Dishes and Duty: Husbands of Thirtyone

Life of a Husband of @thirtyone : Cleaning the kitchen while the wife prepares for her events this weekend. #supportingherjourney

A post shared by Jason Allan Dunn (@dunn_funn) on Mar 17, 2017 at 7:11pm PDT

My wife and I are pretty entrepreneurially tilted. So, when one day she told me she was considering going into direct sales with Thirtyone, I was surprised, but not shocked.

Surprised, in that my wife is not a "get up and speak in front of a group of people" type of person. She prefers the behind the scenes type of responsibilities.

 Not shocked, because, and I know I'm biased, she can run things. She knows how to plan and set an agenda and be super organized.

To be in this type of business, those are the qualities that are needed. It is most definitely why she has had some success with this as well, currently as a Director with Thirtyone gifts, and this is also where I have become initiated into the fraternity of H.O.T. (Husbands of Thirtyone)

So while she plugs away at her business, I happily pick up the slack, because that's what it means to be a H.O.T. More specifically, a husband in general.
 
Just as she has let me chase down every whim in my career path, from childcare , to social work, to retail, to sales, to direct care, to grad school, to teaching....I feel privileged to be able to support her on her journey.

Tonight, this means doing the dishes. Other times its dropping a catalog off at the Post Office, or even making a product delivery. What ever it is, I'm a partner in this. I'm a H.O.T.

Part of Your World Cover with Bass

Trying out the new bass on some Pit Orchestra music for the Grove City High School's production of The Little Mermaid.  My son is on the vocals, BUT will not be playing Ariel in the musical.  (He's Grimsby)

SX100 B Series 2 Electric Bass Review

I've made the switch. 

I have been playing guitar for sixteen years, and last year, I took on a new challenge of playing guitar in a pit orchestra for our local high school musical.  That was one of the most stretching and rewarding experiences of my musical career.  Part of what made that so challenging was the technicality of the music for guitar.  This was not your basic D-E-G-Em,  types of chord progressions.  There were suspended fifths and lots of key changes and the sheet music was just general mayhem for a scrub player like myself. 

One of my coping mechanisms last year was to just plunk along with the bass line.  Guitar in the pit orchestra is mainly just fill, so it was easy to transpose a lot of the music and just play bass notes, or just focus on the roots and thirds of chords to make my life easy.  I'm guessing I did alright, because I was asked to play again this year.  Except that I was asked to play bass.

So, because I'm always up for a challenge, I said yes, thinking this is going to be a great excuse to buy a new guitar, particularly a bass guitar.

I am of the opinion that you should not spend a lot of money on something that you are just starting out with.  My first guitar was a pawn shop special.  Less than a hundred bucks for a Johnson Acoustic Six String.  The thing was horrible.  The action was really high and it was dinged up, and it just kept eating strings until I figured out that the bridge needed replaced.  It was glorious though.  Learning to play guitar and suffering through the mind numbing struggle of sweating through your first song.  It took a few months, but I eventually became pretty efficient and had a growing bag of songs that I could strum out.  Thanks to my brother in law, I was able to upgrade to an Ibanez Acoustic.  (An older version of this)

Even though my Ibanez is not the most expensive guitar, it is beautiful.  It sounds awesome, has great action, and wonderful pickups.  It is still holding strong even after 15 years.

All that to say, if you just starting off, go with something cheap, so this brings me to the SX100B Series II Electric Bass Guitar Black .

At $120.00, this thing is a value.  I honestly was surprised at the amount of bass guitars in the $100 range.  It was the price that was really the motivation behind this purchase.  I wanted a gig bag, a new strap, and an extra cable for under $200.  At this price point, I was able to accomplish all of these goals.

That price isn't to say that this thing feels cheap.  It is very solid and doesn't feel lower quality.  It's a tad on the heavy side, but it isn't uncomfortable sitting with it and also using a strap standing up.  My strap is pretty padded, but I can imagine that a cheap webbing strap could cut into your neck with the weight of this axe.

As far as playing is concerned, it feels alright.  The neck is very "girthy" and takes some time to acclimate to the thickness, but I've actually found that to be very comfortable.  For me, with the musical score that I've been learning, most things are on the first two strings, and I have had no problems finding my way around the neck board.

It comes with an allen wrench for adjusting.  I haven't done that yet, but there is a bit of a fret buzz on the lower two strings.  I know if I did a few fine adjustments those would be gone, but it hasn't been distracting yet.

The pickups are pretty solid.  There are two controls for the lower and higher register.  It's simple and easy to adjust.  I find that delightful as a beginning bass player.  I don't want to be distracted by a bunch of bells and whistles.

