John Hendow

On Wednesday night, 80s Invasion played a show at the Chop Suey in Seattle. The gig was affiliated with a book release party for a local author, and we were asked to provide the music. It was a good night, even if the crowd was a bit light. Big thanks to Josh and Karen for showing up and adding to the fun!

My amp started making curious noises during soundcheck… high-pitched fizzing and squealing microphonic feedback. This is usuall caused by microphonic tubes in the preamp section of the amp. I didn’t have any spare tubes, which is very unusual for me… I carry spares for nearly everything in my entire setup – and some bits of musical equipment that aren’t even guitar-related! The only course of action available to me was to quickly reprogram my effects to minimize the high-end and presence, but ultimately this was a frustrating gig for me. I’m accustomed to having great guitar tone, and this wasn’t one of those nights.

We played well, and certainly had a good time. I’ve already retubed my amp and am ready for the next gig.

This week I traveled to Burbank on business. I actually stayed in Hollywood, which is always a treat simply because it’s such a bizarre place. It was 95 degrees each day I was there, so I got a good dose of California heat. My hotel was near Universal Studios, so I spent a little time each evening strolling along the City Walk. On my first night I happened to catch some music wafting over from the Universal Amphitheater (sponsored by Gibson). On Sunday night it was a great latino rock band, and I was tempted to buy a ticket and check them out. When I looked at the schedule I was amazed to see that the night before I arrived, a terrifying triple bill had occurred: Sebastian Bach (of Skid Row fame), Dokken, and Poison! Honestly if I had been there one day earlier I could have gotten a seriously good does of California hair metal… and truth be told… I might have gone just for the crazy fun of it all.

Returning home was great. I was fortunate that my airline could switch me to an earlier flight, so I avoided 4 hours of hanging out in Burbank airport. All in all, a good trip.

Today is my final day of unstructured time between jobs. I’ll be starting my new position on Monday, and I’m looking forward to it. The past few weeks have been a great opportunity to work on projects around the house, to practice, and to reconnect with friends over lunch.

The next adventure will be a great one, and I am happy to be joining such a terrific company.

We just returned from an impromptu vacation trip to Vancouver, BC. It was great to spend a few days in such a beautiful city, and we’re always glad to visit with friends — THANK YOU to Dave and Catherine for a lovely dinner!

We also went to the Vancouver aquarium where we were lucky enough to see the baby beluga. She’s a beauty and is a graceful playful sight. Also on the agenda was a trip to the Fluevog store in Gas Town. We both purchased a pair of shoes, which was a fun way to celebrate our vacation before heading back to Seattle.

We’ll look forward to the next opportunity to visit Vancouver.

I’ve been practicing a lot lately, which is always enjoyable. If I didn’t have to work I’d practice four hours a day. The current focus of my effort is to economize the motion of both hands and fingers. I’m also putting in a lot of time on two-handed tapping. It’s not as much fun on a guitar or bass. I would love to get a Warr Guitar or a Chapman Stick, but they’re both out of my price range. So I’m doing my tapping on the instruments at hand. It’s a good exercise for counterpoint and definitely is a mental puzzle.

I spent a good few hours on fretless bass yesterday, working out some phrasing technique and continuing my analysis of Mick Karn’s bass lines.  The man is a most complete stylist on the instrument and his distinctive playing is one of the reasons I was drawn to fretless.

And at some point I need to get back to practicing keyboards too. 

Ten fingers. Too few hours.  

For those of you in the Seattle area, come on down to the main Starbucks building in SODO and catch the lunchtime 80s Invasion performance. The building’s address is 2401 Utah Ave South; it’s basically on the corner of 1st and Lander. We’ll be on stage from 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM, spinning hits from the 80s for your mid-day meal. The gig is open to the public, so don’t be shy. Be aware the parking lot in front of the building is patrolled by nasty ogres who will give you a ticket if you are parked there for more than 2 hours.

It should be a fun day for music, and hopefully the weather will cooperate by being just cool enough to boogie. Bonus points will be awarded to anyone who can correctly identify every song and artist in our set. I’ll post the set list after the show. 

Evolutionary theory asserts that modern birds are the descendents of dinosaurs. This is strongly supported by Dr. Bakker and other leading paleogeeks, and is upheld by careful comparison of the bone structure, foot architecture, and other physical geometry.

And it turns out, those little feathery dinos are hungry. I’ve got (squirrel-proof) bird feeders in the front and back yards and go through 20+ pounds of sunflower seeds a week. Over the years I’ve tried seed mixes, but the birds just flick everything else out of the feeders to get at the sunflower seeds. So I’ve just accepted the will of my avian friends and give them what want. It’s a great thing to look out in the yard every morning and see such a variety of colorful birdasauruses. It’s really too bad they aren’t huge and scaly and armed with big serrated teeth any more. If you ask me, evolution screwed up a pretty good prehistoric design with these critters.

I spent part of today looking for a piece of musical equipment in my music room, which turned into an archaeological project. Naturally, in the bottom box, at the back of the closet, next the lost Ark of the Covenant, was the musical gizmo I needed. I really should put some gear on ebay and make space in that room.

The good news is that after many years of being forgot in the pit of random emplacement, the device in question still functions perfectly. Must be the magical properties of the Ark keeping the batteries fresh.

It’s always fascinating how life goes forward, changes, and flowers into opportunity. Last Friday I was offered a wonderful job position with a fabulous company. I’m looking forward to joining my new team, and this will definitely be a great fit. More information ahead!

This week I’ve been reviewing a book by Dr. Harold Kerzner that focuses on his five-level project management maturity model. Dr. Kerzner sits on the advisory board of PMI and is considered a leading thinker in the project management field. Earlier this year I completed a 5 day training course based on his approach and am considering how I might apply this model to future projects and programs.

Overall, this is essentially a textbook and holds all thrills one might expect from such a tome 🙂

As a PM, I find this book is a great read, it holds an essential place in the reference library of any good project manager.