Darien Gap's Chris Martinez - two original songs recorded acoustic and live.

These are two original songs by Chris Martinez of Darien Gap.  These are live acoustic solo recordings done at my home in July of 2013 with my Tascam DR100mkII and a Shure 57/58 mic combo, using a Behringer mixer and mic preamps.  They have been compressed into 192k mp3 files and uploaded to Posthaven.

(copyright 2013, Chris Martinez)


A playlist to accompany the book The ABCs of Rock.

by Susan Gehr
My son Logan and I have been working on a project. We built a playlist based on the musical artists used in Melissa Duke Mooney's 2009 book The ABCs of Rock. We tried to pick songs with lyrics that won't give me too much heartburn when Logan asks me to explain what they mean, songs that could be played on the podcast Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child.

The ABCs of Rock
AC/DC – Back in Black
The Go-Go's – We Got The Beat
Heart – Barracuda
Iggy Pop – Real Wild Child (Wild One)
Joan Jett – I Love Rock 'N Roll
KISS – Rock 'n Roll All Nite
Led Zeppelin – Ramble On
Bob Marley – Three Little Birds
Nirvana – Sliver
Ozzy Osbourne – You Can't Kill Rock and Roll
The Police – Walking on the Moon
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody (Muppet Version)
R.E.M. – Driver 8
Sonic Youth – Scooter and Jinx
Talking Heads – Stay Up Late
U2 – I Will Follow
Velvet Underground - I'm Your Mirror
The White Stripes – Rag and Bone
X – The Hungry Wolf
Neil Young – Long May You Run
ZZ Top – TV Dinners

 

Additional Tracks We Considered For the ABCs Playlist
Led Zeppelin – Fool in the Rain
Sonic Youth – Kim's Chords
U2 - New Year's Day
Velvet Underground – What Goes On
Neil Young – not technically a Neil Young song, but we love Jimmy Fallon's impression of Neil Young covering Willow Smith's Whip My Hair

 

Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who helped with this playlist: my husband Greg Gehr, Bill Childs ofSpare the Rock, Spoil the Child, Michael Logan, Adrienne of Baby Toolkit and M_Smucker.

 

Because We're All About the Bonus Tracks
Our favorite rock artist these days is Derek Miller, and we have three bonus tracks for you:  Mystery Train, Music is the Medicine and Corn Cob Soup.

 

Just One More Thing…
This one isn't from Derek Miller, it's one of Logan's other favorite artists, Link Wray, the inventor of the power chord.  The song is called Run Chicken Run. 

 

Bye!

Kyoto's and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Had a wonderful evening out last night. Lauria and Joe watched Ifipaan, and we went out to Kyoto's for dinner.

We had excellent food and service. Jenny and Eric at Kyoto maintain the highest standards and have crafted the restaurant into something truly unique and wonderful. Our waitress, Megan was fantastic. My daughter, Lauria, had talked Eric into making Okonomiyaki for her the night before, it had Unagi and Avocado on top, and multiple sauces on the side, and when we asked, they make it for us too! Spicy Crab roll, Fried Oyster handroll, Miso, Raw Albacore Roll, lots of other goodies too. But the dessert, ah the dessert. Ice cream with maple, berries and fruit, and chocolate covered bacon. That's right, CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON!

From there it was on to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band show at HSU. What a great show. I know I seem to say that about each show we have been to this year, but it is just simply true! They played a 14 minute set of one of my favorite tunes, "St. James Infirmary". They also played their classic "When the Saints Go Marching In" finale complete with a Bourbon Street-style parade around the theatre and up onto stage where we got to watch for quite a while. Here is a iPhone photo and a video clip with a little taste of what our view was like from on-stage.

The Intersection of Fun and Motivation

Rosa Golijan posted a blog entry titled "These Piano Stairs Will Motivate Even The Laziest of You" over at gizmodo.com.
http://gizmodo.com/5376868/these-piano-stairs-will-motivate-even-the-laziest-...

The blog entry links to a youtube video posted by Volkswagen:

This is a funny video, but the message is deeper. Rosa's title to the blog post draws attention to how hard those people are working, dancing up and down those stairs. Watch the older man, an elder, walking slowly and carefully on flat ground, who veers toward the stairs and away from the escalator. Watch the folks dance up and down and up again. Fun motivates people. They are much more willing to exert themselves in physical activities and exercise, when it is FUN! I mean the kind of fun that makes you feel like a little kid at the amusement park for the first time. I need to remember that as I design programs. It is an important lesson. Never lose contact with your inner child.

Yet another night out...

Susan and I went out for the second of our six Center Arts shows, that are our anniversary present to each other. This time we saw Chick Corea, Stanley Clark and Lenny White. Three progressive jazz greats, that I have loved since high school in the 70s.

We had dinner at Cafe Tomo's first.

After dinner we went to Arcata Scoop and got some ice cream. As I ate my fudge ripple, I watched as the owner made the Lime Sorbet for the next day.

Then from there to the show in the Van Duser at HSU. We sat in the second row of the balcony for the first set, and moved to two empty seats in the front row of the balcony for the second set.

It was an excellent dinner, wonderful ice cream for dessert, and a great show. We should do this way more often. Of course if it was not for Ifipaan's sister, Lauria and her significant other, Joe, helping with watching Ifipaan, we probably could not do this at all.  Thanks Lauria and Joe!

Buddy Brown Blues Festival a Rousing Success!

I am proud, (as a member of the mysterious P3LF), to announce that the Blue Lake Blues Society, (an unorganized disorganized chapter of the Humboldt Folklife Society), has earned $3,977 from the donations and net revenues of the Buddy Brown Blues Festival held on August 8, 2009. These funds are to support the Humboldt Folklife Society's "Folk People" childrens music program (please recite this paragraph 5 times, as quickly as you can).
 
It was a great day, wonderful weather, 7 fantastic local blues bands, and one of the best, if not the best of the last nine festivals.  Special thanks to the Blue Lake Casino for their reoccurring support of this event.
 
See you all next year!

North Coast Music Together

Recently, my child, Jay (age 3) and I went to a demo class for “North Coast Music Together” (NCMT), a “community of families sharing songs, instrument play, rhythm chants, and movement in a relaxed, playful and non-performance-based setting”.  It is for infants through toddlers, along with active parent participation.

This is the second attempt at a formal “music appreciation” class for my musically interested kid.  Our first attempt was at the HSU Music Academy.  

I also know one of the instructors, I assisted Jose on some of the technical design and installation aspects of the Digital Pathways video project for youth in Humboldt County.  He exudes the same boundless energy teaching 3yr olds that he does creating innovative Workforce Investment Act projects.

We start classes in the upcoming fall session.