blog

Deluxe Tattoo!

Oh. My. Whosits.

I have recently found out about Deluxe Tattoo, and more importantly, Tim Bierdron. This guy is jaw-drop amazing. I've been reading reviews on his work, and no one has any complaints, and no one has any qualms about referring him. I am in the process of emailing him the story behind my honor tattoo for my Dad to see if he may be able to get me in sometime in the (hopefully) somewhat near future. Neck and neck with Tim is Miles Maniaci, who I would also love to get work from. We'll see!

So what about High Voltage and Dennis Halbritter? They must not want the work, because they quit responding to email. You'd think that a potentially $1000+ tattoo would be some sort of impetus to get work, but I guess not.

The main thing, though, is that Tim's work beats the pants off anyone at High Voltage, hands down. But this is part of the process of finding an artist, no? You look and look, and doors close and close, and by the end, you find someone you really like — even though you thought you already found that person. Now, it'll be up to how long Tim thinks the wait will be, and whether or not he's taking on new clients. And, I think I'd rather do Chicago than L.A. anyway.

Stay tuned...!

Posted at 9:06am CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Monday Sundry

My Dad started the third chemo treatment today, and he's dozing in the bed next to me as I type this. This cocktail is known as GemOx (Gemcitabine-Oxaliplatin), and it has a high response rate — so I'm quite hopeful. The main concern is that it won't affect his breathing or lungs, so that remains to be seen. But again, I'm hopeful. If you're the praying type, please continue to remember Dad, and pray that this will kill the cancer once and for all — and that this will lead to his breathing normalizing.

••••••••

It's curious to me that I'm selling more effects internationally than I am in the U.S. — and all with no advertising. I just got an order from South Africa, which is cool. however, I will not feel complete until I get an order from Ireland — so if any of my Irish brothers are reading this, place an order, you ould sweats!

••••••••

I'm still nailing down details on getting my tattoo at High Voltage in L.A., so there's not a whole lot new to report on that front. I'm still going back and forth with Dennis on various topics, but I haven't officially scheduled anything yet. One thing, though, is that the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward getting a half-sleeve tattoo — that would be totally awesome.

So, the final tattoo would be a mix of my Family Crest on my right shoulder, then who knows what wrapping down and around until just above my elbow. Stay tuned!

••••••••

An old friend built me an amp, and so far, it freakin' rules. I haven't had much time to play with it yet, but I may keep it because it looks so awesome, if nothing else! Stay tuned on this, too...

••••••••

••••••••

I scored some more work for Ford Models, so that's pretty dadgum cool. I think most of the pics will be used in ads in and around New York and San Francisco, and I think it's going to be for some perfume or something like that. We'll see.

••••••••

That's it. I'm getting sleepy sitting in this chair, so I'm going to take a nap...

Posted at 5:11pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

RAILhead Effects “io Super-Distortion: Etched” Teaser

Here's a teaser shot of something you may see at some unspecified point in the future over at my effects building site, RAILhead Effects.

Posted at 10:33pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

Off-Duty Stormtrooper

My Stormtrooper helmet arrived!

Posted at 6:43pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (4)

Another Catch-Up Post, News, Etc.

Let's start with a bang, shall we? Last post, I mentioned I had some some cool news to announce regarding a change in our family. That change? My wife is resigning from work, too, so that we can turn our full attention on RAILhead Effects! Risky and exciting — but somehing we've both wanted to have happen for a while now — and we're totally stoked! But just so you know, we have a backup plan, so don't worry about us if things never get massive — but I don't expect us to have to worry about that.

Anyway, it'll be cool for her not to have to put in 50 hours a week at a 7:00am to 4:45pm job for a change.

••••••••

We had a 3 hour meeting with our CPA yesterday, and it was great. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true! We needed some help getting QuickBooks setup properly, so he showed us the ins and outs of using it, as well as all the other fun stuff regarding taxes, exemptions, etc. One point we rested on for a while — and I bring it up for my fellow small business owners — is that you all should have filed tax exemption certificates with your vendors. I think I may have mentioned this "tip" before, but it's worth bringing up again, because it can save you LOADS of money. The purpose is to keep from paying tax on things twice, so if you buy something that will in turn be sold by you, and you're required to charge tax, you don't need to be taxed on your initial purchase of the item.

