tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64084419469274430652024-02-07T19:22:40.768-08:00Eric Herman - TravelblogueEric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.comBlogger189125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-28051902743476021112009-01-11T19:29:00.000-08:002009-01-11T19:32:23.757-08:00Catching up on the past month or so...<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">After Thanksgiving, Roseann flew out to Springfield, MO and went to stay at a house we bought in Reeds Spring, just outside of Branson. She spent a couple weeks there fixing up the place to sell, and it worked out well, because she found a buyer while she was there, and the sale should hopefully go through soon... </span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608A.jpg" /><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Here's where Roseann slept in luxury during her stay...</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />Back at home, </span><span style="font-size:100%;">the girls and I managed the best we could while Roseann was away, and we did alright, but we did miss her an awful lot!</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> We worked and played as usual... I hosted a game night with some friends and went to preschool with Evee as the parent helper, which is always fun.<br /><br />When Roseann got back we worked a lot on the "Tale of the Sun and the Moon" video. Here it is again, in case you haven't seen it yet:<br /><br /><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 15px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-039079765619254014 visible ontop" href="http://www.youtube.com/v/UoWFJ690U6E&hl=en&fs=1"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 15px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-039079765619254014 visible ontop" href="http://www.youtube.com/v/UoWFJ690U6E&hl=en&fs=1"></a><object width="425" height="344"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"> <param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UoWFJ690U6E&hl=en&fs=1"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UoWFJ690U6E&hl=en&fs=1" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344"></embed> </object><br /><br />We went to the Christmas party at church, which Grandma Jean was in charge of the program for, so she roped me into performing "The Elephant Song" (with Evee leading the kids in the responses) and had Becca as one of a group of dolls singing "Are My Ears on Straight?" It was a nice night, and of course the girls were excited to meet up with Santa.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608D.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Performing at the Christmas party...</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608E.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Becca as one of the dolls, with Gramma Jean directing to the left...</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">We got dumped on with snow and cold for quite a while here, which is unusual for this particular area. Well, when I say "dumped on", I mean about a foot or so... I must admit that since moving here from Buffalo (where we regularly got <span style="font-style: italic;">several</span> feet of snow... one year we had eight feet of snow in one day!), I've become kind of a weather wimp.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608F.jpg" /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">We had a very enjoyable Christmas. Though we missed being away from so much of our family, we're always happy to be together. I particularly appreciated the music of Christmas this year... I only just realized that we had Sirius available the whole time through our Dish Network, so we put on a holiday music channel to listen to a lot, and I always felt joy to hear great songs like "Oh Holy Night", "Silent Night" and "Santa Baby". Evee was happy that Santa remembered to get her Thomas Train set, and he also provided Becca with a variety of nice stuff that she liked a lot.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608G.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608H.jpg" /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Reindeer tracks?</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/122608I.jpg" /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The girls in some new costumes...</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2009/010409A.jpg" /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >A paint-your-own clock that the girls made with Roseann...</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2009/010409D.jpg" /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">and paint-your-own plates...</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">We celebrated Evee's fourth birthday a day early on December 30, and went out to a pizza place. She opened her presents and we played some arcade games together and ate some yummy pizza and cake. Gramma Jean came with us, and of course we wished her "happy birthday", too. Evee's middle name is "Jean", and we had picked the name "Evelyn Jean" for our next daughter back when Becca was born, so it was neat that the two of them share a birthday together on New Year's Eve.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2009/010409B.jpg" /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">There was a problem with the tire on our minivan, so I went to rent a car for us to drive up for First Night Spokane, but the "midsize" car was smaller than it seemed like it should be, and we couldn't all fit in there with my equipment, so I ended up going alone. I did four sets, the first two in a nice theater at the Convention Center and the second two at Mobius, which is a fun children's museum kind of place. The audiences were very receptive and it was a great event, as it has been the last four years, but it was also quite exhausting (as it has been the last four years), so I was relieved to get back to the hotel and hit the sack... though I was glad that I stayed up just past midnight, otherwise the fireworks would have woken me up.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2009/010409C.jpg" /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">At one of the Mobius shows...</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">So we've started 2009 with me working hard on finishing my next album, which we hope to have finished by the end of the month and released this spring. This album has been two years in the making (with a lot of long breaks and interruptions in between), so I'm really excited to finally get it out there and it's coming together very nicely.<br /><br />Becca and Evee started taking swimming lessons twice a week and are doing well with that. Here's Evee showing off her new goggles...