Sunday, December 29, 2013

Top Ten 2013 Albums...


Here's my Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2013, 
starting with Number 10...

10. Robert Randolph & The Family Band - Lickety Split
Slide master and family is probably the gospel-party-est (?!)
album of the year. Santana makes a guest appearance and 
does ok with his solo but…sorry…takes second 
place to Robert's 'orbital antebrachial nerve cutting notes
(remember the scene in the movie 127 Hours!?) ALL over the album!
(Keep practicing my dulcimer.)


9. The Civil Wars (big plume of smoke cover)
John & Joy complement each other so smooth in questions of love and hurt. 
"I can't pull you closer than this, it's just you and the moon on my skin" from 
the song Eavesdrop is a perfect stroke of peace in
a dark gray forest (in Appalachia) with moonbeams lighting the way.
It's also great to see Charlie Peacock all over the album too.


8. Dug Pinnick - Naked
A great co-album to the Pinnick-Gales-Pridgen album. (see #7) 
Dug's  deep, deep, growling bass notes and really honest lyrics 
keep his craft alive, groovy and kicking.


7. Pinnick - Gales - Pridgen
Did any1 else notice this album, this trio this year?!! 
I don't think i've seen any other top-tens with this 'hammer album' in it?!
I was just thinking of a combo of Dug Pinnick and Eric Gales 
a while back and thought, 'wouldn't that be a dream duo!'
(keep thinking 'bags of money from the sky' Mark)
This is a 3 gun attack of the 3 masters of bass, left handed 
guitar and drums. Is there a tour?


6. Heath McNease - The Weight of Glory
Sorry, i'm probably the last one on the block to find out 
about Heath McNease. This guy is phenomenal in his rap(id) 
prose, adjectives verbs and nouns. He also does a great 
job on 'painting' with CS Lewis themes and lines in this project album. 
The music backing this is a little weak, but the words redeem.
(During his non-rap segments, his singing sounds 
like it's Paul Hewson singing!!)
Listen to him and his gold chain of rap(id) 
art, hear at HIS SITE.


5. Big Country - The Promise
Mike Peters did a great job in working with BC and their tour this year.
(But to be honest, i got this album because i 
needed an ALARM fix.) 


4. Animal Flag - The Sounds of Sleep
I'm getting into the quartet of albums that have been rotating 
off and on my top pick(s) for the year, and Animal Flag was 
constantly wanting to be listened by me. 
Matthew Politoski and his all star group of musicians 
made a magnet 'search and create' piece of dreamy, hypnotic, catchy,  
peaceful and consoling tunes. Play this loud in the dark, "when your down 
and you need a helping hand…and soon…"


                                                  3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC) - Spector @ The Feast
First off, i just knew this album HAD to be dedicated to Michael Been.
The back cover said so, YES.
Second, the number 2 song is "Let
The Day Begin", cooowelll! 
Third and throughout, The ghost of Michael 
was definitely guiding the hands of Robert in lyrics, ambience and groove.
When Michael was alive and mentoring BRMC, the band had and has it's 
own persona, but on Spector at the Feast, it has the 'Alma de Miguel'.
P.S. - I patiently waiting for The Call Reunion CD/DVD concert, that was
recorded last April, with Robert Levon as lead vox and bass!!


2. After Edmund - Art & Commerce 
     This is the 'yin' of my top two albums of 2013. 
I'll have to say the music is a masterpiece to me. Each song was so well crafted and 
links each other with the right chord change, stop, soft setting and perfect note response. 
The lyrics, to me, are somewhat simple and plain, not too deep. 
 The songs start with the small troubles of life, to the bigger dilema's of the world 
 people and souls, eventually wishing you were a 'Superhuman' to fix it all.
A&C finishes well with the right answer and solution for the early song questions.
Again, this album is my musical fave.



                                           1. Daniel Amos - Dig Here Said The Angel
This is the 'yang' of my top albums. Safe to say IT IS 
my favorite for 2013. I like Art & Commerce better for their 
music, BUT Dig Here… is a masterpiece of lyrics to me.
Each time i listen to one of the songs, i see more of 
the lamentations, worship and humbleness (of Terry Taylor
and my/personal understanding (even if 
it's a microbe of understanding) of the paradoxes of life and God.
A nice swirl of the album and my pondering.
To be nit-picky, the first two songs, musically, don't catch me (maybe the 'hors d'oeuvres'?) 
with the 'Neverhood style oompha keys', but the title song 'Dig Here…'
hooks me for good. I'm truly left with a sense of God's 
'Love, Grace & Mercy', and 'I will get exactly, what i don't deserve.


alot of these albums!!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Game of the Goose

I went to the U of O

                                                                art museum and saw 
this great graphic (1 of 63)

Friday, August 23, 2013

Bek checked out THE BRIDAL CANOPY from the 
Eugene Public Library today and we both 
noticed the nice Ben Shahn illy on the front!

