During the Christmas season, I’m constantly humming Christmas songs. The song that I’ve hummed the most this year has been “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. This is a really nice link to a great heart warming story involving this great song.
The Minshall’s Christmas 1969
Now that summer and labour day are over, pack your bags and be on our way, ’cause my vacation starts today.
This is a picture of one of our cats on the patio during an August heat wave. First I thought of using an old vacation picture from Mexico but when I saw this one, it was perfect. Her name is Baby. 🙂
Available in iTunes
If I said that I wrote this song 18 years ago for our first son Jesse, I’ld be a liar.
If I said that I wrote it for our second son Brandon, I’ld be even a bigger liar.
It took me 16 years to write this song! Why? They say “experience is the best teacher of life”. This song has taught me a lot. Take all the years you’ve had with any of your children, and hug them tight.
Happy Father’s Day.
Available in iTunes
This is one of those songs I wrote many years ago. I think it was like ’81 or ’82. So almost 30 years ago. I took most of the lyrics, added a chorus, and totally re-wrote the music. It was now a brand new song but with old lyrics reborn.
Spring is well into swing, and we have lots of flowers on the patio again this year. A small but proud vegetable garden is hopefully going to produce tomatoes, corn, peppers, onions and lettuce. I like to sit outside and just look at the flowers and garden. It’s so peaceful and soothing. If you have a hard time with Mondays or the first day of your work week, try finding a small garden, breath and everything will be fine.
Available in iTunes
I love this song, from the first time I heard it. Some songs just grab you right away. The melody, the chords, the grove, it’s such a great driving song. Any one who ever thought that the Stone Temple Pilots were just another 90’s rock band, never sat down and listened to this song. I strongly recommend you listen to the original. Every thing about it is a class in how to write and play each instrument.
My version is the country flip side that I needed to do. The chorus cried out to be done in a hoedown spirit. You gotta love the lyrics: “Leavin’ on a southern train only yesterday you lied” Come on…..that’s country.
Available in iTunes
The year is almost over, (in 2 days) AND the decade. And wow! What a decade. We had some great times and some hard times. The boys grew up, and up, and UP. We moved a few months ago into a bigger place. Lost some pets and gained one. Changed jobs, and bands. Got reconnected with lots of old friends. Sooo nice to see you all again.
Here’s my last song of the year and decade, all I can say is “What a hell of a ride it was.”
All the best to all of you for the new year and decade.
Paul
Available in iTunes
Leo Laporte from TWiT was out car shopping one day. He shot this little video in a GT Mustang and put it up on the interwebs.
After 14 years of living in the same apartment, we finally moved!
September started with us moving into a three bedroom rancher and it is so nice to be in a spacious home instead of a cramped box. Halloween is this weekend so we get to hand out candy to the little trick or treaters. And after a little summer break in the music department, I did a cover of Metallica’s Enter Sandman just in time for this festive pumpkin season.
(^_^)
Available in iTunes
Paulywood’s 45
Summer is here and every year the same memories flood my head. In no order of importance:
– School is out. Done. No more reading, writing and arithmetic. Well at least no more reading because we have to.
– July 5th is my Birth Day 😎
– Swimming lessons and just hanging out at the pool.
– Going to the lakes and ponds looking for frogs and tadpoles.
– Going to Playland
– Going to movies
– Lying in bed listening to the cheers and stomping from a lacrosse game at the sports arena behind our house
– Sleeping in our backyard under the stars observing the Perseid meteor shower
Now release the floodgate of your memories……….See ya in about half an hour 😉
Remember cassette tapes? Those funny plastic things with tiny reels of magnetic audio tape inside. We would borrow a friends record album, then later CD’s, and make copies for ourselves. Oooo copies.
I was feeling a bit dry (artistically speaking) last week, when I remembered an old song, “1962”. Next week is my birthday, so I thought it would be nice to record the song about that special year I was born. I was sure I had the lyrics in my big red book I’ve had for over 30 years. But after searching twice I couldn’t find it. I could remember most of the words, but without the rest I was dead in the water.
Which brings me back to those cassettes. Ah-Ha! I had a 4-track version I did 20 years ago on a cassette tape. I dug out my 2 inch thick with dust brief case looking cassette case, and there it was “1989 Mix“. After getting the rest of the lyrics, and rewriting a few, I was all set to record it again….
