Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

IT'S FRIDAY!! That means the weekend has arrived! What are y'all doing? Maybe take a long walk on the beach? I'm going to be "working", meaning practicing guitar for a couple of hours. If you guys need a good breakfast, but don't want to go out to eat, try out my mom's awesome homemade pancakes. Here's the recipe:

Serving Size: 6 pancakes.

2 Eggs

1 cup of Milk

1 1/4 cup of Self-Rising Flour

 1 small dash of Vanilla Extract

Cinnamon

1 tsp. of Sugar

1 tbsp. of Melted Butter  

Step 0. Get out a bowl.

Step 1. Crack the eggs and beat them well with a whisk.

Step 2. Measure 1 cup of milk and pour it into the bowl.

Step 3. Stir milk and eggs together with whisk. 

Step 4. Slowly pour a small dash of Vanilla Extract into the bowl.

Step 5. Sprinkle Cinnamon and 1 tsp. of sugar in the batter.

 Step 6. Measure 1 1/4 cup of Self-Rising Flour and dump into the batter.

Step 7. Stir until mixed evenly and there are no lumps.

Step 8. Pour and stir melted butter at the same time into the batter.

Step 9. Turn the griddle, or stove, to medium heat.

Step 10. Let it warm up, then put a light coat of oil on griddle or pan.

Step 11. Wait until air bubbles in the batter pop, then flip the pancakes over.

 See ya in the next post!

Seersuckers, Sculptures and the Sculptor

Monday, March 31^st, 2015, 4:00 PM: I was sitting on my stool playing CountryRoads on my guitar, when, suddenly I heard a knock on the front door. My Lands'End Seersucker Suit had arrived. Earlier that month, I had been invited to a performance at the new Geoffrey Smith Gallery. It was a cocktail party, so, I had to get something a bit formal. My dad suggested a Seersucker suit, with a white shirt and black tie. My mom ordered the suit, while my dad and I got the shirt, tie, and dress shoes. The suit arrived, and I put it on to see if it would fit. It was a bit too big, so, dad and I went to Hometown Cleaners andTailors, and asked for it to be altered a little. The tailor, Miss Esther, was a very nice lady and very funny. 

 Tuesday, April 7^th, 2015, 5:15 PM: After a guitar lesson with JonathanCummings, dad and I went back to the tailor to retrieve the suit. It fit perfectly. We took it home, and mom took some pictures of me in the full suit, shirt, tie, and everything, and Rose, my Zager guitar. The next day, I practiced the set-list with just the jacket, to make sure I could still play with the long sleeves on the jacket. Everything was going great.

Thursday, April 9^th, 2015, 4:45 PM, Performance Day: I was getting ready to go perform, putting on my suit, putting Rose in her guitar case, and saying hi to mom. It was only a few yards from our house to the gallery, but, we took the van anyway. We got set up, and then, people came in. I started playing for half an hour, and then stopped. Then, Geoffrey gave a speech about his creations. He was the one that built the big sailfish in the fountain in the middle of downtown Stuart. I played for another half hour, and then, Dad went home with the guitar, and mom and I stayed. There were a couple kids there, and they made their own VIP for kids section in one of the rooms. One of the girls gave me a small box that said “You are a VIP. Please come to the room with the VIP sign.” I went in the room, talked with the kids, and went home. We had awesome rock star pizza, watched Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hobgoblins, and then I went to bed.

Three tunes from the performance:

Volcano

Southern Cross

Odds Are

Mulligan's, Marathon Runners and Drumsticks

Sunday's performance in front of Mulligan's was great. Thanks to everyone at the Marathon of the Treasure Coast for letting me perform. Although it was hot, I had a fun time.

After the performance I bought a pair of light-up drumsticks, which light up when you hit them. I also went to Gamestop and bought 'Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4' for my Wii. I am now in year 2, and I have learned a few spells, such as Leviosa, which levitates certain objects, and Immobulus, which immobilizes objects.

The Open Mic Night at the Crafted Keg time has changed. Come on over Tuesday's from 8:PM to 11:PM for Open Mic Night at the Crafted Keg. If you play an instrument, sing, or even know a poem, come over, sign up, and do your thing.

