A couple pics...

These are from the Bloomingdale concert. New camera this trip. Now I just have to relearn shooting with a real SLR after a couple years with the point & shoot quasi SLR.

We're sorry..

I'm afraid we did all we could, used all our capabilities, but we couldn't save it..


However, we were able to save the baby...



My faithful old Vaio has finally bitten the dust. After five years on the road, pcountless shows being used for audio measurement, recording & playback, Plus being my primary personal computer, it began to cry like a sick cat a few nights ago. The culprit a shot cooling fan. I attempted a repair (I've done it before) but the result was flatline, no boot. I'm still hoping to resurrect it as a spare (my last spare was lost in the Monastery fire).
So there is a new baby in my gear family, a shiny new Sony Vaio FW170J. I'm already thoroughly frustrated with Windows Vista but I shall overcome!

Update

Well we've had several successful concerts since I last posted. The last several days have been quite busy so I've just not had the chance to post here. I've taken lots of pictures. Hopefully I'll have the chance to some web suitable in short order. Currently we're in Bloomingdale, Illinois. No concert tomorrow or the next day so I should have some time. Keep watching here....

Article from Perham Concert

This article appeared in the newspaper in Perham, Minnesota after our concert there.

Onward to Shakopee

Well, it's about 10am Friday. We left Trudy's house in Perham, Minnesota this morning after a terrific concert last night. It was a fun few days in Perham with a whole bunch of new friends. Trudy, of course, who put us up in her beautiful home and looked after us. Debbie who sponsored the concert, wrangled all the details, asked me my for my story and was patient(foolish) enough to sit and listen to it. Jeff (Debbie's husband) who gave up his car for us for three days, schlepped gear, and donated his guitar stand to the cause. Trudy's mom, Audrey, smiling for everyone. Tom, Sophie, Wayne, Judy, Terry and at least a dozen others who's names escape me who entertained us, loaded/unloaded gear, sold merchandise, ushered etc, etc, etc. It's hard when you spend a few days someplace, kind of like going to camp as a kid. You make all these new friends and end up not wanting to leave. But leave we must and today we're logistically challenged as we head to the Minneapolis area in the midst of the Republican convention. We've got a quick turn around today heading right out after the concert for Wisconsin. Keep reading here for more updates and pictures as I have time. If you haven't already, check JMT's Calendar for concert dates in your area.

Great first concert

We had a great first concert for this trip in Waukee, Iowa last night. Thanks go to Steve, Dennis, Gerald and a dozen others whose names I can't remember! John Michael is trying out some different stuff in the set this trip so who knows what you might hear. We are renting gear again so I have some new things to get used to. Thanks go to DB Productions in Rogers, Arkansas for taking such good care of me with the rental.
Today after seven or eight hours of driving we've arrived in Perham, Minnesota where local parishioner, Trudy, has graciously put us up in her lakeside home. The concert here isn't until Thursday so tomorrow Viola and I expect to explore the town a bit and I've got some work to do on the gear as well. More coming soon....