Photo of Sunrise Flame in Rearview Mirror in Montana on the way to Big Sky to Ski - Morning Song Audio Recording - Photos of I94 North Dakato/Montana

The Morning Song (Eaemgie) an MP3

Sunrise in Rearview Mirror in Montana on the way to skiing at Big Sky. Photo by Mike Fisk

Sun rising in the rear view mirror of my Chevy truck on I94 in Montana or North Dakota - March 2005

Here's another tune from our HOG gig of "made up on the spot" tunes on October 5. I'm still mastering in reverse order! I'm calling this one "The Morning Song (Eaemgie)" for someone I'm very close to who said they really liked this one. It seems to me to have the feeling you get when you've stayed up all night and the sun is just rising which reminded me of a drive I made straight through from Wisconsin to Montana to be with that same someone that this song is named for..... crazy huh?.....well here's morning pics from that drive.....but first the tune which was recording using the Zoom H4 on a tripod at the HOG:

The Morning Song (Eaemgie) an MP3

Powerlines in North Dakota. Photo by Mike Fisk

Power lines on I94 in North Dakota... I've always had a liking for pics of high tension power lines..not sure why... I also dig the flat prairie... flat, flat, flat... makes for a monotonous drive.

That's the exit for Windsor, ND, not Windsor, CO where I spent so much of my childhood... yep, I posted that one for you mom.

Sunrise at Big Sky Montana with very cool clouds. Photo by Mike Fisk

This is where I ended up... Big Sky Montana.... pink, blue, white and cold in the morning (I actually arrived in the early evening, but I took this pic a couple days later).

I hope you enjoy the tune and I'll post more soon. Brad and I jammed a bit last night and there may be a thing or two to post from that and there is still over 1.5 hrs of music from HOG gig to go through. Talk to you later....

Here's the Soul Amp top ten tunes for you to check out if you like:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Personality Feedback Loop

A thought came to mind. People with overwhelming personalities affect the behavior of people around them. From the perspective of the person with the overwhelming personality, it might seem that all people act a certain way. Like say if you didn't know that you appear angry all the time then you might not know why people treat you carefully which might in fact make you angry which might make you appear even more angry. But on the other hand if you were to appear happy, then people might treat you more warmly which might make you happy and etc..... Just a thought.... from someone whose personality can be sometimes a bit overwhelming.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a very cool day!

Live Shove...

I'm still mastering these in reverse order of how we played them. That's not intentional....at least consciously. This next song is about addiction and is one of only 2 songs played at the HOG on oct 5 that were not made up on the spot (even though it sounds like it was). Brad gave up on singing it.... just said to hell with it.... but here's the lyrics to the original song:

Shove Lyrics

And here's the new, live verion of Shove (recorded using the Zoom H4)... I think you'll find it really grooves especially from the midpoint to the end:

SHOVE

Check out the original version of Shove:

Original Shove

Audio sample of Rowing and Photo of Oar in the Water. You add a lot of weight to this boat.

Photo of oar in the water on a raft in Lake Michigan. Photo by Mike Fisk

Rowing

This is me and Bradly out on Lake Michigan's Mckinley Harbor rowing to his sailboat on his small raft. The slip fees are pretty pricey and so he ties up to a buoy.

After you listen to the rowing bit... have a listen of Soul Amp's top ten hits here:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Photo of Millipedes invading a Garage in West Allis, WI... Video of swarming millipedes...Scary Millipede Videos and Photos

This is the attack of the millipedes. Last week hundreds of these relatively, harmless (they mostly eat dead leaves) little creatures with all their little tiny legs and hard shell exoskeltons invaded my garage. It was dark in the garage before I opened the door and so I was crunching on them with my shoes before I realized what they were. I've never seen so many of them in one place, so I captured some images of them and a video. And since it's close to Halloween and it was a bit spooky, I'm sharing them with you.... so enjoy and be creeped out....

Hundreds of Millipedes in a garage in Wisconsin in October. Photo by Mike Fisk Hundreds of millipedes.

Aren't these millipedes just the cutest little buggers? Don't they make your skin just crawl?

Millipedes so busy heading someplace.

Millepeds all over the place... the creepiest millipedes image of all, wouldn't you agree?

If the google video doesn't work for you, here's the spooky millipede video on our website ....

Attack of the Millipedes

Check out Soul Amp's top ten music hits:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Cool stuff....

