My Hammered Dulcimer builder

Hey Rick Fogel, builder of fine folk instruments, including my signed, numbered one of a kind hammered dulcimer has a video posted on YouTube.
Each instrument he builds is unique, and a work of art in itself. The sound/tonal quality - which is already fabulous - improves each year as the instrument ages and is played.

This is truly a master Craftsman.

I hope you enjoy his video.

Richard Condies "the Apprentice"

Enjoy...

Yet more from Richard Condie..

Canadian customs and what not....

More Richard Condie Animation...

...anyone who has ever played an instrument or had to spend any time practicing or preparing for anything can appreciate the sentiments in this animated short film by Richard COndie entitled "Getting Started."

Enjoy!

Part 1 :




Part 2 :

Richard Condie's "THE BIG SNIT."

Richard Condie is one of my hero's in the world of animation.
He heads up a remarkable crew of twisted creative minds - rightfully Canadian - and I am pleased to post the first one I ever saw here at my blog.

I saw this back in the late '80's and it is still amusing.

Nostalgia #12

Ok, in further revisiting the Age known as "Blog Biscuit", I also stumbled upon this miraculous sculpture whihc certainly bears remembering.

See JonBienarts "Scorpie Toddlerpede."

It is miraculous.

In a twisted kind of way.

Aquil-ism #162

I ran across this comment James left on a blog post of mine a number of years ago.
It was during a time when I was contemplating leaving my secretarial job after 3.5 years.

The subject of the post, "Creative ways to become unemployed...", was left open to suggestion from the public in the form of comments.

James's comment:
"Go to work dressed in a bathrobe, a shower cap, and fuzzy slippers. At lunch.. whip out a bag of charcoal and a Hibachi...Then announce: "The Lunch Kabobs are on me!"

After eating the Kabobs... Pick your teeth with the bamboo skewers, all the time singing... "I love a parade".

J."



I am so glad I stumbled upon these things.
It reminds me of his style of humour.

He is SUCH a knucklehead!
:o)

Turkish Groove

Its kind of a fun CD.
It's put out on the Putamayo Label.
So far, Bendeniz's "Kyrmyzy Biber" is the best song on the album wiht a screamin' drum track and a combination of tradional middle eastern and Turkish instruments as well as modern electronic elements. One of the thngs that makes this sort of music so cool (imho) is the use of 1/4 steps - you know...on the piano you have the white keys and the black keys? From one white to the next black key is a 1/2 step. Middle Eastern music also uses 1/4 steps, which gives it it's unique "flavour."

Anyway, the video is posted here, and the lyrics pasted below.

Enjoy.





Telaþýmý var acelesi mi var
Kýsa bir öpücük çok iþime yarar
Allah'ým bana ne oldu bu defa
Devam ediyor bak oyunlarýna

Kuytularýmý kokularýmý
Unuttun mu sen o ayýplarýný
Zaten ne kadar aklýn vardý
Onu da bana ver seviþmek ne güzel

Bastým mühürü görecek gününü
Arayýp soracak tek tek bakacak
Evirip çevirip düþecek elime

Canýný yakarým hadi gör bakalým
Bal döken diline "kýrmýzý biberi"
Sürmedim ama sürerim bu defa

Ben kimdim ben uçup gittim ellerinden
Neydi inkar ettiðin bu çýlgýnlýk içinden
Zarardayým senin yasaklý þeytan yüzünden
Öldürüyor bu hali nasýl çýldýrttý bilmiyor

Sitting and sitting.

So, in order to get my foot to heal, I have to be sedentary.
The sun is shining, there is a mountain of dishes in the sink. (Mainly because I have to keep my foot propped up and nobody is doing them.) I have a buh-zilllion things to do.
But I sit.
So I have been updating my website, uploading the family photos, cleaning out my computer and backing up docs and files and stuff, watching Season 1 of Heros, getting ready to watch Season 1 of Jericho, and playing Uru.

I am going stir crazy from sitting.
I don't like to sit.

Foot burn for eternity

Ok so, apparently I have what is called a "2nd degree" burn, the likes of which can take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to heal.
This is really bad.
I don't have time for this.
I wrestle between frustration at what I see all around me that needs doing, goals set now left un-met, and the deeper notion that, to be fully productive, I need to accept this temporary condition and work within the confines of the situation - doing what can be done from a sitting and sedentary state.

