Merry Christmas!

Had a mellow, cozy day with the familia. Santa got the wife some Opium Perfume (her fave), the daughter a new HP Laptop Computer and the son got an Akai USB Keyboard Controller and Sony MDR-7506 Studio Reference Headphones (just like his Dads). Santa got me some sweats, a Juicer and this cool camera bag and back pack. Now I can organize my Canon 7D, Canon HF-G10, 2 GoPros, mics, monitors, battery packs and supplies. All the compartments are adjustable with velcro soft felt dividers. I play on getting a GoPro HERO 3 next year as well as a Zoom H4n for remote recording. I will be doing lots of photo shoots and filming later next year for new projects and may even need a second one of these bags. Of course Christmas is about more than stuff and I hope that yours was good too. 

Overkill Magazine Rant

OK, so I picked up the new issue of Overkill Magazine because of Andy Wickenheiser's '61 Dodge Gasser Wagon article, a car I first saw in Ol' Skool Rodz years and years ago. I thought something was suspicious as I thumbed through this johnny come lately mag, then noticed it is a side product of Hot Rod Magazine. So this is HRM's second attempt to start a Rat Rod publication- first came the failed Hot Rod Deluxe and now Overkill. So what who cares- right? This isn’t as big a deal as Phil Robertson getting banned from Duckshit Dynasty (thats a joke people, so suck it up). I am sure that HRM's publishing company sees all the guys buying tons of Car Kulture Deluxe & Ol' Skool Rodz and Rat Rod Magazine and they want in on some of that extra ad revenue, so they start Overkill. Happens all the time, copycats are copycats are copycats. But what chapped my ass was, in an article about Ray LaFaver's Ford they say, "after he parked next to his buddy Aussie Pete's bitchin', overkilled '28 Dodge truck..." "Overkilled"? WTF?!? You guys are trying soooo hard to be cool and influence the "scene" that you try weakly to justify your magazines lame catch phrase-ish brand name title by slipping it into articles as a hip descriptive? Fuckers. They are called Rat Rods (one way) or Traditional Hot Rods (the other way) but not Overkilled™ In fact "overkill" means to do sometime over the top, in grandiose manner, etc.-  if anything these cars are lo-fi or underkill. This reminds me of all the poseurs that jumped on the Punk Rock bandwagon in the 80's. I got into fist fights at High School with the jock rockers (circa 1981) when I cut all my hair off. Two years later they all had my haircut. Overkill Magazine should change their name to "Let Me On Your Rat Rod Bandwagon...Please...We Got Cash!" Fuck. 

Christmas Tree 2013

Got this years Christmas Tree for $19.99 at Home Depot (again). Looks pretty decent. Decorated it up listening to Ska Music (our yearly tradition- long story). Love this time of year.

Snow

Got a little dusting of snow this morning. Daughters School District was closed and I ended up 2 hours late to work. Turned to rainy slush by 1PM. 

My Song In New Film "Screen"

Horror indie-film Screen (Directed by David Baker) hits Vimeo on Demand in a few days. I was lucky enough to get one of my songs in the film (Kill Switch....Klick - Hemi Charger). David is a very talented and hard working film maker whose previous film Mission X was a gritty mercenary pseudo-documentary with killer action sequences. Screen looks intense.

MXR 10 Band EQ

Just picked up an MXR Ten Band EQ to help fine tune my Bass/Baritone sound. These kinds of stomp boxes are key in helping to sculpt a distinctive character from your instrument. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Had a peaceful relaxing Thanksgiving day with the familia. For you foodies, heres a shot of our Salmon over stuffing, our yearly tradition. 

Strymon Flint

Just took delivery of a Strymon Flint Spring Reverb/Tremolo pedal today. Love the Strymon Pedals. This one has a true vintage sound with tons of possibilities. Shades of the Twin Peaks theme and "How Soon Is Now." 

Happy Halloween

Go-Kustom TV

Decided to use some footage I shot with Justin Vincent (who runs Vincent's Kustomz) a few years ago in Go-Kustom TV Season 5 - Episode 1. I originally interviewed Justin for a Lowrider & Kustom documentary project I started, but want to get this footage out ASAP.

Strymon El Capistan

Just bought one of these bad boy stomp boxes for my bass rig. Sounds very much like an old Echoplex Tape Echo with all kinds of modern parameter adjustments. You can add tape crinkle, warble, etc. Strymon makes some excellent effects pedals. Several more I want to buy from them before years end.

New Pin-Up Trading Cards

Finalizing three new Go-Girls Pin-Up Trading Cards featuring Hot Rod Heidi, Micaela Couture and Shannon Million. These will be out in the next few weeks.

Antidote Rack Extension and Work Work Work

Just got my hands on the trial version of Synapses Antidote Synth. Amazingly huge sounds from this third party virtual synth for Reason software. I am in love with the pads and effects section. Sadly it's $149, which as a plug-in is too much money. I will end up buying it anyway.

I haven't been posting much because I've been working massive amounts of overtime the last few weeks. Good for the pocket book, but not good for editing projects, etc.

Hard Drive Blues

Had a 3TB drive start to give me trouble yesterday. May be dead and may have lost the two most recent car shows I filmed. I had backups on two other drives for most of my work, but I didn't get these two into the backup. Ack.  Considering Cloud storage.

Go-Kustom TV at Rat Bastards Infestation 2013

Had a blast at this years annual Rat Bastards Car Club Infestation at the XXX Root Beer in Issaquah, WA. Here are a few video stills.