If the rain comes...

 

The run and hide their heads...

If you said, "The song Rain, by the Beatles, 1966," you get 10 bonus points.  If you said, "It's the B-side of the song Paperback Writer," you get an additional 10 bonus points.

The big story on the local news: rain here in Phoenix.  Varying amounts around the Valley, but it was enough to fully wet the pavers in our courtyard.  Some places reported getting "a half inch per hour."  I don't think we got in on that, but it's good to see some precipitation.

 

Alas, for Murphy, that means he and I are not going out for a morning walk.  It is part of his routine, and I can tell he is missing it.  Joan said, "You may have to walk around in the garage," but instead, she went to the garage and brought in what she is calling "Murphy's rainy-day toys" - foremost, the fuzzy ball and feather on a long wand that waves around on its own.  It was Murphy's favorite toy when we first got him, and he spent hours playing with it... it wasn't a big hit this morning, but he did spend some time with it...

 

Looks like we will have spotty rain most of the day.  Murphy is on his kitchen bar stool, looking outside...

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Murph did get some time outside - the rain stopped, the sun came out for about 20 minutes and dried things up enough that we got out...

 You can see Murphy by the gate in that photo above.  He is a happy boy.  And, below, is a better look at Joan's "yard enhancements"...

 

Many of them have lights on or around them - looks even better at night.  And, speaking of dark, that black cloud in the above views to the west was moving our way.  Murphy got a good half hour of wandering around the yard before we made the decision to go back inside; just before the sprinkles started again.  Good timing.

There is a cold wind to go with the rain and clouds; the temperatures won't get out of the 50s today.  About 20º or more cooler than what we've had the last couple of weeks.  I guess it is still winter in the desert.  On that note, the weather folks were reporting white-out conditions due to snow in the Flagstaff area.  The Interstate wasn't closed there, but officials were recommending putting off travel in that area until conditions improve.  The morning weather person was talking about a "Weather Travel Alert" here in the Valley this morning, due to low visibility and wet roads.

No place we have to be.

 

Everyone knows it's Windy...

 

If you said, "A pop song by The Association, 1967," you get 15 bonus points.  If you found these words going through your head, "Who's peekin' out from under a stairway, Calling a name that's lighter than air. Who's bending down to give me a rainbow, Everyone knows it's Windy," you get an additional 10 points.

Not really a weather report, but Murphy wasn't too keen on spending time outside this morning: the wind is blowing close to 20mph out of the southwest, with occasional higher gusts.  Unlike when we lived in the Tropical Tip, where it is frequently windy, this is not typical here.  So, Murph is quite content to sit on the couch today...

 

He's not the only one - I considered getting out on one of the bikes.  Nahhhh.

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Another cooking test in the air fryer - this time: steak...

 "How bad was it?"  Thanks for asking... not bad.  Not as good as on the griddle, but I'm thinking it will work for a small appliance in the van.  (Plus, I didn't have to stand out in the wind today.)

 

Chicago!

 

I was looking forward to see if this current line-up of the band Chicago bears any resemblance to the Chicago (Transit Authority) I grew up with.  The answer to that: they kick butt!

Chicago has gone through many changes over the nearly 60 years the band has together.  Only 3 of the original members remain, but that is impressive.  As new members replace exiting members, the band has kept that sound they are known for: tight harmonies and a powerful 3 piece horn section.  Of those 3 original members: James Pankow (trombone), Lee Loughnane (trumpet, vocals), and Robert Lamm (keyboard, vocals), only Lamm has shown any sign of not having his former punch on vocals.  Two keyboard players, a bass player, guitar player, drummer, and additional percussionist - it takes 10 or 11 musicians to kick out the sound of the original 7.

 As always, we really like that "theater-in-the-round" at Celebrity Theater - everybody gets a good view!  They played all their hits - started right after the guy from the venue auctioned off a guitar again (turned into 2 guitars when the bidding got to $8,000 - so, each of those last two bidders got a guitar.

