Thanks to all for the kind wishes for my birthday! It was a whole lot of fun! 
It began with a lovely lay-in until about 10 am, considering this damn cold I've been fighting for the past three weeks, it was heaven! When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the cherub-like visages of my two children eagerly awaiting me; their cheshire-cat smiles told me something was afoot! I looked to the foot of the bed to see my wife standing there smiling also, but resting in front of her, lay the reason behind all the silly grins!
"Professor, what's another name for Pirate treasure? Booty! Booty! Booty!" (Thanks Mike D!
)
PRESENTS!!!!!!!!
And so it began ... my son, Dylan, wanted to start with the biggest one, but my wife, Emma, wouldn't let him. So my first was this wonderfully wrapped, albeit small, gift which turned out to be:
A Seymour Duncan Woody Single Coil Acoustic Guitar Pickup!
I've wanted one of these since I used one for a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in college! Wow, what a start!
Then Rhianna, my daughter, handed me the next one:
Venom Viper 10FT Guitar Cable! I was sensing a theme running here! I already had one, but Em knew this! I wonder what else would be coming?
The next was something I've wanted since it was released and we first saw it in a shoppe:
Pink Floyd's Echoes Guitar Tablature Book!
Whoa, it's really nice to share a passion with your wife: to love the greatest band of all times! She has already put in her request for the first song to learn, luckily it's the one I've wanted as well: "Shine on you Crazy Diamond"!
Then, I guess to kinda throw me off the trail or something, I open the next one, which was from my mother in America (fate would have it that it was delivered that morning!), I got some clothes! (sorry, no pics. Seems kinda stupid seeing as you'll probably see something in later pictures down the road!) Thanks Mom!
And then keeping with the American trend, my present from my Aunt:
One of the first fantasy trilogies, next to LOTR, that I ever read! But I am a little confused seeing how she told me she was getting me the latest book, Tanequil, for my birthday? I need to talk to her and see if it was a wind-up so I can get it for myself!
Anyway, with the treasure trove severely diminished, the only thing left was the "BIG" present! With my children bouncing off the bed in excitement I reached over to begin unwrapping what would become the best gift of them all!
A Peavey Rage Amp! for my electric!
I only got my electric guitar about two months ago, it was a gift from a friend of mine who had bought himself a new one and didn't want this one. Luckily for me he didn't know what he had actually given me! I had to take it into a shoppe to have it checked over since it wouldn't stay in tune and was informed by the owner that even though it has a "Columbus" head branding, it was actually a 1970's Gibson Les Paul intro level guitar! Talk about luck! But as I didn't have an amp at the time I was still playing my acoustics and had to wait until now to hear what it would sound like! Man, can it scream!
And so ended the wonderful beginning to my birthday!
From that point we all went downstairs to our dining room where the guitars reside to have a little fun with the new toys! I plugged in the electric and went to town for a few! Man, it is so nice to be able to hear this guitar now! I immediately figured out the beginning of The Zutons song "Zuton Fever" first time I played it! Well, at least some of the beginning, now to find the rest online and get it all! I then installed the woody into my Fender 6 string and had a little rhythm fun, jammed out to a few of my own songs with Annie playing percussion on her tambourine and Dyl shaking away with the marocca's! They sure know what a beat is! It was great! I love my kids!
We all decided then to get outside and have a walk around the woods up the road from us. So we piled into the Disco and headed to Thetford Forest to wander! Unfortunately, even though we dressed the kids in their snow pants and bundled them up really good, they both got tired of walking and were hungry for lunch. So off to the golden arches for happy meals!
I decided then that the next thing I wanted to do for my birthday was to do a little off-roading/greenlaning on a track I had just figured out the previous week. So, with just a short jump down the A11 we turned off onto the muddy track and proceeded to cake the Disco with loads of mud! Em drove for a bit, then me, then Annie had a go at steering, then Dyl; finally we got to the end of the lanes and headed back to the house for some warmth and relaxation by the fire!
I had another go at playing a few tunes on the electric and attempted to figure out some Pink Floyd, with some minor success. It's gonna take me some time to figure out the tablature notation and try not to just end up playing the rhythm parts! I guess it's just ingrained, after almost 15 years of playing mainly rhythm guitar, switching to lead is a lot harder than you think!
Now the last part to a wonderful day, sorry to take so long to get here, was a trip to our favourite pub in town, the Rushbrooke Arms! The reason it's our fav is because they have a great kids play area and Dylan and Rhianna can go off and do their own thing while Em and I sit back and revel in the atmosphere! Two and a half hours later, and majorly full stomachs, we all piled in the Disco and headed home!
Now, with the kids tucked into bed and watching a movie in their room, Em and I had a chance to be together, alone! A little adult time! Unfortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, we both were too tired and worn out - walks, drives, corralling children, etc., to do anything more than cuddle on the couch and read! You may think that this is boring, but beleive me, it's a wonderful feeling to snuggle up together with a beautiful woman and just relax! No expectations. No worries. Just pure love!
Well, this was the events of the 34th birthday for me! It was a lot of fun, spending time with the ones I love, enjoying the things we all want to do together. It may seem a little boring to those of you who go out every birthday and get plastered or really stoned, but the warmth of being with your family on a special day like this is the best way, together! )Not that I would hae minded a smoke tonight, ran out couple weeks ago.
)
Again, thanks for all the well wishes! Doghouse_Reilly, I hope yours was as good, if not better!
Cheerio!
PS, I will continue with the previous thread in a few days, got to keep on the guiater thing now to see what I can do!
