awesome blogsom...extra awesome

New Blog Coming Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:10:00 +0000

Sorry I haven't been updating much on here lately. I'm working on a new blog that should be up and running soon. I'm calling it (just) The Bass Player, An Upstage view of the Christian Life. It will pretty much be a mixture of this Awesome Blogsom and a Sanctus Real blog with a couple other bits and pieces. In the meantime, here's 8:46 of highly worthless entertainment.

see you soon.

dan

True Love Eights...percent? Terrible Pun. I don't know. Watch the video

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:32:00 +0000

There are so many theories & beliefs & songs & movies when it comes to Love. I personally think the Bible says pretty accurate things about it. Faith, Hope, Love...The greatest is love. Without love, my good works mean nothing, I'm just a clanging cymbol. Love is patient. Love is kind. It keeps no record of wrong... We've all heard these wonderful verses in 1st Corinthians (Sorry if the wording is incorrect. I just paraphrased them from my poor memory). But they're so universal. Certainly they apply to love between a man and woman, but they also apply to loving our neighbors and our enemies.

I was looking for some nitty-gritty, boy/girl love advice. I searched the corners of the earth. Well, the corners of my computer screen. How can I really, truly let a girl know I care for her? I've read The 5 Love Languages book...uninspiring. I Kissed Dating Goodbye was the opposite of what I was searching for. I've even read Captivating to try and "unveil the mystery of a woman's soul." It just made me want to pet a killer moose.

Then I found this 2:46 video. Take it from me...Juan here is truly a role model and visionary when it comes to knowing the heart of a woman. Men...we'll find no better advice.

PS. I'm just goofing around because this video was so ridiculous. The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman is great. I never read the other two.

But seriously...8 percent. How can you argue with that?

dan

HARVEST, CORNICOPIA, BONFIRE

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:52:00 +0000

I love fall time. It's so awesome. I'd like to redecorate the blog so it feels like Autumn, but I don't really know how. And by the time I figured it out, it'd be time to write about how much I love Christmas. What if I decorate by throwing some random fall-ish words around like FOLIAGE or CIDER. That way when you glance through the page, it looks at least phonetically festive. What do you think? Ya, kind of ridiculous.
Here's a couple pictures though to help the vibe along...and a few clips of songs. The Autumn songs start and end with Dave Brubeck and they're all music, no words. You can find them over to the right and listen while you read or do homework or play farmtown on facebook, or whatever it is you're doing :)

PUMPKIN PATCH

Since the tour ended last week, I've been getting cozy at home after my move back to the great Buckeye state. The Gartley men had one last afternoon motorcycle trip while the weather was warm enough. We took some country roads to the world famous G&R tavern, home of some disgustingly unhealthy and regretfully delicious fried bologna sandwiches in Waldo, OH.

Where's Waldo, I'm sure you're asking?

CORNCOB PIPES!

I used to love these books :)

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Oh speaking of puns...I wanted to work one in about how my dad's name is Dave (or David rather) and how He and one of his sons owns a Harley Davidson (my brother dick, not me). Something like:
Harley...David's one. or Harley, David's son's?
I know these puns are terrible. Even worse than Busch League. I probably can't make a good one because I own a Honda. Send me some ideas.

SCARECROWS

Dave and brother dick, the G&R, our bikes, a truck, and a mailbox

SPICED APPLES

Probably the most interesting thing I've done since being back is going to a Columbus Crew soccer game. I haven't lived in central Ohio since the MLS started, so it was a new thing for me. I was totally into it. (PILGRIMS) Granted it was nothing remotely close to the rest of the world's love for the futbol, I still love how rowdy these soccer fans are and had a great time.

So that's about it for now. For the most part, relocation has been pretty simple. I do still miss my friends in Nashville, and I miss how easy it is to get decent Mexic(HARVEST FESTIVALS)an food, but here there is Sauerkraut on pizza and people play Euchre...pretty awesome.

MULLED WINE
CORNMAIZE
COLORFUL LEAVES!

