Wildlife At Dana Point

If you follow the 5 Freeway South until it reaches the coast you'll pretty much be at Dana Point. We have been there a few times to pass time while waiting for Daniel if he's only had to be at school for a couple of hours (it's nearby). We discovered plenty of wildlife there - especially squirrels. I imagine they eat pretty well from the scraps people leave behind, and so they are reasonably bold around people.

This little tortoise was about 6-7 inches long - just sunning himself on the bank. He wasn't so easy around people and I had to wait about half an hour and go back to the spot to get this shot after I scared him off the first time.

The rabbits and the squirrels don't mind hanging out together. I guess they probably eat similar stuff. These shots were all taken within 20 meters (yards if you prefer) of each other on the same day.

Eric Johnson in Concert

Yes indeed - I went to see Eric Johnson play live! Now that is a guitar player's dream for sure. I've been an Eric Johnson fan since the first day I heard his music (which was on one of those flexible plastic "records" that Guitar Player Magazine used to put in each month back in the '80's.) That was back in 1985 or 86. And the man is still getting better and better!

L-R: Eric Johnson, Tommy Taylor, Roscoe Beck

Eric's main pose...

Eric's other pose. Nah, just kidding... although there was a lot of this one all night! He's a guitar player not a choreographer.

Eric is famous for being an absolute, and I mean Absolute, purist when it comes to gear. This is his pedalboard - about as lo-tech as you could get. It must take hours to set up for a concert because he'd have to move each box and lead into the best position to minimize hum.

And out of the pedalboard into... a bunch more old stuff! But it sure did sound flippin' amazing!

Here's some live action. This is "Cliffs Of Dover", the song I originally heard back in the 80's. You'll see why I was hooked. If you have 10 minutes to spare watch the whole thing and see Eric doing freeform solo, if not jump in at 5:55 where the intro to the song starts.

The Crystal Cathedral Rocks

Well here's another experience I never could have foreseen a year ago - in fact even a week ago I never saw this coming! I got a phone call at about 4:40pm last Sunday afternoon from Kyle Bonenburger who is the Worship Leader with the contemporary worship band C3 at the Crystal Cathedral. They were about to play for the Traditional service at 6:30pm in the Crystal Cathedral and had just found out their guitar player wasn't going to make it. Kyle on a long shot called Grant Norsworthy in Nashville to ask him if he might know anyone in Orange County who could do a fill in at the last minute and Grant gave him my number. (Grant plays Bass with SONICFLOOd, and previously with Paul Colman Trio. I used to play in bands with Grant in Melbourne years ago.)

So... I got ready as soon as possible and got Ali and Daniel and Bryce to come too. We had about 20 minutes to soundcheck and rehearse so it was very rushed. This would have to be one of the worst rooms for rock'n'roll in the world! Just look at the pictures and you'll see why. It sounded like soup. Anyway, it was fun, and it happens to be the first church in Orange County that I've played at since coming to the US. Not a bad "first gig"!

The Crystal Cathedral with the Visitor's Center at the right.

From the inside of the Cathedral if you look up to your right you will see this. (You'll see a mirror image if you look up to your left.) It's pretty impressive!

This is the Pipe Organ. It's pretty impressive too.

Can you believe it? That's me playing in front of the massive organ pipes and next to the golden piano.
Just in case you couldn't believe it, here's a closer one! Even a golden piano must sit quietly in the presence of a blue guitar. Haha!

Thanks to Bryce for taking these shots for me.

Cool!

This door really caught my eye, and it didn't hurt that a pretty girl happened to be walking past!

I haven't quite figured out how they come up with the numbering for street addresses here in the US. I know there are not 31812 premises and houses on this street! Still, it's in keeping with the American way of making everything BIG and larger than life. Gotta love it.

Forgotten Moments

I just came across a bunch of photo's I had forgotten that I'd taken. How well a good image takes you back to a happy moment!

Hands Up! United Live stirring up some incredible worship times at Riverview's Big Weekend in November 2006.

Timon layering up an atmosphere.

This amazing painting is on the backstage wall at Riverview in Perth. The Visual Worship Team took a few hours one day and took video of them painting this wall and edited it down into an awesome clip of this unfolding scene. I don't know where it is now, but someone should post it on YouTube. The painting itself is incredible, but watching it come together in time lapse over 3 or 4 minutes is unbelievable!

Goodbye Ella

For the last eight years Ella has been part of our family. She came to us in the first week we moved to Perth and accompanied us here to Orange County. She has been Daniel's constant companion all that time, usually sleeping with him on, or in his bed.Unfortunately, 4 weeks ago at about 9pm on Sunday night, Ella wanted to go outside. She didn't come back in that night and we haven't seen her since.

Around that time we did see 3 or 4 posters on lamp posts around our neighborhood for missing cats. Also, there had been warnings of Coyote sightings in the area. I guess it's time to accept the obvious and say goodbye.

Not all that long ago, I got these shots of her lounging on a ledge outside our house. I think she was really enjoying living here. Ella is, and will be missed.