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13 May 2008 - Gig News and Bass Player
A few journal-worthy items from the TMD world:

1. We're playing at Common Grounds on Tuesday, May 20 with a great guitarist named Glenn Roth. If you aren't familiar with his music, check out his website here. This is going to be a fun show, so I hope you guys can make it.

"Why will it be a fun show?" you ask, "Aren't they all fun?"
"You have a valid point" I answer with a smile, "but this one has the added bonus of being our first gig with our new bass player, Erik!"
"Sweet!" you exclaim, as the electrons between my keyboard and your computer screen give each other high fives.

2. As you may have heard (if you read the previous paragraph out loud) we have a new bass player! His name is Erik Rishel and in addition to being an excellent musician, he defeated Josh in Dr. Mario the other day......a feat which many Nintendo scholars believed would never happen in our lifetimes.

19 April 2008 - That was fun
Thanks to everyone for coming out to Common Grounds last night! You guys were great.

Big ups to Tim Savage for his mad freestyling skillz!!
(for those of you who do not understand the previous sentence...I'm attempting to be cool. See how I spelled "skillz" with a "z"?.....That's cooler than using an "s" because it drives middle school teachers crazy.)

Translated into common vernacular, the sentence means: "Thanks to Tim Savage for coming up and rapping improvised lyrics about sushi." You rock, my friend.

10 April 2008 - Gigs on the way!
I just posted some new dates on the World Tour page for the Spring and Summer. We're looking to play outside of Lexington, so if you know of a venue we need to play, email us! (email@toomanydrummers.com)

We recorded drums all last week, and I'm extremely happy to tell you that we've got all the drum tracks done for the album....

25 March 2008 - Main and Maple Coffee Shop gig is postponed
Sorry guys, due to construction delays the grand opening weekend of Main and Maple has been moved back, so we won't be playing in Nicholasville this weekend. I'll let you know when we reschedule.

In other news, next week is recording week. Josh and Collin are on spring break so we're going to take a run at this album. Keep us in your prayers!

28 February 2008 - Three new songs on the Music page!!!!
I've posted some tunes on the site for all of you who have asked about the upcoming album. These tracks will give you a bit of insight into where the songs are headed, so when you hear them in their final album form you'll be able to look back and see how we got there.

In the meantime, enjoy the songs!

27 February 2008 - Really, I'm not an egomaniac. I will update the site, I promise...
OK, the site redesign is on hold until after this weekend. I'm going on a youth retreat (yeah, FUSED retreat!) with my church Friday through Sunday. This is going to be an epic retreat...combining middle school and high school for the first time. The slogan on the advertising posters is "the world just might explode"...which pretty much says it all.

I'll be back in time for the special farewell concert at Common Grounds on Sunday night....so I'll see you there!

20 February 2008 - I'm not an egomaniac, we just need photos of other people
I'm redesigning the website. This current version worked when I was the only member of the band and living on a boat in Europe. Now, it seems a little ridiculous that a three man band is represented by photos of me. We're going to take some pictures at the show this Saturday (10 pm! Common Grounds of Lexington!).

By the way, you can join our facebook group if you'd like to keep track of the latest band news.

18 February 2008 - At last, there are truly Too Many Drummers
We have a drummer! I met Collin at Quest (our church in Lexington....drop me a line, come out one Sunday and I'll show you around), where we both play drums for various church bands. He also happens to play a mean steel pan (shiny metal drums from Trinidad) so we ended up forming a two man steel pan band for special events at Quest.

Josh and I had been praying about new band members for a while and there were three things that prompted us to invite him to play with TMD:
a) he pulled out a bracelet of jingly bells to wear on his ankle so he could jingle in time while we played christmas carols on the steel pans
b) he wanted to play "Noel, Noel" in a 5/4 time signature instead of in 4/4
c) he fits our 6 foot height requirement for band membership. Seriously, we're the tallest band ever (if you don't Scandinavian death metal bands....those guys are huge.)

8 November 2007 - Heading South
I'm driving down to Melbourne, FL with Sarah tonight. We've been looking forward to this SSCA cruiser's convention for months. I'm playing some tunes at the BBQ on Sat night and on Sun we're giving a couple of seminars about sailing around the world and multimedia.

