Song Club - continued

Typing on 9/23/14...

Adam Levy has taught me a great deal about songwriting and "opening up." He has given me several methods or "tricks," if you will, to help me with my writing. One of these is a writing prompt.

Some time ago he invited me into his exclusive club called Song Club. Each week he would give a topic or phrase and you had to include that in your song. I wasn't as diligent as I should have been and there were weeks that went by where I didn't follow through, but the weeks I did? WOW! The creative juices flowed freely and the words just came from nowhere! (I know they came from God and from within and from my life experiences, but you get the idea)

I could give you some examples, and I'm happy to do that, but I'm hesitant to tell where all my song ideas come from for fear of it making them less "personal" or less interesting. :-) Just know that if I ever share with you where the ORIGINAL idea for a song came from it doesn't mean that I didn't put my own spin and my own life into it. The idea of the Song Club is a writing PROMPT - something to get the individual writer started down a path. It's still up to the writer to come out the other side with a song.

So Adam took a hiatus from this and he turned me onto another one. Same thing - I didn't take part every week, but the weeks I did I was VERY pleased. I had even thought of starting one of my own but didn't get much response so never followed through. Well this morning on the drive in I decided I AM going to do this, and if you're a writer that is interested in this let me know!

To go over some specifics, there is NO COST and you still own the song when you are done. This is for us as songwriters to get our juices flowing and get a song. You don't owe me or the other members a thing, but you will feel better about yourself if you follow through every week.

I will get doe details together over the next couple of weeks and get this started soon. No, that's not another "when I get around to it" thing. I'm just trying to decide the best time to start. I had originally thought about January 1 and let it be a weekly thing for the year 2015, but then decided that's too long to wait... I need this for me. :-)

So I thought about October 1 - but that might be too fast to get this going. I don't want people thinking they are coming in late if they want to be in on the first one. :-)

So - what's your thoughts? This blog entry should post before October 1st, so what's your preference?

My email - for direct communication - jimmylogan0916@gmail.com

Song Club

Typing this on September 23...

Two nights ago there was a new episode of the Commercial Suicide Songwriting Podcast. I started listening and then finished it up yesterday morning. It has inspired me in two ways...

First, I had told Steve Rempis, one of the co-hosts and the actual founder of the show, that I had an idea for a segment and would record some "listener submissions" to be used. So far I have not done this. No excuse, it just hasn't been at the top of my radar...

Second, I realized a couple of weeks ago when Katie Hutton asked me, "written any songs lately?" that I could only answer... No. This kinda made me sad in a way, and I told myself then that I would get back on that.

Well, needless to say I've not written anything since that conversation and I haven't even submitted the old ideas I had. I did get to thinking while driving to work this morning just WHY I haven't written. Several things came to mind...

First, I've been performing a lot more and promoting my new CD. By the way - do you have it yet? :-) If not, I can mail you a copy and it can also be purchased on iTunes, listened for free on Spotify and I have a limited number of "download codes" where you can get the whole thing on CD Baby.

Anyway, performing is a passion of mine and like I said it's been more and more lately and now I've started in a regular band on Saturday nights. No, it's not as fun as having MY band and doing my own music, but it's fun to make people happy and watch them dance. As a dancer I know the feeling of a good, solid band doing traditional music that I can dance to, so I have a connection with the crowd.

Another thing that has taken some of my writing time has been preparing for our weekly Star Wars RPG game via roll20.net. And no, this is NOT a complaint. That has been some GREAT gaming time (and you, gentle reader, will remember that gaming is a high interest hobby of mine) but the MAIN reason I have zero regrets is that it's time I get to spend with Kyle every week! I will not be trading that in for anything and wish I had more "gaming time" with Colton as well...

But anyway, these things were going through my mind on the ride this morning and I was thinking about another song I had written as "self therapy." No, this one is not on my CD and I really thought I had put it on YouTube, but now I can't find it...

Anyway - it's called "Riding with Daddy" and while I was "riding with Vanessa" to work this morning I was singing the song quietly to myself. When I got a particular line I could not for the life of me remember the words to the first part, but I remembered the second part. And just like that the "real" words - what it should have been from the beginning - came to me...

Stand up for yourself but don't be a bully...

So, am I writing? Yes. Well - rewriting, and that's part of the process...

Rather than continue, I'll come back with the next post and talk about the Song Club... :-)

lunch hike

Edit - this was actually typed a couple of weeks ago...

