Banjo Photos...

If you recall there is a post from December with photos of a "Banjo Boys" jam session. Today I'll document the finishing touches on the tenor banjo collection donated to me by Pop. Left to right the first two banjos, a B&D Supper dated to 1925 a fine collectible instrument and a Ludwig, not as fine but certainly a beauty. The third banjo as posted before needed a little Elmer's glue to be brought into playing shape. Not as nice a voice as the others it does have it's merits and looks to be a banjo assembled from a kit. As far as sound goes as I spend time playing all three I find that I like each for different reason and think that as long as I keep my new Snark clip on the headstock tuner handy all are gigable.






Close up, plain head stock and fret board. Some of the screws look to be from a hardware store. Head shows playing wear, don't know much about the heads if original or not. All three look to have replacement bridges.

Did I mention other merits. The back of the kit banjo is bar stool quality wood. I took it off, nothing notable inside so I but in an Obama for President sticker. Let future banjo restorers figure that one out.

Super Bowl Big Screen Give Away...

If you are a frequant visitor to these chronicles you know the long the long history we have of big screen give aways. Here's another one, just in time for the super bowl.

Did you know that the most big screen TVs are sold at Super Bowl time? Guess it fits. TV and football are kind of a mix of all the things that are good and bad about our culture, what ever our culture is, if you can even tell we have one. A culture that is because I don't really have a TV myself. I got a thing I watch DVDs on. Maybe that's why I give so many big screens away.

Anyway here's the deal: call, email, post here or if you insist on being old fashion send cards and letters. If you win I prefer you pick up your prize. Delivery considered but that involves expenses, gas, food, lodging and use of your bathroom facilities as many times as necessary.

Cold Wet Day on the Lake...

Pretty slim pickins today with Runt joining the mystery cat fisher for a good old fashion butt wetting.

The usual spots failed to pay off, we caught 5 fish. This is no way impacts our supply since we have about 39,000 pounds of frozen fillets stored in the freezer. Runt would have had a better time though if he had 39,000 pounds to take home.

Ducking with Runt...

Runt invited me to a duck hunt this cold frosty morning at his deer lease lake. Very nice place. Here Runt says, "Peace sells, but who is buying?"
Nice cypress swamp, classic duck water. At first light, 10 minutes before legal shooting time ducks were landing within arms length as I stood in the cold water. Ducks are pretty smart, all that stuff slowed down once the law allowed us to do something about it.





Normally on guitar and vocals for the StratKats Runt is on push pole for this gig.














Not too bad a day, score is Runt two, Mudbelly one. Fat woodies, I'm eating them tonight.

Happy Birthday to Me...

Some have candles on their cake. I'm starting something new, sparklers in the teeth. You blow them out.

Thanks to all on face book who wished me a happy birthday.

The Tuba Lesson...

Coraline is crawling everywhere these days so that makes it time for the tuba lesson. Here you go, it's easy, put your lips to the mouth piece and blow.













Good job, Instant heavy metal. Tell your dad you want one of these.

Black Belt Nationals, Dallas, TX...

Mary was at her usual best at yesterday's Black Belt National Tournament held in Dallas Texas. Here you see her form, she lost out on a tough tie breaker but placed 1st in sparring. The points from this should score her in the top ten in the world leading to a possible trip to the world Tournament in Little Rock this summer if she maintains the standings.
Here's Mary sparring. You can see other Lufkin folk looking on in the distant background.
As for my tournament they did not like anything I had. Low form scores, did not seem to see any contact I made sparring other than this illegal punch to the face, captured so vividly by Mary. This is what happens when you don't feel like they are calling your points, you push harder, hit harder and end up making dumb mistakes. I guess i can't really complain, after all I will be another year older this week, I have had a pretty good run, placing if I remember correctly, the record can be researched on this blog, at all National Events I have attended the past three or four years. I did not really put much prep time into the material this time and there were a bunch of guys younger, new to the ring and hungrier than me. Morgan also felt he made a rusty showing, it's been difficult for him to train, the nearest ATA school is 40 miles from his home.
After the tournament paid a visit to cousin David and his wife Kathy. They live in Plano. We had a meal at a Red White and Blue BBQ joint decorated with photos and music memorabilia of the great regional blues performers and venues of the Texas and Louisiana music circuit.

Did Ya Here About the Last Fishing Trip...

