Have A Drink And Smile

 

Two years ago my father in law started making his own wine. Over the past two years of experimentation and research and hundreds of opinionated wine "connoisseur's" he is starting to find his niche. The brews are made from mid missouri fruits such as blackberries, wild plums, and grapes from a vineyard of a family friend. I have to admit that he is starting to make quite a name for himself in the small community where they live.

This past summer my in laws added on a new garage and a small cellar where he will be able to keep his stock, brew new batches, and my least favorite part....taste testing. For you see taste testing requires many little paper cups filled up with sweet and delicious wine, fresh out of the glass tanks in which they are made. This makes for a fun few hours, but as time passes you start to forget your whereabouts, you start to forget about that 7 a.m. tee time, and if you stick around long enough you start to forget how to put full sentences together. You see what I'm getting at right?

A few weekends ago my wife and I go to visit and I walk in on this 20' long cabinet that use to belong in an old bar in some old small town where old men probably sat around and grumbled about old cows or old cars or old wives. This thing is AMAZINGLY AWESOME!!!! It was a purplish color (could have been a topic that the old men grumbled about) that my father in law, with a little help, sanded down a little bit and added the compartments that will hold the wine that he crafts. I thought it needed to look like a piece that has been handed down through generations of italian wine makers, thrown on a cargo ship, and after changing trucks a few dozen times delivered to the new wine cellar. I added a distressed black over the whole piece while letting some of the history show through. I think it turned out really nice and as it gets banged around it will just add to the charm. I won't tell you what he paid for this, but lets just say it changed hands over a cup of genenral store coffee.

I hope to add more pictures as the production and inventory grows, until then have a drink on me.

Rain Or Shine

This is what I walked into this afternoon. I believe it to be my 5 year olds take on the Vans Warp Tour. It's fully equipped with an outdoor wrestling ring, mega ramp,guitars, a functional skate shop, and a medical and/or beer garden tent. Enjoy the show everybody.

Thank You Kansas City....Goodnight!

So for this holiday season, Standard Style a locally owned and operated clothing boutique, had a holiday give away each day leading up to Christmas. Guess what..... I freaking won!! I rarely ever win anything, an occasional free lottery ticket, maybe a free carwash because I spend a million dollars a year on cleaning my cars, or my once a summer golf outing when my foursome is so hungover that I get to win only because I was somewhat responsible the previous evening.

So what did I win you ask. A pair of Baldwin denim and an Ever hoodie. The denim are made by a company started by the owner of Standard right here in KC. The hoodie is a somewhat limited run that they won't even have in stock (or so I was told). Regardless it was a very generous gift that I was really impressed with. It's a way cool place with way cool people, so thanks Standard and Merry Christmas.

Why Must You Always Dress In Black

While we are on the subject of Ben Harper, here is a little goodie form a jazz festival where he, in my opinion, killed it. He's pretty magical when it comes to playing that lap steel and tearing through solos like a tornado in Kansas. He's so good in fact that he has his own lap steel model through Asher, check it out here  http://www.asherguitars.com/lap_steel_ben_harper.php.

I've always liked the way this dude has dressed too. He always looks like he just left the coolest vintage clothing store ever made, yet always looks clean and polished. Might have something to do with a little company called Propr. Check it here http://www.proprclothing.com/

Oh...and his band isn't half bad either.

If I Had Known Then, What I Know Now.....

I have been revisiting alot of music lately, mainly focusing and playing my favorite bands. I've had this song in my head for the past few days and broke out the Austin City Limits show they played in 2009. Pearl Jam toured with Ben Harper (another favorite) and this stood out in my mind. I love how Ben comes up on stage and greets everybody and gets all giddy, cracks me up.

ONE LIKES TO BELIEVE IN THE FREEDOM OF MUSIC

I DVR'd the RUSH documentary "Beyond The Lighted Stage" last week. I had time to sit and watch it Saturday night and enjoyed the hell out of it. It basically started like any other music documentary and progressed through the years, but the way the story was told is what made it interesting. They have influenced so many artists from Vinnie Paul (who is/was the drummer for one of the most progressive/known metal bands to date). To Gene Simmons ( KISS anyone, anyone ). To Trent Reznor ( Industrial modern sound pioneer of Nine Inch Nails ). The list goes on and on and across so many types of music.

One of the chapters towards the end of the show was how so many generations are fans and followers of this group. Most of the ones that were there from the beginning are now doctors, lawyers, parents, grandparents, etc. They have passed the music on to the next generation and that generation on to the next. I know for a fact I am not afraid to play them in front of my son and hopefully one day he can share an evening of RUSH and become the super fan that I have become. If not I will continue to geek out quietly, under the radar, by myself until the next time I get to share the live experience with the other 20 million world wide geeks. Until then, " Begin The Day With A Friendly Voice......."