Just walked back in from a lunch break today. Whew! I wanted to get more exercise - well I got it today! I went to a "local place" and scouted out a place to hide the final stage of a big multi I've been thinking about off and on for a long time... I found it! No special equipment needed to get there, but for a guy my size on a 90 degree plus day... Well - it was a walk! :-)

I have another stage already planned. I found "the spot" a few years ago and had an idea and it has just brewed in the back of my mind. I think I'll get a chance to use it on this one... I also have another spot I've wanted to use before but never had a good way to use it. Now my gears are turning for that stage as well... :-)

We used to name all of our caches with the title of a book as it refers to where the cache is or the way it is hidden. The book I'm reading now is A New Dawn. It's the new Star Wars book that ties into the future Rebels show. I'm thinking of incorporating that somehow, but I'm not sure...

Anyway - just wanted to document the hike and start documenting this cache. Vanessa and I never cared for multis that were just point A to point B and just another film can, so I want this to be something you have to figure out. Something that's not completely obvious at first, but yet makes sense. I might even hide clues in other caches and wind up hiding several in the process, but the "big" one be something worthwhile...

Maybe one of my CD's for FTF. :-)

What's Old is New Again

I'm typing this on the 15th of September. I just made the following post to Facebook -

In five days, the Henderson Family Dance place will reopen! I've been asked to supply bass guitar as well as vocals on part of the set. We have a great show planned for this Saturday night and those that have been there before know how great the floor is for dancing!
Plenty of great seating as well! We plan to start at 7 - hope to see YOU there!
(let me know if you need directions...)

As Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story. :-)

This place was open before and I actually subbed from time to time on bass guitar. It closed down for over a year. A few weeks ago I was contacted by the keyboard player from a couple of groups I used to play with (NashVegas in Halls and Pure Country in Hornbeak and Cayce). He said he was going to try and have a place open every Saturday night starting in September and asked if I was interested.

Now at this point, those of you that know me well know that of COURSE I was interested. My only hesitation? I don't want it to take the place of my solo endeavors and especially my songwriting. Knowing also that most of my songs are "traditional" style and recognizing the fact that the best way to get inspired is by having new experiences and being exposed to more music, I agreed. 

Does this mean I've stopped the solo thing? Not at all! I'm still booking solo appearances and singer/songwriter stuff, and of course I hope to introduce the people of Henderson to some original songs as time goes on as well. 

The floor down there (Henderson is South of us) is GREAT! There is plenty of seating to the SIDES of the dance floor for those that like to hear the band and watch the dancers. There are concessions at the back as well. I don't know what the "per head" price will be, but most places are charing around $6 a person, so I'm confident it will be comparable.

Who's in the band? Jimmy Skiles is the keyboard player and "leader" of the band. He sits to my right. To my left is John Hodges on lead guitar. Behind me is Stacy Shattuck on drums. We will all sing in turn so that at the end of the night each of us has done one fourth of the show, and of course it's all dance music! Waltzes, line dances, two stepping, slow dancing - it's all included. :-)

I don't think you'll find the place on Facebook, and I don't know the "official" address, but dropping a pin in Apple Maps gets me this - 

4955 US Highway 45 S

Finger, TN  38334-1992

The pin is on 45 ByPass between Henderson and Selmer and the gray roof building in the upper right is the dance hall itself.

It's super easy to get to... Coming from Jackson just go to Henderson and stay on 45 ByPass. This pic shows a little better where it is - 

Once you pass Leath Lane you will pass a "turn around" at Old Naylor Road, then you'll see a flashing arrow sign on the left side of the road. Make the next "turn around" and you'll come right back to the sign and make a right into the driveway.

If you're coming from the South (Selmer, or Mississippi), you'll take 45 ByPass past Selmer and Bethel Springs. You'll see Finger-Leapwood Road on the right (that's the biggest "road" coming from that direction) and you'll know you're VERY close...

Just past the fifth "turn around" you'll see the Arrow Sign on the right at the driveway.

If you need specific info, feel free to call me or text me at 731-345-9229...

edit - here's a pic from opening night...

Better Fit - and games

Okay - I want to lose weight and I want to get healthier. Okay - I've said it - I've made that proclamation public.

We just celebrated our 28th Anniversary and had a great time! I took Vanessa to eat at Olive Garden in Jackson (which wasn't around when we were married) and drove to Casey Jones Motel (which was there) where we stayed the first night of marriage.

