andrew dodson

New Andy McKee Album

I just picked up guitarist extraordinaire  Andy McKee’s latest album, The Gates of Gnomeria.  It’s his third album, and is just as good as its previous counterparts.  If you’ve never heard him, I strongly suggest checking him out.  He also has several videos available through YouTube.

New JMB Website

I’ve redesigned the JMB website.  I was able to use the same picture that is on the back of our DVD cover.  The photo was taken by the awesome Kari McGrath.  I’m working to add the DVD to our online store, as well as more audio clips to the media page.

—————-
Now playing: Andy McKee – I’ll Be Over You
via FoxyTunes

After a weekend break, I have some catching up to do….

• My apologies to Rich Brooks.  A couple of years ago, I was wondering why UK would ever hire a retired coach and expect to build a program.  Seems he’s done quite a good job over the last two seasons.  Sitting at 4-0 and looking at the rest of the schedule, I think UK is capable of a 10-2 record, but that’s awfully optimistic.  The thing is, it’s hard to tell just how good they are.  We’ve beaten two ranked teams in consecutive weeks.  At this point, the sky’s the limit.  With Notre Dame sitting at 0-4 for the first time in history, it would seem the college football world is off its axis.  Why not dream about a 10-2 season for the Cats?
• The Bengals played much better against the Seahawks than I expected.  They still couldn’t pull it out, but I had expected a loss anyway.  Granted, it would’ve redeemed their loss against the Browns last week, but I still think they have a decent shot at my prediction of 11-5.  I don’t expect them to beat the Patriots next week, but after that, the schedule softens a bit.
• The Josh Martin Band DVD is finally available!  I watched bits and pieces Saturday night, and watched it in its entirety yesterday.  I’m very pleased with how it turned out.  I still think it’s the best mix I’ve done to date, and Bert did a great job editing the video to get the best camera angles of each shot.  Bert also did a wonderful job on the artwork.  Thanks to Kari McGrath for some great photos to work with!  The DVDs are $15 and you get a copy of the audio CD as well.  I’m planning a fairly large update and/or redesign of the JMB website, so it will be available at our online store very soon.
• The hybrid drumset has performed admirably over the last two weekends.  I think it’s fairly close to being the perfect drumset for all occasions and playing situations.
• My new Motorola Q is pretty cool.  I’m really glad I didn’t spend a lot more money on a new Treo because it seems the Q can do everything the Treo can do.  I had to purchase a special program to get the phone to sync with my Mac computer, but that has made it very easy to keep track of contacts, calendar dates, etc.  I’ve yet to drop a call since switching back to Verizon, and the reception on my calls has been very clear.

Powered by ScribeFire.

I’ve been busy updating my Flickr site the past several days.  You can keep up with any new photos I’ve posted by clicking on the “My Photos” badge to the right.  The main thing I need to do is get them organized on my computer.  I’m using iPhoto to help me with this, and both Flickr & Facebook offer some very-easy-to-use plugins for iPhoto that make uploading them a breeze.

As you can also tell, I’ve switched the look of the site again.  I came across this theme on the Wordpress Theme Viewer and decided to give it a shot.  The only thing I plan on doing is creating a custom header and changing the pictures that are used with the theme – I did not take them.

I also installed a plugin that shows what song(s) I have playing on my computer at the time of the post.  Kinda neat, mostly unimportant.

—————-
Now playing: Blue Merle – Burning In The Sun
via FoxyTunes

—————-
Now playing: Blue Merle – Bittersweet Memory
via FoxyTunes

I’m planning on posting a couple of extensive posts soon (more theological in nature), but for now, we’ll have to settle for some more random blogging:

• That bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis?  Yeah, Josh and I drove across that bridge last fall when we went to the Desiring God conference.  For some first-hand coverage of the situation, visit Desiring God.
• I’m halfway through Chasing Daylight (woo hoo!).  The posts mentioned above will deal with my reading of this book.  Look for them this weekend, or early next week.
• I’m excited about the previously mentioned internet ideas that CLS is pursuing.  I will likely share more about these this weekend, as well.  I didn’t come up with the ideas, but there is one in particular that I have done the majority of the work for so far, so I’m particularly interested in the result of that idea.
• The JMB DVD is nearing completion!  We will preview the DVD this weekend and see how it’s coming along.  Bert has been hard at work mixing the camera angles together for your viewing enjoyment.  We should have it completed in the very near future – just in time for our slate of fall concerts that are coming up soon.
• I’m buying a new ride cymbal tomorrow – a 20″ Sabian HHX Manhattan ride.  I’ve had my eye on it for quite some time and found a person getting rid of one in Lexington.  He’s going to be in Frankfort tomorrow, so I’ve made arrangements to meet up with him and do business.  You can hardly find them used on eBay, which is one reason it’s taken me a while to get one.  New, they go for $350.  Yeah – not gonna shell out that much for a cymbal that I don’t “need.”  But, I’m getting it at a great price and it will satisfy my desire for a jazz sounding drum set.  It’s designed to sound like the popular rides from back in the day when jazz ruled the music world.
• Speaking of money, I paid off my biggest interest-bearing debt today!  I’d originally planned on paying it off over the next two months, but I was itching to pay it off.  So, I took some money out of savings and paid the sucker off.

