Luka

There are those times you look back in your life, and kind of laugh, but not really.  One memory that sticks out to me is the time my Dad really offended my Mom without aiming to do so.

The year was 1987, and a new artist by the name of Suzanne Vega had come out with a song called, "Luka."

My Mother had heard it before me, so the next time it came on the radio we were in her car.  She turned it up, and made sure I listened to all the words.  She wanted me to know it was about child abuse, and without saying it, I could tell this song meant a lot to her.

Now my Mother wasn't exactly treated well as a child.  It wasn't full on physical abuse, but that kind of mental abuse only a depressed parent can put on an entire family. 

Why this song really stuck out to my Mother was that, it was one of the first songs to deal with those kinds of social issues.  The 60's had plenty of social issue songs, but we are talking about 1987.  The week that "Luka" hit #8 on the Top 40 (August 1st, 1987,) it really stuck out in terms of being a social issue song.  Take for instance, some of the other songs on the top 10.  #1., Bob Segar with "Shakedown."  #2., U2 with "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."  #3., Heart with "Alone."  So you can see it was the strange (out there) song compared to the other songs that were hits that year. 

So, the next time the whole family was in the car, guess what song comes on the radio?  What I didn't know then was that, my Dad hated that song.  But the weird part was, he didn't know what it was about. 

So here's the first verse.

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes, I think you've seen me before

So my Dad sings,

My name is Luka
I sing a stupid song

And that's when my Mom came unglued.  "This songs about child abuse!!!  Why would you say that?"  Dad was like, "What???"  Mom then went on to let him know that it was all about child abuse, and that the song meant a lot to her.  She did this while fighting back tears that whole time. 

I will say this.  Dad let her have her say, and he kind of kept quiet the rest of the time.  Think of my weird family's interaction the next time you are on the 80's station, and "Luka" comes on.

Not Another Project! Combo Amp Time!

Not another project!  It's time I finished my other projects before I start another one right?  Well, this has a good purpose.  Since I am playing small venues I really need a small amp.  I've been carrying around an 80 pound SUNN amp from the 70's.  It sounds so awesome, but I just can't carry that thing around anymore.

So I decided to perform a bit of building, modding, and customizing.  Let me start at the beginning.  For my birthday I received an Epiphone Valve Junior amp head.

These are some of the most customizable amps on the market.  I plan on buying a Bitmo kit that will add sound options for this head.  Next I will build a combo amp cabinet out of some of the nice wood I have lying around. 

I am still deciding on what speaker I will be using, but that is still a ways off.  I would like to use a alnico speaker, but those are so expensive.  And even though alnico speakers have a certain bluesy sound that can't be beat, there are some ceramic speakers that overdrive faster that I am seriously considering.  Either way, I plan on using a 10 inch speaker for a tighter sound. 

So I plan on updating my blog with new pictures once I get some work accomplished.  I have a good feeling that this project will come out pretty nice.

Falling in Autumn

I decided to paint a "Fall' painting.  I also decided to paint it Bob Ross style.  Really fast, and lots of paint.  I'm still undecided on it.

The first picture is with a flash.  The second one is without one.

There are things I like about it, but I think by getting in a hurry I put paint where paint didn't need to be.  I know you are supposed to look at paintings at least 10 feet away, so looking at them on the computer kind of defeats that point. 

I don't know.  I was happy with it, but the more I look at it, the more I am unhappy with it.  Maybe I should add some more paint overtop of other paint? 

This reminds me of a previous blog I wrote called, "I am a terrible painter."

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-am-terrible-painter.html

That was followed by, "I am a terrible painter, part 2."

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/04/i-am-terrible-painter-part-2.html

Of all the funny things that was followed by, "I am a sloppy painter?"

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/03/i-am-sloppy-painter.html

I guess the main point I was making is that, I am really bad at painting.  I'll have to think on which direction to go with this painting, even thought it is technically "finished."

Adrian: Amatuer Craftsman, The Bathroom Cabinet, Part 4

So here's the great news.  The cabinet is finished.  Lili (not her real name) finished up the details on the vines and flowers that adorn the cabinet.  We then applied a layer of wipe on poly to seal the paint. 

Here's the photos:

So now that the cabinet is ready it's time to hang it up right?  Well, not exactly.  You see, it has been decided that the bathroom needs to be painted, and it wouldn't make any sense to hang this up, and then paint.  So, we will wait until the bathroom is painted, and then we will hang the cabinet up. 

