Roll & Rock:

Oscar Mayer: Wiener?

 Noted without comment...although a song does come to mind.

Blog Slack: Face Time

It's true.

I have neglected this blog.

I have become a Facebook fool!

I love being able to take a pic with my iPhone and fire it up to Facebook right away!

Facebook's iPhone interface is better than Typepad's. (Typepad is this blog service) - Sorry Typepad!

Hit me up on Facebook...I'll be your friend!

I love my iPhone...even though I don't have the newest one!

The camera is not that great but I have been able to take some great pics...which are all over my Facebook profile.

My secret sauce is a small iPhone app called Camera Bag.

It takes rudimentary iPhone photos and puts some extra spizzle on them ala old vintage cameras.

My 3 favorite filters are Helga, Lolo and Magazine.

CameraBag costs $1.99 and is a must-have if you own an iPhone!

Some recent vacation pics of the CameraBag filters in action:

Plain iPhone pic

CameraBag Filter: Helga

Plain iPhone pic

CameraBag Filter: Magazine

Plain iPhone pic

CameraBag Filter: Lolo

Things go better with CameraBag!

iPhone Love: Hawk Power

I can blog from my iphone now. Should be interesting. This is just a test post.

And yes..my son has yet to shave off his Mohawk.

As they say..."noted without comment".

Franktown Rocks: Secret Sauce

It’s the holiday season in Franktown!

 

Nothing like a bit of snow to make the season bright!

For those of you who write to this blog asking for tips & tricks on Franktown…we added a top-secret blog just for you:

www.franktownsecrets.com

The skateboard system is almost done…check out this sneak peek:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!

Saturday: Morning Cartoons

If this doesn't take you back to the golden age of Saturday morning cartoons...nothing will!

With a hooky chorus to boot!

I love it when a band can pull off a retro send-up like this.

I tip my hat.

Holiday Rocks: Franktown Memorial

I know…

Not much blogging lately.

I’ve ditched my human form and taken up a new life as BeriBeri on Franktown Rocks

My bear paws make typing a bit clunky.

In fact, I’ve been so embedded in Franktown that I even spent the holiday weekend here.

But like a good tourist, I snapped a few pics…

Of course, I had to check out the basses at the music store. Check out the hamster jamming on the organ. I have sinced dubbed him “Jamster”.

The mayor was out for the holiday so I snuck in his office. I've always wanted to do this. Don’t tell anyone!

The mayor's desk was so hot that I had to go cool my heels in the lake!

I need some new duds!

Frances and I were ready to jam. We were just waiting for the crew to show up with our gear.

I saw a beary good movie – ha ha!

This club is packed at night. I even figured out how to moonwalk!

I was the first to sign up for the Razor Scooter Giveaway!

But being a Spinal Tap fan…this is my favorite pic from my weekend in Franktown!

Are we still going to play Stonehenge?

www.franktownrocks.com

Spare Time: Do What?

I’ve not had much spare time lately to meander in blog world as I’ve been knee-deep in some current projects.

For those of you who do have a bit of spare time—and fancy yourself artistic—check these goodies out:

Paper cut-outs sure have come a long way.

These can be downloaded for free, printed out on your color printer on a regular sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper, and finally assembled by your magic hands.

Personally, I’m a sucker for vintage French art so I found these most appealing:

These two cutouts were hipped to me courtesy of Lowtech Magazine.

And for the grand finale…

I am envious of this guy:

Talk about time on your hands!

Solar Love: Pumping Power

I’m not a super “green” person…but I try.

I do keep my eyes open for new innovations in conservation.

I’m a big Jack Johnson fan and just bought his new album, “Sleep Through The Static”.

It is the only album I know that can claim to be “recorded with 100% solar energy”.

There’s this cool pic in the packaging that shows him on the roof of his studio—which is covered completely with solar panels. Very cool!

During last week’s Super Bowl, I noticed that one of the pre-game shows had been sponsored by one of the many caffeine-laden energy drinks. Their product cameo showed bike racers furiously pedaling exercise bikes that had been hooked up to some sort of power generator.

Apparently, these bike racers loaded up on energy drinks—pedaled furiously—and generated enough energy to power this particular 30 minute pre-game show.

I was impressed!

Imaging how cool it would be to channel the energy from a workout to lower your electricity consumption.

Who says the future is all bad?

But…

Thanks to Guy Kawasaki, I recently saw something along these same lines that easily takes the cake for eco-coolness.

This merry go-round channels the excited energy of kids to pump fresh water into their village. Amazing!

I remember going nuts on these playground merry go-rounds as I kid.

And all I got was dizzy.

Summertime Boo's: Hope Remains

It’s been a great summer…but it’s already over.

Such is life in the South.

My kids are already back in school.