<br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2009/010709A.jpg" /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">We're actually scaling back a bit on the traveling and performing this year (we're planning a more significant tour for 2010), but we'll still be hitting a lot of the usual places and also some new places. Regardless, I'll keep up best I can with what we've got going on and where we are...<br /><br />We wish you all a very happy 2009!</span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-20637129125712695352008-11-25T07:49:00.000-08:002008-11-25T07:50:17.432-08:0011/25/08 Thanksgiving<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Backtracking a bit... While we were at LeAnn's, we dressed up a little and LeAnn took some pictures (below). On the way home, we stopped at Albany, Oregon, where I had a really fun show with a very enthusiastic group of kids. We were home for a few days, and then took a drive in the minivan with Larry and Jean over to Rexburg, where we celebrated an early Thanksgiving with Roseann's sister, Mary Jo, and her family. 9 of Mary Jo's 10 kids were there, so it was a pretty busy bunch, and we had a lot of fun. We went to see Jordi starring as Kim in her high school's production of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bye Bye Birdie</span>, we played some games and watched <span style="font-style: italic;">Wall-E</span> on DVD, and mostly had a lot of conversation on a wide variety of subjects.<br /><br /> I'm so incredibly thankful for my family, immediate and extended, and am very grateful for the love and the life that we share together. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from me and mine!</span><br /></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508D.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">At a Playland in California...</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508E.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Robot dancing in Albany...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508F.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">All of the girls playing dress up: Becca, Emily, Lindsay, Evee and Ashlyn...</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508G.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Playing a tight game of Go Fish with Evee, Sam and Josie...</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508H.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Mmm... Thanksgiving.</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/112508I.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-51323188183877316822008-11-19T10:32:00.000-08:002008-11-19T10:33:22.449-08:0011/19/08 Butterfly<span style="font-size:100%;">Below is a picture Becca took of our second millipede, Butterfly, after she had been returned to her terrarium after a long adventure. I won't elaborate on that, but to say that we're glad she's back in her home.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/111908A.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Becca and the millipedes...</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/111908B.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-24815638201719902102008-11-08T09:24:00.000-08:002008-11-08T12:08:03.899-08:0011/8/08 - Mmmm... prawns...<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">On Tuesday morning I had an assembly program at Slonaker Elementary in San Jose. After that, we did some shopping and had naps and then met up with Steve, April (she was back in town, after all) and Amy for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I had never had a walnut prawn dish before but it is now a favorite of mine. We talked for quite a while over dinner and then went back to their house for a bit so the kids could play together, and then we headed back to the RV park in Patterson.<br /><br /> On Wednesday, we drove down to Moreno Valley where we are staying with Roseann's sister, LeAnn, and her family. LeAnn's 4 year-old daughter, Catarina, was very excited to see the girls, and the feeling was mutual. When we first came in the door, Catarina said to the girls, "So let me look at you!" On Thursday night we met LeAnn and Catarina at Cat's karate class. Catarina is doing really well with that, and our girls tried their best to keep up on the side, but it was a little tricky for them. They are interested in taking karate classes of their own now, which is something we had been thinking about for a while.<br /><br /> Yesterday, I had two assemblies at Lincoln Elementary in San Bernardino. It was a huge group of kids in a small space, so it got a little crazy at times, but went very well in general.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">From the assembly in San Jose...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110308A.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Evee, Amy and Becca...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110308B.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Becca and Evee playing a game of Tier auf Tier...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110608A.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">At the karate class...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110608B.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Evee showing her "wilted flower" sign...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110708A.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The first assembly in San Bernardino...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110708B.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The second assembly in San Bernardino...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110708C.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Evee showing off her signature and ghost picture...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110708D.jpg" /><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Evee, Catarina and Becca...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/110808A.jpg" /></span></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-84150801970597662732008-11-01T23:08:00.000-07:002008-11-03T11:14:07.315-08:0011/1/08 - Catching up...<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">So we're at an RV park in Patterson, California, on a three week trip for some school shows, and I figured I oughta catch up with what we've been doing lately...<br /><br /> Back on the 22nd of October I went out to Tigard, Oregon (suburb of Portland) and did two shows at the Pottery Barn Kids. It was an early Halloween celebration and there were some great costumes in attendance, my favorite being a group of triplets dressed as the three major superheroes (see picture below).