The band played a kicking 45 minute set, took a 20 minute break, then came out and played for hour and 10 minutes (including a 10 minute drum solo with the 2 percussionists).  They did bring in another keyboardist when Lamm left the stage for a couple songs.  Joan said, "I guess each of these old bands has their own Chuck," referring to Styx bringing out their old bass player Chuck, who needed a "guiding hand" going to and from the stage.

Joan and I agreed that this was the best concert of the 3 we've seen this past week - we were both singing along... couldn't help it, these are the songs we came of age with.

 I found myself shooting more video at this concert (on my iPhone) - at some point, I'll edit them and put together a video of the evening.

It was another sell-out crowd.  A very appreciative crowd, although a bit older than the other concerts this week.  It started at 7:30, we were home by 10:40.  It was a great evening!

A video compilation...

 But to be fair, I missed some of the best songs because Joan and I were singing along!

 

Music...

 

Music with the guys this afternoon - 7 of us at Mark's house.  Yes, we were a garage band, 'cause that's where we fit.

And this evening: Chicago, in concert, at the Celebrity Theater.  More on this tomorrow.

 

All I have to do is dream...

 

If you said, "The Everly Brothers, 1958," you get 15 bonus points.  The song is about a guy crushing on a girl, but can't work up the courage to talk to her, so he is "dreaming my life away."  Sweet or sad - perspective.

Well, thanks for getting all dreamy on us, Jim.  You're welcome.  Damn, I'm talking to myself again.

We all have dreams.  Most of us don't remember them.  The AI overview: According to current understanding, dreams are considered a way for the brain to process information, emotions, and memories from the day, often representing unconscious desires, thoughts, and feelings, though the exact meaning can be subjective and varies depending on the individual and their life experiences; some theories suggest dreams help with memory consolidation, emotional processing, and creative problem solving, while others view them as simply random brain activity during sleep.

I often dream about working.  Yes, I usually wake up tired from those dreams.  Some times, they are about driving boats, but most often they are about doing photography.  Usually, about a particularly difficult photography session.  Yes, during my longest career, there were some trying times in the studio.  But, last night's dream was different: it was a family session.  They were dressed perfectly.  Parents, two adult kids both married, one with 2 kids the other with one.  So, a group of 9.  They were all happy to be there, even the youngest kids.  Everyone was cooperative.  The session was easy.  The results were some of my best work... definitely what I'd call "front window material."

So, why the dream?  As far as I can tell, I have no control over what I dream.  But, it sure is nice when the dream is satisfying.  Do I want to do photography again?  Nope.  Only for my own "memory insurance."  The world of photography has changed so much... I don't think most people have the regard for professional imaging as they did before phone cameras made "everyone a photographer."

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The most disliked job, right after dog catcher...

I thought you were done with that job stuff, Jim.  It isn't a paid position.  Our community is completely built out and the developer is ready to turn over HOA duties to a newly elected Board of Directors.  The election results were counted today.  Yes, I had "put my hat in the ring."  I will be doing a 3-year position on the board.

Lamkin had warned me: "Be careful what you wish for..."  I get that.  We have a nice community and I want to be a part of keeping it that way.  I'll find out more once training is scheduled for the board.

 

Sunday Drivers...

 

"Got caught behind some slow moving vehicles, huh, Jim?"  No, but thanks for asking.  We were the Sunday Drivers.  Well, to be fair, we didn't hold anyone up.  Nothing on our schedule today, so I suggested we get out for some time in the van.  No destination, no schedule.

We headed west, then up the Loop 303.  Joan suggested Dickey's (BBQ) for lunch.  A fine suggestion, and some good BBQ.  And, tasty fries - I don't think they had those in the past.

 

We were close by a Sam's Club and sitting at about half a tank of gas.  I stopped to top off; $3.09/gal - a good price for this area.  While our mpg isn't what anyone with a car would be happy with, it is generally about twice what we got with the Aspect.