Here's some really insightful new posts from M2 and Maggie....

M2's blog - American Dream

The Essence of Triangularity-Mementos from Lost Love

House of Guinness - Waukesha - Live Music - Prepare to be boarded....

House of Guinness Live Music....

....this is the last song of the HOG gig ... I seem to be mastering these in reverse order of how we played them.....

WARNING - contains loud, foul-mouthed audience members who yell at each other (and sometimes the band) with the f word and others and make various bodily references....

ADDITIONAL WARNING - also contains mind bending musical phrasing swarming in a sea of chunky chaos.....

ENJOY!

PINK SHIRT

Lapham Peak Fright Hike - Halloween Instrumental Tune - Soundtrack like - Pics of Lapham Peak Halloween Hike

Two years ago (2005) I was hiking at Lapham Peak in late October and ran across these various scenes from the previous night's Fright Hike. It was very cool to come upon, as I wasn't expecting it. Luckily I had my camera and was able to capture these images. It's for a good cause (Friends of Lapham Peak) and so I recommend you go out and check it out. It looks like there is nothing there that is too scary (except the woods at night which can be fairly spooky... but I think it may be lighted). It's family oriented, but probably not the best for the really young kids... or those who are easily frightened. Remember this stuff at night will look a lot more freaky... some of it does even in the daylight... and I'm sure there will be a lot of folks in custume to give you a fright or two. Btw, there was a lot more stuff than is represented here...I think it's about a 1 mile walk.

A definite option for your Halloween entertainment. It starts at 5:30PM and ends at 9:00PM, on October 26 and 27, 2007. Anyhow, here's the images from the Lapham Peak Fright Hike (and feel free to listen to this M1 Halloween tune while you check out the pics -- Halloween Tune):

Where I think the hike roughly is at the park... click here for a full map.


Lapham Peak Fright Hike - undead electrician

Oh, hey check out the scary Soul Amp song by clicking here: Monster's on the Prowl

Lapham Peak Fright Hike - undead camping trip



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - a skeleton just hanging out



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - genetic experiments



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - more genetic experiments



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - sea monster



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - boating accident?

Oh and here's another Halloween tune: http://www.soul-amp.com/freebies/oldies_of_M1/2003-10-31%20Halloween%20Track.mp3

Lapham Peak Fright Hike - creepy lady finding a nice pumpkin



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - Headless dude is a fast food cup holder.


Lapham Peak Fright Hike - gathering of ghosts and a leg-less mummy



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - Plethora of ghosts and mummies - quite the collection of spooks



Lapham Peak Fright Hike - mummy with an insect/spider problem

Lapham Peak Fright Hike - Ghost in the woods

Lapham Peak Fright Hike - some skeleton is missing a limb


Lapham Peak Fright Hike - does this ghost have a duck head?

Here's some more Lapham Peak pics:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/09/continuation.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/09/remants-of-eden.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/09/gig-reminder.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/09/continuation.html

Here's the Soul Amp Top Ten Hits:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Rob Nero Photos

Here's the photographer who did the photos for Strip Mail Heaven:

He's creative, soft spoken, open to new ideas, but knows what works best and will tell you. And he's a very nice guy. Check out his web site and call him if you need any pics:

http://nerophotos.com/

Here's a very cool pic of the band that Rob took on a hill in Waukesha, WI (I'll try and post some pics from the CD artwork later):

soul amp on hill at sunset in Waukesha, WI

Click here for all the Strip Mall Heaven images and layout artwork that Rob Nero created for us.

Lets talk about fish....

I like this fish...





I like this fish because it points to the left and it is blue. This is not a conservative fish by any means. ON the contrary it was quite progressive in it's day some oodles of millions of years ago. Think of it. Those fleshy fins digging into the tidal mudflats chasing bugs, breathing air with crude lungs. This is THE first Hybrid Vehicle. God did not make this slow clumsy fish. Why would the old man make a fish with legs and lungs? That is just wrong, wrong headed crazy talk.

No sir. This fish is a Hillery luvin' goll dang, tree huggin' socialist liberal freak fish. Don't you want to shake it's fin? This fish could win elections, despite not looking quite "Presidential". It sorta looks like Al Gore...with a beard.




