Milwaukee Coast Guard Station - Historic Building Lake Michigan Is Scheduled to be Razed (perhaps this month, March 2008)

Historic Coast Guard Station - the tree that lost its branch which fell into the side of the building - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

The historic Coast Guard Station in Milwaukee on McKinley Marina may sooned be destroyed. I have always found the building to be very interesting. It's a 92 year building that has experienced two fires since it was abandoned in 1972. I would love to take a look inside myself (I suspect it's full of photographic opportunities). Some people find it an eyesore and I disagree completely. It's a lovely old structure.

The following is a good article with excellent photos about the restoration funding effort:

http://milwaukeestreets.blogspot.com/2007/10/coast-guard-station-salvation.html

As you can see, even in the few months since October 2007, it has experienced further damage include a tree falling on the south side of the building.

Here's a current article from JS Online:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=573278

Enjoy the pics, it may be the last we see of her.

Historic Coast Guard Station - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - the back of the building with the boat launches - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station rear of building with boat launches - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - the bridge over the boat launches - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - the lookout tower - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - the tree branch that smashed into the side of the building -Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - the tree branch that smashed into the side of the building -Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Historic Coast Guard Station - Milwaukee WI - Jan 30 2008 - photo by Mike Fisk

Here's Soul Amp's top ten songs:

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

Here's the Milwaukee Skyline during warmer weather:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/10/sailing-in-milwaukee.html

Here's some coldest day in 2008 in Milwaukee pics:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/01/coldest-day-in-milwaukee-2008-milwaukee.html

Here's some pics of a stranded sail boat from 2007:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/12/chinook-34-wrecked-milwaukee-sailboat.html

Horizons They Are Gonna Meet You - Wisconsin Jam Band, Soul Amp Experience, Releases alt country scratch tune... more than a bit farty in places...

Horizon Sunrise Photo with Rocky Mountains in the Background Driving on Hight - photo by Mike Fisk

Horizons They Are Gonna Meet You

Here's a new one for you that was recorded in September 2007 by Bradly and myself. It's a first take (or rather an only take), so it's a bit rough. It was recorded using the Hammond M3 and Bradly's Strat using the Zoom H4 as per the usual these days. It's a song about driving through the desert... not sure where (not necessarily the Arizona desert) and about getting through life's troubles and how there is always another day or something like that... sh*t I've said too much already... just take a listen... you'll want to listen to this at least twice before it's sinks in some... so don't just hate it right away... give it a chance to breath... there's some farty stuff in there.... we probably should have called the band Fart Proudly.... well here's goes and enjoy:

Horizons They Are Gonna Meet You

Here's Soul Amp's top ten songs:

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

Here's the Milwaukee Skyline:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/10/sailing-in-milwaukee.html

Here's some other coldest day in Milwaukee pics:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/01/coldest-day-in-milwaukee-2008-milwaukee.html

Here's some pics of a stranded sail boat on the shores of Lake Michigan:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2007/12/chinook-34-wrecked-milwaukee-sailboat.html

Flower power - flashlight photo art - still life image study - dead yellow roses in a vase - aperture open - samuri swords - smoking pipes

Here's some more Flower Power photos (well the the last flower power thing was a painting).

I'm calling these flashlight photo art (I'm not sure that's an actual artform... if not, I'm inventing it). Click here for a Soul Amp photo using the same technique.

On these, I opened the aperture on the camera for 30 seconds and shined a flashlight around artistically. It took a bit of experimenting, but I think these came out looking pretty cool. Those are samuri swords that my bro gave me and the pipes are my grandfathers... The dead yellow roses are from E. I dried them to save them. She also gave me some roses for valentine's day that I'm drying. Not sure where I'm going to put those. The vase was created by the very talented artist named Arthur Romero. (If you get a chance to buy an Arthur Romeor, do it... it'll be a good investment in the future... and he's my brother-in-law =) ) In front of the vase is a prayer bowl.

Be sure to click on the images to blow them up if you like.













Be sure to grab some free Soul Amp MP3s for your player at:

Free Soul Amp Music

You can catch more flashlightphoto art here:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/06/picture-of-floating-umbrella-house-of.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/05/curse-of-derrick-turnbow-bobblehead-may.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/03/flower-power-flashlight-photos-still.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/03/artistic-band-photo-using-flashlight.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/06/lovely-sea-monster-in-underwater.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/05/life-and-beauty-is-all-in-shit-time-to.html

Phonies and the "Catcher in the Rye" and Innocence Lost... sitting on a Hammond M3

"Catcher in the Rye" on a Hammond M3 - photo by Mike Fisk - March 2008

For whatever reason, I was thinking about J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" last night.

