What are y'all up to?

[Michael_Mark]

Let’s resurrect this here ol’ thread shall we? It was a fun one, and also I want to remind myself of what I’m working on

Yesterday was the first time in I don’t know how long when I actually played banjo enough to change my strings twice in a week. Reminded me of the days before… err you know…

On guitar I’ve been looking back through a bunch of Tony Rice’s stuff… that sound… there’s something so special about it. I want to work through Manzanita and Wayfaring Stranger, and become better in minor keys.

What have you guys been working on?

[Archie]

I am still in the doldrums just now, I have tried learning a few new tunes but I seem to lack motivation. It’s been like this since December and I can’t seem to shake it off. I still pick a little banjo every day.

[Timothy_L]

I’ve been working a lot of copying Scott Vestals break in Phil Leadbetters new camptown races. Also been trying to learn his tune, By Stealth. Lots of band practice as well

[Hillbilly_picker]

I’m going in on Friday do get my wisdom teeth yanked out, the surgeon told me I can’t lift anything over 10 pounds for a week😳 so no twanger playing on my whole week of recovery. So I I think me and my mandolin will do some good catching up. We’ve been running like scalded dogs working on the property so I think a week off would be kind of nice, we just got the corn in the ground and we’ve milled up a mess of lumber for the wood shed, so it will be a little easier to just swing in a hammock providing that everybody else isn’t working, I don’t think I could relax at all with daddy and mama doing my work for me, but anywho we’re gonna see what kind of couch potato I will make.

[mharrison43]

Just finished an 8-week Zoom course with Wes Corbett on roll-based Melodies. It will take a long time to absorb that material. He presented a different roll pattern each week with variations on phase and string sets. We learned how to embed melodies within the rolls on different strings. We also had guest sessions with Kristin Scott Benson and Alan Munde.

[Timothy_L]

Neat that sounds interesting. Just finished up the 3 day Spring 2021 virtual banjo summit. Tons of great teachers including Wes Corbett and Tony trischka, Eli Gilbert, Adam Larabee and more

[Shaky_loves_banjo]

I’ve been doing tons of mountain biking, am aiming to be ready for whistler by next year. For banjo i’ve been falling behind as i am getting up at 6:00 most mornings and working all day. When i do have time i’m working on a recording for the current young pickers collab. For guitar i’ve been doing a lot of bluesy soloing in drop d tuning. Tons of fun. I’m also working slowly through two Tony Rice books, been working on a really cool advanced versions of GoldRush. Other than that, watching and playing lots of Discgolf, and playing a good bit of volleyball.

[Dave_Long]

Work 7 mornings/week maintaining golf course & driving range.

Been working on a new major/minor bluegrass scale in B on the fiddle.

Reading The Legend of Drizzt collectors edition series for the 3rd time

Procrastinating on trimming my hedges out front of the home place.

[DrGuitar1]

My youngest sister died last Monday; she was 56 and died in her sleep. She was healthy and it was completely unexpected. Shock, stoic family support then grief followed. This Saturday is her memorial.

She had a wicked sense of humor and could always make me laugh. Of my 4 sisters, she and I were closest.

So she has a favorite tune that she would sing to her son when he was a child; written by Billy Joel. It is called “Lullaby” aka Goodnight my Angel. Her closest friend would like it sung at her memorial this weekend. I have sung it out loud and in my head dozens of times this week to help take the sting out of the words.

"Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you’ve been asking me
I think you know what I’ve been trying to say
I promised I would never leave you
Then you should always know
Wherever you may go, no matter where you are
I never will be far away

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
And like a boat out on the ocean
I’m rocking you to sleep
The water’s dark and deep, inside this ancient heart
You’ll always be a part of me

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me
Someday we’ll all be gone
But lullabies go on and on
They never die
That’s how you and I will be"

I dare you to think of someone you love and sing those words without an emotional response.

Anyway, she had a wicked sense of humor and I cannot help thinking this is her having a bit of fun at my expense. I may or may not play the tune this Saturday at the memorial, but just the fact that she would like me to try makes me smile.

[JohnM]

I’m very sorry to hear about your loss, @DrGuitar1. I know it is going to be tough, I’m short of words. Hope you find strength in the Lord.

[Mike_R]

Mike, I am so sorry for your loss.

I suspect you may surprise yourself and get through the song. I have been shocked at myself getting through songs at memorials. The good news is, even if you don’t, that’s not only ok, it is expected. This song already had special significance for you. This week will make it even more so.

