Guitars and big time music folks

Saturday, June 21, the longest day of the year, here in this part of our Earth.

And so...

I was visiting the Guitar Center in San Bernardino, CA, and took these fine photos...(Koos, are YOU seeing this?)

Here are some FINE youtube links to this stuff...you will even hear mention of one famous Pete Townshend...

Clapton:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZhxEHDS3KU

Stevie Ray Vaughn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_uuU81cwVw

San Bernardino is not too far away, and has hosted the likes of Zappa, the Rolling Stones, Elvis, ....and was the logistics center for the USAF SR-71 Blackbird, etc., etc...

Before you see the stuff on this blog, you absolutely MUST first visit the link I offer HERE:

http://gc.guitarcenter.com/legends/index.cfm

Above: This is the actual Stevie Ray Vaughn "Lenny" guitar. WOW! It was displayed with a security guard, glass case, and what likely was an alarm sensor. There were other guitars there, also displayed in the same manner...

The guitar used by Eric Clapton (Gibson ES-335) for so many years since 1964, and used to record the great "Crossroads" song. The back of the headstock had a little "stamp" looking thing that said "Hare Krishna". Story is: It so happens that George Harrison (Beatles) gave that to Eric, and so it was then stuck on his guitar.

This is the well worn backside of Eric Clapton's "Blackie" Fender Sratocaster that was used to record many of his most famous songs. I totally forgot to get a photo of this guitar from the entire front side....I was so overwhelmed. My sweet wife, Cruz, was by my side. Maybe that is why I was so distracted! I love her.

A beautiful, well aged Gibson Les Paul, used by The Edge (of U2 fame).

Loads of fun!

--Dan

Going to a show, and today is a birthday

Myself and our second daughter, Michelle, will be at the VH1 event honoring The Who. It will happen in July. We are very happy!

Above is a photo from a deli that we will be visiting this evening. Marion, our youngest, turns 18 years old today! She will order a nice sandwhich there! The folks holding the chow are Sean and Danielle, the deli owners.

Marion, at left, and my wife, Cruz. That was in february, 2008, Wrightwood, California.

--Dan

We went to the desert, and now Memorial Day

Monday in the USA is Memorial Day. We remember all those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.


On May 30, 1918, Memorial Day services in Washington, D.C., culminated with casting flowers into the Potomac River in memory of those who perished on the Lusitania.

Ref. http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/history/Vignettes/Vignette_51.htm


Last Sunday we hit the road about 100 miles east of us...then...
...JP grabs a chuckawalla.

The cracks in the rocks...that is where those big lizards hide. They have a mechanism whereby they inhale, and they bloat up HUGE...to wedge themselves into a crack. There are, as you likely cannot see, TWO chuckawallas in this crack...male and female...the female is the one JP just had in his hand.


Rachel, Dan, Cruz and Marion. It was 97 degrees F. in the desert, but at my house it was 102...go figure!

Yesterday it only hit 50 degrees here, and there were tornados, snow and lightning the day before that.

Dan and JP, Joshua Tree area.

My wife, Cruz, waits in the car as the search for wildlife carries on. The tree is the type known as the "Joshua Tree", for which the area is so named. There is snow in the yonder moutains, though I cannot yet tell if it shows in the blown up photo...you try to see, if you wish.

Cruz is seen outside the car, in the heat! She was afraid of snakes. Smart woman! We were looking for them, and she knew it!

Allen, my next-door-neighbor, plays "Funk 49" Friday night, yesterday.

--Dan

It's that time of year

The vast desert regions out here are filled with living things. Our friend, J.P., recently went to visit some of them...

A chuckawalla reptile, hard to catch one of these, but J.P. did it! Yes, he released it soon after, as he did all of the fine desert creatures of the day's find. Chuckawallas are famous for scurrying quickly under rocks and expanding their bodies to wedge themselves in. It is said that the only way to remove one that is wedged is to either terminate them, or break up the rocks! I would not consider either.

A red racer snake! He wanted to bite!

The horned toad lizard...a very colorful fellow! These fellows are quite friendly and easy to handle.

I did not take any of these photos, indeed, I was not even there at the time. However, I love to frequent that part of our California deserts, and plan to meet J.P. out there very, very soon. Neither of us live out there, but we just enjoy the visit.

