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This is a photo of the jazz concert that wasn’t.  Well, it was, only that was last month, June 13th… I didn’t write down the date correctly, so today my family and I went to Jacksonville Beach, camera and blankets in hand, in order to enjoy the smooth guitar sounds of Peter White.  All we found was a locked Sea Walk Pavilion and the usual parade of beach characters, some more uncommon than others, strutting their stuff along the beach.  But, I brought the camera, so out of the pouch it popped and I snapped a few quick ones to prove that I was indeed… here.

Where exactly?  I was here.  Now.  This was the moment we had, concert or not.  We were together as a family, and that counts much more than all the notes we missed.  And the Lord was in our midst.  So we spent a few minutes savoring the salty breeze that caressed the ever diminishing and graying strands of hair some of us are getting used to…  Kites flew and went nowhere. A few kite boarders darted over the waves… and we drove back.  Now we’re home.  A good day.  And we are grateful, for every day that passes draws us nearer to our Blessed Hope: the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Some have completely forgotten about that, but we haven’t, and we pray to God that we never will, until we see that day or we fly first to be in His Presence.

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” - Romans 13:11 KJVR

The Editor Devotionals

Well, we celebrated our 4th of July by faithfully attending church on Sunday morning to give thanks to God for our freedom, then we chilled out around the house all afternoon and capped a nice day by going out to Jacksonville Beach to see the fireworks.

Today we headed out for our first bike ride since we moved to Jacksonville: a 14.5 mile trail on what used to be a CSX track. It’s all paved, really nice, no hills whatsoever. Trees cover most of the trail providing shade… Nice! On our way back we “escaped” the tail of a storm moving northwest. 29 miles total. Not a bad way to kick start our riding season. We are looking forward to riding other trails around the state (& Georgia), especially during the fall when the heat is gone.

It’s great to be able to enjoy so many great things… always remember those who paid a very high price so we can enjoy our freedom. But most importantly, remember that the Son of God paid the ultimate price, His Blood, to deliver us from the power of sin and death, so that we can now “show forth the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 KJVR) This is true freedom, and we are so grateful before our Lord Jesus for all He’s done for us.

The Editor Bicycling

I’ve been feeling “rasta” lately… Well, I love Afro-Caribbean music, and so every time I hear something that catches my “ear” I just play it over and over and over.

I stumbled upon a piece by a group called Acoustic Alchemy, went to iTunes and bought some songs.  These folks are “smooth”, cool and tight.  No, they are not Jamaican (AFAIK).  Anyway, this particular song is, IMHO, one of their best: “Jamaica Heartbeat”.  Other than the melodic line played by the guitar, mostly everyone else just fall into a groove and stay there; very simple yet powerful.

I had to try it with my rather primitive setup… so I imported the song into Transcribe and EQ’d out the bass as much as I could.  I couldn’t completely get rid of the low end, because then out the window goes the kick drum as well and the whole thing just sounds like Mighty Mouse On Steroids (but we don’t wanna go there).

Well, after shaving off as much as I could from the bass, I exported as wav and imported into Audacity.  I added a 4 beat measure so that I could count into the song and start right (I kept missing the start).  Then, I played over the track with my Squier Classic Vibe 60’s (4 string bass) out of my Fender Rumble 15, through a Logitech USB mic and to my son’s homeschooling laptop.  This setup defines what “lag” is… and the mic crackles and pops for apparently no reason whatsoever…. and just when I thought I was getting a clean take, my wife opened the door to find out what I was doing in there… and all the noise from the house made it onto my track so I had to start… again!  Grrrrr!!!!

But, this is supposed to be “Jamaica Hearbeat” after all… so I chilled, did the best I could (GAS list: buy some sort of audio interface…), and here it is, pon yer case, mon!

Jamaica Heartbeat (mp3, 5226 KB for those of you with slow connections).

Let me know what you think.

The Editor

P.S. - That’s me and my sweetie some time ago at the southwestern-most part of Puerto Rico.  If you enjoy seafood you gotta make it there on vacation when you get a chance.

