I went through and updated the .doc and .pdf versions of my songbook, which is now up to 72 songs, assuming I counted correctly.
If you are someone who should have a copy let me know.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Center Square
Today is Veterans day, aka Remembrance Day, aka Armistice Day.
Everyone else is posting a copy of In Flanders Fields. I shall therefore be different.
Center Square
by Martha Keller (1940)
Though every town has a marble stone
Or musketry for a monument,
Where are the names of the dead and gone?
Where is a sign of the way they went?
A list of name of a plaque of brass,
Or post, or pillar or palisade,
Are all that is left but a grave and grass
And a flag where even the colors fade.
We mark the center of every square
With a cannon ball or a nest of guns.
But where are the men who fired them? Where
Are They? And their sons? And their children's sons?
A sailor handling a coil of rope,
A horseman holding a saber high,
In any town, on a sunny slope,
Are all they now are remembered by.
When prayers are spoken, and tears are dried,
And grief give over, and hummocks heal-
What is there left of the men who died?
Sign and signature? Hand and seal.
Except in the habit of being free,
Except in the manner of life we know,
There's no reminder to hear or see
Of those determined to have it so.
Everyone else is posting a copy of In Flanders Fields. I shall therefore be different.
Center Square
by Martha Keller (1940)
Though every town has a marble stone
Or musketry for a monument,
Where are the names of the dead and gone?
Where is a sign of the way they went?
A list of name of a plaque of brass,
Or post, or pillar or palisade,
Are all that is left but a grave and grass
And a flag where even the colors fade.
We mark the center of every square
With a cannon ball or a nest of guns.
But where are the men who fired them? Where
Are They? And their sons? And their children's sons?
A sailor handling a coil of rope,
A horseman holding a saber high,
In any town, on a sunny slope,
Are all they now are remembered by.
When prayers are spoken, and tears are dried,
And grief give over, and hummocks heal-
What is there left of the men who died?
Sign and signature? Hand and seal.
Except in the habit of being free,
Except in the manner of life we know,
There's no reminder to hear or see
Of those determined to have it so.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Zwanzig Jahre
Twenty years. I wrote this ten years ago
I stripped out the chord notation since blogger has issues with multiple spaces.
"Hier ende die Frieheit".
That's what the graffito said.
Written on a wall that's rubble Now.
And thought that wall is history
The challenge still remains
For governments will do as we allow.
Remember when the president
Traveled to Berlin?.
And gave a speech, standing so proud and tall.
No one thought it'd come to pass
When he demanded of the East,
"Mr. Gorbachav, Tear Down this wall."
So many people died
Fighting for freedom's crown
And the world cheered when that wall came down at last
There's little left but memory
Some stones set in the street
Strange how quickly we forget the past.
And no wall lasts forever
Tyrants always fall
We're casting off out fetters
and tearing down the walls.
Heir ende die Frieheit
A message to the world
A chilling warning to us one and all
Though we cheer our victory,
We must not forget the past
Do not forget the words writ on the Wall.
Never forget the words writ on the Wall.
I stripped out the chord notation since blogger has issues with multiple spaces.
"Hier ende die Frieheit".
That's what the graffito said.
Written on a wall that's rubble Now.
And thought that wall is history
The challenge still remains
For governments will do as we allow.
Remember when the president
Traveled to Berlin?.
And gave a speech, standing so proud and tall.
No one thought it'd come to pass
When he demanded of the East,
"Mr. Gorbachav, Tear Down this wall."
So many people died
Fighting for freedom's crown
And the world cheered when that wall came down at last
There's little left but memory
Some stones set in the street
Strange how quickly we forget the past.
And no wall lasts forever
Tyrants always fall
We're casting off out fetters
and tearing down the walls.
Heir ende die Frieheit
A message to the world
A chilling warning to us one and all
Though we cheer our victory,
We must not forget the past
Do not forget the words writ on the Wall.
Never forget the words writ on the Wall.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Take 'em down.
People in AZ are somewhat disgruntled about the photo-radar cameras. Since the polititions won't remove them... they're on the payroll duh.
There are three, count them three, separate initiative petitions being circulated right now.
One of them would outlaw the damn things altogether.
One of them would only allow them to ticket you if you were 20 over.
One would only allow them in School Zones.
I'm going for #1
http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/initiative
There are three, count them three, separate initiative petitions being circulated right now.