 A wise old Indian Chief was asked about Daylight Saving Time. He said, "Only government can cut a foot from one end of a blanket, sew it onto the other end, and claim to have made a longer blanket."

Don't forget to spring forward this Sunday.

See y'all in the next post. B'bye.

Spaceship Models and New Performances

For Christmas I got a model of the Enterprise-E from Star Trek First Contact and Star Trek Nemesis and a model of the NSEA Protector from Galaxy Quest. The Protector was easy on building, in fact, I finished the building process before Christmas day was over. Enterprise-E, however, was a bit trickier for building because it had a lot of pieces in it. So far, Enterprise-E is the biggest model I have built, but that will change soon because I also have a visible V8 engine model that has over 300 pieces in it. Dad will have to help me on that one because it's a skill level 5, which means it's for experienced model builders.

Performance Alerts:

On March 1, I will be playing on Jensen Beach Blvd. for the Treasure Coast Marathon at 12:00. I will be playing near the end of the marathon, so a lot of people might be there. The race starts at 6:00 and ends at 1:00, starting and ending at the Indian Riverside park.

A few weeks ago, I played with Emi Sunshine at the Terra Fermata Tiki Bar. Emi is going to come back on Mothers Day and the owner of Terra Fermata, Ron Hart, wants me to open for her. More details on the performance will be presented as soon as I get it.

I'd like to express my appreciation to Jonathan Cummings for taking me under his wing and inviting me to perform regularly at the Crafted Keg on Tuesdays.  Thank you so much.

That's all for this week folks. I hope you enjoyed this blog post. I'll see y'all in the next post. B'bye.

By Fletcher Morton.

Pianos, Guitars, and Trumpets.

Last week was my public piano debut at the Crafted Keg. I played That's Just the Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby. It's a very complicated song and it took me about a year to complete it. I give thanks to Dad, who printed out the lyrics for me, and to Miss Debbie Boykin, for teaching me the basics of the fingering and chords for piano. Last year, my guitar teacher, David, got me a piano for my birthday. When we brought the keyboard in, Dad wanted me to learn That's Just the Way It Is. Now, a year later, I have learned and performed it in public. Thanks Dad for keeping me going with that song.

I am learning a bunch of new songs on guitar such as Cry Love - John Hiatt, Boat on the River - Styx, and my most recent song, Let My Love Open the Door - Pete Townshend. Each week at the Crafted Keg, I learn at least one new song and play it there. I am Currently working on Child of the Wild Blue Yonder - John Hiatt. Thank you Jonathan Cummings for letting me come up and play every Tuesday at the Crafted Keg.

Up until three days ago, my musical inventory was four guitars, a guitarlele, a keyboard, a set of harmonicas, and a saxophone. After I got the sax I wanted a trumpet, but the problem was that musical instruments are expensive. Then a few days ago, Dad was cruising through Craigslist and he found someone selling a trumpet for only $20. The trumpet is an Etude ETR 100 in like new condition, and it has the case and everything. Dad called the guy up and said "I'll come over and get it."

Now I have Sarah the Trumpet in my musical inventory. So far I am learning how to go from C to G with the other notes in between. G is a bit hard to get, because C is open, so you don't press any of the valves down, and G is the same way.  So you have to adjust your lips to get the G sound, and when you do middle C, keep your lips in the same position for D, E, and F. Dad played the Tuba so he teaches me a little bit.

Frank Aird (Trumpet Man): "Take 5", 'Alfred's Ocean Palace', Negril, Jamaica, 2011

That's all for this week's blog post. I'll see you guys next week! B'bye.

By Fletcher Morton.

Games, Lessons, And Songs.

One of my friends and I have been playing Minecraft In Real Life, a game we created based off of Minecraft. So far, I have a Diamond Sword, made by Diamonds and Wooden Sticks, and a diamond pickaxe, also made by Diamonds and wooden Sticks. My friend, Elliot, is the Miner, I am the Forger, and Emily, Elliot's sister, is the guard. She guards our house to make sure our supplies are safe. What I do is take any items that Elliot finds, and make something out of them, such as a Diamond Helmet, or an Emerald Sword.

I am also giving another friend, Luke, some guitar lessons. We started last Thursday with what everything is on a guitar and what the notes are. In our next lesson, we are going to go over three simple basic chords, G, C, and D.