<br /><br /> We went to a pumpkin patch place with Evee's preschool and that was a lot of fun... We picked out pumpkins, took a hayride, went through a hay maze and climbed on a hay bale pyramid. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, so we didn't get any pictures of that. Some other people took pictures, so I'll add some eventually when we get back.<br /><br /> On the Friday before we left town we went to see our good friends, Becky and Ross, and their family. They had moved back to the Tri-Cities earlier this year and we hadn't seen them since before our spring and summer trip, so we enjoyed catching up with them. Their kids call Roseann and me "Aunt Roseann" and "Uncle Eric", which is cute.<br /><br /> I should mention that we got a second millipede. Roseann had felt bad that the other millipede in the pet store was left there when she got Sticky. This one is a girl, so we went with Evee's original name of Butterfly. We don't know if they're capable of breeding, but just in case, we're keeping them in separate tanks, as we don't really want dozens of millipedes, just two. I'll post some pictures of Butterfly when we're back in town.<br /><br /> We left for California after church last Sunday and it was pretty cold the first two nights that we stayed in Oregon, but we cranked up the heat and bundled up pretty well. It got a lot warmer once we hit California. The first school I visited was on Wednesday in San Ramon, California, and on the suggestion of Tim Noah's son, Jude, I brought along my electric guitar and did some jamming for the kids, which definitely impressed the legions of Guitar Hero fans out in the audience. My assembly yesterday was in Dos Palos at an outdoor courtyard for a group of 500 K-2 kids and thankfully the weather held out just enough for the show to go on.<br /><br /> The girls dressed up as Violet and Dash from The Incredibles and did a great job sticking to their characters. We went to a Halloween dinner and "trunk or treat" at an area church and the girls collected a good bounty of candy.<br /><br /> Today, we're hanging around at the RV park and doing laundry and such, and then this coming week we're looking forward to seeing Steve and Amy (April is out of town) and LeAnn and her family.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The girls sporting their new nightshirts...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/102208A.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Playing a game of Hey! That's My Fish (with their own rules)...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/102208B.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">One of the Pottery Barn Kids shows...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/102208C.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Villains, beware!<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/102208D.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Becky and Ross' son, William, showing off his awesome Lego spaceship...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108A.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Becca and Evee playing with Becky and Ross' girls, Hilani and Suki...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108B.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Evee loves to show how well she can dress herself...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108C.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">K-2 assembly in San Ramon...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108D.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">3-5 assembly in Sam Ramon...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108E.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Violet and Dash... once again, villains beware!<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108F.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The assembly in Dos Palos... I'm either demonstrating marching techniques or running from some hot sand...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108G.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Trunk or treating...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/103108H.jpg" /></span></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-31235114282689447222008-10-11T22:04:00.000-07:002008-10-13T22:05:38.353-07:0010/11/08 - He's got legs... He knows how to use them...<span style="font-size:100%;">I'd like to introduce you to our new pet, Sticky, a giant African millipede. Initially, Evee had named him "Butterfly" when we thought he was a girl, and that seemed like a nice name for a millipede, but then we checked and found out that he was a "he", after all, so "Butterfly" didn't seem like the best name. I suggested we call him "Velcro" because he sometimes attaches himself to you like velcro, but Becca invoked her right to name him (as Evee had named Tiggy). Becca preferred "Sticky", so officially, for all court records and bank accounts, he will be known as Stick E. Velcro, but we'll just call him "Sticky" for short.<br /><br /> So how did we end up with a pet millipede? Well, Roseann and the girls went out to a pet store today and when the owner noticed Roseann taking an interest in the millipede she offered him to her for half off (only $5) because nobody had bought him after several months. Roseann felt bad for him and apparently she had always thought it might be interesting to have a millipede for a pet (you know, the whole "a girl and her millipede" thing). She did some research on them and they are very low maintenance and docile, so she talked me into getting him. He is very cool looking and it's amazing to watch all of his legs working together. It's also quite a chore when he decides he wants to back up and has to shift gears to start all of the legs going the other direction. Our best attempt at counting his legs added up to about 260, but he'll still grow some more segments and legs, so it might get up to about 300. At first, Tiggy didn't seem to have any interest when Sticky was in his cage, but then Roseann had him out on her shoulder and Tiggy was suddenly very eager to check him out and pet him. We made sure he kept his paws (and claws) away, though. Sticky will stay over at the clubhouse, where he can curl up safely in his cage.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/101108A1.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/101108A2.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/101108A3.