Here is a photo taken several years ago in the same general desert area as the reptile photos. Those are my two youngest daughters, though now they are in college! Notice the clothing...it can get quite cold out there in other months! The picture was taken with the rising sun.

It's very hot here these days, but at least I don't quite live out in the big desert.

To better view any photo, "click" and it looks bigger...most of the time, anyway.

--Dan

Air Shows...we love 'em! March ARB, Riverside, CA

The utterly magnificent, incredible, United States Air Force F-22 Raptor, in flight.

My sweet wife, Cruz, and my youngest daughter, Marion (almost 18!), at the show.

Allen, my next door neighbor, working the vendor booth for shaved ice.


The "business end" of the "Warthog", otherwise known as the USAF A-10 Thunderbolt II, a tank killer. "Click" to view.

The remote controlled "Predator"! used in Iraq and Afghanistan, I have seen this thing fly in RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY CAR in the remote area known as California's Mojave Desert.


Looking over the shoulder of Predator.

More of Predator. Note the covered propeller.

F/A-18 Hornet.

USAF C-5.


Looking inside the volumous C-5 USAF Transport plane, the largest in the USAF inventory.


WW II era P-40 Warhawk, it is flyable.

There was a whole lot, lot more, but maybe I'll post more another day....

--Dan

March Air Museum

About two weeks ago, I visited yet again, March Air museum at the March ARB in Riverside, CA.

This SR-71 Blackbird (serial no. ...975) was used in the movie Space Cowboys with Clint Eastwood. "Click" on the image, and you almost really there...it gets bigger.

Two of my daughters, and a guest were with me.

The Air Museum is located right at March ARB, where there will be an air show next weekend! I likely won't be at that show, but they won't be needing me to have all of the fun. By the way, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds with their F-16's will be performing.

--Dan

Music, yet again

This is a photo of my wife, Cruz, taken sometime in the 1960's. We still have an accordian in the house, though it is apparently a different one.

I now offer here, on my blog, a very recent cell phone fuzzy video of Cruz playing (trying to play) the accordian, with our Grandson, Jesse, also in the mix...

Cannons and Canon, with trout thrown in

While we were visiting the San Gabriel Mission a few weeks ago, I commented to a fellow working there...


Do you know what that cannon is used for?" He said, "Oh, just for looks, celebrations and things, I suspect"...


I siad, "Well, I happen to know it is used to enforce Canon Law".


Well, that is a Catholic type joke, but I thought it was funny.


Here is the cannon picture I took.


Lastly, here is a photo I took while on a honeymoon roadtrip. Markleeville, California, Sierra Nevada range. They made the most out of their business venture, didn't they?



--Dan

Once again, the Earth groans...Charlton Heston has passed on at age 84

Yet another great loss as the rest of us soldier on...

Charlton Heston, as Moses, in The Ten Commandments

He was very real. No fluff, no fake.

I bought this book for my wife while she was in the hospital. It was fairly current at the time. I have read it myself. It is a real class act.

Who could resist the chariot race scene in Ben Hur? Wow!

I once saw him live at a play in Los Angeles back in around 1972 0r '73. That play was The Crucible.

What a great guy he was, on the screen, off the screen. Rest in peace, Charlton!

--Dan

My old jeep, and other things

Me and my old friend....a Jeep, back in the 1970's. I miss that old crate!

Me and my youngest daughter, about 1993 or so. Look at the expressions....are they not speaking volumes? Those of you that see this and know about your children...you know what I mean! Others with no kids...you can tell too!

My Mother, sometime when my Dad was in the Navy...dunno what year, or where she is. He was in WWII and Korea. She is working hard! She passed away in the very early 1960's.

--Dan

Happy Easter, and here are some recents happenings

We Celebrate the Risen Christ!

On Saturday, four of my family visited Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the 4th of 21 Missions established in the earlier days of California. It was a beautiful day! As is customary, the tabernacle in the Mission Chapel was empty on Holy Saturday.

Daughter Marion, and Cruz, my wife.

The Mission Chapel Sanctuary.

In the Mission Cemetery, here is the final resting place of a faithful servant of God and family friend for many years, Fr. Aloysius Ellacuria, CMF. We sure do miss him. There were also others in this place...that I saw...and I once knew. I have little doubt that they have all gone home to God.

Dan and Cruz, at the front door.

"Click" on the photos for a better view.

Happy Easter!

--Dan