The Red Sea DVD isn't quite finished, but I'll be showing previews at the convention, so I'm really excited.
I'm also pumped about swimming in the ocean again......

23 August 2007 - Three weeks into recording
We've pulled some excellent guest musicians into the project. Fun to work with many people. It will definitely make the album better, since Josh and I don't have to learn how to play new instruments each time we need a new sound.

Two weeks ago we rented a full size double bass. After a futile day of trying to make it sound like it wasn't being played by an uncoordinated second grader we called in reinforcements. Jesse saved the day with a few effortless swipes of his bow. For this, we honor him. Cheers, Jesse.

2 August 2007 - The album
Josh and I are recording 5 days a week. New music is coming and I think you are all going to be pleasantly surprised when you hear this album. I'm very, very excited. That's two "very"s. Which is a lot.

29 April 2007 - The next few months...
1. The first TMD album is happening. But it will be a few months before it gets finished, because....

2. I'm flying to New Zealand in May to sail a catamaran to Tonga. It will take about 6 weeks, so recording is going to be on hold while I'm gone...I'm taking my acoustic guitar, so hopefully some new songs will be ready to go when I get back.

17 March 2007 - Lexington, KY - Reflections on Solomon's
Just added some new gigs to the World Tour page. I have to tell you...I'm enjoying myself more and more with each gig we play. Last night we played Solomon's Porch and featured a small improv group from college called "Riff McNasty and Three Kinds of Cheese". Our friend Andrew rocked the bagpipes, Josh played mandolin, and I jammed along on a doumbek (hand drum). T'was sweetly appropriate for St. Patrick's Day.

Kudos to Allison (Andrew's wife) for nailing the flute solo on "Africa" (by Toto).

Thanks to all our friends for coming out and supporting us. You rock.

12 March 2007 - Lexington, KY - Solomon's Porch
Thanks to the cool people at the Hub in Danville for making last Friday awesome. We're really looking forward to this week's show at Solomon's Porch in Wilmore.
Little known fact: the first Too Many Drummers gig EVER (featuring the original lineup of 5 collegiate rockers) was at Solomon's Porch.

15 February 2007 - Lexington, KY - A Plethora of Thoughts
1. I'm working hard on editing the Maxing Out: Red Sea DVD. Also writing and recording the soundtrack (which takes more time than I expected but is really fun). Yesterday I uploaded three 5 minute video segments to Youtube. You can watch them here.

2. One Life Goal Accomplished: shaving hair into a mohawk (was Mr. T for Halloween)

3. New Life Goal: trying to regain some semblance of hairstyle without going to a qualified barber during the post-mohawk hair growth process.

4. Bought a new acoustic guitar, slowing all progress because I can't avoid picking it up to play every ten minutes.

5. Does anyone actually look forward to Valentine's Day besides florists? Presumably there are couples whose relationships are greatly enriched by this annual celebration of love....but I don't think I know any of them. It's not that I'm against the idea of doing something especially nice for someone that is special to you.....I just would rather not have Wal-Mart or Kay Jewelers tell us how and when to do it. Every day should be Valentine's Day.
Having said all that......I bought my wife something because she totally deserves it.
And thus concludeth my yearly Valentine Manifesto.

6 December 2006 - Lexington, KY - Bonus Video
I've got a special sneak preview for you. If you go to www.maxingout.com/videotest.htm you can watch a 5 minute mini segment from the Red Sea DVD project I'm working on.

25 November 2006 - Lexington, KY - Common Grounds tonight
Just got back from playing Common Grounds. I really enjoy playing there (although Sarah tells me I didn't smile much tonight so this may not have appeared to be the case). Thanks to everyone who listened.

I'm playing Common Grounds again on December 22, accompanied by the ever-impressive and wickedly versatile Josh Dahm. Rumors of occasional Christmas tunes abound.

27 October 2006 - Lexington, KY - Save the Date(s)
Exciting developments in DVD land. There's a possibility we will rent out the Kentucky Theatre and make the DVD movie premiere a black tie affair. It's going to be a few months before the project is ready so my best advice is to keep every night from February through June clear on your calendar so you'll be able to make it.