Total rip-off…if you’re a kid.

Growing up in Southern Cal…we got out about June 10th and went back about Sept. 10th.

We got 3 months of summer…the full monty!

If you had told me that I would be getting out of school on May 25th and going back on August 7th…I would have pitched a fit.

C’est la vie! (He he).

You know you’re getting old when you’re glad that your kids are going back to school.

There was not a whole lot of time for blogging this summer.

But lot’s of living.

Let’s see…a few highlights...one of my niece’s got married and her wedding was the epic family fest that won’t be matched anytime soon.

It was a fantastic wedding but I’m glad I wasn’t paying for it.

Makes me glad I have boys.

But what am I? A wedding planner?

No. A jaded music-biz guy. I almost forgot.

So let’s get back to it.

The music biz sucks…

But wait…I helped another niece make her first recording.

Hope remains.

Forgive the continued family plugs…but I beseech thee…

Do Uncle Dave a fave and check out my niece’s record.

Produced by my pal Phil Madeira, no less.

Stellar photos by Josh Cole as well!

It's hard to be negative when you're thankful.

I promise to get back to some good ‘ol' music biz griping here pronto.

Crunk Junk: I Love Cheap Guitars

In my life and time, I can say I’ve owned more than my share of guitars. Actually, not just guitars—but all sorts of musical paraphernalia. Music gear is almost it’s own unique drug culture. There is definitely such a thing as guitar porn!

One of the first jobs I ever had was working at Fullerton Music in Orange County, California. They were one of the very first Fender dealers. In the late 70’s, it was one of those great music stores where musicians were actually allowed to hang out in. I loved that place and was even more thrilled to actually get hired there. The pay was terrible (and…we only got paid once a month!)—But I got to be around musical instruments all day long. It was heaven! There is a certain smell that music stores have. It’s probably the smell of the plastic Tolex that most amplifiers are covered with but it’s an unmistakable smell nonetheless. One day, I was given the lowly job of cleaning out the long-abandoned upstairs storage area—I mean, we’re talkin’ an inch of dust on everything! But as I gingerly poked around, I noticed a guitar case under some dismantled furniture. Imagine my surprise when I dug it out and discovered a vintage Fender Mustang that time had forgot! The Mustang was originally one of Fender’s budget models. I think that discovery galvanized my love for so-called cheaper guitars. I actually scored some nice pieces while working there. Musicians would come in all the time needing cash and wanting to peddle gear. If the manager was not in a buying mood—then it was open season for employees to buy them. Given my lowly pay—guess what I bought most? Cheap guitars!

I guess everyone has a fetish. Mine is cheap guitars. The crappier…the better! In my career as a performing musician—I’ve seen lots of gear come and go. I still have a few sweet axes but most of my touring gear is long gone. What you’ll find lying around my house these days are plenty of cheap guitars. My favorite is this Boeing Classical. It’s serial #23 for all you Boeing aficionados. I bought it for twenty bucks and have had it for at least that many years. The strings are at least 7 years old. I tune it down to about a C#—and it sounds great! What makes this guitar so special is that the neck has been broken 5 times.

Ya see, I have 4 sons and our living room often doubles as the family-wrestling ring. My poor Boeing was usually just an innocent bystander who would get injured by flying little bodies. I glued it together very carefully the first few times but have now relegated myself to just pouring Elmer’s glue into the same recurring neck crack and just stacking heavy books on it for a few days. It’s a terminal injury and this guitar is probably on its last legs…but I love it so. I finally got smart a few months ago and bought a wall hook where I could get it off the floor to avoid the inevitable body slam.

My 11-year old son Jackson is the chief punisher. He’s not purposely destructive—he’s just rough. You should see him play football. When he was in 2nd grade, he could play and sing TNT by AC/DC on this same guitar. He’d play for the neighbors—who would always look over at me with concerned glance, as he would sing out the lyrics with reckless abandon.

When my oldest son, Josh, turned 10 (he’s now 22)—I bought him this gem from Toys-R-Us. It has a built-in amp right in the body. Turn this baby all the way up and it has a sound reminiscent of Paranoid-era Sabbath. Another jewel that has totally been beat to crap after years of doubling as both hammer and flyswatter.

I was recently doing some work at Phil Madeira’s home studio. Phil is one on the best musicians I know. He can play any instrument—and play it well! I always hated guys like that—but Phil is my pal and it’s always an honor to work with him and watch him play. He has some great guitars in his studio—but guess what I gravitated toward?…the ugly ducklings in his collection. I know…it’s a perverse sickness—but I love me some cheap guitars.

While digging around the ‘net whilst writing this post—my heart was warmed to see that one of the original guitar teachers at Fullerton Music is still there. I even took some lessons from him in my youth. Some things never change…and I like it.