For example, I buy components from Mouser, which is based here in Texas. Since the parts I buy will go into a product I sell, and those items are taxable, I don't need to be charged tax on my purchase of those parts because I will be collecting tax at the point of sale. For us photographers, the same applies for stock paper, ink, framing cards, etc.

I'll throw out there, too, that if you're a small business and you think you're doing your taxes correctly, I'll wager $1000 that you're not. There are so many loops and strings of red tape, there's no way your Average Joe/Jane can file taxes properly (until you fully understand everything). Do yourself a massive favor and go see a legit CPA — not the dude or gal at H&R Block. Spend the money on the real deal, because chances are, they'll save you whatever their fee will be.

••••••••

I've decided that I'm going to get a tattoo, and it's going to be a modified version of our Family Crest. Here's a rough draft:

The critical inclusions are the red lion, the boar's head, the fleurs-de-lis, the 3 green, five-leafed Potentilla rose plants, the iris, and the motto "Juncta arma decori," which means "arms united to glory." The numbers at the top are the birth years of my Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister, me, and then my wife (my Family Clan). I'm also deciding where, exactly, I'll get it — but I'm leaning toward all around my right shoulder or right, upper shoulder/back area.

As for who will do it, I'm planning on making a little mini-vacation so that an artist at High Voltage Tattoo in Hollywood, CA can ink it — but I haven't decided which one yet. I'm leaning toward Dennis, Khoi, Nate, or Hanna (especially Hanna). We'll see. For those out of the loop, High Voltage Tattoo is the ink shop featured on L.A. Ink on TLC. Nothing against the local guys, but there's a lot of detail in my design, and I really want a "top-of-the-line" artist to do the work.

I still have to tweak the shape of the shield and motto banner, but the above is the basic idea.

••••••••

Speaking of art and stuff, I finalized my RAILhead Effects stickers:

You now get one (two) in every order, and I'll be selling them from the site too. Cool!

••••••••

That's it for now...

Posted at 8:19am CDT | Permalink | Comments (2)

February Already?

Time flies, no? Let's play a bit of catch-up...

First off, the trailer for the new transformers movie can be seen on the movie's official site. Transformers: Rise of the Fallen is set for release 6-29-09, and I'm really looking forward to it. Another movie that I'm somewhat interested is the upcoming G.I. Joe flick, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. We shall see...

••••••••

I have another massive announcement to make about a cool change in the family — and no, we aren't having kids. I can't let the lid off just yet, but it's cool to us, so I'll share soon.

••••••••

The input on my subwoofer isn't being triggered via the receiver's LFE output like it should, and it's ticking me off. Don't you hate it when that happens (the LFE, not the ticking me off)?

••••••••

I'm adding some new enclosure designs to my guitar effects pedal lineup: etched art. I don't know if I'll do this for all my pedals, but I know for sure I'll be doing it with my PURE Clean Boost. I haven't officially released or announced, but here's what it looks like:

••••••••

I'm loving watching Adama get his groove back. Can I get a witness?

••••••••

LOST? Awesome. I thought I'd hate it, but the more I think about where they're going, the more I'm liking it. Far out? You bet. REALLY far out? Correctamundo. Do I like it? Heck yeah.

••••••••

My wife washed my favorite flat cap for me the other day — without my "authorization" — and I thought she ruined it. Apparently wool + Woolite + water makes wool stink. Holy crap, did it stink. I was really peeved about it, knowing how hard it would be to replace that hat — but now that it's dry, it's all nice and clean smelling. It stunk like zombie brains for a day or two. Why? Beats me.

••••••••

Here's a custom build I made for a guy in Australia:

He wanted 2 tap-tempos in one shell, positioned as you see here. The switch closest to the player is short, and the far switch is taller. Both outputs are at the top. Custom builds are booming right now, which is totally cool — I just need to take more pics of them before shipping them out!

••••••••

Okay, time for bed now. I'm exhausted and don't feel like proof-reading any of this, so hopefully it isn't too bad....

Posted at 11:24pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (2)

Something New…

I've been spending far too much time in the cave that is my effects shop, and the dark has birthed something quote monstrous:

Keep your eyes peeled for more...

Posted at 11:36pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (4)