We really killed them. Didn't fire till we saw the whites of their eyes. No really, that's the battle ship Texas. We did not really fish from it, but I bet they do have a decent size live well. When we dropped Katie and Peter at the Hobby airport on their recent visit we saw the sign for the ship and the adjoining San Jacinto Battleground so we stopped by for a visit. We dis not go on the ship but instead toured the monument.



Another grainy cell phone picture from the monument, 633 feet I think over the Texas coastal prairie. See the battle ship in it's slip on the right as a modern day tanker steams by on the left. I would only assume modern Battle ships are larger today or they would be in danger of being run over by the tankers. Probably in it's day the Texas was quite a welcome impressive sight. I actually had a patient, a WW2 vet who told me he saw the Texas in action during the invasion of Okinawa.

After this visit we invaded the nearby Monument Inn Seafood restaurant. It's the best seafood, with the possible exception of sushi which has to be good to be editable, I have eaten. It was fried up in the good gulf coast style with boiled shrimp and raw oysters on the half shell.

I Like to Hear About the Three Kings...

I know the Christmas season is past. Too soon really. I think one of my favorite parts is the Epiphany, when the three kings come to see the Christ Child in the Manger. Brings up a lot of images, the strange lands they came from, probably wild and war torn then, same now. There is also how they went back, "by another way" the Scripture says. Maybe we could prolong the season if we could hear about what happened on the trip back.

Then there is the song, "We Three Kings." It's one of those you only get to play once a year, if you are doing your music liturgically. We generally play it the traditional manner, though bilingual and I dream of maybe doing it a little different some times as I think about the three kings and their journeys and what they saw. I hear in my head bass lines shaped like a camels hump, sliding over a horizon of shifting sand dunes. I don't play them. I keep 'em to myself, it's my place, don't see how you can be there. Going "by another way" you know.

Here is some nativity art by Cathy's great great grandfather, Ferdinand Pribyl. It's on display at the University of Texas Institute of Texas Cultures. It's called the Staha Nativity because Prybil gave it to Staha in about 1900. While at college, Morgan made friends with a fellow named Jerrod, he's actually a character playing guitar on some of these pages. They discovered that it was Morgan's great great great grandfather who gave Jerrod's great great grand father this nativity.

Here's another one, the Stockbauer nativity.

For more info on Nativity art, read here:

http://www.ornamentalturner.com/Pribyl/artwork.htm

Just some thoughts for going another way today.

Fat Cats...

A cool day just prior a predicted Arctic front paid off for the cat fish today. Cathy holds up big fish, total of the day was 32 cats. They are swimming in our bellies, with my mom, Mary and roommate Chainey assisting at supper.

Water temperature was 52 degrees. As we caught these fish we watched another couple pull up about 50 yards away and proceed to work over a school of white bass. All fish are stacked up feeding on deep shad schools at the edge of the old river channel.

Taekwondo Pictures...

Recently had a photographer come to the Taekwondo school and make portraits. I chose this several shot collage. Looks like me does it not?

By the way that's a real kick, caught in action. I did not have to have Mary hold my leg up there or anything and then have her photo shopped out later. That's a real real sword, the one Juan made me, with the rattle snake scabbard. They did not think it was a good idea to take my photo riding a lion and all that, you know animal rights these days.

Mary Moves...

Mary packed her stuff, she has a house rented for this semester, no more dorm living. Here is what the load looked like. With all this stuff gone we have our hose back.

With this move, the house Rose and Juan bought last year, Katie and Peter's engagement and exciting things happening on Morgan's new job looks like the chance of any bounce backs is pretty slim. They are gone, gone, gone. I'm happy for them.


The new house is great. Big and roomy it will be a fun place for friends to gather. Apparently last semester's occupant of Mary's new bed room was the fan of a certain pro sports team. Judging from face book pictures posted last night of a marathon painting session, the star has set.

New Years Gig in the Wild wild West...

Played bass with a group for a little party at the Expo Center New Years Eve. The warm up act was a roping competition. This is what some of the action looked like. I did not participate in this part of the evening.











Here's the band. Not quite sure what we were calling ourselves, some said "Classic Country," or the "Old Dogs." I voted for "Buckskin and the Fringe." Left to right, me, Neal, in the back Dustin, Grif and Lanny.


Does a bolo tie make your butt look big?















Too bad we were drummerless for this gig, we were provided a nice barred area behind us for the restraint of such wild men as drummers be. Nice crowd, quite a few dancers. All were very restrained on the biggest party night of the year with drunk girls waiting till 11:45 to start trying to sing with the band. Pretty good tip jar take, worked out to about a dollar an hour wages for the prep time I put in over the last month.