I'm out of Autumn things. I'll catch you later.

dan

Somebody's at the door. I don't even live here anymore

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:56:00 +0000

These bright flowers are just to attract your attention :)

I was writing a blog last week and right in the middle of it my computer stopped working. It was a bummer. I’m back in action now though. Here’s what I started to write:

A guy, maybe 18 years old, just showed up at my door. He was wearing light-washed blue jeans tucked into a pair of heavy black winter boots, a yellow plaid shirt, a black tie with a contrasting print, and a vest with feathers. He was fake crying and offered to sell me “books and magazines.” I apologized that I wasn’t in any position to buy them. He glimpsed passed me and saw my home looked vacant inside and said, “thank you for your time” and went on his way. It was a little strange, but the last time some teenagers wanted to sell me books and magazines; when I declined, they got angry and cussed at me. I was grateful this guy was nicer.

I walked back through the entryway and empty living room to the back patio where I was roasting coffee (my awesome new hobby…maybe I’ll post some for sale soon) and listening to music. As I sat back down to mind the roaster, the line Somebody’s at the door. I don’t even live here anymore was singing through my computer speakers. I thought it was a pretty great coincidence given the circumstance so I got excited and now here I am, writing a blog about it. It’s a song called “Empty House” by one of my favorite bands, Paper Route. I added a little playlist widget over on the right there so you can listen to it.

For this to make sense, I should explain that after 5 mostly great years in Nashville, I’m moving back to Ohio. I was in the final stages of moving out when this guy knocked, hence the empty place.

Off topic question for any English majors: How was my use of quotations and italics in that last paragraph? Also, since that was in the past but written in the present tense and since I was sort of taking an excerpt from myself, should I put the whole thing in quotations or italics? I got confused and worried so I split the difference by just using a smaller font :)
Also, is it cocky to take an excerpt from myself? It is a little bit isn't it...sorry...I'm not full of myself.

Now listen to me talk more:

Like I said, I started writing that and then my computer broke. It was a sad day which was only made sadder by the following day when I drove to Ohio and a small boulder, about the size of a soccer ball, fell out of a landscaping truck onto the freeway and I ran straight over it. $4300…

The good news though is that the landscaping company’s insurance is covering it. That good news was made slightly better when I got my computer repaired and the bill was less than I thought it'd be. A day happier still.

So now I’m back in action…well, almost. My coffee roaster is still in the car that's being repaired so I haven’t been able to roast any beans all week. BUT that news is slightly offset by the fact that I found this SWEET old Silvertone table radio at an antique store…$30.

"Just paid for itself" (read that with an Australian accent like the dad in the movie, The Castle. Also, watch that movie. It’s the Napoleon Dynamite of the 90s). Anyway, what makes this find especially delicious (read that one like Jack Black says it in Nacho Libre)("Last time I’ll make you read things in different voices during this post")("Last time I’ll use parentheses or italics too"), is that it’s powered with tubes like an old guitar amp and I can hook my ipod into it. I didn’t realize how wonderful music sounds when it’s played this way. It's as though my ipod was converted to 2-inch tape and pressed on vinyl. If you're a music fan and can find an old tube radio...buy it. There’s just something about this old technology that has never been beat. I don’t know how to describe it without using the words “rich” and “warm.” So I’ll describe by saying, “the sound, it’s so rich and warm.”

That’s really all I’ve got to say for now. Pretty heavy topics, I know. What’s the lesson in all this? Not sure. I guess it’s that neither fake crying or cussing will convince me to buy books and magazines from you.

Catch you on the flopside

dan

Life keeps on going

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:56:00 +0000

I like this photo because it looks like I'm up to no good and Coach is reprimanding me. Mark approves and thinks I deserve the reprimand meanwhile Pete just thinks the whole thing is funny. None of this is true, we were just eating at Perkins.

Sorry again for the lack of updates lately. I've been hard at work on an interactive page for our new single, Forgiven. It's up finally and pretty cool I think. You can share stories about forgiveness as journal entries or through Twitter. Then, when you share a story, a small section of an original painting by Eric Samuel Timm is revealed. He did it exclusively for our page and it's seriously awesome! You can preorder prints for it and he'll send them out one the painting is fully revealed.

Check it all out here --> http://bit.ly/1abB6

Other than all that, life has been satisfyingly chaotic as usual. I've been back and forth between Ohio and Nashville a dozen times, frequenting the Chipotle of Buttermilk Pike just south of Cincinnati each and every time, and now the tour we've been preparing for is underway.
We've been in Canada for a few days now which has been fun. Apart from milk in a bag and "eh," I wish I knew more about it here. The people have been very nice (although our bus was egged...by one egg. Does that count?). The only real down side has been that I can't use my phone.