Lydia's Legs!?

I couldn't resist finishing up Lydia Mendoza's legs!
(& guitar)

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

YTTTM Envelope #8...

Can you guess we saw the movie STAR TREK, Into the Darkness?!
Number 8 of my 'Your Ticket to the Movies' contest for 
The Register Guard.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Sunday, July 28, 2013

...the right half of my YTTTM's envelope #6

Here's the second half of my 2 part envelope illy
for The Register Guard 'Your Ticket to The Movies' contest.

(PLUS, the both of them 2gether!)
Fall Creek Reservoir was where Daniel (my boy) and i were
at, for our camp week, with St. John's Family Camp!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

my YTTTM contest envelope #5...

I did a two part/one illustration envelope(s), 
for The Register Guard 'Your Ticket to the Movies Contest', 
these next two Friday's because i'm 
going to be away at camp next to a resevoir. 
This is the left half of the envelope(s) - the right half 
will be shown next week and you'll see the whole picture!
Exciting huh!? 
Yea right...no one is noticing (eyeore voice)

Monday, July 15, 2013

The Register Guard - 'Your Ticket to the Movies Contest' envelope #4...

Here's my YTTTM contest 
illustrated envelope #4!
(keywords: Johnny Depp, Register Guard, Eugene, Dead Crow, 
desert, dessert, Mark Jaquette, illustrationISM, watercolor)

Irate Pirate

Are 
pirates irate 
all the time?

Thursday, July 11, 2013

my third Register Guard 'Ticket to the Movies' contest envelope.

i decided to script/calligraphize 
(and i was pressed for time) 
the 3rd envelope for 
The Register Guard 
'Your Ticket to the Movies' contest.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

My TTTM's Envelope #2....

It's been such a relative HOT WEEK here 
in eUgene, so i made an envelope with a (actual) 
burnt corner, for THE REGISTER GUARD.

Monday, June 24, 2013

2013 Your Ticket to the Movies envelope #1

Here's my first illustrated envelope (for year 3? 4? 5?) for 
The Register Guard and their summer movie ticket contest!
(keywords: watermelon, sky, sun, Bono, sunglasses, cloud, 
Eugene, The Register Guard, Mark Jaquette)

Friday, June 21, 2013

Artist on the Spot by Norman MacDonald...

I found this great book at St. Vinney's!! I never heard of the guy, but 
he's a new favorite illustrator!! Norman MacDonald (not the comedian
is his name and the book is Artist on the Spot.



(another new favorite/new find is the band
AFTER EDMUND! Their new album 
Art & Commerce is awesome!)

Friday, May 31, 2013

Yeshu, Merrimack (sp?) and Alpine Springs...

Today when the Hosanna Dance kids were dancing for the seniors at Alpine Springs, I had a cup of coffee before the start of it, talked to a nice old man named 'Merrimack' (sp?) who told me he
misses his garden,backyard and house but has to live in the retirement house now.
He's had a stroke, or two, and told me, in January, before moving to Alpine, he went fishing near Marcola, went up a forest road, and was snowed in and locked in for 3 days; he tried to hike out but had a stroke, fell down a gully near by and was found, thankfully feet first in a creek by a rescuer! 
Now he can't drive and lives now at Alpine Springs with his wife.
What a life, what a soul! He was hard of hearing but nice to talk to!
The dancing started, i finished my coffee, and decided to doodle on the styro, a brain-toss
of an idea about Yeshu and the truth about his grandson the goat herder, his goats, 
the coffee bush and the real story of coffee
And then in the evening, Peter Mead invited us to The Prefontaine Classic at 
Hayward Field to watch all the Ethiopians, Eritreans, Kenyans, Aussies, Brits, 
Canadians and Germans run, throw and jump!
What a day
And Daniel beat me in golf, this morning at Sutton Ridge at RiverRidge...50-64!

Monday, May 6, 2013

i had a dream about Tony Orlando

Last Friday morning i had a dream about Tony Orlando 
(read the copy to get the details) and then when i was reading the 
morning Register Guard, an ad for his gig was announcing his gig 
in June!!! (X-Files music starts NOW).