Ride, Captain, Ride...

 

If you said, "On your mystery ship... by the band Blues Image, 1970," you get 15 bonus points.  If you were wondering what conveyance, I'm going to tell you: out on the Lectric ebike this morning.

I haven't ridden in a while - I pulled something in my lower back last week, and it has been a pain in the (just above) the butt.  Ibuprofen and as little bending over or lifting as I could get away with.  It felt better this morning; not "normal" (whatever that is), but I was hoping I could ride without irritating my back any further.

Turns out: no worse on the back pain.  And, it felt good to get out there and move around.  As always, it is going to be another hot one today - a high of 109º predicted.  86º when I first got up, but by the time I did pills, got cats fed, and took Murphy outside, it was 91º.

Off I go...

 Hardly anyone out and about; they must be back to work after the holiday weekend.  I did my somewhat usual routing that takes me through the park (above) and through a couple neighborhoods around ours.

I got my heart rate and breathing up; a good ride.  Not as "entertaining" as taking out one of the motorized 2-wheel  conveyances, but good to get out.

 

The Rig...

 

This photo shows the amp and 2 guitars that I will be using for playing out...

 The Emerald Virtuo on the left, PRS SE Studio Standard on the right.  The new Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb Blonde amp - sounds great with either of these guitars.

And, for those keeping track, the newly recovered Fishman Loudbox Mini (bottom) and another acoustic amp (top).  The Fishman is smaller, but as the name implies, it can get louder.  And sounds richer.  A variety of acoustic/electric guitars to go with these amps.

 

Big Sweet Face...

 

Well, Murphy would be inclined to say, "big tough boy," but he can certainly be sweet.  I took this image this morning while he and I were out on the patio...

 My phone has 3 lenses - this was about the maximum magnification before the image would fall apart.  I like to get photos of fur babies with a longer focal length to give them some separation from the background; not what a phone camera does best.

"Did you have one of your sun glasses with a camera on?"  Yes, I did and thanks for asking.  That would be far worse for capturing an image like this - the camera in my glasses is like a typical action camera: very wide angle.  Good for capturing an overall scene in a candid manner, but not the right tool to get a close up.

I took this photo a few days ago when Joan and I were out for lunch...

 Sitting just across the table from her, you can really see how wide angle the lens is.  Oh, and the pizza was really good (Spinato's).  That's a sweet face, but not big; just right.

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Out and about today; a bit of shopping, then lunch at Abuelo's...

 Upscale Mexican.  When we got home, we brought in a bag from the shoe store - Stella was ecstatic...

 "This is the best surprise, ever!  Thank you for thinking of me!"  She is grateful for her life with our family.  We are grateful to have both of these kitties in the family.

 

Sweet Little Face...

 

Me?  Aw, shucks, you're embarrassing me.  Of course, I am not talking about me.  This post is about sweet little Stella...

 I caught her in a rare moment of stillness, lit by the light coming through the patio door.  That little face leaves me all mushy.  Yeah, I may have to turn in my man-card.  She is just a delight.  Oh, there are times when we have to tell her to "not pick on your brother."  Murphy is really pretty patient with her, but I don't think he realizes his size and strength compared to her.

Stella is playful and snuggly.  She loves attention from her people.  She spends a lot of time on Joan's lap and in her arms.  And plenty of time playing with her brother.  She can entertain herself just fine, too.

She and Murphy are family. 

Concert Video...

 

I had some time to get the video from the Styx/Chicago concert downloaded.  I have to admit that the sound balance for Chicago wasn't as bad on the video as it seemed in person.  See if you hear a difference between the sound on these bands...

 These concert videos are pretty easy to edit and get posted, especially when compared to shooting 360 video from a scooter or motorcycle.  Both make for good memories, but that less than 5 minute video I shot on the scoot on Monday took me a couple hours to edit, download, put into a video editor on my laptop, then add a voice over.  Whereas that 27 minute concert video took me less than an hour, including the time to download the video clips from my phone to my laptop.

That said, I am glad to have both.

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Speaking of both - here's a shot of Murphy grooming Stella...

 It's really kinda sweet when they do this for each other... especially when it doesn't devolve into a chomp.

And, a look at my handsome boy with some nice light coming through the window...

  Because who doesn't like cat content?  :-)

 

Styx and Stones...

 

No, it was actually Styx and Chicago, but that title wasn't as catchy.  We went to a concert at the Mortgage Matchup Center (where the Phoenix Suns and Mercury play) last night in downtown Phoenix.

I shot a bunch of video, but haven't had time to download any of it.  We didn't get home until 11:30 last night... both of us must have been hyped from the concert, because neither of us slept well.  But, I digress.

We like both of these bands and have seen them in concert in the last couple years; so getting to see both on the same night was a treat.  We wondered who would be "the opening band" and who would finish off the concert.

We had decent seats, up off the floor and back 19 rows, center section...

 The obligatory selfie in our seats...

 Styx...

 A wide view showing the stadium...

 Chicago...

 Our take on it: Styx kicked butt.  Their sound was crisp and clear and they sound as good live as they do on their recordings.  Their musicianship and vocals are as good as when we first saw them over 40 years ago.

The staging was efficient.  The big screen that was the backdrop behind the bands was programmed to go along with each song, but didn't show live close-ups like we've come to expect.

About 25 minutes to break the stage and reassemble between the bands.

Chicago came on and their sound was muddy.  We saw them a year or so ago in a smaller venue, and the sound was great; this was disappointing.  Their musicianship was outstanding, but the vocals lacked punch.  Plenty of high harmonies, but none of the lower register grit.  They have a new lead singer (within the last 6 months), but they didn't give him a lot to do, and he looked awkward up there.  The music was good, but it didn't have the polish of whoever was running sound for Styx.  Ten musicians on stage to reproduce what Chicago used to do with seven.

Both bands played their hits, with a couple new songs in the mix.  It's not a competition... but, if it was, Styx clearly won. 

Downtown Phoenix was hopping on a Tuesday night.  The stadium was nearly full.  Seating capacity is 12, 565 for "end stage" concerts vs 17,000 for "in the round" concerts and basketball games.  When we saw both of these bands in the last year or so, it was at Celebrity Theater, that has a seating capacity of 2,600 when in the round (the stage rotates).

Joan bought parking at the same time she got the tickets, so we had indoor parking that was a block away.  When we came out of the concert, the area outside was full of pedicabs with lights flashing and music blasting and a busker (who was also there when we went in).  Plenty of people on the streets, police directing traffic.

While I have groused about "living in the desert," having access to live music events is a plus.  We have upcoming concerts at 4 different venues in the upcoming months.

Mental Floss...

 

If you said, "A song by the philosopher Jimmy Buffett, 1996, on the album Banana Wind," you get 20 bonus points.

It was 86º this morning when I got up.  Cooler than usual, for those keeping track.  I was in dire need of some two-wheel, in-the-breeze therapy.  Also known to me as: mental floss.

I was a bit slow getting out - I pulled something in my back when I was making the bed this morning.  Literally, I was just bending over.  I saw stars.  But, I was determined to get out for a ride.  Joan suggested I put my back support on; not sure that did anything, but pushing back against the backrest on the Burgman make it less painful.

It was a glorious ride!  I grabbed a 360 camera on my way out the door, no plan for what to shoot.  I decided to try a bunch of short (most less than 10 seconds) clips, to make my life easier with the editing.  It still took over an hour to edit and download what became a 4 minute and 40 second video...

A few stills (from the video clips)...