This post may break my personal record for most categories used.  Stay tuned for more this weekend…

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  I’ve worked a lot at CLS this week, which hasn’t left much time for anything else.  I’ve been working about ten hours per day, going to the gym in the evenings, practicing drums and by that point, I’m pretty worn out, so I usually crash in front of the TV for the rest of the evening.

I’m not complaining about the ten hours per day this week.  Actually, I’m excited about it (yes, I know it’s odd to hear someone actually happy about working ten hours per day for four days straight… I actually enjoy my job).  CLS is in the process of getting a couple of internet ideas off the ground.  We now have a website called the CLS General Store that will be selling apparel to businesses online.  We already do this with a local bank and it has been successful, so we’re in the process of adding some more business customers.  The General Store also has retail apparel for all local schools.

The second idea is going to be a little more fun.  We’re launching an online t-shirt store that will allow people to submit their own designs.  There’s several online sites that already do this, but ours will be a little different in that we will also have Christian t-shirts, Frankfort t-shirts, Kentucky t-shirts and more.  We’re still working through some details, but the basic framework of the site should be up-and-running in the next few days.

In other news…

I’ve been working hard on my budget lately.  For the last several months, I haven’t been good about managing money at all.  Dave Ramsey says that if you don’t manage your money, your money will manage you.  It’s quite true.  If you don’t tell your money where to go, it’s funny how it just disappears on its own.  As an example, I paid off my car at the end of last year and planned on saving for my next vehicle to be able to buy it straight out.  As of today, I have $0 saved for my next vehicle.  Aside from filling out a monthly budget, I’ve also been trying to plan long-term.  I’ve set up a few savings goals and goals to pay off debts.  I’m hoping that by year’s end, I’ll be in pretty good shape.

Powered by ScribeFire.

I’ve launched the new Master’s Church website.  I didn’t design it, but instead used a church-related Wordpress theme and customized it for Master’s.  I’ve added most of the content, and I’ll be helping them to add the rest, and they will be keeping it maintained.  I will offer my support for when they have questions about Wordpress, of course.  Go check it out – and if you’re looking for a church in the Lexington area, go visit them!

At long last, I’ve finally launched my new site design.  It’s still fairly basic as far as looks go, but it’s at least laid out better, has some fancy rollover images, and looks good in IE browsers.  I still need to add MP3s to the sounds page, but that will have to come in the next week or so.  I may also add a page dedicated to drums detailing my setup, links to drum sites, and all that jazz.  Let me know what you think of the new layout!

I spent most of today redesigning the CLS website. It actually went much quicker than expected. I’m still sorting out an issue with the “Promotional” tab not showing up on Windows browsers, but other than that, it’s done. I’m excited to say that our host will be offering PHP & MySQL support within the next month, meaning I’ll finally be able to use Wordpress for the CLS site. I will simply transfer this design over to a Wordpress theme when that time comes. Let me know what you think!

While perusing the web for site ideas (keep reading for more on unoriginality), I came across a resemblance between Third Day’s site and John Mayer’s.  The sites were designed by different people, so it makes me wonder… John Mayer’s site has been that way for a while, so I’m wondering if Third Day’s designer “borrowed” from John Mayer’s?

It makes me wonder.  Is there truly any original music these days?  Not really.  Perhaps the same can start to be said for the internet.  Maybe we’re moving to the point where there’s no original web sites anymore.  A sad thought for a web designer.

Powered by ScribeFire.

After a few years of being dormant, the Saxton’s Cornet Band website is finally up-and-running again. I used all of the band’s old information on the “About” pages and such, so we’ll be updating some wording here and there. But, go check it out and find out about one of today’s most accurate recreations of a civil war-era band.