But the very notion sits ill on my shoulders.

Scalded that fractured foot.

So...
for dinner I prepared chicken breasts in Cream-of-mushroom soup for dinner.
After baking the dish for 45 minutes I attempted to remove the dinner from the oven, but I did not have a good grip on the dish and it came crashing down on my foot, scalding and blistering my the skin all around. I haven't thought about writhing since the time I had a gall-bladder attack. I writhed really good tonight. For about an hour after I got done soaking my foot. I got real smart, real quick and put my dang foot BACK in the ice water and there it will stay until at least tomorrow morning. I find that keeping my foot submerged in the ice water keeps the pain level down.

This is crazy.

I don't have time for this.

Dear Lord God,
Will you please heal this soon-ish?

Amen.

Beach days

So Kenz and I had a beach day ourselves, here at the finish of Spring Break.

My MSword was being all funky so I ended up unloading it and reloading it again and lo and behold...Outlook actually loaded. After it died a year or so ago I lost access to it permanently, for reasons I could not fathom, but now its back. Yay! I prefer it to OE anyway.

Dumped the Windows Live messenger as it was too invasive...gee a Microsoft Product being invasive...imagine THAT! I also dumped Gmail Talk - or Google Talk - whatever the heck it is, for similar reasons.

Sat in church today and got inspired to create kind of a cool, LARGE sculpture.
That is one thing I love about God.
He is soooo unconventional.

It was kind of a busy day inside my head during church today.
Not only got the sculpture image, but became seriously burdened in my heart for a kid I barely know and who doesn't even go to my church. So I prayed that God would encourage him and show him light at the end of the tunnel. I am still praying, but the burden was soo sudden and unexpected...I am not traditionally one of those people who would label themselves as having the "spiritual gift" of intercessory prayer. I mean, yeah, I pray for people, but having that as a unique gift is different. It's intense and dangerous at times. Anyway this experience was similar to that. I was unnerved and thankful for the opportunity that God sent me something to pray about for some one I probably will never really interact with on a deep level. It was pleasing to know that I could encourage them, by talking directly to God on their behalf. So I prayed for Joy for him. Joy in every sense of the word.

While this was going on, I was trying to process the sermon I was hearing, as well as get the details on this image God was showing to me - the sculpture thingy.

Again, it was a busy day in my head.

I know this probably sounds all loopy and what not, but I have been learning to listen more to God and to what He says in the bible, literally, instead of listening so much to what other humans tell me. This is not to say I don't listen to and consider wise counsel and advice, its just that I am filtering it more through the Bible, and what He says to me through it.

I began to take a sketch book to church instead of a notebook a couple of years ago.
I find that many inspirations come from elements in the sermons, or prayers that God morphs in my head into images, usually abstract but not without symbolic meaning. When I say meaning, and that I am "getting" these images from God, I mean to say that the symbolism is mainly for me. The messages are from God to me personally. To most people they are mostly abstract, and in rare cases, mildly engaging. To me each one is a reminder of His plan for me through out my life and how we are "on the road together" He and I. Since I began to sketch in church, I am "getting" more and more images, usually as an ebb and flow through out the year.

Today was like taking a drink from a fire hose.

I was exhausted and exhilirated simultaneously, by the end of the church service.

And now, at the end of the day, when I was expecting my daughter who has been gone now for 3 THREE!!!) weeks to come home, I get a call saying they got a late start and that they are going to stop to rest this evening before making the rest of the drive home.

I am glad for their prudence...but we miss our daughter/sister.



Addendum:

Oh and I also broke my foot.
Hairline fracture.
I fell off the edge of the doormat.

No lie.

California Spring Break

Well Scoutie is having a wonderful time with some good family friends who hail from La Jolla (pronounced La-hoya). She is getting a tour of California that we could NEVER have given her becasue it is not our home state. The Francii know the good parts like the back of their hands and so Scout is having a once in a life time trip.

She has been gone for two weeks solid now and will not return until late late Sunday night.
:o(
We miss her dreadfully.

They send me photos every day, which are available HERE

One of the high lights of trip was a visit to the one and only REAL wardrobe, which belonged to C.S. Lewis and is actually referred to in the Narnia Books. (The wardrobe at Wheaton, while owned my Mr Lewis, does not fit the description of the one true wardrobe listed in the books.)
The images of this find are located HERE.


Kinda cool, huh?