One of them would outlaw the damn things altogether.
One of them would only allow them to ticket you if you were 20 over.
One would only allow them in School Zones.
I'm going for #1
http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/initiative
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
CD Review - Legends & Literature
So what is Mark listening to these days? Legends & Literature by Margaret Middleton.
Legends & Literature, henceforth L&L, is I believe Margaret Middleton's first album. This one is self published through Middleton's M-cubed Ventures, with Oasis as the press. Oasis does a good job (which is why I used them for my album.)
First impressions:
Top notch cover art, rear art nonexistent, CD art very nice.
19 songs = WIN. I am so sick and tired of folks putting out a 10-12 song 40 minute album and wanting to sell it for the same price as a full album.
Nice clean liner notes. No liner note art, but that's ok. It's hard to get your liner note art light enough that the text is visible.
The folks at Studio Joe did a great job of mastering the album. Middleton's vocals are strong, and you can hear the lyrics above her guitar work, which is important in any album, but especially in a folk album.
The Songs:
All 19 songs appear to be covers, which means that this was a pretty expensive album to produce, since royalties add up quickly. Several of the songs I have on other albums, many I've heard once or twice and am glad to have a copy of.
Most of the songs are very well done, some are quite excellent. Middleton does a yeoman's job on Leslie's "Fellowship going South", likewise on "Puck's Song", Don Simpson's "Laughter from the Loch", and Ecklar's "Roxane".
She also does a very nice rendition of "Quest" by Martha Keller, page 32 of Brady's Bend And Other Ballads, and yes I have a copy. Music by Longcor, whom I've never met.
There are some fun songs as well. "The White Whale", my Gary McGath (aka The M'Gath) is a great song about the obvious which I'd never heard before, and Gallagher's "Monsters in the Night" is likewise another fun song I'd only heard once or twice.
The indifferent:
The chords she uses for "Song from the Pig's side" are not quite the right ones. I suspect she is using the chords Bob Kanefsky has on his songworm website which are not correct. Also this tune normally has a very recognizable base run, the absence of which I find rather lacking. It's not a tricky run to play, but you have to know how to do it. Joe Bethancourt showed me years ago how to play this song right, so while there is nothing really wrong with the way Middleton does it, it's not the way I do it, so it seems a bit off.
Every album has one or two songs that are not up to the rest of the album, and L&L is no exception. Julia Eklar's "Daddy's Little Girl" is a very popular filk song, based on Steven King's Firestarter. I've heard it played in very different ways. Most people play it straight the way Julia wrote it, although I heard Seanan McGuire do it as a rock song once, and it's been done slow and somewhat creepy as well. Middleton plays it straight, but she simply does not have the range that Ecklar has, and struggles a bit with the high parts. In fairness, most people don't have the range Julia does.
On the other hand, she has no trouble at all with "The Miracle Worker", which is a bit lower in register.
The other song that sounds a bit off is Tom Smiths "Operation Desert Storm" which is a hilarious take on the Coyote vs. Roadrunner cartoons from the Coyote's point of view. This song is a fairly hard song to play, as it's a bit syncopated, and Middleton's playing sounds a bit flat with her simple strumming pattern. I've been at cons where the whole room has sung the song together, and it's a lot of fun.
All in all a very nice album. I understand it's a limited 500 piece run, so get yours now.
Legends & Literature, henceforth L&L, is I believe Margaret Middleton's first album. This one is self published through Middleton's M-cubed Ventures, with Oasis as the press. Oasis does a good job (which is why I used them for my album.)
First impressions:
Top notch cover art, rear art nonexistent, CD art very nice.
19 songs = WIN. I am so sick and tired of folks putting out a 10-12 song 40 minute album and wanting to sell it for the same price as a full album.
Nice clean liner notes. No liner note art, but that's ok. It's hard to get your liner note art light enough that the text is visible.
The folks at Studio Joe did a great job of mastering the album. Middleton's vocals are strong, and you can hear the lyrics above her guitar work, which is important in any album, but especially in a folk album.
The Songs:
All 19 songs appear to be covers, which means that this was a pretty expensive album to produce, since royalties add up quickly. Several of the songs I have on other albums, many I've heard once or twice and am glad to have a copy of.
Most of the songs are very well done, some are quite excellent. Middleton does a yeoman's job on Leslie's "Fellowship going South", likewise on "Puck's Song", Don Simpson's "Laughter from the Loch", and Ecklar's "Roxane".
