Yosemite Valley

Soundtrack:

• Modest Mouse -- We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Pongo and I made a trip to Yosemite this weekend.  It was a wet one.  I'd hoped the rain would drive off the crowds.  No such luck.  Damn people brought their rain gear.  So much for my noble plans of having the place to myself.

Merced River, Yosemite National Park, CA

The rain darkened everything.  The sky was dark with clouds.  The granite walls of the valley were darkened by the water.  The pictures I took reflect all that.  Unfortunately, the photos also reflect the fact that I didn't make an effort to get them right.  Neither my camera or my dog are waterproof, so I was doing a bit of dashing in and out of the car to quickly get shots.  Pongo came with me most of the time, so by the end of the day the inside of the car was almost as wet as the outside.

Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, CA

This weekend's rain isn't going to do much to help with the drought.  The snow pack was 5% of normal this year in the Sierras, this was just a one day respite.  The reservoirs will be tapped after this year, meaning if we don't have a good winter next year California is going to have serious problems.

Yosemite National Park, CA

California Mule Deer -- Yosemite National Park, CA

I saw a few deer.  Pongo didn't see them.  Too bad, he likes deer.  We had a deer walk right up to us last time we were in Yosemite.  She probably thought we'd feed her, but that wasn't going to happen.  I do my best to follow park rules.  Well, I tried to sneak Pongo onto a paved trail once in Sequoia National Park but stopped about 100 yards in.  A young lady called me out and she was right.  Not my greatest moment.

Yosemite National Park, CA

Bridalveil Fall -- Yosemite National Park, CA

Yosemite National Park, CA

If you're wondering how bad things are looking, see the photo of Don Pedro Reservoir below.  Given the time of year, that's likely to be the high point for 2015.  Yikes.

Don Pedro Reservoir, CA

Moondog Sessions

It was a bit of a change of pace for me this weekend.  I spent Saturday and Sunday in a recording studio with a group of friends recording a few new tracks and overdubbing some things we recorded last year.  It was a lot of fun and a great time was had by all.

Moondog Studios, Alameda, CA

This is my drum kit.  My dad paid fifty bucks for it when I was twelve.  He bought me the high hat in high school for two hundred dollars and I paid one hundred dollars for the ride cymbal in high school and two hundred for the crash cymbal and stand in college.  That makes the total cost about $450 not counting sticks and heads.  That's a pretty good investment if you ask me.

The drums used to have a sparkly red plastic coating on the outside.  I stripped that all off the let them ring more.  Most drummers don't like that.  They tape the heads and do everything they can think of to dull the sound to a thud.  That's not my style.  I want the snare cracking, the high tom ringing and the floor tom to boom like a cannon.  That's pretty much what these drums do.  The drummers I like the best have a tone that's instantly recognizable.  Their kit sounds like no one else's.  Stewart Copeland.  Max Roach.  Ringo Starr.  Those are my guys.  I've borrowed from each of them but I don't think I sound like any of them.  I'm certainly not in their league.  I sound like me, though, and that's usually a good thing.

Moondog Studios, Alameda, CA

I'm not to go too much into the other members of the "band."  They have their own stories to tell, I'll let them tell their own.  Suffice it to say it was a great weekend with these guys again.  Every time we get together it becomes one of those milestones in my life from which all things either precede or follow.

Moondog Studios, Alameda, CA

Moondog Studios, Alameda, CA

Moondog Studios, Alameda, CA

Moondog Studios, Alameda, CA