Angelina Jolie Set To Destroy Own Vagina
John Mccain Denies Allegations That He Is A Politician
John Edwards Admits Fathering Clay Aiken’s Baby
Unemployed To Be Used For Soup
Gays Banned From Owning Pets In New York
Gay Marriage Could Be Profitable
Bush ‘Troubled’ by Gay Marriages. Declares San Francisco Part of ‘Axis of Evil’
Polar Bear Finds Yoga Great For Flexibility, But Murder On The Balls
Attack Of The Zombie Negroes: Dick Cheney
Mike Tyson To Fight Michael Jackson
Children Admit To Being Little Shits
Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency
Illegal Immigrants Seize Control Of The U.S.
Bush Sells Louisiana Back to the French
God Destroys Boise For Not Being Gay Enough
NASA Claim to Have Achieved First Zero-Gravity Erection
Scientists Warn Of New Global Luke Warming Threat
Cindy Mccain Talks About Her Boobs
Cheney Visits Afghan President, Shoots Him In The Face
Switzerland To Be Devoured By Black Hole
Aliens Abducted By Michael Jackson

(that last one is my favorite)

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This year’s SDCC was a great show for me. We ended up selling out of the preview edition of the new book I’m working on called The Guns of Shadow Valley. The people who checked it out seemed to really like what we had put together. That kind of feedback is always nice.

The rest of the family had a good time, too. There was lots to do for the little ones, surprisingly… I think they liked the Lego booth the best, and getting pictures taken with Superman and other costumed heroes walking around.

I usually sit in the booth playing the ukulele, but this year I brought a banjo. I figured it was more appropriate, what with the western book and all.

More pictures (mostly of the kids) are in the online gallery. (Click here.)

It was great seeing my compatriots again. Until next year!

I’m lucky to have a couple different versions of my “Something About You” song in development. It started out as an acoustic demo and was recently mixed into sort of a music box version.

This latest version below is sort of a Parisian mix, featuring Lonnie Wilson on upright bass and Rick Berls on drums and a French musette.

Which version do you like best?

Download audio file (ukulele_jim_-_something_about_you_parisian.mp3)

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Lately I’ve been really enjoying working with other musicians over at kompoz.com, revisiting some of my earlier songs to see if I could get them from rough demos to sounding like polished tracks.

My latest project is “Something About You” which now has piano and cello parts by Peter Rand from the UK. I think it’s so cool that I can upload my recording and then someone from halfway around the world gets to add their own accompaniment to it.

The original version I recorded a year ago is linked right here (click!), and below is the new stereo mix. More parts may get added and more mixes may be forthcoming, but is where it is right now.

I’d like to know what you think. Is this an improvement over the original?

Download audio file (ukulele_jim_-_something_about_you.mp3)

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I found some collaborators over at kompoz.com who helped turn my songs “Miss Mischief” and “Slow Down” into finished recordings.

I had recorded the “Miss Mischief” demo with just my vocals and ukulele back in October of last year. This new version features additional harmony vocals and upright bass by Lonnie Wilson, with piano and drums by Rick Berls. Rick also did the final mixdown.

Download audio file (ukulele-jim-miss-mischief.mp3)

The demo of “Slow Down” was recorded in June of last year, again with just uke strumming and singing. Lonnie added bass, Nick Maynard added a guitar intro, and Rick added drums and final mastering.

Download audio file (ukulele-jim-slow-down.mp3)

I’m pretty happy with the sound!

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Tonight we saw Colin Hay at a local club. In case you didn’t know, he was the lead singer/songwriter from “Men at Work” in the ’80s and then went on to a splendid solo career of his own.

He’s one of the most enjoyable performers I’ve ever seen or had the honor to meet. Half of his act was just him talking to the crowd, telling charming anecdotes and jokes between songs. Damn if he isn’t one of the funniest guys ever.

Lisa needs a better camera phone, it takes crap pictures.

Yesterday afternoon we had to put our dog to sleep. He’d had liver and thyroid problems for the past few years, but over the weekend he suffered kidney failure and could no longer walk, and there’s just no coming back from that.

He was part of our family for 14 good years. We let the kids say their final goodbyes, although they’re still too young to fully comprehend what’s happening. They keep asking when he’s coming home from the doggy doctor, and no matter how we try to explain it they still ask.

It’s so hard to let go.

Farewell, Tyler. You were such a good boy.

I managed to survive my first week as IT Director at the local community college, and I have to say I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I work with great people and there’s no shortage of stuff to do.

Plus, I get to see the ocean every day. Even the spot where I parked my car this morning has this nice view.

The biggest downside so far is having an office in such close proximity to a vending machine. I can hear the Snickers bars calling to me from down the hall.

I was in a gnarly car accident yesterday that destroyed my vehicle and banged me up pretty good. I got hit so hard that my car flipped over onto the driver’s side, the tires exploded and I had to kick out the sunroof to escape.

I gotta give props to BlackBerry. Mine flew from the car and bounced down the street, split open and cracked, yet it still kinda works.