 

On the way back home, we stopped to see what things were like in the RV park where used to (begrudgingly) stay when we would visit here.  This is their "high season," and they were nearly full; which is what you'd expect.  What we hadn't seen since we last stayed here: a new large high school going up literally right next door, and new apartment complexes nearby.  No doubt those new "neighbors" will have some impact.

 

We stopped at storage to swap back to the Equinox before going home...

 

 It's been a while - I thoroughly enjoyed just being out in the van... and being a Sunday Driver.  ;-)

 

Tower of Power...

 

This band kicks!

 This concert was at the Wild Horse Pass Casino; closer for us than going to Celebrity Theater or MIM.  Our second concert this week (well, third if you count Mark, Ron, and me playing out), and one more to go.

Joan wanted to go early, presumably so we could check out the showroom location... not so she could sit at a slot machine.  Apparently, we have been to this casino years ago - it looked like all the other Indian casinos in the Valley: nice, modern.  They have a variety of restaurants.  Slot machines and gaming tables.

I told Joan she looked "like a million bucks"... I had to up my game so I didn't look like a buck fifty...

 Yes, I put on an actual sport coat.  Joan found a machine that "looked good" - they all look the same to me, just different themes.  I walked around to find a poker machine.  My choice looked like... every other poker machine.  In the end, I came out $10 ahead; I walked around to find Joan and she was sitting at a machine, but not playing.  Apparently, she did not come out ahead; I didn't ask.

The showroom here is an interesting venue: two levels of seating.  Our seats were in the upper level, and quite a steep slope...

 While we were further from the stage than at Celebrity Theater, it should mean every seat has a good view.  I heard that this concert was sold out, but there were some empty seats when Tower of Power started, right on time.

 Yep - this is a good view.  Until...

 I am not kidding - this guy was huge, with the biggest head I've seen on a human being.  So much for my view, but ToP is about the music more than the "show."  And the music was great!

 The empty seats quickly filled in - I guess people are used to concerts starting late, but that was not the case with this one.  Tower of Power is known for their powerful horn section, but every musician in this band is outstanding.

 They played for a solid hour and a half, stepped off the stage while the crowd shouted "T-O-P!", then came back for a 2 song encore.

Another fun night... and we were home at 10:15.  Or, as I like to put it: "Party 'till the sun goes down!" ;-)

 

Another day...

 

Another concert.  Tonight at the Wild Horse Pass Casino, live and in-person: Tower of Power!

If you like R&B, soul, funk, and horn bands, these guys are one of the best. Originating in Oakland, CA, in 1968.  "That's a long time," you say, "Are there any original member left?"  Thanks for asking.  While the band is often known for its revolving door of lead singers, the band's founders, Emilio Castillo (saxophone, band leader) and Stephen "Doc" Kupka (baritone sax) have remained their constant.  The band is best known for their ultra-talented horn section.

Hopefully, I'll have more on this tomorrow.

 

Test... and Fail

 

I took the Burgman 200 out today, with a plan: test the DJI Mic 2 connecting wirelessly to the Insta360 X4 camera.  I had read that this connection would work.  I also read one review that said it wasn't great audio.  That is an exaggeration: the audio is awful; unintelligible.  The fault doesn't lay on the DJI microphone - having used it with other cameras (DJI and Sony), it does a fine job.  But, with this Insta360 X4, the audio is completely unusable.  Even though the VU line on the camera was good, there is major clipping with the audio.

Just like when a SpaceX rocket blows up (and the engineers say they "gathered good data"), I learned something valuable with this outing: the wireless connection to the Insta360 X4 camera is crap.

How bad is it?  Thanks for asking - it is this bad:

 

If a video has mediocre video, but good audio, it is watchable.  If it has great video, but bad audio, most people will click off of it right away.  If you didn't click on this video, I understand, because this has some pretty sucky audio.

But, it is a learning experience.  The smart way to get video with usable audio is with a different camera... but I will still be using the X4 for those fun panning shots - no way to get that with anything but a 360 camera. 

Lesson learned.

 

Styx

 

This is a "music week" for us.  It started on Tuesday, with playing out with Mark and Ron.  Wednesday night: Styx.  Friday night: Tower of Power.  Tuesday night: Chicago.