26 October 2006 - Lexington, KY - I Hereby Declare Us Officially "Cool" (finally....)
Maxingout.com (and by association, toomanydrummers.com) is hip. That's right....we're podcasting.
This is something I've been meaning to get into but hadn't taken the time to work on until Dad (henceforth referred to as "Captain Dave") recorded dialogue for a podcast. He asked me to compose some kind of intro music so I wrote him a sea shanty to be performed by a 10-person Pirate Choir.

I was going to use a synthesizer accordion sound but Josh (a friend, accordionist, and press-ganged Pirate Choir member) insisted that our listeners deserve nothing but complete accordion authenticity. Enjoy.

Listen to the first MaxingOut Podcast (in MP3 form): The Perfect Storm

23 October 2006 - Lexington, KY - Making a DVD
No one said a life of New School Pirate Rock would be easy.
Here's what I'm working on:

1. Full length TMD album. Something to sink your teeth into and enjoy.

2. Editing a DVD series chronicling our sailing adventures over the last two years. I shot 170 hours of footage between Australia and America. The first DVD is going to cover our journey up the Red Sea and judging from the footage I've seen so far, you guys are in for a treat.

3. Getting involved in the local music scene.

24 August 2006 - Lexington, KY - Imogen Heap
My friend introduced me to an amazing song called "Hide and Seek" by a musician named Imogen Heap. If you haven't heard it, you need to. I don't know what the song is about but the sound is incredible.

(Update: Everyone I've talked to already knows about this song. Apparently it's on tv all the time. So much for trying to be a cutting edge music insider....but on the plus side, there's finally something interesting on tv.)

22 August 2006 - Lexington, KY - Back in the USA
I'm back! It's been a crazy three months. Lots of big things happening in my world. Things like:
1. My parents and I completed an 11 year sailing circumnavigation of the globe
2. I got married
3. My minivan died
4. New songs of deep lyric and powerful volume were penned
5. I had my first encounter with poison ivy

13 May 2006 - Ceiba, Puerto Rico - North
The weather has cleared up and it looks like we're heading north today. Depending on the weather, we'll be in the Bahamas in 4-5 days. Looking forward to another offshore passage and some dedicated songwriting time.....

11 May 2006 - Ceiba, Puerto Rico - Full Circle
I'm sitting three miles from where I was born. If I was 100 feet tall I'd be able to peek over the trees and see the dim windows of the hospital which served as my first pit stop on the planet.
It's been a great 26 years.

This boat trip has been a fantastic experience...challenging, rarely scary, sometimes hilarious, frequently inspiring, and always worthwhile. It's become abundantly clear is what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to do an adventure like this.

I'm getting too nostalgic. I'd better say something tough so no one will think I'm soft.
Woohoooo! Monster trucks!

27 April 2006 - Charlotte Amalia, St. Thomas - Word
Today was my first brush with hip hop culture since I left Miami. Baggy clothes, sports jerseys, bling-bling, tilted caps, sagging trousers (oh, you rebel you!), blah, blah, blah.....yup, two years later and I still don't fit in.

If only Jay-Z would wear a droopy cowboy hat in a music video, I could be cool. Maybe even ultra-cool.

20 April 2006 - Virgin Gorda, BVI - State of the Unafraid Project
Sorry I haven't posted new tunes for a while. It's mainly because I'm fleshing out the songs for Love the Unafraid. The project started with 9 songs and has expanded to a possible 13. Since one of the ways I write songs is by playing them over and over again while fine tuning sections along the way, doing this for 13 songs is more time consuming than expected.

And all the while, new ideas burst into the sonic landscape....ideas which must be hunted down with the blunt weapon of dogged repetition.

Thus ends the weirdest sentence I've ever written.

12 April 2006 - Charlestown, Nevis - Nanny McPhee
We watched a movie called "Nanny McPhee" tonight. I really enjoyed it but I'm still trying to figure out the meaning behind her warts, etc. disappearing each time the kids learned a lesson. I'm positive there is a really deep message there somewhere but I just can't quite see it. Why would the family's perception of her matter? Were her physical characteristics a metaphor for the health of the family unit? I don't get it. This is going to keep me awake all night.

