Here are the lyrics to the song that accompanies our Train float. This song will be sung about once out of every four or five song played during the parade. The other songs will be traditional conjunto songs from the Valley.
Jane and Gary Norian and I met yesterday to work on the music (OK, Gary and Jane worked on the music and I just said I like it). Of course, if you have been reading the blog, this will make sense, since the float is based on that old photo of four bandits who captured an old steam engine and we're gonna have them represented by four pinatas. Imagine Mexican accordion ballad, 12 string guitars, fast pace, drama, etc.):
FOUR YOUNG BANDITOS
Four young banditos took over a train
They went looking for treasure
But weren’t expecting the rain.
One of them said “revolution’s on high”
But he murmured to himself, “I don’t want to die!”
The second young bandit
He spun and he spoke -
“I wanted a life
For a broken cowpoke.
But I’m just a grave robber
No pride on my part.
I’m only the driver
This ain’t no fresh start.”
The third bandit he cried
From his horse and his throat
“I wanted to love
Ever note that I wrote.
But I’m never a poet,
always a clown -
Just a green cowpoke laughed out of town."
I’m the last young bandito
I’m so sad to say.
If my mother only knew
She would die before the day...
So I thought of my mother
and just walked away.
If you need a bandito
And you want a new start
Just go your own way
I’ll take my own part
Too many boxcars
Too much old smoke
Too many lawmen
In love with the rope
Four young banditos went looking for fame
Each whispered to me, “I’m sorry I came.”
Actually, these lyrics have changed a tiny bit, but you get the idea. Jane is on board for singing it during the parade and I've asked Rey, the guy who runs the Conjunto Hall of Fame in San Benito, to line up Gloria Jean and Raymond, who were on last year's float. Gloria is probably the best female accordion player in the State of Texas, no bullshit, and she's no where near 20. Raymond is amazing on the 12 string bass guitar (the baja sexto) but is also pretty crazy at hard-core rock rifts on a stratocaster.
I will know in the next couple of days if they can do it but Rey thinks they will. He also thinks that the whole Conjunto Estrella band might be available (Gloria Jean and Raymond play in that band). We'll see.
Here's the band in a prior performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8at46Ws2Cjo
There's also an awesome clip on youtube of Gloria Jean playing a solo with Lil Joe y La Famila, perennial Latin Grammy Winners, and blowing Lil Joe's audience away. She shows up at the 4:45 mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yGy4vrlWuk
And another of her doing an old Freddy Fender song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZjw9LiQRww&NR=1
I asked Gary to reassure me -- as he was dolling up the bandito song -- that the band could learn the song quickly, but when I told him a little about them, he just dismissed my concerns. There shouldn't be any problems with that.
I also found the perfect bushel basket in Houston to serve as the smokestack for the locomotive (and to house the smoke machine which I now proudly possess).
Jane and Kristy and Rachel are in Mission on Friday to start the decoration of the floats. Yay!!!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Two Auctions and a Skinned Boiler
So Friday we were all set to go to work and a friend calls and says that there are storage shed auctions all day long. Judd and I set out to look. Judd wanted things he could resell. I wanted to find diaries, great photographs, and Picassos.
This lady went looking for a new toe.
But this is all we found.
So we went back to work, struggling to get into the spirit.
The boiler was complete on the outside but needed its first layer of skin.
Forget it. Time for a late lunch. We went to a place called Pepe's, where no one spoke a word of English.
However, the food was SO MUCH BETTER THAN EL PATIO!! (We got it to go.)
Danny was still working on the motorized wheels. The little paint mixer motors didn't have enough power to work the wheels, which we estimate to be about 20+ pounds before any decoration is added.
Judd and I started cutting up the green material for outdoor, above-ground swimming pools.
It scuffed easily because it has been living out in the sun for a long time.
We are regularly visited by Danny's grandkids, and when we are, all work stops.
So I tried showing what the bandit outfits are gonna look like. I got tired and went home.
The next morning, I showed up to an empty shop. Apparently the rats had eaten the kids.
One of the kids had left a momento.