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-69897812959374848572008-10-07T23:36:00.000-07:002008-10-13T00:37:25.330-07:0010/7/08 - Bellevue<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I drove out to Bellevue today for a school show at Somerset Elementary. It was an evening "welcome back to school" event (they had a teacher's strike for a few weeks, so school didn't start until later in September), and boy, were the kids fired up. They were a really wild crowd, and it was a lot of fun except for when someone threw half of a hamburger up on stage. It looked like a perfectly good hamburger, so I was sorry to see it go to waste.<br /><br /> I'd been to Bellevue many times, but never up the hills on the south side, which is where the school was. I had to pull over twice to take in the view, which looks out over all of Seattle and Bellevue. The pictures below don't do it justice at all...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Stage? Who needs a stage? This chair will be just fine...</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100708A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100708B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100708C.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-68422417465469443082008-10-05T23:13:00.000-07:002008-10-11T00:17:41.417-07:0010/5/08 Some pics...<span style="font-size:100%;">Here's a few pictures from Becca's camera from the past week...</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100508A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100508B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100508C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100508D.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100508F.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-89066299825133627822008-10-04T22:36:00.000-07:002008-10-09T14:37:20.444-07:0010/4/08 - Spokane Day 6<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">We went over to Gwendolyn's house and had a really nice breakfast with her and her husband, Greg. We talked a lot and played a game of Pandemic (losing horribly) while the kids played together. Gwendolyn had to go to work, so our visit wasn't as long as we'd all have liked. We stopped at a Halloween store for a while and looked at all of the spooky stuff, then headed over to my gig at the Spokane Valley Library, which was the last of the stretch here. The show went very well, and then we drove back home and went to bed.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100408A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100408B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100408C.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The girls rockin' to some 50's tunes on the A&W jukebox...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100408D.jpg" /></span></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-5161329801395831132008-10-03T22:18:00.000-07:002008-10-06T17:19:49.571-07:0010/3/08 - Spokane Day 5<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">There's a big game store warehouse in Spokane, so we stopped by there this morning and picked up some new games. Then we went to the Spokane Valley Mall, where they have a fun play area for the girls. We went to McDonald's to meet our friend, Phil, and his kids. We met Phil a couple years ago through his great blog, <a href="http://www.pkmeco.com/familyblog/">A Family Runs Through It</a>. He lives in Coeur d' Alene just over the border in Idaho, and we've become good friends and try to meet up when we're in the area to talk about music and family and life in general.<br /><br /> I had only one show today at the Argonne library, and that was a lot of fun. After the show, we headed back to the RV park and had dinner and played a couple of our new games, then went to bed.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100308A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100308B.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">With Phil and his kids...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100308C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100308D.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Having a rest after some serious bouncing, flapping and twisting...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100308E.jpg" /></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-88383900979947747072008-10-02T22:46:00.000-07:002008-10-04T22:49:15.285-07:0010/2/08 - Spokane Day 4<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">We went back to Kenn's house this morning. Roseann talked with Kenn's wife, Ann, and the kids did some finger painting and other crafts, while Kenn and I went over to record an interview for <a href="http://www.celticnots.com/bios/carlos.html">Carlos Alden</a>. Carlos has hosted a radio show on KPBX in Spokane for many years which features a combination of Celtic music (which he performs with the local Celtic Nots band) and kids' music. The interview was a lot of fun and Kenn and I got to talk about some of the things we've worked on, which we've never really done together in an interview (there have been some written articles about the two of us, but we were interviewed separately for those). Kenn read a few of his poems and I played a couple of the songs that were adapted from Kenn's poems, including "The Tale of the Sun and the Moon" and "Snow Day". I also did "The Elephant Song" with Kenn providing the impromptu interruptions. It's a good thing he picked up on the idea to do that, because I forgot to ask him ahead of time if he would. After the interview, the three of us sat around and talked for quite a while, and kind of wished we had recorded some of that conversation. It turns out that Carlos and I share a lot of favorites in the kids' music world, including Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang and Trout Fishing in America.<br /><br /> Kenn and I grabbed some deli food, then picked up Roseann and the kids and went to the park for a while. It was beautiful out at first, but then a sudden rain cloud came by, so we had to make a quick dash under a big tree. We said goodbye to Kenn and headed out to my gigs at the Otis Orchards and Airway Heights libraries, both of which went really well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">With Carlos Alden...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100208A.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The finger paintings...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100208B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100208C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100208D.jpg" /></span></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-11792843920874191922008-10-01T22:31:00.000-07:002008-10-03T20:31:58.482-07:0010/1/08 - Spokane Day 3<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">We did some shoe shopping this morning. Evee had wanted some nice church shoes and also picked out a pair of Lightning McQueen crocs. Becca and I got some new sneakers and Roseann picked out a new black hat.