The book is one of my favorites and I have identified a lot with the narrator/main character, Holden Caulfield. A key theme to the book is Holden's dislike of phony people. I've always had a disdain for people who didn't appear genuine to me, but I've been thinking about that lately.

There is another aspect to phony other than trying to be something you're not. And though I think most people do a bit or a lot of that, the other aspect is not saying what you mean.

It's always bugged me when people don't behave the way they really feel towards me and it also bugs me that I do that myself to them. When we're kids we don't have the phony-filter turned on because we don't know any better. We just say and do whatever the hell we're feeling. That's why kids can be so charming and also so exacerbating. It takes awhile for the innonence of our childhood to get pounded out and molded to the point where we may lose some of our simple charm, but we also become less annoying.

Its kind of like when Bilbo says "Good Morning" to Gandalf at the start of the book "The Hobbit". Gandalf says, "What do you mean?....Do you wish me a good morning; or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel it is a good morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

A lot of what we say is just so that we get along somehow, but we really don't want to be bothered with the details or really getting to the true meaning what we're saying; heck it's the stuff we always say in given situations. Occasionally someone, like Gandalf, comes along and slices through our phony-filters to find out what we really mean. In the Hobbit, Gandalf finally says to Bilbo, "What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!... Now you mean that you want to be rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off..."

Ultimately all this phoniness crap appears to have it's root in trying to get stuff from other people by saying or acting or doing stuff that's not truely who we are or what we feel. I find we mask what we really feel to protect either ourselves from riprisal and hassle from others or to protect others from unnecessary pain and conflict.

I'd like to minimize the phony-filter in myself by turning my inpatient or critical feelings into something genuine and kind in regards to finding good things about people. And that takes more work than the standard "Good Morning"... When I can...I'd at least I'd like to try.... maybe return to some of the innonene, but put in the effort to polish it off with a dash of practicality and hope to avoid appearing phony.

.... And when there really isn't any good side to comment on, I'm going to just have to tell it like it is and let the chips fall where they may....

Anyhow, not sure that made any sense, but that's what I think.... oh and sorry about not tying this thing back to "Catcher in the Rye"... all right I'll try.... let's see here ...to summarize Holden wants so save his sister from growing up because he's hating it himself and he sees the innonence in her. But when he get's the chance to save her he doesn't.... so in a sence he's a phony too and I think that was the lesson of the book which I don't think I really got until just recently. Oh well... I'm slow.

Have a great weekend!

....and be sure to grab some free Soul Amp MP3s for your player at:

Free Soul Amp Music

Gigs coming up for your chance to the see THE AMP live... nothing like some good ol' rock n' roll!

Looks like we might have a gig lined up for April 5. More info to follow.

We definitely have a gig lined up at the House of Guinness in Waukesha, WI on Friday May 9. So there will be oppurtunities soon to see the Amp.

In the meantime be sure check out all the new music that's being released here:

FREE SOUL AMP MUSIC

Artistic Band Photo using flashlight and open aperture - Friday Party Tune from Milwaukee's Jam Band - lots of Strat Guitar and Hammond B3 Organ!!!

Soul Amp - Mike Fisk, Bradly Odland, Michael Nettesheim - March 6 2008

click the pic to zoom in

Well we finally got back to practicing after a long hiatus of about 3 months. It was pretty damn nice to see each other after such a long while. We have tried to get together to play, but between all our job and family responsiblities and the fact that nature has snowed its ass off this year in Wisconsin (as you can see in the pic), it has taken while to reconvene to rock.

The pic was taken by opening the aperture on my camera for 30 seconds and shining a flashlight on our faces (in my case there was a bit too much flashlight). There were actually 3 photos taken; one of each of us and then I stitched them together in Paint Shop Pro (a now fairly defunct product since Corel bought them and changed the program... made it worse imho). There were some technical glitches with the camera and we were cold, so it didn't come out as cool as I wanted it to. But M2 looks damn cool in it.

