May 2007

So facebook just opened a marketplace.

I listed my soul for 20.00 a few minutes ago. I wonder if anyone will bite on that one. Kind of a deal really. No paypal though, sorry.

This dissertation thing really does make a person crazy. I have been home for three days. Today, I drank three pots of coffee and am wide awake at 12:11. Might not go to bed.

Been having some, "who has the biggest woofer" wars with the guy downstairs. Wait till about 5 this morning Pat Daddy. I am currently lulling him to sleep with the Pure Country soundtrack (don’t hold it against me, it is in the 100 disc CD player and I am tied to this office chair). I found my Metallica CD last night. I can’t decide between "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Battery."

Had a dream about Chris Knight last night. Fairly creepy. He and Tom Skinner showed up at my house on the way to play an imaginary gig at the casinos north of Topeka. They were in a band with a new name but I’ll be damned if I remember it. Anyway, Knight and Skinner hung out for about two days. Tom slept a lot and Chris really never said much. Pretty much just stared at the carpet and occupied a seat on my couch for most of the night. I remember that we drank a few beers and the guys decided they would rather hangout with me than go play for eight people. I think I had to go tell the people at the casino they weren’t coming because I remember some sort of riot like scene there. Dreaming about two of my heroes. There are worse things I guess, maybe.

Internet shout out to the Powell’s in Spain. Sounds like a blast!

What is today again?

g

So facebook just opened a marketplace.

I listed my soul for 20.00 a few minutes ago. I wonder if anyone will bite on that one. Kind of a deal really. No paypal though, sorry.

This dissertation thing really does make a person crazy. I have been home for three days. Today, I drank three pots of coffee and am wide awake at 12:11. Might not go to bed.

Been having some, "who has the biggest woofer" wars with the guy downstairs. Wait till about 5 this morning Pat Daddy. I am currently lulling him to sleep with the Pure Country soundtrack (don’t hold it against me, it is in the 100 disc CD player and I am tied to this office chair). I found my Metallica CD last night. I can’t decide between "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Battery."

Had a dream about Chris Knight last night. Fairly creepy. He and Tom Skinner showed up at my house on the way to play an imaginary gig at the casinos north of Topeka. They were in a band with a new name but I’ll be damned if I remember it. Anyway, Knight and Skinner hung out for about two days. Tom slept a lot and Chris really never said much. Pretty much just stared at the carpet and occupied a seat on my couch for most of the night. I remember that we drank a few beers and the guys decided they would rather hangout with me than go play for eight people. I think I had to go tell the people at the casino they weren’t coming because I remember some sort of riot like scene there. Dreaming about two of my heroes. There are worse things I guess, maybe.

Internet shout out to the Powell’s in Spain. Sounds like a blast!

What is today again?

g

Just wanted to say hello again.
Anyway, not much to update…We had a relaxing day of Tapas and coffee on Friday (May 25th) with our friend Silke. We took a nice long walk down the beach with our feet in the water and then headed into town for beer, tapas and coffee. After Tapas we sat down to watch Apocalypto, good movie by the way, just remember that it is FICTION!
We went out to see some live music Friday night. Caught this band that was damn good……they were a five piece. After one set we started bar hopping…Did you know that in Spain you can just leave the bar with your drink and go to the next. Every bar has the same glasses just for that purpose. We had a great time but I feel a little rough as I’m typing this on Saturday morning.

The Powells

Its about 1 am here and well……….having a damn good time. Yesterday Bobbie and I flew into Barcelona. We had an eight hour lay-over so we went into the city for a bit. We pretty much got lost right off the bat while looking for the Picasso Museum. Tiny street after tiny street finally lead us to the museum. Every corner we turned smelled like garbage, but the sights were beautiful. But no time for pictures because we only had an hour to look through the museum by the time we found it. I speak descent spanish but…..well everyone in Barcelon spoke Catalan. I got by with some broken spainsh though. Our next flight took us to Jerez where our friends Kristine, Lily, and Silke met us. We were up for about um……………. 2 days but managed alright. Today (Thursday) I slept in until 2 in the afternoon………ahhhh vacation. Bobbie went with Kristine to go shopping and to try on the wedding dress. Then Bobbie came home and we went to the beach to get me a nice sun burn!!!! hooray! Bobbie is fine though. Our friend Silke met us again for Tapas in the afternoon. Now I’m really tired and a little drunk and ummmmmmmm…….. gotta go.

The Powells

So several people have been asking me to update my recent musical adventures. Here it goes.

I am still stuck on James McMurtry and Chris Knight first and foremost. Knight’s "Trailer Tapes" are an incredible look at the dawn of the guy’s career. Rough and raw and full of life.

McMurtry’s 2007 effort is just a greatest hits of sorts. "Best of the Sugar Hill Years" offers studio verisions of several outstanding songs. My new favorite on that album is "Twelve O’Clock Whistle."

Recently, the Drive By Truckers’ 2006 release "A Blessing and a Curse" has been difficult to shake off the IPOD playlist. The title track is as haunting as the title might suggest and while "Easy on Yourself" is as rocking as anything I have heard lately, "Little Bonnie," is as sad. This CD gets a money back guarantee. I will buy it from you if you don’t like it. Great lyrics, great music, great production!