<br /><br /> A rock flew up as we were driving to my first gig and made a nasty crack on our windshield, so we had to call for someone to meet up with us to fix that. Fortunately, it was small enough that some resin did the trick.<br /><br /> I had two shows today, at the Medical Lake and Cheney libraries. Both shows went well, but the first one had one of the most rambunctious crowds I've ever seen (with Becca and Evee a part of that mix). I think my brother Zeke may have overdone his crowd-warming shtick... they were already "warmed" and he just put them over the top. It was a little crazy and difficult to manage at times, but also fun to see those kids having such a wildly good time. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Evee enjoying the funny mirror at the shoe store...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100108A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100108B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/100108C.jpg" /></span></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-35137003733361206182008-09-30T22:19:00.000-07:002008-10-02T22:21:04.459-07:009/30/08 - Spokane Day 2<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">This morning we went over to <a href="http://www.poetry4kids.com">Kenn Nesbitt</a>'s house. Kenn is a very popular funny poetry author and I have used several of his poems for songs of mine, or collaborated together with him for the words for several songs. We had already worked together on a few things before I moved out to the Tri-Cities, but it was particularly nice when we moved out West to be able to get together in person. We've always had a good time and a lot of laughs together. The thing is, even though we only live two hours apart now, we rarely see each other anymore since we're both traveling a lot... he was out of town the whole week last time we were in Spokane... so it was good to hook up again for the first time in well over a year. Roseann and I talked with Kenn while the girls played with his kids, Max and Madison, and met their pets. Then Kenn and I did some recording... I recorded some guitar for a song he's doing for a CD of recorded poems he's including with his next book, and he recorded some spoken parts for my next album.<br /><br /> I had two more shows this afternoon, at the Fairfield Library and Moran Prairie Library, and both shows went very well with very enthusiastic audiences. The girls were napping during the first show but came in to the second, but there was an incident at the end of the show that upset Evee. She had gone out in the hallway with Roseann right before the last song, and when I announced that I was going to sing "This Little Light of Mine" and Becca was going to come up to help me (realizing that Evee wasn't there), another little girl ran up and sat on my other knee where Evee would normally have sat. There was a big "awww" from the audience, she was probably about 20 months old, and I was at a loss for what to do... it's not like I was going to push her off or something, even though as a general rule, I wouldn't encourage random kids coming across the line to sit up there with me during a show... so I just let her stay there. But then Evee came back into the room upon hearing the music for that song starting and saw the other girl in her place and got very upset. I felt terrible, as I knew it would seem to her like I had betrayed her or replaced her. Sure enough, afterwards she said that it was not okay and that there couldn't be "another Evee". I talked with her for a while and apologized for the mistake and assured her that she is definitely my one and only Evee. The four of us also worked out a plan for what to do if that kind of situation ever comes up again.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Saying "hello" to Kenn's dog, Jesse...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/093008A.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Evee getting ready to play some baseball...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/093008B.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The girls meeting Madison's rabbit, Lola...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/093008C.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kenn recording some "P-U"s for "Stink Bug"...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/093008D.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/093008E.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/093008F.jpg" /></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-23980454334618961532008-09-29T22:12:00.000-07:002008-10-01T10:13:09.328-07:009/29/08 - Spokane Day 1<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">We're in Spokane for the week and I had a very busy day to start things out. First thing in the morning I had two assembly programs at Mullan Rd. Elementary. There are two main assembly programs that I offer; Say "Yes!!!" to Life, about positive character motivation, and Thinking Outside the Box, about creative thinking and problem solving. By and large, schools choose Say "Yes!!!" to Life, so much so that before today I hadn't done Thinking Outside the Box in over a year and a half. I did go over it, though, on my drive home from Salem the other night, and added a few new talking points and elements to the program. I always liked that program a lot, but felt like it needed some editing, so it seemed like a good time to do that. I'll admit to being a little nervous beforehand, but everything went really well. The second assembly went very well, too... but I'm pretty sure the first one edged it out, in terms of the energy level.<br /><br /> We stopped at a park where the girls played for a while and I was trying to get a nap when a car pulled up next to the bus with full bass hip-hop blaring. So much for the nap! We drove out to Deer Park, where I had the first of my Spokane County library shows of the week. We had come here in late January to perform at all of the Spokane County libraries, but Spokane was hit with a record snowfall that kind of hampered things a bit. I was impressed with the number of people who did come out to the shows, weather notwithstanding, but the attendance was probably lower than it would have been otherwise and they did have to cancel two of the ten shows due to bad road conditions. So I was very grateful when they asked me to come back again in the fall. For this trip, they wanted me to do my "Musical Zoo" show, where I combine a number of different animal songs with a simple message about taking care of our pets and being safe around animals. Deer Park is kind of out of the way, so there were only about twenty people there altogether, but they said that was a big crowd for out there, and it was quite a few more than the 5 or 6 who were there in January.