pkfansteph’s blog

I'm too lazy to upload photos one by one, so I'll just post links to my Facebook albums. 

April 2008 trip to Chicago, Wheaton, Mudelein and St. Charles, IL

The Master & the Musician tour April 10th and 24th, 2008

RAGBRAI 2008

The albums ARE public, despite the preview you get when you move your mouse over them.

Enjoy!

-- Steph

Early last week my mom had an accident on the way to work.  She was driving on a rural highway when a dog ran in front of our minivan.  There was a semi riding her bumper and there was no way she could avoid the dog.  Mom went to several farmhouses in the area to locate the dog's owner but didn't find anyone home.  Not wanting to have the owner drive by and see their beloved pet on the side of the road, she called 9-1-1 and told them what happened so they could send animal control.  

By the time she arrived at work, mom was in tears.  We've had two dogs killed and another injured by cars whose drivers didn't even bother to stop.  Understandably, Mom wanted to do something.  But what?  Working at a newspaper gave her the perfect opportunity.  She wrote a letter to the editor describing what happened in hopes that the dog's owner would see it and know how sorry she was.  She wasn't expecting a response, but she got one in the form of another letter to the editor by the dog's owner.  It's a wonderful letter and the ideal reaction so I thought I'd scan the article and share it.  I don't know if I could be that understanding....

From the April 4, 2008 Harlan News-Advertiser.

As some of you know, I've been working on some t-shirt designs to sell through CafePress in hopes of raising more money to catch a few shows on the Master & The Musician: 30 Years Later tour. They're now done and ready to be shown off! The shirts contain photos that I took along with paraphrases of bible verses.  So far there are four basic designs based on two photos and two verses and I'm pleased with how they came out.

http://www.cafepress.com/playthrume

At the moment, I'm using the free shop but once I make enough sales to justify the $7/month fee, I'll upgrade to a premium account which will let me have multiple designs on the same style of shirt.  I've set it up to earn $3 per shirt except for the black one.  I kept that at $1 to keep all the prices under $20.

Any feedback would be welcome, so please let me know what you think!

-- Steph

Not all of my iPod is filled with Phil Keaggy CDs and episodes of the Dead Zone.

Artists and labels are increasingly realizing that giving fans (or potential fans) a full length song goes a long way to promoting their music. People like free stuff and they take note.

Every so often, I run across someone who is still wary of the legality of music downloads. If that's you, then the only really safe place to download music is directly from the artist or label. And there's plenty of it out there. If you're looking for mp3s from a specific artist, it's best to try their official websites. You may be surprised what you could find. I recently went to one indie band who had their entire back catalog (4 albums) for free download. I found another artist who offered his latest release in exchange for telling five of your friends about the freebies! Plus, I have two friends who offer demos and unreleased material for their digital fans only. So check those official artist websites!

Record labels often have their own websites, too, and sometimes they offer full-length downloads from many of their artists to promote the latest tour or upcoming album. Gotee Records and InPop records are two fine examples.

If you're really feeling adventurous, try the band or artist's official MySpace page. Check their blog messages, bulletins, and the "About Me" section. But if you're really concerned about legality, be careful. MySpace has gotten better at removing pages unauthorized by the artist, but there are still a few "imposters" out there.

Happy hunting!

-- Steph B.

These are my favorite versions of the song, though I hadn't heard Bob Seger's version until just now and I like it.

What's your musical horoscope?  (Put your player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.) 

Flood (live) - Jars Of Clay
Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
Elias (live) - Dispatch
John The Revelator (live) - Glass Harp
A Promise Kept - Phil Keaggy
Cygnus X-1 - Rush
How Many People - Paul McCartney
Balm - Remedy Drive
Jam # 2 (live) - Glass Harp
Streets Of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen

Show us a musical instrument.

Will mine do? 

While I'm not sure I entirely agree, there are some people who consider technology more important than food, clothes, schools, etc. It sounds good in theory--the whole "teach a man to fish" idea. But I just can't wrap my head around it; there are far too many immediate needs.

Anyway, this BBC article is an interesting read:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7094695.stm

Video: Show us a music video you'd gladly watch over and over again.

The first one that came to mind...

The second (already in my Vox library)...

I know I have more, but every week I put off posting something to find more than just what comes immediately to mind and, sure enough, most every week I don't get back here before a new topic is posted....