A quick blast from the past: 11 years ago today, Anitra and I did a quick check of the venues for our then-upcoming wedding. This included a family get-together at the Don CeSar the day prior to the wedding, along with the wedding venue, the Grand Plaza Hotel (now known as the Bellwether Beach Resort).
On Wednesday afternoon, I got this text from Tom Hood, ukulele player extraordinaire and leader of the band I sometimes play with:
I hadn’t seen Tom since November, I’m always happy to collaborate with hime, and it’s been a while since I’ve recorded in a studio that wasn’t my home office, so it was easy to say “Yes!”.
If you’re wondering how I could possibly sign on to record an accordion part for a song I’d never heard before on the following day:
So I made my way to South Tampa on Thursday evening and brought two accordions into the studio and rehearsal space, situated in a building behind a house of friendly guy who introduced himself to me as Wayne.
The place had a homey feel that reminded me of my friend Chris Walmsley’s basement, where Volume, the band I played with at Crazy Go Nuts University rehearsed.
After a couple of rehearsal runs, it was time to record! Dennis McCarthy, whom I’d met as the drummer with the band that played at Tom’s birthday party, was the sound engineer.
“Ready?” asked Dennis, whose voice I heard through the monitor headphones.
“Let’s do this,” I replied.
“D’you wanna record another one?” I heard Tom say over my monitor headphones.
I couldn’t resist and was soon presented with a chord chart and a listen to the song in its current state.
Once again, I did two takes, which included a little noodling to go into the solo, and we were done!
I was invited into the booth to hear some of the other songs that Tom had recorded.
After listening to a couple of songs, it was time to go home. I bade good night to Tom, Dennis, and Wayne, hoping that I might have another opportunity to record there.
I’ll post a link to the tune once it’s published!
It’s a lovely Sunday here in Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood, and Anitra and I are enjoying it at our local café, Spaddy’s Coffee. The coffee’s great, our neighbors are here, and the local DJ’s spinning a solid mix.
(It’s also a good place to get work done. There’s often someone here with a laptop; I myself have written some code and a white paper here!)
This lovely moment is also a reminder that if you want your neighborhood to be a great place in which to live, work, and play, patronize your local establishments, especially the small ones! They’re the ones who provide the local flavor, and make the difference between a neighborhood you go to versus a neighborhood you just go through.
Last night at the AI Salon in St. Pete, after all the presentations were done, organizer Brian Peret broke out his saxophone, and I joined him for Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. We’ll have to do it again!
While waiting for our flight to Toronto, I went to the bathroom in Tampa’s airport, where I saw this attachment in the stalls:
It’s The Pouch, an acrylic bag or item holder that’s been making increasing appearances in public bathroom stalls over the past decade.
But the Pouches at Tampa airport are unlike others I’ve seen. They differ in one key way, with this sticker:
That’s right — it’s a “do not jam your baby into the Pouch for hands-free pooping” sticker!
I have this question: Was there an incident that led to the sticker, or are they anticipating that someone might try to use it as a baby-holder?
(To be fair: the “Pouch” name and logo, along with the fact that kangaroos actually carry their young in their pouches, might lead people to think that’s it’s supposed to be baby storage.)