Muuuuuusical guest: The Clifton Gray Quintet!
I was told by a reader that they had a dream that they saw me (well... me, me, me, me, and me) singing my song on Saturday Night Live. Hopefully, if my group's ever that famous, we'll sound a little better by then. We need to work on our harmonies; our voices just don't seem to go together well.
Besides, I don't know if the world could handle 5 of me. There wouldn't be enough Clamato and Diet Dew to go around.
Anyhow, so it appears that everyone wants to get together and have another Matrix Convoy. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be hosting another dinner beforehand... I'm thinking the next one of those will be next year, after all this Wheeling Island hubbub dies down. Right now, all of our efforts are going into getting everything organized for opening that new kennel, and it's starting to wear on me somewhat. Yesterday I was up at 5:00 am, at the kennel by 5:30, then after we finished at 11:00, I spent all afternoon at my parents' house helping him with paperwork. I barely had time to zip home and change before I went back to the kennel at 4:00, and I was there through the track all night, getting home around 12:30 and getting to bed an hour later. I slept until 4:00 pm today, and yet somehow I'm still tired. I've got the yawns as I speak, so I'll probably be heading to bed soon. I do need to be at work at 5:30 again.
Anyway... I mentioned the movie, right? Perhaps if someone wants to figure out a time and rendezvous point, we could pull it off. I'd assume we're doing AZ Mills again, and I haven't looked to see how far in advance they put showtimes up, but they're probably going to have it going like every half hour on seven screens or something. I wouldn't worry for having to find a suitable start time. Saturday the 8th sound good for everyone? Let me know. I'll crosspollinate the idea on to a few other blogs, Mark's and Rick's... I won't do Katie's, 'cause it was her idea in the first place. :-)
Thursday, October 30
Saturday, October 25
Fa La La La (etc.)
First off, I posted yesterday, too. I know! Sudden overload of information after all that time gone! No, seriously, yesterday I discussed my friends and deep-fried foods. Just in case you were wondering. It's just below.
Now, on today's theme... it's October 25th already. That means there are two months until Christmas. How time flies! But though I like the holiday season for several reasons, the music part is a definite plus: I can walk around singing, and people will think I'm "festive" and not "nuts." So, in the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, I recorded a little MP3 for everyone. Allow me to introduce...
The Clifton Gray Quintet!
Clifton Gray, lead vocalist
Clifton Gray, high tenor
Clifton Gray, tenor
Clifton Gray, baritone
Clifton Gray, bass
Thank you, thank you. Yeah, it's just me, my crappy system microphone, and Windows Sound Recorder, so it's not exactly polished. And the group could use some work... our timing gets a little off by the end of the song. But I'm still fairly pleased with it. It's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," Rockapella's version. Right-click on the link below and select "Save Target As," because I don't know how to do streaming.
Clifton Gray Quintet - I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
(thetfg5.mp3 -- 1.54 MB)
All right. I'm going back to bed now.
First off, I posted yesterday, too. I know! Sudden overload of information after all that time gone! No, seriously, yesterday I discussed my friends and deep-fried foods. Just in case you were wondering. It's just below.
Now, on today's theme... it's October 25th already. That means there are two months until Christmas. How time flies! But though I like the holiday season for several reasons, the music part is a definite plus: I can walk around singing, and people will think I'm "festive" and not "nuts." So, in the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, I recorded a little MP3 for everyone. Allow me to introduce...
The Clifton Gray Quintet!
Clifton Gray, lead vocalist
Clifton Gray, high tenor
Clifton Gray, tenor
Clifton Gray, baritone
Clifton Gray, bass
Thank you, thank you. Yeah, it's just me, my crappy system microphone, and Windows Sound Recorder, so it's not exactly polished. And the group could use some work... our timing gets a little off by the end of the song. But I'm still fairly pleased with it. It's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," Rockapella's version. Right-click on the link below and select "Save Target As," because I don't know how to do streaming.