20 years later.
Big thank you to TurtleGirl over at Girl Gamers for putting SackBoy on their Editors choice page. It’s nice to see both genders having a great time at gaming.
My oldest son Jesse is a big WOW and Runescape player, along with a handful of console games he really enjoys. He just recently got his girlfriend playing some Runescape and the two of them play late at night online together. (ahh young love)
I don’t really play games that much these days. Too much of my time is spent recording all day. Like today. Forteen hours of it. Come on man, time for a break already.
If you haven’t heard about Sony’s PS3 game LittleBigPlanet, here’s some video clips of it along with my song SackBoy. Watch for cameos of Leo Laporte from TWiT, and the guys from TRS.
Seventeen years ago I wrote a song for my new girlfriend. I recorded it on a cassette tape with just a keyoard and me singing. Pretty basic and simple. Last week I recorded the same song, for the same girl friend, now my wife. This time I used my computer and a multi-track recording program.
I remember my father bringing home a reel-to-reel deck, when I was 14, so I could do two track recording. Wow! Then next we had two cassette decks and I would bounce between the two getting four or five tracks going. The only problem was all but the last track would end up on one side, while the last track would be on the other side of the left and right stereo. I really like recording on this computer thingy.
(Originally posted Nov 26, 2007)
When I first wrote the original Audible jingle, I had no idea how much Jason Calacanis loved Audible books. After hearing him drool over them every time he’s on TWiT , I felt the need to include him in the song.
Take it away Jasoooooooon!
If you look up the word “Integrity” in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Leo Laporte. Leo blows up at Mike Arrington on the Gillmor Gang June 6/09.
Here are two ringtone versions I made while watching This Week In Tech this afternoon.
Enjoy.
Back in March, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Seeing a lot of old (and old) family friends, got me thinking what it’s going to be like for me when I’m older. I think for most of us, the thought of getting old is not a good thing. But one day I thought, it would be a good thing. Having all those memories of family and friends, places I’ve been to and things I’ve seen.
Now, I’m looking forward to the good life looking back.
A proposed theme for The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte . Leo is looking for a new theme song for his syndicated weekend radio show.
Here’s mine 🙂
1/3 of the year is done. April is over and what a month it’s been. We’ve had rain, snow, wind, sun and blossoms. Yes finally blossoms and warm sunny days.
April always goes out with a bang for us with our Brandon’s birthday on the 28th. We’ve had our new car for a little over a month. And I got to meet a special woman Roz Savage, Eco-Adventurer, extraordinaire (for whom I have written two songs for). Roz was in Vancouver the first weekend of May. My wife Michelle and I met up with her for a very nice visit and dinner.
Drifting was a song I wrote last summer for Roz’s podcast Roz Rows , and Green is now used for a video introduction.
After Roz emailed me asking if she could keep using Drifting, she asked if I would be interested in writing something for a video-intro. A few days later, and a few emails, I had started on what became Green. You would have never guessed I hadn’t seen the video before I wrote it. Such a great match of sight and sound.
Roz has completed 1/3 of rowing the Pacific Ocean. Last year she rowed from California to Hawaii. This year she leaves from Hawaii south towards Australia.
You can now get my songs in the iTunes Store. Each week you will get a new song via podcast.
If you’re not sure what a podcast is or how it works, the Wikipedia answer is: “A podcast is a series of digital media files, usually digital audio or video, that is made available for download via Web syndication.”
Simply put: You subscribe in the iTunes Store (usually for free) to an audio or video show, and when a new one is done, you get it automatically.
Subscribe now 🙂
I’m not the first, and definitely not the last, to go to some kind of school reunion arranged through facebook. Last Saturday I had the great pleasure of seeing friends I hadn’t seen in (almost) 30 years. Most of whom were apart of the Drama Club I spent pretty much all of my senior years hanging out with. At school and on weekends.
If it weren’t for the easy social aspect of facebook, organizing these get togethers wouldn’t be so, …..well, easy. To all the faces that did show up, it was great to see you and hear how well you’ve done.
See you again soon. Thanx facebook. 🙂
Paul Minshall 