Villa Gorilla...

Another One Taker from the iPhone...

This time I went for my new favorite song at the moment, "Gorilla, You're a Desperado" by Warren Zevon...

Yes, yes, yes, that makes 3 Zevon songs in a row... Third time's a charm... Trouble comes in threes... Three on a match is bad luck... Whatever. All I know is I like 'em. I have a couple songs in the vault that aren't Warren songs, but I'm saving those for a special occasion (i.e. I don't have time to record something for a while)

Enjoy on the player to your right!

Request #1 - Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Check out the latest One Take Tune, "Lawyers, Guns, and Money," on the player to your right... Requested by the honorable Tom "Bones" Schutta... Two Zevon songs in a row, but where I come from, that's a good thing...

Spring Break!

Whenever I hear someone say or read the words "spring break," I automatically think of this.

Why a 10+ year-old Simpsons reference is still stuck in my head is something for scientists to figure out and marketing execs to try and tap into, but I think it has to do something with rote memorization...

Anyway, this week is spring break, and although it's not exactly springtime, it definitely is breaktime... I was in need of a break (I think the students were too) so it came at a perfect time... The school year has been flying by, especially compared to my first year of teaching. I remember praying for spring break to come my first year, and this year it was more, "Spring break is next week? Really? Alright..."

I have no grand plans for the week... It's Tuesday and I've already accomplished laundry, closet reorganization, and a whole lotta sittin', so I feel that's pretty good for now.

Disorder in the House!

It's time again for another one take iPhone recording!

This time it's Warren Zevon's "Disorder in the House" from his final album, "The Wind"...

Check it out on the player to the right! Only one take! I overdubbed the solo obviously, but that was one take too! And I suck at soloing!

In the meantime, it's almost spring break! If you have a song you want to hear covered in one take on an iPhone, let me know...

Rush in one take

Who has the balls (or audacity) to try and tackle a 5 minute nerd-rock masterpiece on only an acoustic guitar and in only one take?

This guy.

So, having recently figured out the chord progression to Rush's 1987 sweetness known as "Mission", I decided to give it a go using my iPhone as recording studio as I have done so oft in the past...

I left out the solo section, as I had no marimba to play, and I realize that Geddy Lee's vocal range and mine do not have that much overlap, but I gave it a shot, and it was fun... There are flubs, but again, IT'S DONE IN ONE TAKE SO BACK OFF!!! If I had more takes, I could butcher it so much better...

The song appears to your right as the first track in the player... Check out the other songs I've recorded with my iPhone... "Glad All Over" and "Soldier of Love"...

Weekend in Ames!

Recently, as in last weekend, Emma and I trekked down to Ames, Iowa to visit our friends Jake and Carrie... It was our first time visiting them, and it was a great time!

On Friday night we headed down to Des Moines to The Grand Piano Bistro and watched our friend Leeds play in a (friendly) dueling piano duet... It was a ton of fun! They played great stuff, and we took part in some audience participation, including singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the top of our lungs on the front of the stage...

Saturday we bummed around Ames shopping, had Thai take-out for dinner, played some Catch Phrase, and ended the night with a couple stops at the downtown bars...

Unfortunately our buddy Glenn slipped on a newly re-frozen sidewalk on the walk home from downtown and broke his leg! Yikes! We hope he's feeling better and that he heals quick! He was ridiculously calm throughout the ordeal.. just lying on the sidewalk calmly saying, "Yeah, it's broke... yeah... I heard it..."

Then Sunday we stopped in Tha Dub-ya Cee for brunch with the fam...

Tibial mishaps aside, it was a very fun weekend!

Check out some highlights here!

A New Tune!

Check it out! I just recorded another tune using my iPhone and the "Recorder" app... Check out the player to your right, and listen to "Glad All Over"... I'm a sucker for The Dave Clark Five, and although it is missing the usual DCF drum bombast, I think it's pretty good for one take on a iPhone's mic... (I did do two tracks, but I swear to you, each was only one take)... This might become a new hobby... One Take Oldies...

If you have any oldies requests, let me know in the comments section...

Beetle!

No, I'm not Sgt. Snorkel yelling at his least favorite recruit... I'm referring to the new car that Emma and I just purchased!

Check it out:
It's a 2006 New Beetle... We got a sweet deal on it! Certified used, still has 44k worth of warranty on it, it's got all the bells and whistles that could possibly be stuffed into it, and best of all, it's a 5 speed manual... Bang!

Check out some more pics here!