Clifton Gray Quintet - I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
(thetfg5.mp3 -- 1.54 MB)
All right. I'm going back to bed now.
Friday, October 24
Is This a Title or a Theme?
I'm going to start putting a title at the top of each entry. Or a theme. I'm not sure if I want to call it a title, because that sounds like schoolwork and anything that resembles schoolwork makes my brain cramp. ouch... okay. So, theme it is.
Anyway, that's not necessarily the theme for this whole entry... but I figured I didn't want to just start doing it and have everyone bewildered and in the dark. The real theme for this entry is as follows:
Y'alls deserve a deep-fried Twinkie.
You guys, the readers of my blog, are a nifty, nifty group of folks. I appreciate the kind words on my update, and moreover the fact that you guys kept coming in here and checking even after I fell off the face of the earth for two months. This must be true, because I didn't tell anyone I'd blogged again (well, 'cept for Ashley, because I was IM'ing her at the same time I was blogging), yet just the same, I got comments from pretty much everyone. Kinda makes me wish I hadn't disappeared in the first place, but by the same token, it was an interesting experience to work for a couple of months with no outside distractions. And I mean none... we stopped karaokeing when the school year fired up again since everyone else got real busy, and besides, as I mentioned before, they stopped doing karaoke at the place we'd been going to. And that was about the extent of my social activity each week.
But anyway... thanks for being nifty, all. You guys deserve a deep-fried Twinkie. "What?", you ask? Yeah, apparently the new midway rage this year at the State Craphole -- *cough* I mean, State Fair -- is deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos. Last year it was deep-fried candy bars, especially Snickers and 3 Musketeers. I haven't actually been there this year (did I honestly miss much?). Has anyone seen that episode of The Simpsons where they go to the county fair and Homer gets his shirt deep-fried? I truly think he was right -- they CAN deep-fry anything. I mean, seriously, which friggin' genius sat down and said, "Hmm... Twinkies... all that hydrogenated oil 'creme' and 'golden cake' that's so full of preservatives, it has a half-life instead of a shelf life... How could I make this even less healthy?" I dunno. Pass the fry bread and the little squeeze bear of honey, please. You can keep your grease-soaked snack cakes.
Anyway... so, yeah, you guys are good friends.
I went over to Coronado tonight for the big homecoming game. Sure, I love my alma mater, but oh, how the mighty have fallen. I mean, we sucked pretty bad at the outset... then we lost our starting QB to a broken quarterbone, and he provided most of the offense, AND defense as a safety. So, draw your own conclusions. But, hey, got to see the band for the first time in over a month. The performance had its rough spots, but anyone who was in the CHS band can agree that Homecoming Day BLOWS CHUNKS. You've got your regular practice in the morning, then a pep rally, then you have to march the show in the stadium around 10:30 or so just when it's starting to get hot out for the big rally and float presentation... then right after school, back to the band room to prepare for that night's festivities, march the show during the game, THEN stand around for 20 minutes RIGHT after the show while a bunch of cheerleaders and football players move at sloth-speed across the field so that one lucky couple can be crowned King and Queen. Whoop-de-friggin'-do. Anyway, so usually by the end of that day, the show suffers a little. I thought, though, that it was all right. Honestly! However, everyone in the band I talked to afterwards said it was one of the worst shows of the year. *shrug* I know how they feel. I've now officially been on both sides of the tuba.
Anyway, it was neat going down there, because everyone there seemed to miss me while I'd been gone. I went up and helped load the truck for the NAU performance tomorrow (sorry, crew, no way I'm able to get up that early on a Saturday), which was a blast... it's been a good 4 years since I've broken down pit carts, but just like riding a bicycle, it all came right back to me. Anyway, it was great seeing all of the band again, and I promised the people I spoke with that I would make State no matter what. They've got the usual hectic performance schedule coming up; NAU tomorrow, a Thursday night game, some invitational in the west valley next Saturday, the last home game of the season on the 7th, and State on Saturday the 15th. I don't know when they're performing at State, but as soon as I find out, I'll post, and if anyone wants to convoy over there (I assume it'll be at Glendale Community College... maybe... might be at Chandler-Gilbert CC), let me know via the Comments box.
