Two Beers and a Pretzel

So I’ve been in LA for almost a week now.  I’m staying with my cousin Asa and his roommate Brian.  Brian just happens to be the guitarist and backup vocalist for Rebekah White - Asa’s girlfriend.  In the apartment we have 12 guitars, a mandolin, a bass, a gut-bucket bass, a keyboard, various drums, a bunch of amplifiers, and I brought the sitar with me.  It’s quite the place for music making.

On Friday, Rebekah and Brian had a concert at the Cabanna Club in Hollywood, and Asa was playing with the Conley’s - the closing band of the night.  I got to record the video and audio, as well as run around looking like an official photographer.  It was pretty fun, but I need to work on my event photography skills - especially using my flash unit and figuring out how to focus the lens quickly in a dark room.  But I got a fair number of good shots…

Asa drumming for the Conley’s - I just thought this was a cool shot…

Rebekah and Brian in mid set…  There were a few other good shots of them, but this was by far the best one…

Asa on Mandolin and Harmonica with a nice background blur effect (I love the large aperture lenses)

The LA Skyline…

On Saturday and Sunday, we all went to the NAMM show next to Disneyland in Anaheim.  I couldn’t actually get in because there was a problem getting me a pass, but I would have just been following Rebekah around to all the people she needed to see anyway, so no big deal…  and there was plenty to do outside the main show.  I attended a vendor exhibit on how you can add your own songs (with the animations and game play jems) to the ROCKBAND video game online store, and earn a percentage of money when people buy your songs.  Currently, bands pay around $1500 to consulting companies to add a single song to the game store.  Ouch.

I was thinking of photoshopping this pic to say NO BABIES - Leave them in your car, please.

Odd how I read an article by the NAMM chairman about how he used to sneak into shows 10 years ago.  Security was pretty tight, and they were checking ID’s everywhere.  I guess he doesn’t want anyone pulling his old tricks…

But, there were a lot of outdoor concerts and freak-show watching (mostly people dressed like 80’s punk and metal bands), so I stayed plenty busy.

This week Rebekah has to be in San Francisco for a work conference and a photo shoot, so us boys will be hanging out and jamming.  I want to figure out my sitar versions of ‘The Devil Went Down to Punjab’, the ‘Led Zeppelin Medley Raga’, and what will probably be a futile attempt at slide blues on a sitar…  If any of them turn out well, I’ll post an MP3 on the blog.  I’m sure everyone is holding their breath in anticipation.

Oh yeah, and Asa and will I refine the pitch for our little side project…

With a break in the weather on Sunday, I drove to my Sister’s place in Tennessee.  Then Monday I left for L.A.  I made it to Albuquerque before I was to tired to go on.  Then on Tuesday I amended one of the missing landmarks from my Route 66 trip and stopped by Petrified Forest National Park.

First you hit the badlands of the painted desert

Some of the wood was not completely petrified.  The cell walls have turned to rock, but the inside did not absorb any other silica compounds, so it still looks like wood, but it’s really rock.

Versus wood that is totally petrified.

I also got a better picture from Winslow, AZ.

Going farther West, I saw a great sunset in Arizona.

I made it to Asa’s place in Burbank around 10:30PM and unpacked my sitar.  It’s going to be an interesting month…  I’m probably going to work by taking head-shots for actors and actresses - since it’s the new pilot season, and they all need updated shots.