Now this fish I don't like. It has a narrow mind and points to the right. It is rather selfish and has evolved itself into a corner. It is a very hypocritical fish. If you have enough of them in one place they will eat everything in sight and eventually starve. Now now now...that is all these fish think about. "I have all these teeth to protect us all, by killing everything around me and eating it!" This is a neo-conservative fish.

They live in the richest parts of the ocean. In close knit communities where the cost of entry is quite high. They abandon thier children to private schools where they are taught to be vicious unloved over achievers with deeply repressed issues with their sexuality. Everyone looks the same, thinks the same, believes the same, eats the same. They all are the same, with narrow set eyes, a coke-jaw underbite, bad teeth, bad temper with a great Neil Cavuto slick back doo. They would as soon eat your face as say something nice to you. Move suddenly, speak the truth and they are all over you like stink on poo, swift-boating you into chum and then they blame you for provoking them, even if you didn't have anything to do with it. Collateral damage is to be expected in a time of war, freedom is on the march and digesting everything in it's path in packs of 911.

That my friend is one Red to the core conservative fish.

Wine Glass and Beer Glass Music

Brad listening to the Wine Glass Music Recording using the Zoom H4

Here's the second of the Wine Glass Music recordings... wonderfully weird stuff!

Wind Glass Music 2

For this second recording I used the plastic sugar scooper (pictured in foreground) to hit a beer glass in the center. It kind of bounces against it for an interesting quality. The last hit you hear in the tune is me bumping the Zoom's microphone cage.

The first recording is here.

Wine Glass Music

Last week Brad and I were sitting around the kitchen table and started goofing with some wine glasses (tapping them and getting them to sing by rubbing them with our fingers). So I brought out the Zoom H4 and recorded it. Here's the first of the recordings:

Wine Glass Music 1

Click here for a picture.

I think it has a nice eastern influenence and is a bit meditative.... although too short for that purpose.

Pics of Hand Drums (Bongos or Congos) with spooky face reflection of bonfire image - Voodoo drums - Voodoodrums photos

At the party over the weekend, the bonfire made a wonderfully spooky pattern on one of M2's drums. Here's some snaps of it:

M2's Voodoo drum

M2's Voodoo drum

M2's Voodoo drum

M2's Voodoo drum

All the bonfire photos and voodoo drum circle audio recordings at "Octoberfest" in Williams Bay near Lake Geneva can be found here:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/11/more-voodoo-drums.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/11/drum-circle-with-that-voodoo-drum.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/11/voodoo-drum-circle-at-octoberfest-in.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/10/voodoodrums.html

Check out Soul Amp's top ten MP3 tracks here:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Octoberfest at Lake Geneva/Williams Bay - Bonfire Photos - Photo of Lakefront Brewery Octoberfest Beer in front of a bonfire

Over the last weekend the band and friends gathered for an "Octoberfest" party at M2's in Williams Bay next to Lake Geneva. We had a bonfire, V's superb chilli, B's delicious and toasty hot wings, other goodies (V's brownies...mmmm...mmmm...mmmm), much beer, and excellent conversation. We also had a drum circle (recordings will be posted soon), peanuts thrown at us by V, and spooky talk of occult happenings. A delightful time indeed... Be sure to check out M2's pics of throwing fuel on the fire. And here's some other pics:

Bonfire Oktoberfest Lake Geneva - featuring M2's drum and hat

Bonfire Oktoberfest Lake Geneva

Bonfire Oktoberfest Lake Geneva - melting beer bottle for art sake

Lakefront Brewery - Ocktoberfest Beer - yummmy - bonfire in background

Pretty pictures of the Motion Sound KBR 3D

Here's a couple of pictures of my Motion Sound KBR 3D amplifier. I like it quite a lot. It has the rotory speakers on top that get you that Leslie sound which I use for both the Korg CX-3 and Nord Lead 2x. The reason I took these pics is because I like the way I have the knobs dialed-in right now and so I wanted to capture pics of them.... I liked the way they came out... so I'm sharing:

Motion Sound KBR - 3D Settings

Motion Sound KBR - 3D Settings

I plug the Nord Lead 2x and CX-3 mono into the rotor side and the Kurzweil PC2x and Nord Electro 2. into the solid state, stereo side Lately I haven't been using the stereo expand feature on the solid state side. I grew tired of that sound. Maybe I'll try it again sometime.

Doesn't it seem like the solution is obvious?????