25 March 2006 - Rodney Bay, St. Lucia - Ever North
North, north, north we go..... We finally broke free of Trinidad and devoted the last five days to rocketing northwards as quick as canvas will carry us. It's time to head up the island chain before hurricane season starts again. The goal is to be in Florida by June and there is a ton of stuff to see along the way.

Rodney Bay has all the ingredients of a great yachtie destination: pizza, free wireless, dinghy dock, warm water, and a 2 mile long beach. I think we're going to chill here for at least a couple of days to recover from our march north.

In musical news, Love the Unafraid is coming together piece by piece. I've got the order of songs worked out for the album and most of the music is ready. Working on lyrics now.

18 March 2006 - Chaguaramas, Trinidad - Ready to Rock
We finished all of the official boat work. We milked the Carnival season dry. Now we just need a weather window and we'll start north up the island chain.

17 March 2006 - Chaguaramas, Trinidad - Pan Man
For those of you who don't know, steel pans are Trinidad's signature instruments. They are built by beating flat lids of 55 gallon oil drums into tuned notes (it's a bit more complicated and time-consuming than that but you get the idea).
After much research and meticulous wallet weighing I bought a set of steel pans. Yee. Haw.

There are many types of pans. A steel pan orchestra has high and low voices, just like a regular orchestra. The highest notes are played by the single tenor pan (it's the most popular). One octave below the single tenor is the double tenor, which also plays melody but has the notes broken up between two different pans (hence the "double"). The next pan down is the double second, which resembles the double tenor but has a longer skirt (barrel) and tends to play chordal accompaniment (called "strumming") and reinforce the tenor melodies. Beneath the double second comes the guitars (2 or 3 pans), then the cellos (3 or 4 pans), and the bass (6+ pans). Other instruments like the quadraphonics squeeze in between the cellos and the bass pans.

Each pan type has a completely differently tuning. For example, a double second player would need to relearn note locations in order to play the cellos. This would be confusing except that all the pan types have patterns behind their note placement. Once you learn the patterns it gets easier to pick up other pans.

Well actually, when I say "all" pan types have patterns I should mention that there is one pan voice which manages to confound any logic: the double tenor. This pan stands out because it doesn't adhere to any obvious rhyme or reason in note placement and as such is a unique challenge to learn.

Guess which type of pan I bought?
Yup. Double tenor.

In my defense, I didn't know about all this tuning stuff at the time. It was only a couple days after buying my pans that I finally sorted the orchestral voices out and learned about pan types and their respective note layouts. I've had more than one person advise me to trade them in for a set of double seconds (which are much more popular).

After thinking it through and taking a lesson from an awesomely cool local pan band arranger named Kendall Lewis, I've decided to stick with the double tenors. It's got a great range for melody playing. I don't think I'd use the high notes on a single tenor pan and I don't like the earthy dark tone of double seconds as much as I like the warm, bright tone of my double tenors.

I would love to come back to Trinidad and play in a steel band. When I get my own boat and head south in a few years, I'll be ready. We built a couple of short stands out of PVC tubing so I can practice on the cockpit table. After three hours of working on the chromatic scale yesterday I'm sure everyone else in the marina is counting the days till we leave Chaguaramas. On the plus side, if anyone anchors too close I can always pull out my pans and jam with dad as he rocks the didgeridoo until the offending yacht moves.

Currently I'm working on scales and arpeggios. Yesterday I busted through a Bob Marley song that no one else could recognize. Today I'm going to figure out the intro pan riff to "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid. Tomorrow....Mozart!

10 March 2006 - Chaguaramas, Trinidad - Only 350 Days till Carnival 2007
Trinidad rocks. This is the best and only reason I can give for slacking off in my journal entries over the last three weeks. Between the Carnival activities, boat work, hiking in the forest, and scoping out steel drums...I'm staying really busy. I'm so thankful for all the cool things I've seen in Trinidad. The country exceeded my expectations.

I dusted off a few tunes on my guitar this afternoon...it was kind of like hanging out with old friends. We'd all changed a lot since the last time we met but found enough in common to gel.

25 February 2006 - Chaguaramas, Trinidad - Panorama Finals
Tonight is the finals of this year's Panorama steel pan band competition. The groups range in size from 40 to 120 people and from what I'm told it's going to be incredible. I've been looking forward to this show since we got here.