Here are some photos from the travels.

walking around nashville

flying somewhere

Dinosaurs in Kentucky

Santa Maria in Columbus, OH

Anyway, that's aboot it for now eh. I'm off to finish reading the Goblet of Fire.

see ya hosers

dan

Land Between The Lakes - Motorbike Trip 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:46:00 +0000

Took another Motorbike trip this weekend with my friend Eric. Sadly, the Magna didn't make it. I loved that little bike but it was just too small for the kind of riding I want to do so I sold it. Eric just bought a new one though and gave me the "friendship discount" to buy his 750 Nighthawk. It was a hard deal to pass up.

We left his house in Nashville on Monday and drove around a bunch of twisty roads in west Tennessee and Kentucky looking for cool places to stop.

Our Route

Here's some photos of the adventure:

This crazy thing is apparently the first coal-burning furnace.

Energy Lake in Land Between The Lakes

Eric Newcomer...listen for his sweet Mandolin playing on "Lead Me" when our new record is released

Our luxurious camp site in the morning.

When we arrived at the campsite, it was completely dark. We had been sitting down all day and needed to walk around so we took our flashlights and wandered into the woods. It made for a great view of the stars but when we flipped our lights on to look around, a skunk was rummaging in some grass about 30 yards away. He wasn't bothering us so we took a mental note, turned our lights off, and looked at the sky again. About a minute later, Eric turned his light on to check the skunk.

He was 5 feet away and looking right at us.

Now how does that old philosophical question go? If two grown men scream like little girls in the woods at a skunk and no one is around to hear it...

Pretty sure it DOES NOT make a sound.

It gets a little worse. We scurry off back to our tent and are hanging out, playing games on our iPhones (the campiest of camp activities) and things are fine. About 15 minutes later we smell our friend again. Yes. The little bugger followed us all the way across the campgrounds to our tent and was sitting 20 feet away.
The good news is that we never got sprayed. We ended up leaving the area for a little bit until he disappeared. The bad news we could faintly smell his odor for the rest of the night.

The next morning we woke up and we headed to our respective homes. It was 600 miles of riding for me when all was said and done. It was a great time, but I'm sore.

I think I'll drive my car today.

dan

"United Breaks Guitars" (So does Delta/Northwest)

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Sammy Adebiyi showed me this. It's great because it's exactly what happens.

Southwest Airlines does not do this. They're still awesome.

dan

Nashville Motorbike Trip - 6.25.09

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:11:00 +0000

First off, I apologize again for how long it's been since my last post. I decided on a whim to completely overhaul sanctusreal.com and it kept me pretty busy for awhile. In making the new site I included a new band blog and most of my internet socializing energies have gone to that. So next time you think I'm slacking, check the Sanctus website. If that isn't updated, then you're right. I'm slacking.

I also decided on a whim (too many of my decisions happen this way) to ride my motorcycle from Ohio to Nashville for recording this week. I know and agree. A 500 mile bike trip is a pretty hefty event to be whimsical. Some might even say it's foolish. I don't have a defense for any of this except that the weather looked nice and I had a free day with a bug to ride.

Most of the ride looked like these photos. It was gorgeous and warm and my arms were sunburned like fried chickens (I don't know what that comparison means).

For a brief time I had my visor up.
Good idea since I love the breeze and having bugs all over my face.

Anyway, with an hour left of the trip, about the time it started getting dark, some serious clouds were rolling in. I stopped at a rest area and looked at the radar.

Which looked like this:

I'm the green marker.

I followed behind the storm for a little while but I was so close to Nashville and so tired of being on the bike, I threw on my rain suit and went for it. It was completely dark by this time and I was pretty deep into the woods on some major hills. I couldn't see through the rain on my visor and in order to stay on two wheels, I needed to slow down to about 35mph. Every time a semi-truck barreled past, I was blasted with a wave of grimy rain water splashing up from the freeway. It was pretty nerve-wrecking and it was stupid (got you covered moms) but for some reason the adventure seemed healthy. Also I'm a sucker.

In truth, there was a spiritual desire to my being on the road in a nasty thunderstorm. I don't know if anyone will relate or if I'll be able to give a good explanation but I'll give it a shot. Actually, there's a Snow Patrol lyric that is a good starting point.