Solar, Wind and Electric Cars....

All the other stuff just doesn't make sense.

Take all some of the wasted money in gov and spend it on research for better photovoltaic, batteries, and wind turbines.

Am I missing something?

Ethanol, nuclear, clear burning coal... all that stuff has problems and is complicated.

I know windmills kill birds, but I thought they were solving that problem.

Batteries create hazardous waste, but could and should be recycled. We are generally pretty good about recycling our car batteries....

Photovoltaics are not that efficient yet and require lots of sun...

But those problems pale in comparison to the problems with the other energy technologies out that (including hydrogen).

Just what I think. What do you think?

Recovery of Smashed Fingernail after 5.5 months... Photos of healing smashed finger and fingernail

Here's pics of my finger that is healing after being smashed in May of this year. It's now been 5 and a half months. It's looking a heck of a lot better. Look at the end of this post for previous posts so you can track the recovery.

Fingernail recovering from smash - soul-amp.com



Fingernail recovering from smash - soul-amp.com

There still is the 2 nail quality to it. There's the smashed end part and the healthy new part.

Here's all the posts documenting the smashed finger saga (in reverse order):

• finger and fingernail fully recovered!!!...1 year and 4 months later....
• fingernail recovering...5.5 month update....
• fingernail recovering...4 month update....
• fingernail recovering...3rd month update....
• fingernail starting to grow back - about 2.5 months after the smashing.
• fingernail coming off - about 2 months after the smashing.
• update 1.5 months.
• update 2.5 weeks.
• stabbed the finger to release the pressure.
• smashed a finger.

Anyone with a story of a smashed finger, I'll be happy to post it. Just drop an email or feel free to comment on this post or any of the others.

Here's one from a reader named Gordon:
http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/11/photos-of-finger-that-was-sliced-by.html

And in the meantime, feel free to distract yourself with some delightful music from my band, Soul Amp:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

eeeeweeee...... IIWII

iiwii

It is was it Is

sometimes you just have to accept the stuff you can't change.....

I think it beats the "whatever'ers"....a little less negative, I think.... though I'm sometimes a whatever'er myself.... or an "oh well'er"....

lately iiwii is my tool for coping with stuff I have to accept... as long as it doesn't become the "excuse"....

anyhow, Monday's almost over... may you cope where you can and shine where you can!

.... hey how about some Soul Amp music? Here's mp3s of Soul Amp's top ten songs:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

The Essence of Triangularity

This is our good friend Maggie's site. There is some insightful, just plain interesting thoughts to be had there. Check it out:

The Essence of Triangularity

A recording from the House of Guinness gig

Here's the first recording I mastered from the House of Guinness gig.... I'm calling it Electric Resistor. Brad sang some stuff near the beginning of the tune, but I can't make out what he's saying....so I couldn't name it from what he sang and, besides, I had this picture (from the Metra near Kenosha) for it:

Pleasant Prairie Coal Fired Power Plant - Kenosha WI

Seems to me to match. This is actually the second to last song we played that night. As explained before, we improvised most of the turnes during this gig, so it does wander as many of our tunes do. I recorded it with the Zoom H4 on a tripod, but this particular set was recorded a bit too hot, so there are a couple of spots that clipped.

and so without further blah blah blah... here's the tune:

Electric Resistor

Guitars For Vets...

M2's brother and band mate, Patrick, has started an organization to provide local veterans with guitars. Please check it out and donate what you can (buy a t-shirt!!):

http://www.guitarsforvets.org/
http://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/GUITARSFORVETS

Check out this guitar they will auctioning off on eBay:

Milwaukee Skyline Photo from Sail Boat, Best Skyline Image, or Picture - Shot from Lake Michigan while Sailing

Brad took my mother and I sailing a couple weeks back. So here's some pics from the sail. It was truely perfect day and my mom's first sail. I think the next photo it the very best Milwaukee Skyline photo/image:

Photo of Milwaukee Skyline - the best Milwaukee Skyline Photo... photo by Mike Fisk

Milwaukee McKinley Marina - glassy water and the Milwaukee Skyline

Milwaukee McKinley Marina - Hoan Bridge and a Sail Boat

Milwaukee McKinley Marina - Coastguard Lighthouse

You can find more at Brad's blog:

http://raidologbook.blogspot.com/

Here's the song that always goes along with sailing:

New Day