We were a bit rusty last night but we did record a couple of semi-gems. Here's one of them. It's a party tune to get your Friday partying started off just right... it's packed with Strat and Hammond B3 and lots of brilliant musical farts... so crank it up and have a great weekend!! Here's the tune:

Funky Kicking Blues Crusher

More free music can be had here.

You can catch more flashlightphoto art here:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/06/picture-of-floating-umbrella-house-of.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/05/curse-of-derrick-turnbow-bobblehead-may.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/03/flower-power-flashlight-photos-still.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/03/artistic-band-photo-using-flashlight.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/06/lovely-sea-monster-in-underwater.html

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/05/life-and-beauty-is-all-in-shit-time-to.html

Milwaukee Wisconsin Jam Alternative Band Soul Amp Releases new Song about Time - Includes Denver Bar photo of Clock - recorded on Zoom H4 - Free Music

Bar clock in Colorado - Nov 2005 - photo by Mike Fisk

Here's a new song from our November 2007 jam session. Bradly made up the lyrics on the fly as per the usual as of late. It was recorded using the Zoom H4, mastered on Ozone3 in Sonar.

Another big ending!


Here's the song:

Time

Click here for info on more Free Music and MP3s.

Watercolor pencil image - Flower Power Image - And Free Music

Free Music Can be Found Here

This was created using watercolor pencils and regular color pencils. I'm really digging using watercolor pencils. You end up with something much different from regular watercolors and they are very easy to use.

Here's a water color and pastel image to check out:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/01/more-weird-artthe-hat-stick-and-wind.html

Also, here's another odd painting the you might like:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/01/milwaukee-photographer-and-alternative.html

Here's another watercolor and pastel painting:

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/06/lovely-sea-monster-in-underwater.html

Here's some flashlight flower pics to check out (weird stuff):

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/03/flower-power-flashlight-photos-still.html




Enjoy, live long, and prosper!

Soul Amp - Milwaukee, WI

Soul Amp is a Milwaukee Alternate Jam Band. And so you've came to the right place for Soul Amp. Here you'll find music, photos, opinions, videos and links to tons of other sites like Bradly's blogs and M2's blog.

There are a ton of free MP3 samples to be had.

You'll find a lot of stuff on Milwaukee and Waukesha WI. Including our favorite places and lots on Lake Michigan.

So enjoy the Soul Amp Experience and be sure to check out all the links on the righthand side.

The Falcon "Chinook Class #6" built in Portland, Oregon between 1955 and 1957 - Who built the Falcon Chinook? - The sailing song New Day by Soul Amp..

Just got a comment from a Bob in Oregon:

"My father and I built The Falcon "Chinook Class #6" in Portland, Oregon between 1955 and 1957, when she was launched. Her first 12 years were spent on the Columbia River at Portland, Oregon. She was then sold and moved to the Puget Sound area, where we eventually lost track of her. I'm sorry to see this grand old vessel, who clearly gave many people much happiness, has finally met her end."

Thanks again Bob for your comment.

And there are a lot more Soul Amp tunes here:

http://soul-amp.com/freebies

Here's the rest of the posts on the Falcon:

• 11-23-2007


• 11-25-2007 (New pics)


• 11-26-2007


• 11-26-2007 (Additional New Pics)


• 11-27-2007


• 11-30-2007


• 12-3-2007


• 12-3-2007 (Night Shots)


• 12-6-2007


• 12-9-2007


• 12-10-2007


• 12-13-2007

Check out this song too about sailing (it's free):

New Day

Click here for the lyrics to New Day. Stuff like "See the joy on you face...Makes me smile...Feel the sand in your toes for a while..." Seriously, you need to check out this song.

Biofuels suck.... solar, solar, solar....

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=biofuels-bad-for-people-and-climate

We can't eat diesel. This is really old news. They have never shown that creating biofuels was efficient. Nice idea, but it was never proven to empirically work. They started implementing it before the technology was ever there and may never be there.

What a scam.

The only answer that seens to make sense energy-wise is solar.

IMHO.