Well, that also means good news in that, I get another blog or two out of this project.  Stay tuned.  More will be coming.

New Sloppy Art Day

I've done a few bad art/ sloppy art posts before, so here's another one.  Every now and then I get some time and decide to paint a few paintings.  But before I get into that let me explain my painting style.  Honestly, I can't paint life-like/realistically to save my life.  I learned that I am too impatient, and way too sloppy.  But then, I was introduced to impressionist art.  And it was perfect for me.  I found that the sloppier I was, the better I was.

So here's what I have been up to lately.

This one is called "Picasso's Blue Reef."  Of all the paintings I have painted, I think I like this one the best.  I wanted to do something like Picasso, where he had a "blue" period.  I thought, what if I took Picasso's blue thoughts, and used them to paint a coral reef.  So I used all sorts of blues on this painting.  It came out great.  Again, I am really happy with it.

This one is called "Around the Old Oak Tree."  I wanted to so something a bit different.  This was supposed to be part of a five part series.  I'm still working on the series, but this one was supposed to be "Earth."  The picture itself is a little brighter than it is in real life due to the flash.  I think it's a nice, happy painting that doesn't try to over think anything.  It's just nice.

This one is called, "The Little Red Admiral From Argentina."  The butterfly itself is called a Red Admiral, and the species that I painted makes its home in Argentina.  Again, this was something outside my comfort zone.  I actually started painting a butterfly, but it didn't turn out right.  So I painted over that painting, and came up with this.  I'm pretty happy with it.  It has a lot more detail than you can see in the photo.

This is part one of a two part series.  I made this painting and the following one as a "fire and ice" theme.  This of course, would be the ice.  I call it, "Busy Day on the Blue Reef."  Here's a funny note.  I had an idea for a brush I needed, but they didn't make that kind of brush.  So I went to Home Depot, bought a brush, and cut it to the needed shape.  If you see the "seaweed" on the bottom, that's what I used the brush to paint. 

This one is called, "Maroon 5 Clownfish."  Yes, I am a bit of a smart aleck.  But if you look there are 5 Maroon Clownfish in the picture.  I also used my special brush in the middle bottom of this painting.  It's come in really handy.  At first, I wasn't sure how this painting would come out.  But once the finishing touches were put on it, it really started to pop out. 

So that's what I have been up to lately.  Stay tuned.  I'm sure I will spit out a couple more works pretty soon. 

Doggie

Long story short, I made a video for my friend Josh.  He has a song I've always liked called "Doggie."  So I "borrowed" my girlfriend's (and kinda mine) dog Monster. 

It was something that I enjoyed doing.  It's a fun creative process.  It just takes a while to learn all the features of the video maker.  But enough talk.  Let's go right to the video.  And one more thing.  You can find Josh's music page on Facebook.  Just look up Josh Paul in Tampa, Fl.

I hope you enjoyed it.  Take care.

Repairing Josh's Guitar, Part 2

For Part 1, read this:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/05/repairing-joshs-guitar-part-1.html

I'll start from where I left off last time.  Basically I had glued the guitar's neck back together, and had sanded the rough cracks even.  I had added stain and the first coat of wipe on polyurethane. 

My next steps where just adding wipe on poly once a day for a number of days.  Once I had done that I decided to buff out the neck on my buffing machine.  Here's the pictures from that.

I have to say that I am pretty happy with that.  I wasn't sure how it was going to come out.  Honestly, I have to say this was my best work on a cracked neck.  But truthfully, no two cracked guitar necks are the same.  But I was able to get this repaired, and the truss rod still works fine.  That's a giant relief.

So next was making the bone nut.  Since Josh  had lost the original plastic nut, I had to build him a new one.  I won't go over step by step on how I made it.  Only know that I put a good amount of time into it.  I hadn't made a bone nut in years, and there is a real art to it.  You can put a lot of time and effort into making one, and despite your best efforts it can come out like crap.  Like I said, there is a real art to it. 

But I'm glad to say it came out great.  Here are the pictures of me making it.

If you wonder what the black marks are, those are graphite from a pencil.  It helps slicken the grooves so the strings slide easier. 

Next up was double checking how the poly on the back of the neck had dried. 

I gotta say, I am really pleased with how the guitar came out.  I set it up, and it plays really nice. Now let's hope that Josh won't do something else dangerous to this guitar. 