Looking at the board carefully, you can see that our plans have changed here and there.
That green swimming pool material was staring us in the face.
But there was a hardware store going out of business in San Juan and everything was being auctioned off. So we went. We bought 45 gallons of paint, a truck-load of screws, bolts and other fasteners, and a bunch of other stuff to re-stock Danny's shop.
And most of the candy.
Oh, and we have the first skin on the boiler. Maybe it's starting to look like a train.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
"The Wheel Spun Me"
Today was one of those days where, worse than spinning your wheels, the wheel spins you. Or at least that was Danny's take on it. It LOOKED like we were doing stuff. But a lot of the stuff involved making big boards smaller and then making those same boards bigger. And while Judd and I did that, Danny tried to get the first wheel on the locomotive mounted and tried to make it spin using the motor from an old paint mixer.
We did center the final disc into place for the steam engine and we secured the entire thing so that it won't move off center while it's rolling down the road. Then we turned to building the service ramp (or whatever it is) that surrounds the boiler about a third of the way up the boiler.
We haven't done much with the coal car in a while, except that while I was in Houston, Danny and Judd painted most of it black and got the motors running on all of its wheels. Believe it or not, most of this trailer is done, except for the decoration.
The floor of the main float (the locomotive) turns out to be pretty rotten so it was jacked up and reinforced.
In case you're ever in Mission and need a small hardware store, drop on by the unofficial Danny McClain Hardware shop, conveniently located in this 18 wheeler trailer. Specializing in an endless supply of nails, screws, brackets, plates, and other things to make things hold together.
Here's most of the boiler in place and secured (including with a 12 foot screw running through the middle of it). We ditched the original idea of running 6 12 foot screws through it and just used 2x4s instead.
Sawdust in your eye.
Sawdust in your nails.
Me working on top of the top platform of the locomotive.
The bits of the larger boards that we made into smaller boards and then later made into larger boards (we were recycling wood from last year's float by removing all the screws and staples; after it was all done, we realized that it would have been a good idea to go pay $1.80 a board for new 1x2s). The idea was to take 72 inch boards and make them 110 1/4 inch boards. We did it (8 times) but it took most of the afternoon.
When the screws are too long, we just grind them off. It turns out that we used a lot of oak last year and you can't staple oak very well. So you screw it. And you have to screw all the way through it. And then you grind off the half inch of screw that protrudes through the board. Simple.
Respite.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The world according to Doyt
I drove back to Houston from Mission for New Year's. Danny works 4 days on and 4 days off, some alternating nights and days, so I tend to return to Houston when he has to go back to work. It's about a seven hour drive to Houston, unless you speed a lot, then it's about six.
This lets you catch up on things like Cormac McCarthy books-on-tape (like The Road, which is a particularly harsh book to hear while while driving through the hours of desolate, flat brush country that is South Texas), or thinking about people you haven't seen in too long, or places you've been or are going to, or things you should have done but didn't (insert yourself here).
Doyt shared a couple of keepers while we are building the float. First, he owned that the manufacturer of the tires on the trailers (which keep going flat and we keep airing back up) is, he guesses, a company called Mayblo.
Second, after listening to me go about how I'm in charge and they all ought to just do what I say, he provided a helpful fable:
A brain and a heart and a sphincter were working on a job but they all argued about who was in charge. The brain said "I'm the smartest of us, so I'll be in charge." The heart said, "Without me, ain't nothing gonna happen. I'm in charge." The sphincter said, "but I'm never the boss and I think it's my turn." The other two laughed at him, so the sphincter said, "Fine. I'll stop working for a while and we'll see if you change your mind." After a couple of days, the brain was swollen and woozy and the heart was beating so hard it couldn't even think. Finally, they gave in. The Moral: You don't need a brain or a heart to be the boss. You just need to be an asshole.
I would like to thank Doyt for his wisdom.
So this is where it stands now: Two trailers, the carpentry on both close to being done. The one with the 4 foot circle on it will be the engine. The one to the right and a little behind is the car.
