet to burn. So far it's been a blast, and I'm excited to feel well enough to explore during our remaining time here.

East Boulder Lake, Trinity Alps

Seventeen more photos.

Grassacre

Goal: a drought-resistant, hassle-free, unique non-lawn that we can do ourselves on the cheap

The front fence became the walkway, no hardware was bought, and Sara timed the plant sales perfectly.

No watering system, no pesticides. Today I saw, for the first time, bees tapping the flowers.

We're not sure it was a good idea yet. Then again, I felt like a jerk pushing that mower around a lawn nobody used.

Eventually, we'll plant a tree of some sort. Until then, we wait for the rain.


Started:
September 2008

Completed:
August 2009

Wanderlust Festival

More photos.
New York Times story.


The Wanderlust Music & Yoga Festival had it's inaugural event this year, and the Dronks were lucky enough to go. It was in Lake Tahoe, high up in Squaw Valley's Gold Coast upper lodge. We went with Jess and Sean, hooking up with my folks and the Berris along the way.

The main stage was at 8,000 feet; you need a gondola ride to get to it. Best stage siting I've ever seen. Squaw Valley was beautiful in July.

Overall, it was a really fun show. A first-time event has it's issues, but the lineup was really refreshing. I love High Sierra and all that, but it was great to see bands we hadn't seen before (SJ/DK excepted). It was mostly indie rock, which led to a low twirler presence. Nobody offered us mushrooms.

In fact, it was sort of like being in an REI catalog: lots of outdoorsy Bay Area money and lots of yoga folks. Regardless, the manners were almost as good as the vibe. Sasha was joyful for the whole event: really cooperative and happy. Weatherwise, "hot" doesn't quite capture it, but it was a dry heat. That's good, right?


Day 1. Sasha went to Reno with Oma and Opa while we saw MC Yogi, Mutaytor, and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. We walked right by SJ/DK on our way in and managed to throw a thumbs-up their way. After hooking up with Jess and Sean, we watched former bus-driver Sharon Jones prove that she is the hottest 53-year-old on Earth.


Day 2. My folks leave, and we drive back up to Squaw Valley. Sara's yoga class left her sore and over it.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were great, including a "Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby" with Jenny Lewis. Lewis's set was pretty good.

I got a few minutes Gillian Welch after the show for a quick interview. New record underway. What's in the box? "Box stuff."

Spearhead canceled due to Michael Franti's ruptured appendix. Wanderlust pulled a Hail-Mary and got Common to fill in. His set was *awesome,* complete with a Tahoe-specific freestyle. Surprise highlight.

Also nice, a wall-size get-well card for Franti, which fans signed.


Day 3. A quick dip in Lake Tahoe proved fun. No yoga. No way.

The hugely likeable Mates of State, a husband/wife band who tour with their lil' kids, were epic. She plays the keys, he the drums, and they both sing. Belt, more accurately. Another musician helped fill out their shockingly full sound. We were both fans before, but now it's on a whole new level. Sasha, who loves MoS, napped through it.

I had a fun interview with them later, despite some sonic intrusion from a violinist 6 feet away. (Thanks, Andrew Bird.) After criss-crossing their path a while later, it seems that we're "Hi/Bye" friends.

Caught some Broken Social Scene, caught some William Fitzsimmons, caught some Andrew Bird. Also spotted Adrian Grenier (Entourage's Vincent Chase) walking around with a Spearhead man-purse.

We headed out to Yuba City to crash with Chris and Kim Berri. Sasha learned to beatbox ("Like Biz [Markie]!"). The Berris gave us homemade beer and and a bed to sleep in. We watched an extreme-cake show until 1am. Sasha loves Kim. So do we. Chris, too. Also: Shawn who watched Charlie and Eric who gave Casey her meds.


Day 4. Goodbye, Berris! Good people. Rolled out of Yuba after visiting one of the west's best: The Cookie Tree. Respect the CT.
Swam in the Eel. Listened to Mates of State. Came home. We're clean.