<br /><br /> The next show was at the North Spokane library, and there was a good crowd there which included our friend, Gwendolyn, and her daughters, Becca and Elizabeth, who we had met last time we were in town. Gwendolyn had invited us over to her house and we had a great time talking with her and her husband while the kids played. Elizabeth is a few years older than our Becca, but their Becca is 5 and is right in between our Becca and Evee in every respect, so the three of them really hit it off in a big way. And when they saw each other again tonight, they picked right up where they left off, running around the room and laughing like crazy. Hopefully, we'll all get together again sometime this week.<br /><br /> We drove back to the RV park and I ate a little something, checked the internet quick and then went right to bed. I don't think it's the four shows in a day that tires me out... I could probably do ten shows a day and be just fine... it's the setting up and tearing down and hauling the equipment around and driving from place to place that makes a day like today particularly exhausting. I did use my new "sound system Jr." for the first time today, so that helped!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I probably shouldn't sleep in the middle of a school assembly...</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092908A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092908B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092908C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092908D.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092908E.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-75508742975769848952008-09-26T23:51:00.000-07:002008-09-27T09:54:52.324-07:009/26/08 - A bicycle built for dogs...<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Business as usual this past week... I've been working on recording for the new album and booking some shows, the girls have been playing and going to preschool and homeschool, Roseann's been working on various different projects, and Tiggy's been very busy napping and eating and occasionally going outside in our back yard for a few minutes.<br /><br /> Earlier today, the girls had their friend, Ellie, over and played and had a lot of fun. Roseann went to the temple tonight with her father while Jean watched the girls.<br /><br /> I drove today to Gresham, Oregon, on the way to Salem where I have an audition tomorrow. Every two years, librarians (and other children's event coordinators from all over Oregon gather at the Salem Library to see five-minute presentations from all available performers throughout the region. I remember thinking what a strange thing it was last time; driving five hours to get there, doing a five minute set for a bunch of librarians, then driving five hours home. But I got quite a lot of gigs from doing that, so it was definitely worth the trip and hopefully worth doing again.<br /><br /> On my way to the hotel, I stopped to eat somewhere, and as I was leaving I did one of the biggest double-takes of my life when I saw a guy riding by on a bicycle with several cocker spaniels. I had to drive around to catch up with him so I could 1) make sure I wasn't crazy and seeing things 2) take some pictures. He was actually really nice and not the kook I might have expected. He pulled up and said, "Do you want to see the cat, too?" Turns out there was also a cat curled up in the front basket among the cocker spaniels. Then he said, "Do you want to see the rabbit?" and pulled out some rabbit ears to put on one of the dogs. Okay, maybe he's a little bit of a kook...<br /><br /> Anyway, here's a few pictures from throughout the week, including some of the pictures Becca or Evee had previously taken with Becca's new camera. I'm sorry I couldn't keep up with a daily blog this week, but this will probably be how it is from this point on... more sporadic with posts and pictures every so often instead of every day.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Becca riding her new bicycle (with no cocker spaniels or cats)...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092308A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092608A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092608B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092608C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092608D.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092608E.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092608F.jpg" /></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-90861186607576682002008-09-21T23:03:00.000-07:002008-09-25T18:04:57.605-07:009/21/08 - Rooster in Vegas<span style="font-size:100%;">I woke up at 4 am to get to the airport and was surprised to hear a rooster crowing when I stepped outside. A rooster would be perfectly normal to hear if I were staying out in the country, but this was downtown Las Vegas. It kind of surprised me to hear a rooster in downtown Vegas...<br /><br /> Anyway, the flights home were fine, but lugging bags through airports is always a pain. The rule is that the more you feel encumbered by the bags you're carrying, the further away the gate for your flight will be. That definitely held true this morning.<br /><br /> Roseann and the girls went to church this morning and Roseann had her final (for now) day subbing for Evee's class. They picked me up at the airport and we went home and had naps and later had dinner with Jean and Larry.</span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-42374977554439866532008-09-20T23:01:00.000-07:002008-09-21T23:07:03.274-07:009/20/08 - More BaloonaPalooza<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I checked out of the hotel and headed over to the BaloonaPalooza festival again. There were more people there today, but it still wasn't really crowded. I had about 30-40 people in the audience at peak, which was better than yesterday and seemed to be the average for everyone's shows. I was able to meet some other great kids' performers, including <a href="http://www.wendeesmusic.com/">Wendee</a> (a fun children's singer from L.A.), <a href="http://www.debiderryberry.com">Debi Derryberry</a> (best known as the voice of Jimmy Neutron, but also a great all-around children's entertainer) and <a href="http://www.bradyrymer.com">Brady Rymer</a> (whose last album is one of my favorites in the genre). I only caught the last two songs of Wendee's set and wished I'd have seen the rest, but I had a great time watching Debi and Brady's shows and hanging out and talking with them. Debi and her assistant Becky put on a really fun show with a lot of props and interaction, and she was able to get the biggest crowd of the day with about 50-60 people. Brady has, without a doubt, one of the best bands in the kids' music business, and though he only brought two of the band members (Seth on organ and vocals and Liz on mandolin and vocals), they had a very full sound that was really terrific, and Brady's energy and enthusiasm is totally unbridled. I wish there were more people there to enjoy their show and get up dancing... most of their audience was huddled under the shade trees... I know if Becca and Evee were there they'd have been right up in front dancing like crazy and would have gotten more kids to dance along. Maybe I should hire them out for that purpose...