(Speaking of the comments box: Press the button once! The server is in the United Kingdom somewhere, and it takes a minute, but lately I haven't had any problems. My £12.00 "donation" (came out to like $14.77, I think) for a lifetime upgrade to Enetation Pro! seems to have helped some.)
Anyhow, so I'm pretty pleased right now. Things are on the up-and-up. I mean, there's things that aren't going so great, but those are things that are NEVER going so well, so it's nothing new. But when everything else is going so well, that part doesn't seem like such a gaping abyss. More like just something I look at and I think, "Well... someday..."
I'm going to start putting a title at the top of each entry. Or a theme. I'm not sure if I want to call it a title, because that sounds like schoolwork and anything that resembles schoolwork makes my brain cramp. ouch... okay. So, theme it is.
Anyway, that's not necessarily the theme for this whole entry... but I figured I didn't want to just start doing it and have everyone bewildered and in the dark. The real theme for this entry is as follows:
Y'alls deserve a deep-fried Twinkie.
You guys, the readers of my blog, are a nifty, nifty group of folks. I appreciate the kind words on my update, and moreover the fact that you guys kept coming in here and checking even after I fell off the face of the earth for two months. This must be true, because I didn't tell anyone I'd blogged again (well, 'cept for Ashley, because I was IM'ing her at the same time I was blogging), yet just the same, I got comments from pretty much everyone. Kinda makes me wish I hadn't disappeared in the first place, but by the same token, it was an interesting experience to work for a couple of months with no outside distractions. And I mean none... we stopped karaokeing when the school year fired up again since everyone else got real busy, and besides, as I mentioned before, they stopped doing karaoke at the place we'd been going to. And that was about the extent of my social activity each week.
But anyway... thanks for being nifty, all. You guys deserve a deep-fried Twinkie. "What?", you ask? Yeah, apparently the new midway rage this year at the State Craphole -- *cough* I mean, State Fair -- is deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos. Last year it was deep-fried candy bars, especially Snickers and 3 Musketeers. I haven't actually been there this year (did I honestly miss much?). Has anyone seen that episode of The Simpsons where they go to the county fair and Homer gets his shirt deep-fried? I truly think he was right -- they CAN deep-fry anything. I mean, seriously, which friggin' genius sat down and said, "Hmm... Twinkies... all that hydrogenated oil 'creme' and 'golden cake' that's so full of preservatives, it has a half-life instead of a shelf life... How could I make this even less healthy?" I dunno. Pass the fry bread and the little squeeze bear of honey, please. You can keep your grease-soaked snack cakes.
Anyway... so, yeah, you guys are good friends.
I went over to Coronado tonight for the big homecoming game. Sure, I love my alma mater, but oh, how the mighty have fallen. I mean, we sucked pretty bad at the outset... then we lost our starting QB to a broken quarterbone, and he provided most of the offense, AND defense as a safety. So, draw your own conclusions. But, hey, got to see the band for the first time in over a month. The performance had its rough spots, but anyone who was in the CHS band can agree that Homecoming Day BLOWS CHUNKS. You've got your regular practice in the morning, then a pep rally, then you have to march the show in the stadium around 10:30 or so just when it's starting to get hot out for the big rally and float presentation... then right after school, back to the band room to prepare for that night's festivities, march the show during the game, THEN stand around for 20 minutes RIGHT after the show while a bunch of cheerleaders and football players move at sloth-speed across the field so that one lucky couple can be crowned King and Queen. Whoop-de-friggin'-do. Anyway, so usually by the end of that day, the show suffers a little. I thought, though, that it was all right. Honestly! However, everyone in the band I talked to afterwards said it was one of the worst shows of the year. *shrug* I know how they feel. I've now officially been on both sides of the tuba.
