Apologies to anyone who tried to visit Saturday or Sunday, as my site experienced some major downtime due to some cluster issues my host was having. Everything seems to be resolved now, but let me know if anything seems off.
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Flickr Photos
Good Times™
May 10, ’08
12:44 PM
So the last week basically flew by; my sister’s graduation last weekend was awesome. Really great to see my family & since it was only the second time I’ve ever been to Salem, I finally got to meet all of my sister’s friends & hit the bar with all of them to celebrate. I’m really excited for my sis to move up to NYC though, it’ll be great to have her close by again for visiting & such.
Work is going as it should; my schedule remains the same which is absolutely amazing. Seriously, my boss is totally the coolest, always willing to work with me regarding hours & days off & such. So I continue to have Friday-Sunday off, the exceptions being weeks I needed Monday or Tuesday off (working on Friday those weeks.)
As for my social life, definitely a rockin’ weekend has already begun. Kicked things off Thursday night with the Video Game Music Club Band, hanging out here in my place drinking & enjoying each other’s company. Sadly, three of our members are leaving to head back to their home countries (Taiwan & Denmark) but we wished them well. Last night I hung with my new friend Emily, who is a totally awesome girl. And tonight I’m going to Lettuce with my buddy John Cooke. In case you don’t know, they’re probably the most ridiculously amazing horn funk band ever, right alongside Tower of Power. Sunday will be spent enjoying the great outdoors with a friend of a friend.
In case it’s not obvious, I’m trying to expand my circle of friends, as my closest ones moved away to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Still keep in touch with them, of course, but having friends here in town is vital.
Traveling
May 2, ’08
9:41 AM
Trying out blogging from my iPhone; pretty nifty. I’m currently sitting by gate B10 in Logan Airport, waiting to board my 10:30 flight to Roanoke via Philly. My sister’s graduating from college tommorrow, which is just unbelievable to me. Then in June, she moves to NYC! Crazy stuff. Not only that, but my brother is graduating high school on 3 weeks, and a buddy of mine is getting married 2 weeks after that! Momentous occasions this spring, to be sure.
But right now, I’m exhausted from a couple of sleep-deprived nights. Helped my friend Christine with two final projects this week, both followed by early mornings. Currently running on about 4–5 hours of sleep. No fun. Hopefully I can catch some z’s on the plane.
On another note, the jazz group Ellie & I are trying to start may finally have the kick in the ass it needs: a gig. Well see how that turns out.
Shows this weekend
Apr 17, ’08
8:48 AM
So I’ve got some gigs coming up, tonight and Friday night, with Maria McNeil & Tony Brown, respectively. You may send your eyes to the far right sidebar to get the essentials, but for more detail, the gigs page is where it’s at. Suffice to say, gonna be a great weekend of music for me. Hope to see some folks out there!
Maria McNeil Band @ Felt
Mar 16, ’08
6:25 PM
Played a gig with the Maria McNeil Band this past Thursday at Felt, a club on Washington St, just north of the Theatre District here in Boston. While a decent place, it’s not my favorite venue to play, mostly because it was never intended for live music, the stage area is a bit tight & the crowd is usually just there for an after-work drink. Regardless, we had a good time, and it was the band’s first gig out. Maria’s had a group for some time, but this most current incarnation with myself on bass, Samad Kamali on keys, and Aaron Robertson on drums has only been around since this past November.
I’ve posted some pics up on flickr, but here’s a good one:
Changes ’round here
Mar 12, ’08
2:35 PM
So I’m sure if you’re a visitor to my site, you’ve noticed I’ve made a rather large change to the design. I’d been using Dean J. Robinson’s Redoable theme for a little over a year, and it had begun to feel a bit cramped. So I looked around for something a bit different, easier to read, less cramped, and came across this theme, Dilectio. Please leave comments with any issues or criticisms if you have any. Cheers!
Awesome gig last night
Mar 2, ’08
3:50 AM
So last night at the Midway Café, Tony Brown & his band (which includes me) celebrated the release of Music for a Shrinking World, and along with Keppie Coutts and another gentleman whose name I cannot recall at the moment, but both of them were great. Really randomly, Craig Brodhead, a guitarist who was in an ensemble class with me back in 2004, was accompanying Keppie, along with fantastic bassist named Jenny. Everyone really enjoyed the music, the intimacy of the Midway (it’s only about 20 or 30 feet from stage to bar) was great, and it marks the first time I’ve ever been called back to the stage for an encore by an audience. Really cool. Hopefully we’ll be doing lots more gigs like this with Tony! Here’s a favorite from that set:
Updates & other such
Feb 6, ’08
7:38 PM
So I finished college in December.
That just needed its own line, all to itself. I spent the last month trying to figure just what the hell I’m going to do with myself. I’ve managed to become gainfully employed again at the Apple Store CambridgeSide. Which means that I will no longer be discussing anything related to Apple on this or any other blog of mine.
Musically, I find myself a member of Matt Germak Band, Maria McNeil Band (also can be seen on facebook), and Tony Brown Band. In addition to those groups, I’m also helping to start up two groups: a rock/hip-hop group led by John Cooke as well as a jazz quartet/quintet with Ellie Martin. We’ll see how those go.
Still trying to do more freelance web coding work (XHTML & CSS are my specialties folks) so if anyway who reads this has a design that needs coding, or is a designer who needs a partner, please email me at berkleebassist [at] gmail.
On another, I’ve contemplated changing how this blog works. It’s entitled berkleebassist, but that’s neither its domain name or real focus. I think I’m going to explore spinning this blog off to berkleebassist.com (which I do own), which will be my personal blog, while jeffbyrnes.net will become my professional internet persona. We’ll see. If anybody feels compelled to comment on that, please do so!