For once I want to be the car crash. Not always just the traffic jam
from the song Headlights On Dark Roads on the albums Eyes Open

Now, I definitely did not want to be in a car crash. A traffic jam either. I wanted to be in a vulnerable place where God could meet me. I wanted to know how deep he loved me and how strong his hand was in my life. I'll admit that as a human I need to feel this from God, almost selfishly. The physical danger of riding in this thunderstorm put me in a physically vulnerable place and out of instinct, I was innately communing with God. I'm not talking about praying for safety like you would on a family vacation or how we pray for God to bless meals, I felt truly connected to the God who created me, the rain, and the freedom to ride in it. I felt his love and care for me and I felt safe, not just on the motorcycle (I definitely did not feel safe on the motorcycle), I felt safe in life. I was reassured that my days are looked after by a God who wants the best for me.
And I should clarify that I wasn't testing God or anything like that, I just know myself and knew riding in through the storm would bring my heart and my brain to the place they needed to be to hear God.

Anyway, It was a precious time with God for me. Piece of mind snuck inside my helmet for a little while and it was nice.

I don't have an explanation yet for why it sometimes takes "the car crash" for me as a human to connect deeply with God, but I know how much I cherish it. I look forward to the next time.

Is anyone else this way or am I on crazy pills?

My sweet little Magna.

dan

LOST Season Finale and maybe a new website sometime

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:24:00 +0000

I'm pretty excited about tonight. It's the season finale of Lost and there is only one more to go before it's all wrapped up. I'm not sure where I'm going to watch it yet though. I need to figure that out. After last year's season finale, I got pulled over by some crazy police officers who thought we had all kinds of drugs. We didn't. I wonder what kind of innocent trouble I can get into after tonight's...

I've been working on a new website for the band. I don't when it will be done or if it'll even get used, but it's been a good waste of time messing around with it. My hope is to make something that can be updated from our phones. That way we can be much more frequent with our updates and in touch with everyone who visits the site. This blog is actually a test to see if it will automatically go to the website. Cross your fingers and throw some pepper under a ladder

dan.

1st place PT Cruiser

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:03:00 +0000

We played a show in Tampa today at busch gardens and it was really
good. A bunch of friends that we've toured with in the past played
too...This Beautiful Republic, NeedToBreathe, and my former employer,
Relient K. The last time we played with rk was my very first show with
Sanctus...4 years ago. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone everyone.
After the show I went to eat with two really good friends from
college. I saw this in the parking lot and it was too amazing to not
photograph. Notice the ridiculous dragon mural on the front and
ichthus fish on the back.

1st place PT Cruiser

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:50:00 +0000

1st place PT Cruiser

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:40:00 +0000

New Record, and come see us play in Columbus!

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:02:00 +0000

I've been so bad at updating lately. We've been holed up, writing new songs. And when we finally dug ourselves out of the hole, we walked into the studio to record them. Here's a little video excerpt of what we've been working on. We're really proud...

Seriously though, we started tracking a few new songs and they're coming along sweetly.
In the meantime I'll try to be a little better with my updating and here's some more tasty video from the studio...

Cabin down below

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:28:00 +0000

We had a great show the other day in North Carolina. It was our first
outdoor show of the year and to celebrate we played a brand new song.
We had never played it as a full band (heck, it was the first time I
played it through an amp), but it went pretty well. Thanks to everyone
who came out.
Instead of staying in a hotel, our road manager, kurt, wrangled up
this sweet cabin in the hills of Virginia for us to stay in. We had to
drive through the river to get to the cabin.
That's about it for now. We've got some rehearsing to do for our show
in Toledo on Friday. We're hoping to unveil a couple new songs there.

Catch you soon

Dan

Oh, and this blog is sent from my phone...amazing

The Rock and Worship Roadshow

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:41:00 +0000

The rock and worship roadshow is playing in Columbus tonight. It's sweet because I'm right around the corner and I get to see some friends. What is also cool is that we're playing on this tour on saturday and sunday. You can watch the entire show live here. Check it out.

Stuff Christians Like

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:55:00 +0000

This is my favorite new website

www.stuffchristianslike.net

The guy isn't bashing anything as he's a Christian (which you can tell the instant you begin reading), but he's got the church pegged and it's really humorous.

Can you be a buckeye and drink "soda?"

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:36:00 +0000

This mess will somehow turn into a sweet song...hopefully

Chris editing demos on Pro Tools ("Pro" being short for "Professional." I know, Jargon.)