Last night, at the Celebrity Theater was Styx.  This has been one of our favorite bands since the 70s.  The band I played with in the 70s, Stinger, used to cover a lot of Styx songs.  For those not familiar, Styx features great harmonies, masterful hard-rocking guitar and keyboards.  They have gone through some personnel changes over the years, but the original sound remains.  They had a long list of hits through the 70s and 80s, and, in my opinion, it is beyond me that they have not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  But, I digress.

Their show last night was outstanding...

 

The show opened with a singer/songwriter from Boston, accompanied by another guy on guitar...

 The music was good, but the crowd was here to see Styx.  The guy had an endearing presence, and seemed truly grateful to be making a living playing music.

The venue was packed - Styx is playing last night and tonight, both concerts sold out...

 Before any of the music started, a guy from Celebrity Theater came out, told the crowd about upcoming concerts (we'll be back here again on Tuesday for Chicago), then they auctioned off a guitar with signatures from Styx on it, proceeds going to St. Mary's Food Bank.  It sold for $12,000... to an obvious Styx fan... the opening bid was $1.

Celebrity Theater is an interesting venue: the stage is in the middle, and it rotates, making every seat in the place good.  While that crowd shot above looks huge, the seats furthest from the stage are only 75' away.  Seats are snug (think: airline coach), but it is only for a couple hours.  We did wander over, around, and down to wait in line to get Joan a T-shirt.

And then, nearly an hour after the advertised show time, Styx came on...

 They started with Grand Illusion, then played several of their hits.  Followed by the obligatory "new songs"... then back to more hits.

Tommy Shaw (above) and James Young (below) are the core guitar powerhouses in the band.  Their playing is truly awesome, and they both sound as good as ever (vocals and guitar).

 Lawrence Gowan (on keyboard and vocals, left above) replaced Dennis DeYoung about 30 years ago.  Not an easy position to come into, because DeYoung was the driving force for the band in the 70s and 80s, until "creative differences" split the band up for a while.  DeYoung wanted to take the band in "musical theater" direction, Tommy Shaw and James Young wanted to keep the band hard rocking.  Gowan does a good job in taking on the DeYoung personna on keyboards and flashy appearance.

At one point in the show, the PA went out... the band continued on, where you could hear mostly the drums.  No idea if that was planned or not, but they didn't miss a beat.

Gowan did a solo thing on piano.  Chuck Panozzo (the original bass player) was brought out several times during the show; not sure if his bass was even on, since the other bass player (Gowan's younger brother) was there through the whole show.  One of the very cool things about "theater in the round" is the opportunity to see every angle - drummer Todd Sucherman is an animal on the drums (with Styx since 1997).  This is a good line-up.

 

The band came back for an encore, featuring Mr Roboto and Renegade.  It was a good hard-rocking concert, with an enthusiastic audience.

We have seen Styx several times before; first time in the 70s, in Rapid City, SD.  The next time was in the same venue (Rapid City Civic Center) in the 80s, when the band was promoting Mr Roboto.  I considered that time as the beginning of the end for the DeYoung era, which just seemed like weird rock theater to me.  Once Styx reformed with Gowan in place of DeYoung, the back was back to their hard rock, high harmonies roots.  This is the 4th time we've seen them, and the playing and vocals was as good as ever.

 

Ahead of Schedule...

 

First the weather, and then on to the news... it hit 90º in Phoenix yesterday.  It didn't seem unpleasantly hot.  But, of course, the local weather folks were quick to say that is "18º above normal, and the historical average for the first 90º day of the year is April 3rd."

We all know what is coming.

That said, it was a lovely morning today: 48º when I got up at 6:30, and the humidity was 29%.  It was almost pleasant when I took Murphy out after he had breakfast.

At 10:00, our weather station was showing 70º... time for one of the bikes to get some exercise.  That apparently means different things to each of us: Joan got some time on her exercise bike, I geared up and took the Xmax out for a ride.