It comes with a decent, but short cable, with a 90 degree plug.  It's fine, nothing to write home about.  I'm sure that I will upgrade once I know what I'm doing with this bass guitar.  It's workable and for beginners, it will work well.

Tuning is nice.  Big pegs make the fine adjustments easy and in two weeks of playing, there hasn't been too much out of tune between sessions.  Again, might need to make some adjustments to the neck once it is broken in, but no problems so far.

So, the skinny is this thing is a solid, beginner guitar.  It's not the best, and I've played many worse instruments.  If you are looking to start off or just need something that you can kick around with and not worry about bumping it into a door jam.  This would be a good pick up for you.

I'll post a video later just to give you an idea of the sound and action.  Stay tuned for that!

 Find it on Amazon here and read what other players are saying!

ESPN Films: Brian and the Boz Review for Educators

               
               

For a few years, I have been using this documentary as a discussion piece and writing exercise with my students.  This documentary has sparked great conversation and has kept my emotional support students very engaged. 

 Maybe it's the mystique of such a gifted football player that  most of them have never heard of, or the bigger than life persona that The Boz brought to the public's eye.  Maybe it is the portrayal of Brian Bosworth and his son, contrasted with Brian's relationship with his own father and Coach Switzer.  Whatever it is The Boz resonates with the type of students that I work with on a daily basis.

Boz is the ultimate Anti-Hero and he played that up for the cameras in a time where college football was just making its mainstream, television debut.  But as flamboyant and outspoken as The Boz was, he definitely had the skill and talent to back that up on the football field.

This documentary seems a little forced at times.  Brian and his son Max are in the process of going through a storage locker filled with Bosworth's memorabilia and this is the vehicle that pushes the storyline forward.  Bosworth tries to deflect the awe and amazement that his son displays as he recounts his exploits.  Interspersed is footage of Brian's past and interviews with teammates and former coaches and Brian himself.

It's entertaining and well produced, and even though it seems forced, there is a sense that the older Bosworth is reticent about his younger self's behavior and attitude.  While the tears seem a little over the top, Bosworth shows some sincerity as he recounts the mistakes and the problems he created for himself.  He doesn't deflect the responsibilty and criticism and that is the true take away from this film.  Take responsibility and learn from your mistakes.  For my population of students, this lesson rings true and hits home in many ways.

Click here to see what others are saying about it or to purchase this short film.

Also, here are the questions in Word Format that I use to get students discussing and writing about this documentary.

Boz Questions #1                      Boz Questions #2           Boz Final Response

Hope for Renewal Winter Newsletter 2016

Why I Love Zombies

Tonight I was lurking around on Facebook and came across a friend's page and noticed something. Under his "Religious Views" he has put "I love Jesus but I drink a little"

I'm not a drinker and the last time I was even close to being inebreated was not even in this century, in fact it wasn't even in this country. But I guess that I could put something similiar under my "Religious Views."

I love Jesus, but I'm a fan of zombies.

When I was around ten, I watched my first zombie flick. It was the original zombie movie: Night of the Living Dead. I was exposed for the first time to hordes of the undead and have been hooked, shambling and moaning for more ever since.

I am a zombie purist though. George Romero has seen to that. Zombies need to be slow. They need to be dumb. They need to be only focused on one thing: BRAINS!

They also need not to be the focal point of the story. I believe that zombie fare-good zombie fare, is focused on the characters. It is that reason why I am so drawn to this genre.

The struggle in this type of fiction is not with the undead, but with the living. The reader, the viewer get to observe this struggle. In the face of a post apocoliptic world the true character of the participants shines through. We see their true prejudices, fears, and values unmasked by the horror around them. We see them forced to either abandon the moral constructs of our society or try to translate them into a world of the undead. Does pure survival win out or does humanity keep its composure?

In those Romero works the zombies become part of the background. They are ever constant, ever advancing, always right around the edges of the story. The undead are always threatening, just one bite away from ending the human race completely.

They are much like us as humans. Completely consuming everything around them, never being satisfied.

We also seem to never be satisfied. We consume all that is around us. This infection spreads as well. This ongoing consumption is something that is looked highly upon, something revered. We want more, more, and even more.

And much like a Romero masterpiece, in the face of all of this around us, do we lose our own morality? Do we let our own prejudices overtake us, do we abondon our beliefs and become part of the shambling swarm?

Our humanity is something that we should hold tightly.

As we continue heed the Greatest Commandment I hope we do not lose sight of who our neighbors truly are. Instead of "consuming" maybe we need to be "consumed" by the Grace that is given so freely.

That would be an infection that would truly be worth spreading.

Thought for the day: Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. (Pubilius Syrus)