We're starting to get excited up here in Toledo. Demos are being recorded and they're coming along better than ever. We're especially excited about this one:

Seriously though, we're really excited for you to hear the music we actually are writing and recording. We're playing tomorrow night in Dayton which will be fun...Which reminds me, we're finally playing a show in Columbus on May 8th. We've played there maybe twice since I've been in the band and it's the closest big city I have to call home. So if you're bored in Marion, Cbus, or heck, even the original state capital of Chillicothe, come hang out.

By the way, I called "Pop" "Soda" today at Penn Station. Sorry Midwest

So anyone got any good Lost theories?

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:22:00 +0000

I apologize for the lack of blog. Not too much has been happening lately. We've had a good chunk of time off and I've just been trying to make the most of it. The band's been working on new music and so far it' turning out pretty sweet. We're headed to the studio next month to start recording. I can't wait to get some songs done. Maybe my bass will sound this sweet,

Anyway, let me know if you can find warm weather anywhere...I miss it.

dan

Don't speed by Al Gore's house

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:15:00 +0000

So I found my new car.

I finally decided that between my home in Nashville, the band in Toledo, and friends and family scattered throughout the rest of Ohio, I spend way too much time in a car and better get one that I can count on for a long time.

For some reason, I'm a fan of all-wheel drive wagons. It's a bit grandmotherly, I know but...well, no buts really...It's just grandmotherly. So sue me...I need to haul music gear and I like staying on the road through snow. I will say in my defense, I prefer the wagon over an SUV because it's lower to the ground and handles more like a race car. That's un-grandmotherly, right?

Anyway, I'm scanning craigslist for things like toyota and subaru, waiting for that right car to show up. I should also mention there was prayer involved. I get pretty nervous about making big purchases like this (hence why it's taken me so long to buck up and seriously look for something), and I need a little confirmation from God that it's the right thing, ya know?
So one night I'm browsing through the nashville list of Subaru Outbacks when tucked right in the middle of them all is this ad for a bmw wagon. My curiosity is peaked, so out of fun, I click on it. I'm really glad I did. It was the same year and price as everything else I was looking at, but had 30k less miles and was maintained as though it were a brand new car. I have to go check it out.

I get there and it's a super-cool car that's been taken care of by awesome people. Then, as is standard procedure when selling a car, they let me take it for a test drive. I'm on the road and things are going good. I'm checking things like the AC, the cruise, and most important, the stereo. I get to a stop sign and take off quick to see if the engine makes any weird noises or if the transmission does anything screwy. Keep in mind I'm in an upscale residential part of town...on the other side of the tracks if you will...the grass is greener here...or simply put, it's a good thing I was in a bmw and not my pile of scrap metal, Lumina...I would be going to jail for sure.

When I took off at the stop sign I had no idea what the speed limit was or how fast I was going, but the car shifts up through 3rd with ease. I let off the gas, round a corner and wouldn't you know it, a police officer is camped out watching for speeders. I pass him and he doesn't seem to pull out or follow me. As I round the corner further, I see a familiar house with solar panels on the roof and all of a sudden realize where I am. I decide to turn onto the next side street so I can turn around and take the car back. It ends up being a dead end right beside this famous house with solar panels. I turn in, go to the end and loop around. As soon as I get facing the other direction, I hit the brakes...I'm blocked by that police officer (apparently he's a ninja or his car is KITT from Night Rider).

Although he's a little wound up, this officer is miles cooler than previous officers I've told stories about. He gets out and says, "You know you were going 15 mph over the speed limit...45 in a 30?" Keep in mind I'm in someone else's car, speeding past the ex-vice president's house. It's not looking good for me.
I try to explain my situation, "I'm really sorry officer, this isn't my car, I'm test driving it and just wanted to see how the car acted. I don't speed, it's totally out of character for me."

"Test-driving huh? Does the owner know you have it?"

"Yes, sir."

"And they live on this street do they? (translation: you expect me to believe you're buying this cheap old thing from Al Gore's richy, rich, rich neighbor?)"

"No, they live around the corner on another one. I was just turning to go back to their house (I wasn't about to act like I knew where I was who lived around there)."

"Do they have proof of insurance?"

I dig in their glove box praying they have an insurance card. "Here, I think this is it."

He looks it over, "This expired yesterday."

Of course it did.

"You know, I have every reason to give you a big, fat ticket right now?"

"Yes sir. I promise this is completely a fluke and it will never happen again."

He looks around for a second, "Go on, get out of here."

And so I follow his orders and speed off at a gentle 30mph.