Anyway, it was neat going down there, because everyone there seemed to miss me while I'd been gone. I went up and helped load the truck for the NAU performance tomorrow (sorry, crew, no way I'm able to get up that early on a Saturday), which was a blast... it's been a good 4 years since I've broken down pit carts, but just like riding a bicycle, it all came right back to me. Anyway, it was great seeing all of the band again, and I promised the people I spoke with that I would make State no matter what. They've got the usual hectic performance schedule coming up; NAU tomorrow, a Thursday night game, some invitational in the west valley next Saturday, the last home game of the season on the 7th, and State on Saturday the 15th. I don't know when they're performing at State, but as soon as I find out, I'll post, and if anyone wants to convoy over there (I assume it'll be at Glendale Community College... maybe... might be at Chandler-Gilbert CC), let me know via the Comments box.
(Speaking of the comments box: Press the button once! The server is in the United Kingdom somewhere, and it takes a minute, but lately I haven't had any problems. My £12.00 "donation" (came out to like $14.77, I think) for a lifetime upgrade to Enetation Pro! seems to have helped some.)
Anyhow, so I'm pretty pleased right now. Things are on the up-and-up. I mean, there's things that aren't going so great, but those are things that are NEVER going so well, so it's nothing new. But when everything else is going so well, that part doesn't seem like such a gaping abyss. More like just something I look at and I think, "Well... someday..."
Tuesday, October 21
Pooooooooooffffff... Mind the dust.
*shrug* Figured I'd drop a blog on y'alls. I have spent so little time on my computer lately... I dunno. I've been busy as I've ever been at the kennel, but at the same time, strangely, I'm enjoying work almost as much as I ever have, too. Things are really flowing right now. Oh, and by the way, we've been accepted at Wheeling Island, which is the top track in the country. My dad will be moving up there to start it up after Christmas, and I'll be taking over the Phoenix operation. Wheeling pays anywhere from five to eight times as much as Phoenix, so it's an exciting time for our family and our business.
And that's just the future. The past two months have been rollicking fun, too. You may recall (and if you don't, scroll down) that I was in the finals of a stake. Well, we won that one, and I got to flex my new jacket and pants. Then, well, we just came right back and won the September stake, too. I picked out my own attire for that one, which is a whole 'nuther blog.
Speaking of whole 'nuther blogs, well... I'm going to TRY and get back into the rhythm on here. I have several great topics for posts... "I Can't Resist the Allure of Bacon," "There's More Than One Length of Tie?", and "My New Light Switch Mechanism." Ohhh, yeah... my new light switch mechanism. I can't wait to tell you about it. It's a sterling example of TFG engineering.
Anyway, so... this is a good re-start. Catch you in a few days.
*shrug* Figured I'd drop a blog on y'alls. I have spent so little time on my computer lately... I dunno. I've been busy as I've ever been at the kennel, but at the same time, strangely, I'm enjoying work almost as much as I ever have, too. Things are really flowing right now. Oh, and by the way, we've been accepted at Wheeling Island, which is the top track in the country. My dad will be moving up there to start it up after Christmas, and I'll be taking over the Phoenix operation. Wheeling pays anywhere from five to eight times as much as Phoenix, so it's an exciting time for our family and our business.
And that's just the future. The past two months have been rollicking fun, too. You may recall (and if you don't, scroll down) that I was in the finals of a stake. Well, we won that one, and I got to flex my new jacket and pants. Then, well, we just came right back and won the September stake, too. I picked out my own attire for that one, which is a whole 'nuther blog.
Speaking of whole 'nuther blogs, well... I'm going to TRY and get back into the rhythm on here. I have several great topics for posts... "I Can't Resist the Allure of Bacon," "There's More Than One Length of Tie?", and "My New Light Switch Mechanism." Ohhh, yeah... my new light switch mechanism. I can't wait to tell you about it. It's a sterling example of TFG engineering.
Anyway, so... this is a good re-start. Catch you in a few days.