On our second night in Trinidad we visited 4 panyards (base camps for various steel pan groups) and watched a few different groups rehearse. I don't know if any of them made it to the finals or not but they were all awesome. I love watching everyone sway in time while they play. A lot of times it seems like they are concentrating more on their dancing than on their blurred hands. It blows my mind to see players rip through complex melody lines without even glancing down at their pans.

One cool thing about steel pan bands is how age and gender are not issues. Band members can include everyone from adrenalized children to testosterone-fueled teens and funky grampas. Pan music transcends generational gaps. Everyone involved has a great time, including the old guy sitting next to the throbbing drum set platform whose only job is to hold the hi-hat stand so the drummer doesn't bounce off the stage while playing. Awesome.

15 February 2006 - Prickly Bay, Grenada - Born to Surf
Congrats on making it through another Valentine's Day. I've got to admit this holiday is not high on my list of priorities. In fact I declared a strike two years ago (that was a mistake I won't make again). It's not that I don't want to be appreciative of a great relationship, it's just that I don't like Wal-Mart telling me when and how to do it. Anyways...

Today we set sail for Trinidad. It's only an overnight passage (about 100 miles) so it should go pretty quick. We've been waiting for a weather window for the last couple of days and it looks like this is as good as it will get.
I haven't been wasting any time, though. Five days ago dad bought a kayak as a surprise for mom and I've taken it upon myself to test it to destruction in the local surf break about 1 km from the anchorage.

Much to my surprise, after 3 consecutive days in the surf both the kayak and my body remain intact.

14 February 2006 - Prickly Bay, Grenada - Writing
Fear not, fellow rockers. Music is on the way.

6 February 2006 - Carriacou, Grenada - South Caribbean
I love the Caribbean. The locals are friendly, the music is real, and the water is perfect.

Tonight a shoreside restaurant cranked their sound system to 11 three minutes after the sun went down. The hyperactive bass thump is vibrating the hull beneath my feet as I type. For the last two hours we've been listening to an endless procession of island music I don't recognize and Bob Marley songs that I do.

I'll take this any day of the week over techno. Not that I can't appreciate techno or dance music (although I consistently find it hard to do so)...it's just that techno's relentless bass becomes doubly relentless when amplified across water. We did the techno thing when we sailed through the Mediterranean.

We've spent the last week sailing south through the Grenadines. I never knew the Caribbean had so many awesome places to go. It is a totally different kind of cruising from what I'm used to. The Caribbean is my generation's answer to the cruising lifestyle...instant gratification. Don't like where you are? Too crowded? No problem. You're never more than a couple of hours sailing from a new destination.

There are a ton of charter yachts out here. Unfortunately sailboats aren't an intuitive mode of transportation and many charterers seem mystified by the process of sailing. I've seen so much crazy seamanship in the past month that nothing can surprise me anymore. We've witnessed a couple of hit and runs where a charter boat did something unimaginably silly resulting in a collision with an innocent vessel, then sailed off without stopping to make amends.

In fairness to the offending charter yachts, it is entirely possible they were trying to stop but didn't know how to.

28 January 2006 - Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines - Random Thoughts
Thanks for all the emails! It's great to hear from you guys.

I am reminded to be thankful when I hear about the cold weather up north. Since I was born with an addiction to flip flop footwear ("sandals" or "thongs" to those of you in Oceania....no, not that kind of thong) I gravitate towards the tropics.

The southward trek toward Trinidad and Carnival continues. Distances in the Caribbean seem pretty easy when you're used to thinking in terms of oceans. The next stop is only 18 miles away instead of 1800.

My Dad just uploaded a new website for a book he's written: http://www.godlovesu.com. Give it a look and if you like it he'd love for you to drop him a line!

26 January 2006 - Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines - A Little Stronger Every Day
It's still windy so I took advantage of the electrical boost from the wind generators to record some guitar tracks for a new song called "December Kiss", which will eventually be chapter 7 of the Unafraid project.

I've been reading Ecclesiastes and it keeps me from freaking out about life. I highly recommend it to any fellow spazzoids.