Anyway, after that, I went and checked out a couple different cars, but none of them were even close to how perfect this car was for me. I never thought to look up bmw because I just assumed they'd cost way too much. I'd say I got really lucky but as mentioned before there was prayer involved. So instead, I'll give God thanks for not only providing a reliable car and a good story to go with it, but one that I love to drive. Oh and fyi, I'm still very, very un-rich.

What is the blurry thing next to bigfoot?

This dog is an awesome dog, he runs from people with guns...

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:55:00 +0000

Thank you Megan Elliott for showing me the funniest thing I've seen in a long time...Possibly ever. Thank you also for being my awesome friend. Also, thank you Pete for taking the tune of Awesome God and singing it about a dog. Seriously, how great is this dog?

And thank you Jeremy and Jeanie (did I spell your name right? i'm sorry if it's wrong) for this very necessary gift. It's exactly what my car has been missing.

I guess it's been awhile since I've talked about my ridiculous car. That's because if I talk about it, it reminds me that I have to drive it, and since that only depresses me, I try not to bring it up. Maybe that's why I neglect repairing it too.

I'm pretty sure it's on it's last leg. Then again, I thought that last summer and last fall and all winter, but here it is almost spring and it's still kicking. I haven't quite figured out my game plan. Do I spend money to fix the Parking gear? I'm certainly tired of throwing a rock underneath the tire so it won't roll away. But I have a feeling that will be an expensive repair, more than the car is worth. Do I spend money to repair the leak in the tire? I don't mind just pumping it back up every 2 weeks. Do I spend money on changing the oil? I probably should do that one. But then I have to go to the mechanic and explain why there is a rock under the tire and how they have to leave the car in 1st gear when they turn it off. That way the key won't come out of the broken ignition. Once it comes out, it literally takes 30 minutes to get the key back in the right way so it will start again...that is if the starter decides to work, which it doesn't always want to do.
Add to that, the back seat is full of stuff going to goodwill and the trunk is full of recyclables. So pretty much, if you see my dirty old car with the rock and the flat tire, filled with junk, you're going to think it's been abandoned. Which I guess it sort of has.

Did I mention it's been parked under a tree while I'm on tour and all the birds are coming back for spring? You can use your imagination on what they might add to the party.

My plan has been to survive through the winter and come summer, I'll just ride my motorcycle everywhere. We'll see how it goes. I might end up breaking down and buying a new car sometime soon. Who knows. Either way, the hula dancer is coming with me.

That's all the worthless banter I have for now.

dan

i got a new phone, got to test the camera

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:33:00 +0000

So...

First off, Happy Valentine's Day.
Second off, Happy President's Day.
Third, Happy Groundhog Day.

Man, a lot's gone on since I last blogged. I apologize. Did the groundhog see his shadow? I missed it. We don't even have the same President since I last wrote. Does any know if he saw the groundhog's shadow? Did he see Groundhog Day the movie? I have a bunch of times. Classic Bill Murray.

More recent, has anyone heard what GM and Chrysler are prepared to do to keep from bankruptcy? They have to layoff crazy amounts of people. There's no way around how awful that part will be. I know we all hope and pray that plenty of jobs will be created soon to offset it.

Also, a bummer but not really awful, Pontiac is being scaled back to just a couple models. Kind of a bummer, but there's still Chevy and Saturn right? Well moving on, Saturn is canceled. Honestly, I never really understood why that brand existed anyway. It was nice, but what did it have that Pontiac or Chevy didn't? Also kind of sad, but whatever, someone will do something good with it...Saab is for sale.

Anyway, enough of the appetizers. Now the good news...the news that restores a little pride in my citizenship...

Hummer is cancelled.

PTL!

Big party in the forest.

Enough said.

The only news that could best discontinuing vanity tanks came from Chrysler. What was it?

PT Cruiser...gone. It's toast. I got teary-eyed when I heard that. Sure it doesn't waste resources quite like a Hummer, but still, I'm so tired of seeing them everywhere. And all the custom paint jobs...

Chris took this photo. Unbelievable

???????

I won't go too far into this except to say that I'm excited about the possibility that the next era of American cars might actually be cool. Not just aesthetically, but maybe we'll make a car that can compete environmentally or be engineered as intelligently as vehicles like the Toyota Prius or Smart Cars. Obviously I'm not saying trucks or SUV's or tan diesel Ford vans with 290,000 miles are wrong, we carry heavy equipment all the time and we have families and need space too. I'm just saying instead of being proud of our ability to waste as we often times seem to be, we now have an oppertunity to be proud of our ability to engineer quality products and conserve energy at the same time. Who knows, maybe we could have SUV's and trucks that are as good as what we have now, but are much more effiecient. That would be pretty great.