That damned XM radio has made me a big Tom Russell fan of late too. His latest called "Love & Fear" is incredible. "The Pugilist is 59" sticks in my mind and I play it over and over while several other tracks, especially "Stealing Electricity," resonate. Another recent XM addition is Chris Berardo. Rather than sadness, most of his alt-country is decidedly upbeat and positive. This is a departure from what I usually listen to but Berardo does it well. Particularly, "So Good, So Far" stands out on his latest release "Ignoring All the Warning Signs" but this CD too gets a buy back guarantee. Good stuff.

I am writing my dissertation and trying not to succumb to my obsession for music. A twenty minute walk between my house and my office is providing just enough music to keep me rolling through this process.

For those of you keeping score, Toronto was fun. The airports and airplanes were fine until I claimed Moose figurines and maple syrup on my declarations card coming back to the US. I think the Canadian guy thought I was mocking him. I really did buy those things as cliche as that might sound.

Ever wonder if we are going to hear any blogs from Mason or Dusty?

Till then,

G

Got my Gyp Hills Trail Ride wings this past Saturday. Thanks to the Larsons and the crew out there for putting on an incredible event.

There was a dancing dog.

Thing had some moves.

Thanks to IPOD for the awesome audio recording. Sounds great except for the fact that it skips every 15 to 30 seconds to 15 to 30 seconds ahead. Flashes of brilliance I tell you.

That was the last of the shows on the books for us. Five weekends in a row. Look for more from the ATB post harvest.

Heading to Toronto in a few hours. Hate flying. It pushes all those distant morbid thoughts to the forefront. The fragility of life is prominent enough following the Greensburg tornadoes. Gonna ride the wind.

Finish my songs,

g

Everybody stops and stares
But really nobody cares
About me, about me.

I look as fair as goose feather
With specks of my true color
Do you see, do you see?

I am the Bluemont Bleached Squirrel
Some college kids’ idea of a good time
Other squirrel’s just laugh and pass on by
They don’t have to live my lie.

****************

This is not some sad sap story about me. There really was a bleached squirrel outside of my office this morning. I don’t know if nature bleached it or what, but it was failrly creepy. I think we should start a fund for it.

I stopped and stared.

Laughed.

I wanted to throw out a quick thanks to those that came out and braved the storms this weekend. Bobby T’s was another wild time, and the Diesel Tech Graduation party had to be one of the funnest shows I have ever played. Thanks for such a good time!

I also want to make anyone interested aware of our new Medicine Lodge High School Alumni website. Currently, it is setup for the Class of 96 (best class ever!) and as we get it established and in good working order, we are considering expanding it. My ultimate goal is to create a MLHS Alumni Association. I think the potential to do some neat things and celebrate our school is certainly there. In working with another alumni association while teaching at Wasburn Rural, I saw many possibilities. Thanks to Justin Jacobs for designing and managing the site. www.mlhsalumni.com If you have comments or ideas, follow the link to my email on the contacts page.

Looking forward to playing the Gyp Hills Trail Ride Saturday.

Keeping Greensburg in my thoughts and prayers,

Till then,

g

What’s up from Oklahoma.

Sitting in a hotel soutwest of Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Getting ready for a multi-par farm auction. Chopping up a farm into five pieces. House, chicken farms, hay land, road frontage, and hunting land parcels for sale tomorrow. Bid price plus 10%. The seller wanted the most money and chose the auction method of marketing.

Poker at G’s tonight.

I’m not a red beer fan. For some reason today, I had a desire for it.

Check out the new longhornssaloon.com website. It’s finally coming around.

I got mugged last night when I went there for the open mic. All I wanted was to go in and have a good time. I had a bunch of people come up and ask me to play. It got so bad that one guy threatened to ask me to come up after he played so we left and went to the Kat House. I’m becoming more and more fond of that place, what I can remember of it. It seems we always have such a fantastic time there that I’m not quite sure what it looks like.

Look out for the big band at Bobby T’s this Friday.

For those of you who want to break the encryption on your new HD-DVDs, here’s the key:

Now I am pretty sure about this but maybe a Goat House Alumnus will correct me. I think I was at the first Goat House party ten years ago in 1997. I was attending Wasburn at the time and remember coming over for a massive get together which included Chris Masters, Ryan and Nolan Fischer, Drew Overmiller and several other guys. Ruskabank, the local turned regionally successful Ska band played until the cops came and shut it down. I remember having a good time at that party. Maybe Kevin F. is out there reading this and he can fill in some blanks for me.

I remember being pretty much obsessed with the whole Adam Sandler Talking Goat recordings. I think there was even a video at one point that we had and watched repeatedly. I remember feeling kind of mad because these Manhattan guys had kind of stolen my identity at the time with the goat sayings, etc. You will have to check out this little clip I found on youtube.

Well, in the ten years since that first party, I have not been in school the entire time–sorry Corey R.–and am just about out for good but the Goat party was still fun. We played last and the crowd seemed really receptive, might have had something to do with the 14 kegs, I don’t know. Thanks to the select few that came out to the Konza fest even at Pat’s Saturday too. It was awesome seeing Nicole and Jay there!

Just talked to my mother. She had knee replacement surgery yesterday and is recovering in Wichita. So much for making it through the metal detectors at the airport now. She will be on the GW’s short list no doubt.

Back to transcribing audiotaped interviews. Some form or torture somewhere I bet.

Till then,

g