Flash Computer Art

I haven't drawn in a long time, but I used to dabble in drawing on computer inside Flash. With Flash you're restricted to figures that are sort of cartoonish in nature, so there's no shading, but the neat thing about vector art is that it's completely scalable. You can zoom in as much as you like without losing any detail at all. (You won't be able to zoom in on these images without losing detail because I saved them as jpgs for uploading to Blogger.)

These were all drawn with a mouse by the way. I've tried using those Waco drawing tablet-pen devices and find them more frustrating than anything.

Steve Martin - Atheists Don't Have No Songs

This is hilarious. This is Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. They've been together for quite a few years now. If you haven't seen them before, you should search through YouTube for some of their songs. They're not only funny but are very good musicians too.

Here they are doing Orange Blossom Special with a bit of King Tut at the end.

And here there are with another tune featuring their amazing fiddle player, Nicky Sanders, playing Auden's Train.

"The Sorrowing Tree" is Now a Video!

My little instrumental tune is now a story and a movie. Happy Easter to all.

The Best 60s Surf Band You Never Heard

The Jokers were a great Belgium instrumental group that played a lot of surf music but much more. They were on a par with The Ventures, and truth be known, they were probably a little bit better. The band formed in 1959, but it was when the great 15 year old guitarist, Ronny Sigo, joined the band in 1962 that things really took off. All of these guys were really young actually, but Ronny Sigo simply had no peer when it came to the 60s surf guitar sound. It's a shame that he's almost completely unknown outside of Belgium (and Japan) where he still performs as Ronny Sigo and The Jokers. (He's the only original member left.)

Something very original that Ronny Sigo did was his use of a volume pedal to do swells with. He was doing this extensively as far back as 1964 long before any other guitarist was using one or manipulating the knob on their guitar. What's more, he used it very melodically. (You can hear him using one in the video of Tabou listed below, but you never see it in the video since they're just faking it, playing along with a recording.)

They're playing Sabre Dance here circa 1964:



Here they are performing Hully Gully.



Here they play Tabou.

Berlin 1900 In Stunning Color Film

Hard to believe there was color footage this nice in 1900. It really makes you feel less removed from such long ago periods. You feel like you could have been there yourself walking down the street.

Affordable Dentistry?

Just got back from getting a filling at a place called Affordable Dentistry. They charged me $326 for a filling! Is this actually affordable dentistry? I know prices on everything keep going up every year, but this seems like plain old thievery to me for less than an hour’s work. My last dentist didn't charge half this, and he was able to retire at 45! I guess this new breed have set their sites on retiring at 30.

I’m fairly conservative, but health care is one area where I feel a certain affinity with democrats. Heath care agencies, insurance agencies, and personal injury lawyers have got the health care system so screwed up that it wouldn't bother me at all if the government stepped in and took it over. I’m tired of making boat payments for every crook in town.

Just hadda say it.

Anthony Doerr—All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel

If you're looking for something to read, a novel that will appeal to men and women both and of every age, this latest novel by Doerr is the best thing I've read since CS Lewis’ Till We Have Faces. It really is that good. All the Light We Cannot See is about three children growing up during WWII, a brother and sister from Germany who have grave misgivings about Germany waging war, and a blind French girl whose country is of course devastated by it. I read a lot of books and dislike the vast majority of modern novels. This one is truly exceptional. A great story told by what is perhaps the best wordsmith I've ever encountered. In fact, if you're an aspiring writer wanting to learn how to write, forget all those silly how-to books and just read this novel. If you can’t learn how to write, and write well, after reading this book, then give up. There’s no hope for you.