It Was Sooooo Cold!!!!

[wizardmickey]

Saturday we played at the 1st Annual Central Lousiana State Hospital Employee Appreciation Picnic - I work there, I sit on the Employee Appreciation Commitee, so it was pretty much mandatory.
Problem was, we got there at 9:30 am and the temp was between 38-45 degrees with winds out of the North at 10-15 mph. So, I kept my leather trench on until about noon/1 pm, and during breaks we'd all run inside for coffee and cocoa with fingers aching and noses running!
By mid-day the wind had died a bit, so I ditched the coat for about 3/4's of a set, when suddenly it came back and the temp dropped back to what it was in the morning.
Funky weather aside, it was a great event held to show appreciation for all of the hospital's staff who'd worked around the clock to staff the units and take care of patients, staff & family sent to us during Gustav and Ike (evacuees from hospitals there.) There was a good turnout, and our new CEO spent most of the day there.
Here's some pictures...
http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...CLSH%20PICNIC/
You'll see one in there of my new Montage guitar (a close-up and a few of me playing it.) I'd just gotten it Friday night and hadn't planned to use it but the guys insisted... it's a Limited Edition guitar; Made of Koa Wood, it is one of only 150 produced made of Koa. The Montage is Ibanez's Hybrid guitar...

Also thought I'd share that plans for working on the CD have begun again. This round I'll be going in and playing my guitar parts and doing vocals to a drum machine on my keyboard and that'll be burned to discs for the guys to listen to and work up whatever parts they want to add (at which time the drum machine will be deleted). We decided to start this way since I've got 5 songs in realized stages and at least 2 more for them to fight over who will write lyrics and sing them. The guys have another 2 songs they're working up as well.

And, for those of you who purchased and or asked for the "UnEarthed" Promotional CD & package and have kept your silence about what the "SECRET" song was... First, THANKS and hope you enjoyed! Second, it's time to unveil the secret... we recorded a rather hard rocking and slightly comical version of "it's a small world" which we also do live (it's only about one minute and 40 seconds long - not as nerve wracking as the ride itself!)

Now, I need a heating pad and some sinus medicine and chapstick... I got wind-burned lips and a clogged ear from Saturday!

[chrisb26]

That's pretty cool you have such a limited guitar!

I must say I would agree with you on that being cold. When I first saw you say that I figured you had meant like 55-60 lol But Nah 38-45 would count as cold especially with the wind

[Chescat]

Poor Ice, that does sound cold.

Yay more songs!

[mickeytinkerbellprincess]

WOW 38-45 degrees?! I'd be frozen to a popsicle out there Cool pics, Ice,i! Keep rocking!

[wizardmickey]

Yeah, done a lot of outdoor Summer events and some in Fall, but this? This was something I'd never experienced... it even made me loose my breath when the wind blew right across my face when I'd be opening my mouth to sing...

The Montage Story: I initially went to Houston to at least try one out at Guitar Center (nobody here had one I could test out.) I wanted the transparent red (cedar I think) 'cuz online it looked real nice, but all they had in stock was the Limited Edition (and more expen$ive) Koa. I liked how the guitar sounded and played, but wasn't all that interested in paying more just for "bragging rights", so I asked them to order me the red and the wife would pick it up the next week when she came back through for a class. So, she did, and she brought it home, and I immediately played it, and discovered the jacks were messed up (would short and cut out if I stood up or moved!!!) So I called GC to complain...
They of course offered to make it up to me and reorder another for me right away. Well, after having now seen the red model in person, I wasn't happy with the finish, and I could tell neither was my wife. So, I asked if the Koa was still available and they said yeah, so I upgraded and got a deal because of my troubles. So when she went back to Houston the next week she picked it up and brought it home Friday night before the Satyrday show.

The Montage itself is a pretty amazing guitar; it's an acoustic with an acoustic pickup and a special electric pickup as well as a wide variety of onboard effects so that, if you didn't want to, you could use it all by itself and not even bother with foot pedals (hence why it is marketed as a "hybrid".)

Oh yeah.... and BTW: It was soooooo cold that it evidentally caused the glue under the top of the knobs on my 30+ year old Flying V to dry up and pop the silver covering off!!! Of course I could not find it, so I have to order knew knobs ASAP (which I was gonna do soon anyway but replace with pearl and black knobs to match my new faceplate.)