<br /><br /> I was also able to meet some notable cartoon celebrities at the event, which was really cool, including Spongebob, Scooby Doo, the Funshine Care Bear and the Cat in the Hat. Becca and Evee are gonna be soooo jealous when they see those pictures...<br /><br /> After Brady's show I headed over to Lanyard's and we ate some pizza and sang some songs and did some script readings, which was a lot of fun. His granddaughter, Ashley, is a big fan and she requested that I play some songs for her, so I was glad to oblige her (especially since she was giving up her room for that night for me to stay over). She's really sweet and gave me four of her stuffed animals to take home for me, Roseann, Becca and Evee.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092008A.jpg" /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">With Debi Derryberry and Brady Rymer...</span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092008B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/092008C.jpg" /></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-59418554561121723232008-09-19T22:57:00.000-07:002008-09-21T23:13:08.970-07:009/19/08 - Happy Birthday, Becca!<span style="font-size:100%;">Happy Real Birthday, Becca the big 6 year-old!!<br /><br /> I met my friend Lanyard for lunch at the Fiesta buffet and we talked for quite a while about a variety of things, as we are known to do. I headed over to the BaloonaPalooza event at the Craig Ranch Golf Course and had just missed the shuttle from the parking area to my stage, so I decided to walk, which wasn't a good choice as it was a much longer walk than I thought and I was carrying my guitar and a nearly 50 lb. box of equipment. After all of the walking and bag hauling yesterday, this was not a very welcome or leisurely stroll. I had requested to do my shows on Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday and that didn't turn out so well in terms of audience, as everything was still being set up and people were just starting to come in to the event during my set. There were about a dozen people in my audience altogether by the end, but nobody at all for the first few songs, which is really tough for a show that is meant to be very interactive. I had a couple of the women who were doing driving demos at the nearby Hyundai booth playing and dancing along, but that was about it. I guess there are expected to be several thousand people there tomorrow, and my show is in the middle of the day, so hopefully I'll have a decent crowd for that.<br /><br /> After the show I went over to the West Las Vegas Library, where Lanyard was doing a final rehearsal for his Reader's Theatre series. I was hoping to catch the actual performance tomorrow, but it'll be during my set. He and another guy, Adam, were doing a reading of Edward Albee's first play "A Zoo Story". It's a very heavy piece, quite sharply written, and Lanyard was really incredible as the main character, Jerry. I knew he'd been an actor for many years doing theater and some television, but I'd never seen him perform and I was totally blown away. Adam did a great job, too, as the straight man of sorts, but it is really Lanyard's character that drives the show.<br /><br /> I went back at the hotel and watched some TV for a while, then went to bed. Back home, the girls and Roseann made some sand castles in the back yard sandbox, went to Taco Bell where Becca had another scary bee experience (Roseann talked that out for a while with her, as that's twice now recently that she's panicked with bees around), and then went out to the annual Sausage Fest in Richland. I'm not sure if they ate any sausage, but Becca and Evee apparently were quite the spectacle dancing to some of the live music they had there. Roseann was going to take some pictures of them with Becca's camera, but Becca had already used up all of the batteries by taking pictures the past two days. Thankfully, it automatically shuts off when it's not being used so the batteries don't drain as fast, but still, considering how often she'll likely be using that camera, we'll have to keep a supply of batteries on hand at all times.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091908A.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Adam and Lanyard performing A Zoo Story...</span></span><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091908B.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-33799093149750091122008-09-18T22:53:00.000-07:002008-09-21T06:54:37.672-07:009/18/08 - Flying to Vegas<span style="font-size:100%;">I flew out to Vegas today, and as I wasn't in a particular hurry to get there, I opted to be bumped from the second flight in order to get a voucher which I'll be able to use for a flight later this year. But by the time I walked through a few airports carrying two bags and a guitar, and shuttled over to the car rental place, and drove half an hour to the hotel, and then had to carry the bags and guitar quite a ways into the hotel registration and then all the way to the far end of a hall to my room (see the picture below... my room is the second to last one on the far right), I was totally exhausted and went right to sleep. Back at home, the girls and Roseann hung out together and did some projects and some shopping. I know Becca took several more pictures with her new camera, but the internet is only working sporadically here at the hotel, so I wasn't able to get them sent over from Roseann. I'll post a "Becca picture gallery" at some point to catch up on some of those photos...</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091808A.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-44464942229854092782008-09-17T22:25:00.001-07:002008-09-17T22:26:45.492-07:009/17/08 - Happy (early) Birthday, Becca!<span style="font-size:100%;">We celebrated Becca's sixth birthday today. Her real birthday isn't until Friday, but I'm leaving tomorrow for a few days so I wanted to be here for that. We got some pizza and went out to the Playground of Dreams, which is a giant playground complex at a park in Kennewick.