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Bob's Hobbies
(You could call them Bobbies, but that would not be cool.)
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So, What Are They?
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I, the Ineffable Bob, have several things that I enjoy wasting my time with. First among these is reading, which constitutes roughly 60% of the time I am not asleep. That includes mealtimes. I also enjoy, quite a lot actually, playing the guitar--I have two, an electric and a classical, and I intend to acquire an acoustic and another electric in the forseeable future. Another thing I pass the time with is writing and drawing, which for me go hand in hand. I can post my writings up for you all here, in fact I did already (in the Mutated Fish section) but unfortunately I cannot post my pictures (as I do not have a scanner)... as if you cared. Another hobby O' mine is practicing martial arts-- I started a few years ago and could now, if I so desired, kick myself in the head. It gets you quite grotesquely flexible, it does. Anyhow, read away, read to your heart's content...
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The Guitar Man
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On the left, one of the guitars I have. A Squier Bullet, mine is dark blue. With it and a Peavey Rage 158 amp, I can do any electric-guitar sound except tremolo and reverb effects. They serve me well, though, since I travel with them a lot. That amp is built like a brick...
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I also have in my possession a venerable Regal Classic guitar, which is interesting--the body and bridge are the dreadnought shape of a steel-string acoustic, but the inner construction is classical. The trimmin's on the rim of the body are ivoriod made to look like tortoiseshell, rather than painted on... I could give you more information, but I'm not going to. I'm saving my efforts...
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And on the right, the guitar I want to get, of my own means. An Ibanez GRX20, as I remember... Great sound, tremolo, humbucker & 2 single-coils, the works. Plays beautifully, best instrument in my price range.
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I am taking lessons from my old 6th-grade teacher before school, who is extremely eclectic in his tastes and style. His name is Steven Schulman, and he plays all three types of guitar in classical, flamenco, jazz, blues, rock & rhythm styles. An excellent teacher and an interesting character... he is currently attempting to get me to read standard music notation rather than my familiar guitar tablature. We're also working on flamenco-style playing, and the finer points of playing electric.
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Now really. You don't think I'd ever stop telling you about my guitar-hobby without a few good links, do you?
Well, if you did, you were right.
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Nose-In-Book
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To the left, Douglas Adams. Though I will continue to mourn his death, his books send a ray of... something... through the darker times in my life. They're just so dang funny, man!
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And (of course), there are the fantasy books I favor. Mostly the ones in the Dragonlance Saga, especially by Margaret Weis, Don Perrin, or Doug Niles. Said authors are among my favorites even outside of Dragonlance. To the right, one of my favorite books...
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Click the picture above or this link to go to Dragonlance.com-- my second favorite Dragonlance fan site, next to the Legacy of Krynn. It's great, if you're into that sort of thing.
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On the far right, the beginning of my favorite series of all time. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy, five books, are written by Douglas Adams... They are required reading for all members of Mutated Fish, so you know they must be pretty awesome...
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Karate Joe
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On the right, Dai Shihan Joe Holck (Joichi Matsuno)--co-founder of Matsuno-Ryu Goshinjitsu, along with his son (left, explained later). Also a major figure in the founding of the art of Kajukenbo, he is the most respected man within the Kodenkan Yudanshakai (an organization including several dojos that teach many different martial arts). His son, Shihan Vincent Holck, is a former drill sargeant, at least in spirit. He subjects the higher belts of the Kodenkan to a monthly torture session that always involves at least one person vomiting and occasionally someone passing out. At my second one, I was the puking guy... I'll never live that down...
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And below is a picture of the patch everyone wears on the left side of their uniform. Click on it, and ye shall be transported to the Kodenkan Yudanshakai Hombu Dojo webpage, where the organization is explained far better than I could ever hope to do.
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The belt rankings in Shorin-Ryu Karate (the style I practice) are as follows:
White, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, Brown (that's brown, folks) & Black.
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Oh come on, I like to use my color-changing abilities once in a while. Anyway, I am currently at the Green-belt level, and will be testing for Blue in March (hopefully). Incidentally, that's also the month I turn 14...
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Bob the Luthier
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I'm beginning to get interested in the art of instrument-making, and so have collaborated with Charles S. (keyboardist of One Short) to make a banjo. It's turning out rather nicely, and it's so simple... Cheap too. Of course, no self-respecting banjo aficionado would come near the thing, but that's entirely beside the point. The full instructions are at Dennis Havlena's website--many thanks to him are in order. Basically it's just a stick of wood sandwiched between two circles with holes in them, and a drumhead stretched over the hole. Takes only a weekend, so I'll inform you about it more when the thing's done. Also, check out his Links section--many great places about instrument-making are recorded there.
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