Today's "Band I Dismissed Out of Hand in the Past To My Own Detriment ": Matchbox 20
"3 am" got so much radio airplay I couldn't stand the thought of hearing it again so I didn't listen to that album or any of their subsequent ones....until someone loaned me Mad Season and I learned the error of my ways. They have great background vocal parts. It makes me wonder if the guy who sings backup ever gets frustrated having to sing second chair since he seems to have a strong voice and could probably do lead. Maybe he's just a laid back guy. Or maybe he doesn't have anything to prove after selling 248 billion records.

23 January 2006 - Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines - The Anchor Dance
It's been a crazy couple of days. The wind is blowing so hard that boats all over the anchorage are dragging their anchors and threatening to run into each other. We keep someone on the boat all the time in case we need to turn on the engines to avoid a collision. So far so good.

Topping today's list of "Bands I Dismissed Out of Hand in the Past To My Own Detriment ": John Mayer
I stand before you a humbled man. John can straight up play. And he writes incredible songs (but the best ones don't seem to make the radio...do yourself a favor and check out his whole albums)

18 January 2006 - Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines - March the Unafraid
I just uploaded Chapter 3 in Love the Unafraid!

14 January 2006 - Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines - Scrubbing
Dad and I spent the morning scrubbing off the remains of a Las Palmas oil slick from our waterline.

12 January 2006 - Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines - Roots
Recording on a boat can be tricky. In addition to needing some semblance of a quiet environment I need enough voltage from our batteries to power an amp-greedy laptop. Fortunately it's been really windy lately so our wind generators and solar panels have kept up with the computer. Today I spent a few hours recording vocals on a new song and hopefully the winds will keep blowing long enough for me to finish the track up and post it online.

In the meantime I'm really digging the Caribbean. I was born in Puerto Rico so I've sort of returned to my roots. Granted, I left when I was 4 years old and moved to the deserts of Saudi Arabia for the next 11 years, but on some fundamental level this part of the world is rootish.

I forgot to mention it before, but thanks to everyone for your prayers as we've plied the perilous waters of our planet. As we get closer to the end of our circumnavigation I keep getting reminded how blessed I've been to see all these amazing places and meet so many cool people around the world.

9 January 2006 - Barbados - Time is not only flying, it's taking the Concorde
I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I hope all of you had a great Christmas and an awesome New Year celebration. We made it into Bridgetown, Barbados on Christmas Day after a successful 16 day crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from the Cape Verde islands. It is fantastic to be back in the Caribbean after so many years. The sailing voyage isn't done yet, though. We're heading south to hit Trinidad in February for Carnival, then we'll turn north and make our way up the chain of islands back to Florida. I'm pumped about the adventures ahead.

Thank you for your patience while I got my songwriting mojo back into gear on this side of the Atlantic. We've sailed very far very quickly and finally have a chance to slow down and focus on the important things in life: namely, recording music so you can hear it.

15 December 2005 - Atlantic Ocean - Latitude/Longitude: 14.35.45 N / 35.04.23 W
It looks like we've finally found some trade winds in our westward trek across the Atlantic.  This is a good thing since we don't carry anywhere near enough fuel to motor all the way across the ocean.  I've had the opportunity to do some pro tools work on this trip, thus "March the Unafraid" (song #3 in Love the Unafraid) now features a drum machine.  For years I've resisted using a drum machine on the grounds that it isn't, well...me.  I have to admit it's turned out cooler than I expected.

30 October 2005 - Gibraltar - The Calm After the Storm
We're nearly ready to head south for the Canary Islands....a couple of hours ago we got clobbered by a miniature squall.  Horizontal rain and gusts of up to 50 knots (60 mph or so) made me oh so glad that we're sitting at anchor and not bouncing around on extremely choppy seas tonight.  Ironically enough, when the squall hit I was sitting in my bunk working on a tune about rain.....at first I smiled and kept playing while the little raindrops tapped randomly against the deck above my head.....then the wind began to howl and I had to play louder just to hear my own guitar.....then sheets of water shot across the boat like a wall of uncoordinated tap-dancing locusts....when the entire boat was shaking in the wind gusts, I turned out my bunk light and fumbled through the darkness to the cockpit to watch the storm.

10 minutes later it was completely calm again.  Freaky.