So whatever, I'm off the soapbox. I get frustrated at some of the wasteful things I see happen around me. I'm guilty too though, so I'm mostly talking to myself.

We have a show in Colorado tonight. It's supposed to be the biggest show of the tour with over 2000 people coming. That's crazy. What's a little crazier, our bus carrying half the gear caught on fire last night and is 3 hours away. Everyone and everything is fine but the work that usually takes all day to do will now have to be done really fast. It's going to be fine because the crew rocks it and can do this in their sleep...which they might end up doing since none of us got sleep last night due to the fire.

Catch you later

Destiny Calls...Lost and the KLOVE cruise

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:41:00 +0000

I love this show. I also hate it.

Anyway, back to the goods...

I heard it made it's way down to -20 in Marion, Ohio. Hmmm

Miami before we left

Not on purpose, but I apparently took the same photo of Miami when we got back

This was the second time we got to be apart of the KLOVE Caribbean cruise and it was just as great as the first. We even got to bring our parents along this time. Now we're all headed back to cold and snow... sweet. Short of playing 3 shows, I'll admit I did close to nothing. I slept until about 11:30 everyday, read books, wrote, drank coffee, ate soft serve ice cream. It was exactly what I was hoping to do. Now it's back to work though for real. I'm not about to complain though, I'm excited and ready to play some music again.

Anyway, it's time to get on the plane and go home. Until next time.

dan

Covalent Bonds

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:30:00 +0000

I don't understand much of what's in this photo, but I love all the things in it anyway. Lights, telephones, and chemistry are all pretty great.

So I have to get up in two hours to head to the airport. I don't know why I'm up now, and I don't know why I've decided this is the right time to blog. Nevertheless, here I am doing it anyway. We're playing on the KLOVE cruise for the next 4-5 days. It should be a pretty good time.

After that, we take off on tour with Matthew West and Jason Gray for the WAY-FM/World Vision tour. Here's a photo of the production. The projector screens in the back look pretty killer.

After all that, it's time to record a record! We've been writing some songs lately and we're starting to get in a good groove with it all. We're excited

Anyway, I've got to sleep. Catch you on the flip side.

dan

Pork and Sauerkraut and Old Man's Cave

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:23:00 +0000

It's been years and years since I've been to Old Man's Cave. I remember thinking it was awesome when I was younger, but I didn't remember it very well. I'm glad to report that it's still fully awesome. It's probably the most awesome place in Ohio actually.

Sorry I've been so inconsistent lately with my blogging. WiFi has been hard to come by these last couple weeks which has led to me opening my computer about a total of 3 times. It's actually been kinda nice being a little bit out of touch with everything. Every once in awhile I need it. I've been up in Ohio and it's been really refreshing. I've been able to see my family and catch up with some great friends from high school and college. The band got together and started working on a couple new songs which I think are going to turn out pretty killer. We had a Christmas party which was a blast. Oh...and I got a sweet new Miter Saw from my parents as a Birthday/Christmas present. I know it sounds lame, but I'm into it, so back off.

Anyway, we have a couple more weeks off which is good. I've got a lot of home repairs to make before we get back to rocking. I hope you had a great month jam packed with holidays. Oh, which reminds me. Does anyone have Pork and Sauerkraut as a traditional New Year meal? Has anyone even heard of this tradition? Does anyone have a different tradition?
All my life this has been the traditional meal that supposedly brings good luck to the new year. Similar to how it's a fact we turkey on Thanksgiving...we eat pork and sauerkraut for the New Year. But I'm learning that not everyone does this. In fact, many people have never even heard of it. For example, no one else in Sanctus Real has ever heard of it and they kind of think I'm crazy. But then other people who do eat it are like, Of course we eat it. It's like turkey on Thanksgiving. It'd be crazy not to. So anyway, I've started asking around because it's a great tradition and a lot of people are missing out.

Alright, we'll catch you later

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Gartley) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:56:00 +0000

Just wanted to write a quick note to say, Merry Christmas! I hope it's wonderful. Eat a lot of cookies, have fun opening presents, and most importantly, tell Jesus you're really glad he was born.