Repairing Josh's Guitar, Part 1.

I have a friend named Josh.  He's a great guy, but sometimes doesn't make the best decisions.  Case in point, he was doing something not so smart and broke the neck on his Dean acoustic guitar.  Well, that means it's time for to work my magic.  I mean, I fret dressed and set up that guitar to actually make it playable in the first place.  So my goal is to make it at least 95% of what it was. 

Luckily, I took pictures.  Here's what the guitar looked like with giant cracks in it.

So yeah, that's not pretty.  But that's not the only thing.  When the guitar hit the concrete it also scratched up the back.  Here's some pictures of it.

All those white marks are scratches.  It looks like I have my work cut out for me.

First up, I loosened the truss rod, and saw that the wood wanted to lay flat together.  I then loaded as much Titebond 2 wood glue as I could into the various cracks.  Next, I used my old timey clamps to clamp it together.

Here's the pictures of the clamping.

I have the one clamp angled like that to hold one of the splintered ends in, so it could glue up. 

I then let the glue have 48 hours to dry.  I always give Titebond 2 48 hours to dry.  So this is what it looked like after I took off the clamps.

Despite being somewhat jagged, the wood glued together pretty good.  Luckily there is a neat trick I know about working on overseas Dean guitars.  They are actually sprayed with a polyester spray, not polyurethane.  That means you can lay into them on a buffing wheel.  So I took the neck of the guitar and put it on the buffing wheel to knock down the edges.

Next I started sanding out the high edges.  Here's the pics.

As you can see, I taped off the parts I didn't want to get scratched.  I then took a block sander and smoothed down any high spots.  I then took it back to the buffer.

However, I not only buffed the neck, but the body as well.  Remember those scratches on the back of the guitar?  Well, I took them to the buffer as well.

First up, here's the neck after the 2nd buffing.

And here are the pictures of the body.

Not only was I able to get those scratches out, I was able to get a few other ones out as well.  I also smoothed up a few places that couldn't be seen on camera, but could be seen by the naked eye. 

Next it was time to start making the neck look nice.  First up was adding stain to it.  This is what it looked like after the stain.

And then I started adding a Wipe On Poly.  This is only the first coat, but look at the outcome!

I've been working on guitars for a while, but this is the best I have ever done on a repaired neck.  I guess practice makes perfect.  But I've gotta say, this one presented me with a good challenge.  It's not over.  I still need to build up layers of poly, make a bone nut, and set her up again.  Wait until Part 2.  It may look like a whole new guitar. 

I am a ..... Sloppy Painter?

To understand this blog post better, read the following blogs first.

Part 1.  I am a terrible painter
http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-am-terrible-painter.html

Part 2.  I am a terrible painter, part 2
http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/04/i-am-terrible-painter-part-2.html

With the help of friends and family I have come to the understanding that I am not a terrible painter/ artist.  I am just different.  Art can be so subjective, and no one sees things the same way.  It actually surprised me when I learned that many of the impressionist painters have very bad eyesight, and that's why they painted that way.  As a person with really bad eyesight, I can sympathize.  I can also take my glasses off, and see another way to view the world.  And when I do that I feel like my art can be defined as something other than terrible.  It actually does have a place in the art world.

I have also been told that what I lack in technique, I make up for in style.  As in, my own painting style.  I've known many painters that can copy other people's techniques, and can draw things very exact, but they lack their own sense of style.  I am kind of the other way.  I have limited techniques that I use on every painting, but they are my own.  If you look at one of my paintings you will know that I painted them due to my style, and not someone else. 

I admit, I do like to paint coral reefs.  I think they give me a great excuse to go crazy with the paints.  When people look at coral reef paintings they expect lots of color and energy, and I'm more than glad to give them that. 

Here's some that I have painted recently.

"Lost Anchor"

It started out as a painting called, "Goth Night at the Coral Reef."  I called it that due to the very abstract colors I choose for it.  I had painted the background, and was really happy about it, and then nothing.  I couldn't decide on what I wanted to do with it.  I then put it away for 6 months.  After a while I decided it needed a rusty anchor in it.  Most paintings in the impressionist style are best seen at a distance of 10 or more feet.  So posting a picture of it on the internet makes it kind of hard to view.  It does look a little odd when you are 2 feet from the image on your screen, but in real life this looks pretty good.