28 October 2005 - Gibraltar - Love the Unafraid
I've spent the last three days recording and editing a couple of new MP3s.  They are the first two tracks in an album I'm calling "Love the Unafraid".  The album tells a story so I've subtitled each track with chapter numbers so you will be able to listen to them in order.  Currently the project consists of 9 songs, but we'll see what happens as I finish up more tracks.  Hope you like the tunes....

24 October 2005 - Gibraltar - Back from Madrid
Sorry I've been so slack on the journal lately.  It's been a crazy month.  I went up to Madrid last weekend to meet my mom at the airport and visit a good friend from college.  A most excellent time was had by all.  Some of the more memorable moments include:
1. Olives stuffed with anchovies
2. Techno music over the bus loudspeakers for the entire 8 hour trip north.  Did I mention it was an overnight bus?
3. Seatmate on the (night!) bus talking on cell phone at 2 am.
4. Eating at a tapas restaurant.  Mmmmmm.  Authentic Spanish cuisine.  They make really good cheese.
5. Hearing, loving, and purchasing Muse's "Absolution" CD.
6. Listening to Switchfoot's new album and vowing to work on my songwriting.
7. Reacquainting myself with Caedmon's Call's "Standing Up for Nothing".  What an amazing song.

12 October 2005 - Gibraltar - Poems of Joy
If you haven't visited my grandparents website (www.poemsofjoy.com) recently, you need to.  I think they are on their 12th book of poetry now... Do yourself a favor and check out their site!  I guarantee your day will be better because of it....and you can return the favor by signing their guestbook!

6 October 2005 - Gibraltar - Boat Work
Dad and I are wading through boat work.  Today I filmed Dad removing the main sail from the mast.  It is really a two man job because the sail is so big, but someone had to run the camera....thus I am a bad son but a good cameraman.  We've discovered some rigging (wires that hold up the mast) that needs to be replaced, so the "to do" list is a little longer....I hope I have enough video tape.

3 October 2005 - Gibraltar - 101 Reasons to Let Your Hair Grow
Dad and I are spending our days and nights brainstorming new ways to improve our travel adventure site: www.maxingout.com.  It's amazing how much work goes into getting a site online and updated.  On a completely unrelated note, I'm growing sideburns.  Not really sure why I haven't done this before since it involves less shaving time and keeps my ears warm.

1 October 2005 - Gibraltar - The Grand Uploading
The new website is finally ready to upload.  There is always more to add, but at least I can get the foundation up.  Let me know what you think!  I welcome any suggestions to improve the site.

30 September 2005 - Gibraltar - Sarah's Song
I just finished a new tune and you can listen to it by clicking here: Sarah's Song.mp3.  It is my first official "love song", and if you ask Sarah she'll say its been a long time coming.

23 September 2005 - Sailing to Gibraltar - Whales!
Dad and I were motoring happily along on a windless sea when Dad saw something in the water about a kilometer away, so we changed course to investigate and stumbled across a mama and baby whale.  They didn't swim away so we were able to take the boat right beside them, turn the engines off, and film.  The mama was curious but she carefully stayed between the boat and her baby as she investigated us.  From the deck it was easy to hear her underwater singing.  When Dad showed up five minutes later, he actually dove under the boat, surfaced between the hulls and gave us a thorough squeal to let us know who was boss.  Satisfied that we weren't a threat, he soon swam away and left mama and her baby to chill with us.

We don't know what kind of whales they were yet.  They were about the size of full-grown orcas (20-25 feet), but very different in shape.  Awesome.

21 September 2005 - Sailing to Gibraltar - Just the two of us
Mom and Sarah flew out to the USA yesterday, so it's just me and Dad on the boat for a month.  We're sailing south to Gibraltar, which should take about 4 days or so.  Five minutes after we pulled up anchor this morning, we discovered that our autopilot was malfunctioning (the autopilot is an automatic steering system that keeps the boat heading where we tell it to so we don't have to stand at the wheel and steer...definitely don't want that baby to break at the beginning of a four day passage with only two people on board).  Fortunately it was an easy fix, so we kept going.

Palma was a cool town.  Lots of tourists and pretty expensive, but the atmosphere ruled.  I heard some really good Spanish guitarists as we wandered through the streets.  Makes me want to practice more.