It began with a lovely lay-in until about 10 am, considering this damn cold I've been fighting for the past three weeks, it was heaven! When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the cherub-like visages of my two children eagerly awaiting me; their cheshire-cat smiles told me something was afoot! I looked to the foot of the bed to see my wife standing there smiling also, but resting in front of her, lay the reason behind all the silly grins!
"Professor, what's another name for Pirate treasure? Booty! Booty! Booty!" (Thanks Mike D!
)
PRESENTS!!!!!!!!
And so it began ... my son, Dylan, wanted to start with the biggest one, but my wife, Emma, wouldn't let him. So my first was this wonderfully wrapped, albeit small, gift which turned out to be:
A Seymour Duncan Woody Single Coil Acoustic Guitar Pickup!
I've wanted one of these since I used one for a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in college! Wow, what a start!
Then Rhianna, my daughter, handed me the next one:
Venom Viper 10FT Guitar Cable! I was sensing a theme running here! I already had one, but Em knew this! I wonder what else would be coming?
The next was something I've wanted since it was released and we first saw it in a shoppe:
Pink Floyd's Echoes Guitar Tablature Book!
Whoa, it's really nice to share a passion with your wife: to love the greatest band of all times! She has already put in her request for the first song to learn, luckily it's the one I've wanted as well: "Shine on you Crazy Diamond"!
Then, I guess to kinda throw me off the trail or something, I open the next one, which was from my mother in America (fate would have it that it was delivered that morning!), I got some clothes! (sorry, no pics. Seems kinda stupid seeing as you'll probably see something in later pictures down the road!) Thanks Mom!
And then keeping with the American trend, my present from my Aunt:
One of the first fantasy trilogies, next to LOTR, that I ever read! But I am a little confused seeing how she told me she was getting me the latest book, Tanequil, for my birthday? I need to talk to her and see if it was a wind-up so I can get it for myself!
Anyway, with the treasure trove severely diminished, the only thing left was the "BIG" present! With my children bouncing off the bed in excitement I reached over to begin unwrapping what would become the best gift of them all!
A Peavey Rage Amp! for my electric!
I only got my electric guitar about two months ago, it was a gift from a friend of mine who had bought himself a new one and didn't want this one. Luckily for me he didn't know what he had actually given me! I had to take it into a shoppe to have it checked over since it wouldn't stay in tune and was informed by the owner that even though it has a "Columbus" head branding, it was actually a 1970's Gibson Les Paul intro level guitar! Talk about luck! But as I didn't have an amp at the time I was still playing my acoustics and had to wait until now to hear what it would sound like! Man, can it scream!
And so ended the wonderful beginning to my birthday!
From that point we all went downstairs to our dining room where the guitars reside to have a little fun with the new toys! I plugged in the electric and went to town for a few! Man, it is so nice to be able to hear this guitar now! I immediately figured out the beginning of The Zutons song "Zuton Fever" first time I played it! Well, at least some of the beginning, now to find the rest online and get it all! I then installed the woody into my Fender 6 string and had a little rhythm fun, jammed out to a few of my own songs with Annie playing percussion on her tambourine and Dyl shaking away with the marocca's! They sure know what a beat is! It was great! I love my kids!
We all decided then to get outside and have a walk around the woods up the road from us. So we piled into the Disco and headed to Thetford Forest to wander! Unfortunately, even though we dressed the kids in their snow pants and bundled them up really good, they both got tired of walking and were hungry for lunch. So off to the golden arches for happy meals!
I decided then that the next thing I wanted to do for my birthday was to do a little off-roading/greenlaning on a track I had just figured out the previous week. So, with just a short jump down the A11 we turned off onto the muddy track and proceeded to cake the Disco with loads of mud! Em drove for a bit, then me, then Annie had a go at steering, then Dyl; finally we got to the end of the lanes and headed back to the house for some warmth and relaxation by the fire!
I had another go at playing a few tunes on the electric and attempted to figure out some Pink Floyd, with some minor success. It's gonna take me some time to figure out the tablature notation and try not to just end up playing the rhythm parts! I guess it's just ingrained, after almost 15 years of playing mainly rhythm guitar, switching to lead is a lot harder than you think!
Now the last part to a wonderful day, sorry to take so long to get here, was a trip to our favourite pub in town, the Rushbrooke Arms! The reason it's our fav is because they have a great kids play area and Dylan and Rhianna can go off and do their own thing while Em and I sit back and revel in the atmosphere! Two and a half hours later, and majorly full stomachs, we all piled in the Disco and headed home!
Now, with the kids tucked into bed and watching a movie in their room, Em and I had a chance to be together, alone! A little adult time! Unfortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, we both were too tired and worn out - walks, drives, corralling children, etc., to do anything more than cuddle on the couch and read! You may think that this is boring, but beleive me, it's a wonderful feeling to snuggle up together with a beautiful woman and just relax! No expectations. No worries. Just pure love!
Well, this was the events of the 34th birthday for me! It was a lot of fun, spending time with the ones I love, enjoying the things we all want to do together. It may seem a little boring to those of you who go out every birthday and get plastered or really stoned, but the warmth of being with your family on a special day like this is the best way, together! )Not that I would hae minded a smoke tonight, ran out couple weeks ago.
)
Again, thanks for all the well wishes! Doghouse_Reilly, I hope yours was as good, if not better!
Cheerio!
PS, I will continue with the previous thread in a few days, got to keep on the guiater thing now to see what I can do!
andi:
i got that piece of clothing at a store called Gadzooks... I dont know if they still have it though.