Friday, October 31, 2008

Music Video Friday - Farewell Andromeda

This week's music video has me singing yet another John Denver song. It's apparent that a significant percentage of my repertoire is made up of John Denver tunes. Over the years that I played with Carl and Co. our playlist migrated across several genres, but for a long time we were a percussionless acoustic band of the 'unplugged' variety. During those days we almost invariably opened our first set with this song. I always liked playing it, partly because I love the sound of the drop D tuning used in this and several other JD songs.

The hat and shirt were part of our look back in those days too. I didn't own an embroidered western shirt, so I borrowed one from Carl. I don't know if he expected me to return it, but I've had it for about 25 years now, so I guess he didn't miss it. It probably doesn't fit him now, any better than it does me. :)

This is the title song from John Denver's "Farewell Andromeda" album, which also included "I'd Rather Be a Cowboy" and "Please, Daddy". "Farewell Andromeda" is it's official title, but it's better known by it's first line, "Welcome To My Morning".

I recorded a scratch audio track while filming the video, and later added another guitar and harmony track. I hope the video editing isn't too gimmicky. I'm still having fun playing with the Studio 12 features.

Farewell Andromeda (Welcome To My Morning)



You can click here to go to the YouTube page.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Media Day

Earlier this week the Innovation Center hosted writers from around the world for International Media Day. The visitors were given presentations from several key McDonald's officers, followed by lunch prepared in the IC kitchens. They were then taken on a four stop tour of the IC, with each stop featuring a couple of the innovations we have developed or are working on.

I was called on to help demonstrate the advantages of our new global point-of-sale system, and had the pleasure of presenting to visitors from Spain, Germany, Korea, and the UK, among others.

It's interesting to note that in the 21st century 'media' includes the internet, and bloggers were among the visitors invited to the Innovation Center. Click here to read the report from a blogger, not affiliated with McDonald's, that attended Media Day. You can (barely) see me along with a couple of colleagues if you click on the picture near the "Dedicated Professionals" paragraph.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Measure Up Monday

I paid closer attention to calories this week, and even with some over indulgence at a Mexican restaurant Saturday night, I still managed to drop 3 of the recently gained pounds. A house full of Halloween goodies this week is going to make it difficult to keep them off though. I forgot to measure the inches this morning, so I'll assume they haven't changed significantly.

DateWeightGain/LossUpper WaistLower Waist
09/22/08208-142.540.5
10/06/08211+342.540.5
10/20/08214+343.541.0
10/27/08211-343.541.0

Friday, October 24, 2008

Music Video Friday - Mother Nature's Son

This used to be Joke Friday, but I'm making a change. There's plenty of good jokes out there that are appropriate for a G rated blog, but it takes too much time reading through all the dumb or inappropriate ones to find a weekly gem. So instead, I'm going to try to post a weekly music video from YouTube. Hopefully most of them will be my own, but I don't know if I can crank out a video every week, so I'll probably fill in now and then with a favorite video from some of the YouTube musicians I follow.

If you read this blog regularly, you might consider signing up for a YouTube account. It's as easy as signing up for Gmail or Blogger or other web service. Once you have an account you can rate and leave comments on the YouTube videos you watch. Speaking as a youtuber and blogger, it's always nice to get comments. It acknowledges that someone is actually paying attention to your efforts.

This week's video is me singing "Mother Nature's Son". I haven't ever performed this in the past, but recently it caught my interest and I decided to learn it. I always knew it as a John Denver song, but subsequently learned that it's actually from the Beatles 'white album'. John Denver does a raucous folk-country version. The Beatles' version sung by Paul is calmer. Mine is closer to the Beatles style, but different from both.

I recorded it directly into the camera microphone, so the sound isn't the greatest. I also tried using the chroma key effect from my new video software. It causes some flickery noise in the video that I don't know how to avoid. The background pictures are from our Colorado/Utah/Nevada road trip last August.

Click here to link directly to the YouTube page and rate!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Holly Hobby

As you may know I've made a hobby, if not obsession of following the musical endeavors of the young YouTube artist named Holly Kirby. Her music is heard around the house often enough that even our 3 yr old grandaughter knows some of the words and sings along.

I wrote about her last July when she posted her 50th video. At that time I recommended subscribing to her YouTube channel. She's continued to post new videos and I think she's getting better all the time. Over 1100 subscribers agree with me. Her videos are both pleasant to listen to and interesting to watch. Another eight have been added since July, some whimsical and some weighty.

A new one appeared this week that she categorized as 'simple', but I think she's under rated herself. While the video may have a simple look to it, it is cleverly put together. The song is a new original penned by Holly herself, and is performed in an entertaining way. The harmonies are sweet and the music is upbeat. I think this one has genuine pop appeal and could be a hit for her someday.

A Fool I Know
by Holly Kirby

Monday, October 20, 2008

Measure Up Monday

There's no denying it. I've been slacking and the proof is in the pudding, and the cake, and the bananas foster, etc. I stopped actually counting calories quite a while back because I felt I had reached the point where I knew how much I should and shouldn't eat, but lately I've been padding my estimates and my waistline, so as of today it's back to logging calories at The Daily Plate.

DateWeightGain/LossUpper WaistLower Waist
09/15/08209-142.540.5
09/22/08208-142.540.5
10/06/08211+342.540.5
10/20/08214+343.541.0

Monday, October 6, 2008

Measure Up Monday

I've been on a brief hiatus from weight watching and blogging about it. However the scale decided to continue working and enforcing Newton's laws of gravitational attraction, obliviously reporting that the attraction between the earth and me increased by nearly 14 Newtons. I guess it's time to get serious again.

DateWeightGain/LossUpper WaistLower Waist
09/08/08210+243.040.5
09/15/08209-142.540.5
09/22/08208-142.540.5
10/06/08211+342.540.5