Hartamophone

Still chuggin' along. Didn't have a great Tuesday vote-wise, so I'm really hoping for a bit of a bump in the next couple of days. My gratitude for every vote runs deep, folks! And now a word from the Boss and some random dude from Seattle:

Thanks for the tunes, Rob. Their first album, Ways Not to Lose has been in heavy rotation for me for the past few years.

I really do appreciate every single vote, folks. I get a little overwhelmed thinking about people I've never met "in real life" taking a few moments to help me out. I'm right on the bubble right now of where I need to be to move on to the next round. And now, Tony Rice:

Yes, that Claude Lemieux and yes that Hallelujah. Some things are just too important for the YouTube or sports forums.

Yeah, I think we both have a "votes per day" number that is relatively high, but our late starts are hurting us. I have no idea how some of those people have totals well into the quadruple digits. I'm glad we don't have to be in the top-10 to move on. Also, thanks for mentioning my entry in your thread, Todd. May I say publicly that I think it's great how the good vibes and congeniality seem to be not at all diminished (and even perhaps increased) despite the fact that we are both going after the same thing. Good luck, brother!

And now a musical interlude, courtesy of the Seldom Scene.

No matter what I'm doing, every November 11th I call my grandfather. Now 93 years old, he was a flight surgeon in the Second World War with the United States Air Force. He was decorated with the Award of the Silver Star for going unarmed into battle to retrieve wounded soldiers. There is no better day to thank those who went before us and pray for peace ahead of us.

No kidding. Mine is an abridged version of something that was originally over a thousand words, and it was a painstaking process that got to the point of cutting out one word at a time until I was down to 500. That really isn't many words.

Thanks again, to everyone who has voted (and to those who have yet to get around to it but are planning to!). I know it's a little weird with both Velvet and I in the running, but he and I have exchanged a few PMs and there are nothing but good vibes flowing between the two of us. Also, while I'm on the subject of self-promotion, if you enjoyed my entry and are looking to kill some time at work (which you probably are, given that you're on here on a Friday afternoon) you can check out my blog. Thanks again!

Thank you for doing your civic duty.

Whoop whoop!

Wait for it. (He's the white guy).

Yeah, pretty frustrating that they automatically took all of the paragraph breaks out. Sort of like collecting color pictures for a contest but then only displaying them in black and white. Great story, by the way.

Beauty idea. Thanks, timouse.

Thanks everyone. I sincerely appreciate it and knew I could get a little help around here. And Velvet - I suspected you might be throwing your hat into the ring. Good luck!

What up Skanks? I'm asking a small favour. The Globe and Mail is having a contest to add one writer and one photographer to its editorial team for the Vancouver/Whistler Olympics (here's a link to the contest's website). For an aspiring writer with dreams of going pro (hey, that's me) this would be the opportunity of a lifetime, so I've submitted an article in the competition. This is where you come in. I need to be in the top-50 vote-getters in order to proceed to the next round. Your votes would mean a lot to me. So would your mother's vote, and your sister's, your dog's, etc. Here's where you can read my story and vote for it, should you so choose: LINK. Note that you are eligible to win some sweet prizes (a fancy camera and a tricked-out laptop) just for voting. Voting can be done daily until November 22, so please consider voting more than once (or, you know, daily). There are certainly more noble things you can do with thirty seconds and a click of your mouse (see this thread, for example), but this really would mean the world to me. Part of why I have taken this year "off" after school is to work on my writing and try and do something with it, so this is an opportunity that I don't want to watch slip away. Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for voting. Hopefully I've racked up enough good karma around this place to snag some votes, despite not knowing very many of you off the board. Also, as an added bonus, every time you vote, an angel gets its wings and global warming will be reversed by one year. So really, let's all do our part. Once again, here's my LINK. Peace, Hart

Hartamophone supports this cause.

Could be worse...

Damn that is a beautiful piece of work. You might want to keep tabs on New Rider until you can put that baby under lock and key. Congratulations!

While I've never done it myself, I've heard plenty of folks say that behind the stage is the place to be for the best light show.

Working at an independent store here in Boulder. Pretty pumped to see five copies of this baby come out of a box today: There seems to be some pretty cool inside info., and the author really did have access to the inner circle as he was writing it. Don't know that I'll bother to buy one, but it will be neat to flip through it from time to time.

Haven't been exposed to these guys much, but not really diggin' them from this recording (nothing to do with the skills of the taper, of course ). It seems to me like they just kick 'er up to eleven and play as fast and loud as they can the whole show. I prefer my bluegrass with a little more feel and some more restrained moments mixed in with the furious tunes (which is why I'm enjoying Greensky Bluegrass so much lately). I can see how it would be fun to get drunk at a Cornmeal show, but I don't see them as a band I would pay much to see, nor listen to much after the show. Just my two cents, and as I said my exposure has been limited. Thanks, as always, for the recording, Brad.

Many thanks, guys. Looking forward to hearing this over beers tonight.