The fuel gauge was down to 1/4 of a tank, so I planned to fuel up on the way home.  At 70º, I grabbed a motorcycle jacket with a liner, rather than mesh.  Yes, my blood has thinned.

This is a great time of the day to be out on the bike: very little traffic, and what traffic there was doesn't have that "commuter blues" attitude; at the 3 4-way stops on my way to the mountain roads, people weren't displaying that "Me First!" aggressiveness. 

I always enjoy time on the Xmax - it is fun in the twisties, well mannered on the highway, and gets good fuel mileage doing it all.

I stopped at the parking at the top to get a photo and a short video with the Xmax...

 It gave me a chance to play with the DJI Pocket 3 camera...

 We have a plan for the rest of the day: I'm taking Joan to Five Guys for burgers, I have "cat duty" next door to get my Grandcats "fed & med," then Joan and I are going to see Styx in concert tonight.  It's a grueling schedule, but we're up for it.

Desert Weather and Playing Out...

 

Yeah, I'm still a weather nerd.  Yeah, we live in the desert... blah, blah, blah.

I grabbed this photo on my way out to the hot tub last night...

 The weather station tells us what the temperature and humidity are outside and in different rooms in the house (the living room, the music room, the garage).  I direct your attention to the upper right corner of that display - that is the outdoor temperature at 8:37 pm: 67º.

"Pretty nice for the evening - in February," you say.  Look at the number below the temp... that is 1% humidity.  1%.  And some people wonder: why a carbon fiber guitar?  I can feel the moisture being sucked out of my body!  The humidity in the living room and the music room is 40% - that's really good for the desert.  We have a separate room humidifier in the music room for the well-being of my wood guitars.  The carbon fiber guitars don't care.

For humans, it is important to hydrate.  I think it is recommended that people drink 147 12-ounce glasses of water each day here in the desert.  Seriously, it's freakin' dry!

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Joan and I are heading out this morning for "the band's first gig."  I'll let you know how it goes.

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We are home from "the gig."  It went well.  This was my first time playing for something like this - it was for a memory care group; there are the caregivers and "the VIPs" (the adults with alzheimer's).  We played for the VIPs while the caregivers were in a meeting; later, the caregivers then joined us.  The crowd was receptive (good applause), and many of them singing along!  Towards the end (we went about an hour and 15 minutes), they were dancing and singing along.  It was pretty darn joyous.  Some of it reminded me of a scene in the movie Cocoon.

There are some differences and similarities from when Mark and I played out "back in the day."  Similarity: we were playing for people mostly our age; some younger or older, but "our people."  They were into the music.

Some differences: back in the day, we had to memorize everything; today, we have iPads for our song lists and for "prompts" with lyrics and chords.  In our younger years, we'd finish up sometime before midnight, pack out gear, and find a truck stop that was open all night; for this gig, we finished up just before noon, packed out gear, and were done in time to get the lunch special at a nice restaurant.  ;-)

Back in the day, we played songs that were very current.  Today, we played songs that had been current 30 to 50 years ago... it is important that you "play to your audience."

The person putting this on asked if we'd come back.  She also said she knew there were restaurants and bars in the area that are looking for live music like what we were playing.  We smiled and thanked her... I don't think any of us are interesting in playing out in a bar these days... heck, I'm not too keen in driving after dark (yes, that's a joke).  All that said, the gear is smaller and lighter these days... and all of us were tired after hauling it in, setting up, tearing down, and hauling it out.  It took several trips in/out with folding wagons loaded with gear; Joan asked if there was anything we could have done without: "Nope, I think we used everything we brought."

Mark said, "I need to go home and take a nap."  I feel ya, brother.  ;-)

Joan took some photos...

 When I was playing out solo, I could go in with a guitar slung over one shoulder, the PA/amp, mic stand, mic, cords, and a guitar/vocal pedal in a rolling case.  One trip.  With 3 guys, it is more than 3 times the gear.

Even with all the schlepping, I think everyone involved had a good time.

A few snippets from the day (courtesy of Joan)...