<br /><br /> We had a little trouble with some bees while we were trying to eat and that was stressing Becca out a bit, so we abandoned that and headed into the playground for a while. Becca opened her presents and was very happy to have received her own camera. The girls also got Care Bears for each other (we always have whichever girl's birthday it is give one present to the other girl). Becca excitedly said that it was her "best birthday EVER!", apparently forgetting about the bees from just a short while before.<br /><br /> Anyway, other than the bees, it was a fun time, and Roseann and I and Gramma Jean enjoyed hanging out and talking together while the girls played. You can see the first pictures Becca took with her camera below (the really small ones... I've since changed the resolution to a higher setting).</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091708A.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091708B.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091708C.jpg" /><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091708D.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-77503136997628351032008-09-16T23:28:00.000-07:002008-09-17T13:32:23.735-07:009/16/08 - "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard" video<span style="font-size:100%;">Here it is, at last... Please comment, rate, favorite and especially... share.</span><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/exads7KV-Y0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/exads7KV-Y0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-84890237041962119612008-09-15T22:19:00.000-07:002008-09-17T13:21:09.277-07:009/15/08 - Lip synching<span style="font-size:100%;">The picture below is not depicting ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics... They are lip sync images, and I've been staring at them almost all day while working on the "Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Redbeard" video. We knew going in that this was a long song with a lot of narrative spoken directly by the characters in the song, so we tried to include as many cut away shots as possible, but there's still quite a lot of dialogue to animate. I'm sure there's an easier way to do this than how I'm doing it... I'm still a hack on this animation program (Toon Boom)... but regardless, this is a pretty tedious process. It can take a long time just to do one little phrase in order to get the timing right, and even then it's hard to be exact, so we watch it over and over and move things back and forth and try to get it the best we can... For our next animated video, I think we're going to stick with something that doesn't involve any character dialogue!</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091508A.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-77736798726690125952008-09-14T22:44:00.000-07:002008-09-15T22:45:16.636-07:009/14/08 - Chili<span style="font-size:100%;">Roseann and I subbed for Evee's Sunbeams class again, and as there wasn't a specific lesson given to us, I brought in my guitar and talked a little about music and did a few simple sing-a-long songs. After learning about tithing last week, the girls were excited to give their $1 of tithing to the bishop today. Still thinking back to Roseann's "1 out of 10 pieces of popcorn" lesson, Evee said that the bishop didn't need to eat her dollar.<br /><br /> After church, we had a nice chili dinner at Jean and Larry's, then worked a little more on the "Blackbeard..." video. Normally, we try not to work on business stuff on Sundays, but we're feeling a bit of a crunch with the amount of work that still needs to be done and our deadline looming...</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091408A.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-53278553699151187472008-09-13T23:34:00.000-07:002008-09-13T23:38:44.550-07:009/13/08 - Sandbox<span style="font-size:100%;">The girls really enjoyed digging in Grandma Jean's garden recently. Grandma Jean didn't really enjoy that, though, so she suggested we get them a sandbox. Roseann found one on freecycle and picked it up and the girls got to work digging in it this afternoon. The sandbox was free but the pink and purple sand was not. Too bad we don't have a pink and purple beach near here...<br /><br /> I played two more softball games today and our fortunes were reversed from yesterday. We lost both games, though they were both quite close; the first one 8-7, and we almost tied it, and the second one 19-16 where we had rallied back to tie it at 16. If we had won that second game, we'd have played in the championship game, but would have had to beat that team twice. Considering how tired and sore I am right now after the four games we played this weekend, I can't say that I'm too incredibly disappointed that we didn't go on further. My box score for the weekend was 13-5-5-1, which wasn't bad, considering I haven't played softball or gone to batting cages or anything for a few years.<br /><br /> We went to game night tonight for a while and worked more on the "Blackbeard..." video. It's just about done now and we're hoping to post it to YouTube sometime on Monday.</span><br /><br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091308A.jpg" />Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408441946927443065.post-58323807561791303382008-09-12T23:01:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:02:17.680-07:009/12/08 - Softball<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The church softball tournament started today, and I was glad to be able to participate again this year, as we were out of town at this time the past two years. I played third base and catcher and we won both games. In the first game, we were leading 6-3 going into the bottom of the last inning and a guy on the other team hit a two run triple with one out, but we managed to get the last two outs without letting the guy on third score. Whew! The second game wasn't quite so close... we won 20-3. It's a double elimination tournament, so that means we'll be playing at least two games tomorrow, which means that I will collapse from exhaustion sometime tomorrow afternoon.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">It was really a great catch that nearly split my shorts, but as you can see, the runner still made it home in plenty of time, so the near pants-splitting was all for naught...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091208A.jpg" /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Watching my line drive get caught by the shortstop...<br /><img src="http://www.erichermanmusic.com/2008Tour/091208B.jpg" /></span></span>Eric Hermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05626461622509898504noreply@blogger.com0