The Editor Music

Hi y’all.  As some of you know, I picked up the bass almost a year ago.  It’s been a wonderful journey so far and I’m excited about the future.

Here’s my first recording of a bass line I’ve been working on.  The song is “Te vengo a bendecir” by Jesús Adrián Romero.  I transcribed the bass line the good ‘ol fashioned way (no tabs) and reproduced the score on Guitar Pro 5.2.  I hooked up my iPod to my Fender Rumble 15 amp through the front input jack, placed a Logitech usb mic about 3-4″ in front of the amp, and just played over the track.  I used Audacity and exported to mp3.  The bass is my Squier Affinity Jazz V; the strings are DR FatBeams.  (Editor’s Note:  Because the B string is not required to play this bass line I re-recorded with my 4-string Classic Vibe 60’s and played some more with my recording setup.  Strings are also DR FatBeams.)

So, without further ado, here it is (mp3, 4.7 MB):

Te vengo a bendecir

And here is the bass line transcription I did and reproduced in Guitar Pro 5.2 (pdf, 46 KB):

Te vengo a bendecir

I didn’t quite play it like the transcribed score, but the initial score helped me understand the song and gave me a better idea how I should approach it.

Here’s the bass line transcription of the song I’m currently working on (pdf, 56 KB):

De tal manera

I will appreciate your constructive criticism on how I can improve.

Merci,

The Editor

The Editor Music

Well, I have decided to relaunch my photography site.  I will be shooting portraits on location, weddings, and selling inspirational posters.  I haven’t decided yet on which size for the posters, nor have I restructured my price strategy yet, but I’m just going to play it by ear.

It’s always good to have something on the side to take my mind away from web programming.  I am also now into music (bass playing) and I’m looking forward to start playing at church soon.

Let’s see what develops; with God’s help, all things are possible.

The Editor

The Editor Photography

How many quiet mornings I spent visiting parks and backwoods while living in New York State?  I can’t recall, but it was a several-times-a-week ritual.  I’d go in early, before work on weekdays and before the crowds on weekends.  Most times I’d just follow a meandering path into the woods, away from everything and everybody, to be alone with my thoughts and with the Lord.  Those were my best times: God was there.

A funny thing happened: there was always something just ahead, right after the next bend on the trail, behind those trees, after that hill, beyond that creek, by the next pond…  And I kept going to see what it was.  I had to look at my watch and say, “I’ll turn around after five minutes, no matter where I’m at”, and I almost always kept going.

Our path has now taken us to Florida.  There is much to see, much to explore.  I hope I can do justice to the things the Lord allows me to experience and be able to share them with you here.  Until then, keep walking: God is there.

The Editor

The Editor Uncategorized

I rode three times last week for a total of about 60 miles.  I was down and out on Thursday, and lo and behold, a 230 lbs bear decided to chase down a pregnant 26y.o. woman right on the same trailhead I take to work every morning.  I could have been the “lucky” guy.  To top it all off, we had a guy try to force his way into our home Friday night.  The police came and took the poor fellow away.

But, all in all, it was a good week.  Our faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ keeps growing every day.  Our family is more united than ever.  Jonathan and Joseph keep getting better at music.  Joseph composed his first music song (and not because I am his Dad, but I gotta admit the lyrics are pretty good!) and is working the music with Jonathan.   It may not be exactly easy going some times, but it is going.  We know that He holds our future.

So we are confident that in all things He is working for our good, and in this knowledge we have peace.

The Editor

The Editor Devotionals, Music

Well, this year I’ve been slow to get into riding.  The last couple of years I already had some decent base miles by mid-April.

