|
There are 3 blog entries from August 2013
I've been going up to the UT School of Music for years to play on the pianos. I've never been a particularly good pianist, but I thoroughly enjoy playing. I went up there about a week ago and was disappointed to find all of the practice rooms locked; I thought they had instituted a new policy.
I went back yesterday to check on this and was happy to have been proven wrong.
|
There is a geological formation in Central Texas unlike any other place in the world, or so I'm told. Thanks to some wonderful connections, I was able to go on a private tour of this geological wonderland over the weekend.
Over the July 4th weekend of 2002, two massive storms collided over Central Texas and dumped rain for days. The results were cataclysmic. New Braunfels and Canyon Lake were two of the greater causalities in the state with Canyon Lake filling to one and a half times its capacity. When the pressure built up enough and the spillway didn't hold, a massive rush of water began to flow destroying everything in its path, including the Earth itself.
The very fact that this is possible fascinates me, but a new canyon was carved into the Earth in a long weekend. Think of a very small version of the Grand Canyon. This is what is known as the Canyon Lake Gorge.
My friend Mark knows one of the caretakers and naturists and was able to get us on a private tour of the canyon. It was only about a 1.80 mile hike, but we experienced an elevation decline of about 220 feet and traveled back through time about 1.5 million years (between the beginning and end of the hike).
The canyon is full of fault lines, fossils, and incredibly well-preserved dinosaur tracks.
 A view of the canyon. The water has that milky blue look due to the limestone deposits in it
 Pretty incredible fossils
 Evidently one of the most visible fault lines in the entire world
 Posing inside one of the caves along the way
|
I enjoy recording this tune every once in awhile just because I enjoy playing it so much. I wrote it back in 2002, re-wrote it in 2003, and have been playing mostly the same variation for the past decade.
Most people tell me you're not supposed to strum anything in a DADGAD configuration. Fortunately, I've never been keen on following the restrictions of "most" people.
|
|