I am working on some other songs for Key West next month, such as Southern Cross, Summer of 69', and Volcano. I am getting better at play Love Will Keep Us Alive. I am now playing it with very few mistakes.

  

Music, Fishing, and An Awesome Website

Next month mom and I are going down to Key West for my Grandpa's wedding.

I have learned quite a few good wedding songs, like I'll Stop the World and Meld With You ~ by Modern English, Footloose ~ by Kenny Loggins, and Love Will Keep Us Alive ~ by the Eagles. With Love Will Keep Us Alive, I am going to finger-pick the riff that is in the beginning all the way through the song, transitioning from chord to chord as I go.  Here's what I have so far:

I am trying to get Forever Autumn from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of War Of The Worlds down on piano because it is a really good song for it. Actually, all songs on that album are spectacular for keyboards. Also, it is one of my dad's favorite songs. Just listen to it and you will know why.

I am also getting very interested in fishing. I am using lures and frozen shrimp on an open face spin reel. So far I haven't caught anything yet, but I might just need to switch to live bait, I don't know. One time, I got right smack dab in the middle of a snook feeding frenzy, and I felt my lure touch some of the fish

but none of them went after it.

My dad found me this really cool website for learning called edX. It's a website that has great online courses for stuff like poetry, William Shakespeare, science and cooking, computer programing, and more. All you have to do is sign up for free, find some classes you might enjoy, and enroll. These courses are made by a whole bunch of really awesome schools, such as Berkley, Harvard and others.

History Of The Eagles

 

Last night we watched History of the Eagles on Netflix. The Eagles is one of my favorite bands of all time. They are known for songs like Take It Easy, Desperado, and Take It To The Limit.

The Eagles was originally made up of four guys: Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner. Glenn Frey lived in Detroit, MI. He started playing piano when he was five years old. At twelve, he quit playing piano, went to a Beatles concert, and said "I need to be a guitar player." Don Henley grew up in Linden, TX, and started playing drums by banging his fingers and pencils on books. Then, his parents got him a red drum set.

Glenn was a lead singer in the Mushrooms, and later he met Bob Seger. He was going to make a band with Seger, but it didn't work out. Don's first band was called Shiloh. He was able to get Kenny Rogers to be their manager. Glenn went to J.D. Souther and played with him a bit. He also met Jackson Browne. They lived in the same apartment building and through that, he learned how to write songs. Jackson Browne was working on Take It Easy, but he was stuck on the second verse with "I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona." Glenn put in "It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me." Glenn and Don were both signed by Amos records with their separate bands. That is how they met each other. They went to see Linda Ronstadt one day, and her manager said "We need some singers and guitar players. Come with us." They auditioned, and they started working with Linda. Glenn and Don wanted their own band, so they found Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. That was the creation of the Eagles.

They were first signed by David Geffen's new record label, Asylum records. Then they also found Glyn Johns, a record producer. They found a manager named Irving Azoff, who helped them on several occasions. Soon after that, they didn't want Glyn to be the record producer, so they went for Bill Szymczyk,(pronounced Simsick). The Eagles decided that they needed a third guitar player, so in came Don Felder. Randy made Take It To The Limit, and everyone loved it when he sang those high parts in the end. Unfortunately, a while later Randy decided he didn't want to do that song anymore. So he left, and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit. They also found Joe Walsh and replaced Bernie with Joe. After the Long Run album, the Eagles did a benefit concert for Senator Allan Cranston. The Senator's wife came around and thanked Don Felder, and he says "Your welcome,... I guess." Glenn got really mad about that and said "I'm going to kill you." Felder replied "I can't wait." The Eagles split up in 1980.

In the fourteen years that followed, the fans still really enjoyed the music. Don, Glenn, Timothy, Joe, and Felder all had solo careers. In 1994, they all got back together and played at a benefit concert in Aspen. Three years after that, they did the Hell Freezes Over tour. The name was inspired by something that Henley said. "The Eagles will get back together when hell freezes over." Then after that tour, there was tension between Felder and the rest of the band again.  So they replaced him one more time with Steuart Smith and they continue to tour and make new music. Hopefully they will keep on going for the rest of their lives.  Here's a video of me playing one of my favorite Eagles tunes.