My first ride this year was last week; I left the house at 6:30a and it was in the twenties…  It was the first time that both my computer and GPS stopped working because of the cold.  That’s a first: I’m used to riding in the cold as the photo of me riding the Erie Canal during the winter of 2007 shows.  Out of shape, with about 25 extra lbs (I normally settle into 170 lbs by the summer), and pushing a big 2.1″ tire in front and a 38 on the back, I didn’t have fun.  I’m thinking to go back to my 32 Armadillo Burrough XCs… they are not the best rolling but they are much lighter than what is on my wheels right now and I can ride over almost anything without fear of flatting.

I dunno.  The forecast for tomorrow is gorgeous with the traditional thunderstorms that roll in by late afternoon… I’m not in shape to outpedal something coming down from Pikes Peak. OTOH, my 10-mile ride back home is several hundred feet drop in elevation, so that is always fun!  We’ll see if I’m in the mood to ride; otherwise I’ll try to slog through a couple of miles on a treadmill at my local 24 Hr.

The Editor

The Editor Bicycling

I remember taking the plunge… it was in 2004.  For years I had stood up with the frustration of hammering square pegs into round holes.  That was my lot in life ~or so others said~ and as long as it paid the bills I would show up to work on time and did what was told hoping that things would sort out on their own.  You’d think that integrity, responsibility, passion and things like that would be important in themselves to assure you of success, but I quickly discovered that in my world those things didn’t matter on this side of God’s creation.

However, I yearned to create, to conceive and run with a vision, to express the world the way I saw it… to go down a path many people yearn to travel on but few ever get to discover, much less reach the destination it leads to: the desire to create something beautiful and lasting.

Solomon had it, so did Napoleon and just about most people who pay sizable amounts of money for bricks in some building, or benches in a park, or pews in a church… all bearing their names in the hopes of remembrance long after they’re gone.  We all strive for glory, but we waste many years seeking it in the wrong places.

So, what I discovered ~and a preacher I heard the other day confirmed it~ is that God created us for beauty.  We seek it, we desire it, and if we happen to be so fortunate as to find it we do everything possible to never let go of it.

I found beauty in the One who thought of me and gave me life.  Everything around me tells me of Him: the laughter of a small child, the majestic soar of a bird in flight, the flash and roar of thunder rolling down from the mountains, a quiet moment, the stillness of night, the brightness of day… He has made all things beautiful, yet I fail to grasp it all in its entirety.

So 2004 was the year that I decided to start trying… There was this gate at a garden in a town park in Upstate NY that I would spend hours around.  Many early mornings and late afternoons we met at that place, that gate and I.  The gate led nowhere, but somehow going through it raised so many questions, and questions over those questions… I can’t tell how many times I went back and forth through that garden gate as if somehow all the answers awaited on the other side.  But I knew Who was prompting all these question and in due time He would provide the answers. That year I bought my first film camera ~a Nikon N80~ in the hopes of capturing the beauty I saw around me.

My first attempts were horrible… why do all my pictures look so bad?  What’s this fuzz about light and darkness that never get along yet I need them both on a piece of film?  What settings?  When is the moment? Why am I doing this???

I set up a small darkroom in my home’s basement and quickly got used to the smell of fresh fixer in the morning…  I don’t have that darkroom anymore and most of my output is digital these days.  However I still shoot black and white and I do my own development.  How about a Photoshop plug-in that smells like fixer and stop bath? Hey, they’ve done it with “digital film grain” so…

The showcased photo is one of my first attempts at capturing that garden gate one late spring afternoon back in 2005.  While the photo doesn’t do justice to what I “saw” at that place it was the start of something.  Something I must do no matter the cost: to capture beauty and tell others about the One who created it.  I am on the Path.

I still haven’t got the process down and many shots are lost… but I keep going back and forth through that gate, and the One to whom I originally asked all my questions is providing answers.

The Editor

The Editor Devotionals, Photography

“Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee…” - Luke 24:1-6 KJVR

Don’t look for Jesus among dead things… He is alive!  Treat Him therefore as you would your best friend: talk and listen to Him, walk with Him and believe what He tells you.  You will then understand that this is about a relationship and not about a historical figure who died a long time ago.  He is risen indeed!!!

The Editor

The Editor Devotionals