Again, so sorry for your loss. I pray for you and every one of your sister’s family and friends for God’s peace throughout this. Different folks have looked at John 11:35 (“Jesus wept”) from many different perspectives. To me, it seems evident in what he said that Jesus knew what he was going to do before they traveled to Lazarus’ house. It seems the most logical reason that Jesus wept was that he joined Mary and Martha in their sadness. For this reason, I believe that Jesus joins you in your grief. May His peace fill your hearts in unexpected ways this week and in the days to come.

[Archie]

I am sorry for your loss @DrGuitar1 , I know what it feels like to loose a sibling that is close. In my case three elder brothers and two elder sisters. My mother was blessed with twelve children. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Shaky_loves_banjo]

For any ya’ll who dont know what Whistler is.

[Mike_R]

Justus, I’ll be looking forward to vicariously sharing your Whistler trip. I’ll get there some day. We have a smaller DH park (Spider Mountain) down south in TX that I have been to a few times. I have gone down there thinking I wanted to work the bigger jumps, but in reality, I have more fun on the blue jump lines. I just didn’t progress through them as quickly as I thought I would. The problem is mostly guts. Back to Whistler: A-line looks like a dream. At my current level, I wouldn’t be getting on Dirt Merchant or Schleyer.

[Shaky_loves_banjo]

Ya Whistler is almost the promised land of biking with A-Line being one of the biggest reasons a lot of folks goes for. I would like to take Dirt Merchant as well but i haven’t researched it a whole lot so i don’t know exactly what i would be up against. If you go to the highest point of Whistler and take the technical trails that is something i don’t know if i’ll ever be good enough for. When you say big jumps, what do you call big? And gap jumps or table or what? I agree, the nerves are what make jumping so hard. Once your in the jump, no worries. It’s 50 ft before the jump that determines my skill level. Once i’m in the air i’m normally fine. One more reason for A-Line, it’s mainly table jumps versus gap. So the same jump i had no problem with on A-Line i would be almost fainting if it was a gap. Just the nerves again.

[Timothy_L]

Wow that looks impossible. So do you do the sky ride to the top and then ride the bike down? Is it a race? it looks like you get going so fast I dont know how you would ever stop!

[Mike_R]

When you say big jumps, what do you call big?

It’s all relative eh? The ones that are taller than me seem big. I have a hard time committing to the speed needed to land where I want. There are a series of three jumps on a line at Spider that are all nice, safe tables, but big (to me). One was a step up and on a previous trip I was comfy hitting that, but for the other two I kept checking my speed. I went more recently with the intent of working those, but spent more time on a smaller jump line. It was just more fun for me. Gaps are also intimidating to me, but I think that is almost universal until one gets real comfy with jumps. When I was younger, I had a significant big jump crash. I was out of biking for many years, and when I got back in, it has been a slow progression on jumps. I’m still not as “bold” as I used to be, and perhaps that will never come back. Regarding Dirt Merchant, definitely check out vids and get the beta on it before diving in. There are some serious drops and mandatory things to clear. It is well above my pay grade at this time.

[Shaky_loves_banjo]

So do you do the sky ride to the top and then ride the bike down?

Yes. There are actually three levels of lifts you can take. Most folks go up to the first level and ride down from there. Once your at the first level, there is another lift you can take to go a lot farther up where there are a bunch of trails that take you all the way to the bottom. From the seond level, you can take the final lift to Whistler’s highest point where you’ll find tons of technical features which are extremely hard to ride. Without the lifts, you would spend probably 10x as much time walking your bike up as you would riding. That’s the fun in downhill biking: Ride to the top, bike down. Ride to the top, bike down. And over and over again.

Is it a race?

They do hold races there, but most of the time it’s just people out having fun although the trails are built in a way to be taken very fast.

it looks like you get going so fast I dont know how you would ever stop!

That’ what brakes are for The trails are built with features that help you stop when need be, but most the time you gotta fly if you wanna take it properly. That’s the fun in downhill biking and what makes it so extreme. Not a lot of time to think and a whole lot of things that can go wrong when you go over a 10’ drop at 40+kph.

[Michael_Mark]

Well, I can get the same thrill when I kick off a song too fast…

[Shaky_loves_banjo]

no you can’t…Check out Redbull Rampage. There is no matching that.