She also does a very nice rendition of "Quest" by Martha Keller, page 32 of Brady's Bend And Other Ballads, and yes I have a copy. Music by Longcor, whom I've never met.
There are some fun songs as well. "The White Whale", my Gary McGath (aka The M'Gath) is a great song about the obvious which I'd never heard before, and Gallagher's "Monsters in the Night" is likewise another fun song I'd only heard once or twice.
The indifferent:
The chords she uses for "Song from the Pig's side" are not quite the right ones. I suspect she is using the chords Bob Kanefsky has on his songworm website which are not correct. Also this tune normally has a very recognizable base run, the absence of which I find rather lacking. It's not a tricky run to play, but you have to know how to do it. Joe Bethancourt showed me years ago how to play this song right, so while there is nothing really wrong with the way Middleton does it, it's not the way I do it, so it seems a bit off.
Every album has one or two songs that are not up to the rest of the album, and L&L is no exception. Julia Eklar's "Daddy's Little Girl" is a very popular filk song, based on Steven King's Firestarter. I've heard it played in very different ways. Most people play it straight the way Julia wrote it, although I heard Seanan McGuire do it as a rock song once, and it's been done slow and somewhat creepy as well. Middleton plays it straight, but she simply does not have the range that Ecklar has, and struggles a bit with the high parts. In fairness, most people don't have the range Julia does.
On the other hand, she has no trouble at all with "The Miracle Worker", which is a bit lower in register.
The other song that sounds a bit off is Tom Smiths "Operation Desert Storm" which is a hilarious take on the Coyote vs. Roadrunner cartoons from the Coyote's point of view. This song is a fairly hard song to play, as it's a bit syncopated, and Middleton's playing sounds a bit flat with her simple strumming pattern. I've been at cons where the whole room has sung the song together, and it's a lot of fun.
All in all a very nice album. I understand it's a limited 500 piece run, so get yours now.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Mother of Invention
Y-man (who lives in Nigeria) has posted an excellent description of how to convert birdshot loads into slugs.
LINK
Note he is using European style shotshells with a roll crimp, but recrimping fold crimp shells is easy enough with the proper tools.
You 'da man, Y-man
LINK
Note he is using European style shotshells with a roll crimp, but recrimping fold crimp shells is easy enough with the proper tools.
You 'da man, Y-man
Monday, October 19, 2009
Blind Pigs and Eric Holder
As the old saying goes, Even a Blind Pig finds an acorn now and again.
Now Eric Holder is quite possibly one of the most evil men alive today. Remember he is the one directly responsible for murdering the folks at Waco, and the one who ordered the pre-dawn raid on Elian Gonzalas.
see: my earlier post
Unfortunately for all of us he is currently the US Attorney General.
Nevertheless, credit where credit is due and I must point out that Holder in an unprecedented display of common sense is ordering the US Justice Department to:
Stop Prosecuting sick people using marijuana and go after the Mexican drug cartels
LINK
Yes shocking isn't it. I mean your Granny smoking pot to help her with her appetite loss due to her chemotherapy is clearly the greater threat here, at least it was under the Bush administration and the first 9 months of the Obama administration.
Now the only real difference between the Mexican Mafia and the US Dept of Justice is that one has badges. Both are criminal gangs, and this is clearly a case of one gang wanting a bigger piece of the action.
Still, it's encouraging... Even if it's for the wrong reasons.
Now Eric Holder is quite possibly one of the most evil men alive today. Remember he is the one directly responsible for murdering the folks at Waco, and the one who ordered the pre-dawn raid on Elian Gonzalas.
see: my earlier post
Unfortunately for all of us he is currently the US Attorney General.
Nevertheless, credit where credit is due and I must point out that Holder in an unprecedented display of common sense is ordering the US Justice Department to:
Stop Prosecuting sick people using marijuana and go after the Mexican drug cartels
LINK
Yes shocking isn't it. I mean your Granny smoking pot to help her with her appetite loss due to her chemotherapy is clearly the greater threat here, at least it was under the Bush administration and the first 9 months of the Obama administration.
Now the only real difference between the Mexican Mafia and the US Dept of Justice is that one has badges. Both are criminal gangs, and this is clearly a case of one gang wanting a bigger piece of the action.
Still, it's encouraging... Even if it's for the wrong reasons.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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