Aquarium Drunkard inspiration - Graceland - Elvis - The King - Thanksgiving Flower pictures - Trapped in Your Clothes

Elvis Presley Blvd... yep, the King means a lot to Memphis

I was inspired by a post by Aquarium Drunkard on a visit to Graceland. I had been there myself about 15 years ago and I don't have too many pictures left from there (got lost in the living), but I do have these. I wrote a song that Soul Amp recorded called Trapped in Your Clothes that's partly about all the stuff we do to express ourselves and yet get trapped in that. The King was definitely trapped in my opinion. Here's Aquarium Drunkard's post on Graceland and the King:

Elvis Has Indeed Left the Building

There's some more to Trapped in Your Clothes beyond getting trapped. It's also about the elusiveness of happiness and dealing with mortality (all stuff we all go through and the King did quite publicly). But you can check out the song and hear for yourself. Here's the lyrics to Trapped in Your Clothes. The flower pics are one's I took at my mom's at Thanksgiving in Colorado a few years back. She worked diligently that year to bring the flowers in each day to keep them alive for as long as she could. It was very very cool that she did that, I thought, and so it's also part of the song.

Here's the song:

Trapped in Your Clothes

The King's plane... we didn't go into the car/plane musuem that's across the street from Graceland, but you can check out his plane easily enough from the street... at least you could back then. Dig the TCB lightning bolt on the tail.

This is the backyard at Graceland. Some of his relatives still lived there and came out to check out the latest batch of tourists. I was surprised how small Graceland is. The King was much bigger than the building =)

Here's some pics of my mom's Thanksgiving Day flowers:

soulamp.com vs soul-amp.com

Just so you know (in case you were looking for something else) we are not soulamp.com..... we are soul-amp.com... don't forget the dash! The other soul amp is a catholic music deal... we are the Rock and Roll Soul Amp.... just to clarify.

Sprizzo's is the best place to chill -- Sprizzo's is the first place Milwaukee Alternative act Soul Amp ever played!

Sprizzo's in Waukesha... the back door... - photo by Mike Fisk

Sprizzo's is a Gallery Cafe in Waukesha, WI. And it's a very cool place to chill. There is much to like about Sprizzo's including the good vibe, the food , the coffee, and beer and wine selections. They also sometimes do the food for events at the House of Guinness which is another Soul Amp favorite... (endorsed by Soul Amp haha).

Sprizzo's is one of Soul Amp's favorite hang outs and also the first place we played together at an open mic and the second place we ever played as a proper gig.

You need to check them out:

http://www.sprizzo.net/

And you need to check out the top 10 Soul Amp tunes:

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

Soul Amp posts pictures of Wauwatosa Giant Santa - Jan 2004

They kept that Giant Santa Claus up for quite a while. Here it is on Jan 21 2004... they rock the plastic santa that's for sure!.... Check out more pics of the Giant Santa by clicking here.

Milwaukee Holiday/Christmas Lights-2004 - Duck looks in Milwaukee River, Michigan Ave, Ziedler Park, Giant Plastic Santa Claus on a Porch in Wauwatosa

Here's more Milwaukee Christmas Lights from Jan 4, 2004 and Dec 4, 2004... so 2 different Christmases... 12 months apart. You can find more Milwaukee Holiday lights here and here. Check out the giant Santa Claus from a house in Wauwatosa. Very cool. It's not one of the those inflatable things you buy at the evil empire, but rather is the real-deal hard plastic. I wonder how the heck they got it on their porch????? hmmmmm...... There's also pics of Ziedler park with the gears and keyboard and weird stuff on the gazebo. And a pic of a bronze duck looking into the Milwaukee river ...the Bernstien Bear Orchestra at Grand Ave Mall....all very cool stuff. As I write this, the wind from the blizzard tonight is banging on my door.... excellent... I love the way nature likes to try in kick our asses up here in the Northern climes of Wisconsin... Enjoy! BTW... the Jan 4, 2004 pics are at the end... so it's not in chronological order.

Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile at the Milwaukee Holiday Parade

Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile at the Milwaukee Holiday/Christmas Parade 2007

Here's the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile at the Milwaukee Holiday Parade in 2007. The parade is very cool and excellent for kids and for people with a kid inside them (like most of us really). I'll post more pics of the Holiday Parade later but I've always like this bit of mobile advertising since I was a kid (although it was a bit different back then). Here's a pic of the first wiener mobile (I wonder how they were able to see to drive). OK, I'm not that old. Here's the one from when I was a kid. Milwaukee's Stevens Automotive Corporation built this one in 1988. Here's another pic of the wienermobile from the 2007 Milwaukee Christmas Parade:

Here's some pics of Milwaukee Christmas Lights as well as some Holiday Lights at Ziedler Park.