We visited a little chapel back by the mini golf course and sang our song to each other. We also rang the wedding bells as we left the building.

I then drove us to the site of the place where we "met" 31 years ago. There used to be an amusement park just off of Hollywood. The bowling alley next door is still there, but that's all. There was a building with an arcade, they had a water slide, bumper boats, a batting cage and mini golf. Now there's just a blacktop parking lot and grass softball fields, but we can still see everything like it was yesterday...

Speaking of yesterday, we picked up Colton and Tiffani and the four of us went to eat at Lambert's in Sikeston. We had a great time and some great food! While we were waiting for an hour and a half I decided to walk around the building to get the Munzees that I had not gotten before. I captured seven of them and grabbed the eighth on the way out. (there are nine, but I had gotten the oldest one on a previous visit) Since I didn't have a geocache for August 31st, I stopped on the way out of town at a used book store and grabbed one there.

What does this have to do with getting healthy? I'm typing this on a parking lot while Vanessa is shopping. We just bought her a new bike to ride and I'm going to service mine when we get home. I noticed there are now a TON of Munzees in Jackson, and one was 300 foot from the truck, so I made the walk. I realized right away that this is going to be part of my exercise...

No, I'm not jumping back into the geocaching game with both feet. It's a team sport, as far as I am concerned, and my team mate is not interested right now, but I realized that I can do some walking and capturing like I did last night and again today. Every little bit helps, right? :-)

She's back - time to roll!!!

Thanks for reading...

Addendum before posting on 9/20... I had some issues with my bike so we ended up buying one for me as well. LOVE IT! Nice big tires... Better handlebars... And the brakes work! Always a bonus! :-)

Happy 31st Life Day

Life Day - for Star Wars fans that's the Thanksgiving and Christmas time of year. For me, it's September 16th and the first one was in 1983. That's the day Vanessa and I officially became "a couple."

We "found each other" before that, but that was the time we officially started dating - and the rest is history! We have now been married for 28 years but our life together started before that - on Life Day - and we've been together ever since!

Yes, this is a short post, but I want to commemorate the day with best wishes to my wife and soul mate! I love you!!!

Car Wars Unboxing

On our first day of Gen Con, one of the things Kyle was anxious for was the new release (or re-release?) of Car Wars Classic. No, this is not the pocket box - this is an actual "box" about the size of Munchkin.

Anyone who knows me knows that growing up Car Wars was my favorite game. I still run PBEM games of it - current one is at http://mh42-madhatpbem.blogspot.com    And for about 10 episodes I published a Car Wars Podcast. Thanks to the wayback machine and another Car Wars fan, I have collected all of these old episodes and am planning to resurrect the show. I'm trying to decide if I want to republish the old episodes "as is" (in a "classic" move) or incorporate the content into new shows first. This will preserve the classic content but let me take out ads for podcasts that are no longer around as well as links that are no longer good. :-)

Anyway, I was excited that Kyle was excited about it and gladly bought it for him. We did an unboxing, but played X-Wing miniatures instead. :-) I was impressed that the counters were "punched" (in the old days we had to take scissors to them) and that it even had a turning key! The map was a VERY nice addition as I expected no map or at the very most road sections.

I had some response from some Twitter posts, so before we left town I took pics of the contents. This blog post includes them all...

This was a pic I posted on Twitter and had some responses.

And this one as well.

The rest, below, are an official "unboxing." :-)

Box Top...

Box Bottom...

Close up of the name of that side of the map.

Pretty sure the website wasn't there in 1990... ;-)

Reminded me of the Muskogee Expansion, just smaller.

The arena side.

This reminded me of one I found a long time ago and called it "Wall to Wall." The solid black lines are tall walls that block movement AND line of sight. The While ones block movement only.

This was referred to on the forums as the "floppy disk arena." Can you guess why? :-)

Larger shot...

The rulebook. I verified that it's 5 phase movement and the crash tables looked like 2.5.

The "bits." This was one of the most impressive parts! Remember how we had to cut these out in the old days? Everything was just like you see it here, including the turning key!

Some blank record sheets were included.

Weapons list had the basic stuff, but NOT all of the various "nickel and dime" stuff.

Notice the MG and VMG, but NOT the LMG, MMG or HMG.

All in all, a good opening, and VERY refreshing after seeing Version 5 a few years ago... This is the old game, but not boats and such. It's the game as it was meant to be played.