13 September 2005 - Majorca, Spain - Palma de Majorca
We just pulled in to Palma de Majorca this morning after a quick overnight passage.  Lots of really massive boats come here, including an aircraft carrier.  I was on watch from 3-5 am and spent it listening to Collective Soul albums.  It had been a while since I listened to them so I'd forgotten how much they rock my face off.  Great lyrics, great guitar arrangements, great sound, great band.

12 September 2005 - Menorca, Spain - Boat work
It's been a crazy month.  Lots of boat maintenance has cropped up, so Dad is busy fixing stuff while the rest of us continue to break more things.  I suspect a captain's job is less glamorous than it might first appear to be.  The new TMD website is coming along.  Sarah and Mom will be flying out of here in about a week for the USA, so soon I'll have plenty of free time to finish the site.  Mainly its just a matter of putting in the typed content and finishing a couple of MP3s....

10 September 2005 - Menorca, Spain - Fiesta de Gracias
Last night was the opening of the Fiesta de Gracias.  I'm not sure what the party is specifically thankful for, but lots of people are taking part.  Sarah and I went to an ice cream parlor where I saw Slurpy-like machines spinning delicious ice-cold bins of sugary delight, so (naturally) I ordered one.  The lady asked me if I wanted a "pico?" (small cup) or "grande?" (large cup), to which I loudly cried "GRANDE!".  I should have realized something was up when the lemon ice drink cost 3 euros (about $3.50).  Surprised at the expense but not wishing to embarrass the shop owners by making a big deal out of it, I handed over the dough and was given a unexpectedly lukewarm glass of lemonade.  I was disappointed that the lemon drink wasn't icy, but having got this far without making a fuss there was nothing to do but throw my head back and take an enormous swig of my over-expensive, dishwater warm, lemon-flavored.....GIN?!?

I don't like the taste of alcohol in the best of conditions, but when I was expecting a sweet (albeit, warm) glass of lemonade to wash across my taste buds, the gin came as something of an apocalyptic shock.  I should have been cool about it...maybe coughed and done one of those macho chest-pounding things....I could have laughed and been graceful about the misunderstanding....but instead I went with my first instinct and yelled: "Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!" at the top of my lungs.  Sarah said I was overly theatrical, but she hadn't just had her esophagus blowtorched.

The shop owners were concerned that something was horribly wrong with their lemon/gin drink, so they pulled out little cups, sampled the brew, and nodded in satisfaction.  And this is how I discovered that Menorca is famous for their home grown gin.

This lemon gin drink seems to be a fiesta favorite.  At night the streets are packed with dancing locals clutching lime colored water bottles.  I think the people who mooned Mom and Dad at the internet cafe were fans of the brew.

8 September 2005 - Menorca, Spain - Katrina
Shocking pics from New Orleans.  We don't get tv on the boat so all our info comes from internet cafes and BBC radio.  I'm sure the news footage broadcast in the USA is sobering.  Praying with all of you.....

12 August 2005 - Amorgos, Greece - Yay dolphins

We just got visited by a pod of dolphins on our way from Amorgos to Paros.  Dolphins rule.  I think God made dolphins to be nature's goodwill ambassadors.   No matter what kind of day you've been having, dolphins make it better.  Unless you're a small, edible fish.

8 August 2005 - Niceros, Greece - A tangled web I weave

Working on the website.  Its amazing how much time goes into simple things like getting a picture right.  Fortunately we've been pinned down at anchor for two days, which means our wind generators are pumping loads of power into the batteries...which in turn means I can spend ages pointing and clicking to my hearts content.

Sometimes I wonder whether God will sit me down in heaven and pull out a pie chart of my life, then ask why I spent 1/3 of my waking hours staring at a screen and moving electrons around.

3 August 2005 - Marmaris, Turkey - Born at the right time

40 years ago the only people allowed to touch and move microphones in recording studios were technicians in white lab coats.  30 years ago the giant reel-to-reel tape machines were so unwieldy they required a team of 12 oxen to drag them from room to room.  20 years ago all you needed to record at home was a significant investment in a monstrous garage full of gear.  10 years ago portable 8 tracks let musicians record demos cheaply, but you still needed big bucks and baggy jeans to get studio quality sound.

Today I sit on a boat and record with an ease only dreamed of by musicians born too early.  It's unreal what you can accomplish with a laptop and a lot of patience.