The next painting I did was called, "My Brain Corral is Smarter Than Your Brain Coral."

This picture was taken after I added the background.

 

 

This next picture is after I added the coral.

 

And here is the finished painting.

I do have to give credit to my Girlfriend.  She painted the Angelfish.  I wanted something nice and neat to contrast with the sloppy painting.

And by that, I mean I think I have found my niche.  I am not a terrible artist.  I am a sloppy artist.  And I don't mean that in a bad way.  I mean that when I paint sloppily and don't think much about what I'm doing, it turns out great.  When I try to be precise, it turns out horrible.  So by slinging paint and being sloppy, I am actually being a better artist.  I am okay with that. 

I will say this, I think my techniques are getting more refined so I can take what's in my head, and put it on the canvas a little better.  I feel really excited about my next painting.  I think it will turn out pretty good. 



Unfiltered

Note:  No real names will be used in this blog.

I have this friend by the name of "M."  It seems his birthday is coming up.  One of the things he likes to do in his spare time is stand up comedy.  So his girlfriend "Dee Dee" wants all his friends to throw him a roast for his birthday.  For those who don't know, a "roast" is when a bunch of comics get together, and rag on/ make jokes about their friend.  The other thing about a roast is that, the comics also make fun of the other comics/guests at the roast. 

This left me to thinking...  Since I am a friend I would be invited to this roast.  And it also made me think....  I would get to roast M.  And then, I would not only get to roast M, but everyone else.  And thus, the ultimate thought would be that I would get to be completely unfiltered.  And let's be honest, my unfiltered thoughts are much like the pictures in my blog.

Honestly, I am filtering about 80% of my thoughts all the time.  I'd hate to think what would happen if they were unleashed upon an exsuspecting crowd.  Heck, even an expecting crowd would be equally impressed/offended by my stand up.

That's the one thing that Dee Dee didn't think ahead.  As M's girlfriend she would be a main target.  And I gotta admit that I've already got a few jokes in mind.  And that's the funny thing.  I don't have many for M yet, but boy do I have a few zingers for Dee Dee.  In all fairness she gives a comic a lot of ammo.  She's a former stripper/ webcam "model" with 16 tattoos.  And that's not to mention all the rings in her head/tongue, etc.  And then when you actually get to meet her, you can get a whole lot more zingers come to your head. 

The idea is to hold the roast at the independent coffee shop we all go.  This would be a great place to make fun of.  I can make fun of the menu, items, overpriced drinks and things.  I would also be able to make fun of the groups that meet there.  Namely vegetarians, Green Party, and persons going through gender reassignment surgery.  Really, the place is Rush Limbaugh's worst nightmare.

So then I got to thinking, there are other people to make fun of too.  The owner Kay is a lesbian and her partner Mand are a great couple to make fun of.  Mainly because they are quite a bit different from each other.  There would be a great opportunity to make all the power roles in their relationship.  And of course I would get to use the words bulldyke, powerdyke, and fisting.

There's a guy who works part time at the coffee house is an openly gay man named B.M.  I think he kind of likes me in a more than platonic way.  He's a really nice guy, but I'm sure there are quite a few jokes I could tell about him trading me tea for sexual favors.

There is an amazing person that I met at the coffee house.  His name is J. and he was born premature.  He was not supposed to live, but he made it.  He has M.S. but a lot of people think he is retarded.  He's not, but he has the speech impediment, and rough walk that makes people think he is.  Despite all the crap he has endured, he has become an amazing person.  He is also surprisingly gay.  So there is a lot to have fun with except one thing.  He has endured so much ridicule in his life that he can't take a joke or insult, even if that is the norm with a roast.  I would have a few things to razz him about, but only if he wasn't there.

A lot of M's friends come on game night.  One night I was there I heard them arguing over Pokemon facts.  I didn't know them, but I wanted to comment on what total virgins they were.  So that's a definite when holding a roast. 

There's also a woman, I'll call her "S." who hosts a comedy workshop.  She would be a great one to poke fun at.  I already have a good one lined up in that, I'm not sure if she's a lesbian, straight, bi, or just playing hard to get. 

The funny thing is that M is totally against this idea of a roast.  He thinks that a roast is only for people at the height of their genius.  Since he is an amatuer comic he thinks he is undeserving of a roast.  I kinda like the idea since it's an after hours/ only between friends sort of thing.  I hope he goes through with it, but I understand if this doesn't happen.