Here's a side view of the engine as it sits today. Four of these four foot disks will represent the steam boiler. Behind that will be a cabin for about 6 people to stand or sit in, where the engineer would be. Off the front of the platform will be a cowcatcher made with the roughest left over wood we have, hopefully 4x4 or larger. We need the weight on the front since it's going to be so heavy in the rear.
I thought it was important to show that I actually have done some physical labor, so I asked Judd to photograph me with my iPhone while I held a disc in place.
The drive wheels, the 3 foot wheels on the back of the engine, will turn with electric motors. The smaller, 2 foot wheels, in the front, will to. They will all turn at the same speed, though each of the wheels will have its own motor. In this photo, they are just there to make everyone understand the layout. The whole engine will be pretty tall. The platform on top of the bed of the trailer is three feet off the ground. So the whole thing will be over 9 feet tall, from the BED of the trailer, or about 13 feet tall from the ground.
This material is 36" wide and 36 feet long, and is made for building outdoor swimming pools. It's going to be the skin on the boiler. After it's in place, we'll wrap it with a black mesh called Grout-Stopper and paint it so it is round and looks like a steam engine.
The earlier plan was to use these clear plastic pipes as an armature, holding the 4 foot discs in place for the engine. Let's just say that didn't work.
When we put these 12 foot screws through the first four foot disc, it became clear we could finish this float around August 22, 2011. So we're holding the discs together now with 2x4 boards. Once we conceded that this was a better way, it was time for dinner. At El Patio. Where one does not order the Caldo de Res.
During dinner, one of Danny's grandkids stopped talking long enough to emote in a non-lingual fashion.
While we were working on the float, an old friend of Danny's was hunting. He sent a short video of what would soon be dinner.
So, the Upper Valley Art League has agreed to have a show in February we're going call Portrait of Mission. This has little to do with the parade, other than that's where I'm going to distribute 100 more free cameras. the UVAL exhibit will be something like 2,000 4x6 snapshots by Mission residents and I'm going to serve a quasi-curatorial function and select 10 of the best of these to print and present as "art photographs." The others will be displayed in a grid on 5 large temporary walls in the gallery. Last years' video portrait of Mission from the Conjunto Float will also likely be shown, maybe as a projection on a wall, maybe on a tv screen. Some of my less controversial Mission photos may be framed and shown as well, probably landscapes. Tomorrow, I'm going to start looking through all of last years public parade photos and trying to winnow it down to the top ten to scan and print.
I've also written lyrics for a song called "Four Banditos," slightly mirroring the four pinatas that are supposed to be mounted on the cow-catcher. I'm hoping we can get the intro done by Gloria Jean on conjunto-style accordion. If all goes well, Jane will finish writing music to go along with it and the band can perform it during the parade.
As usual, law work must still be done, and my return to Mission is likely delayed while I spend a day thinking about a plan of reorganization, a disclosure statement, and a motion to establish voting procedures for a case in San Francisco.
This lets you catch up on things like Cormac McCarthy books-on-tape (like The Road, which is a particularly harsh book to hear while while driving through the hours of desolate, flat brush country that is South Texas), or thinking about people you haven't seen in too long, or places you've been or are going to, or things you should have done but didn't (insert yourself here).
Doyt shared a couple of keepers while we are building the float. First, he owned that the manufacturer of the tires on the trailers (which keep going flat and we keep airing back up) is, he guesses, a company called Mayblo.
Second, after listening to me go about how I'm in charge and they all ought to just do what I say, he provided a helpful fable:
A brain and a heart and a sphincter were working on a job but they all argued about who was in charge. The brain said "I'm the smartest of us, so I'll be in charge." The heart said, "Without me, ain't nothing gonna happen. I'm in charge." The sphincter said, "but I'm never the boss and I think it's my turn." The other two laughed at him, so the sphincter said, "Fine. I'll stop working for a while and we'll see if you change your mind." After a couple of days, the brain was swollen and woozy and the heart was beating so hard it couldn't even think. Finally, they gave in. The Moral: You don't need a brain or a heart to be the boss. You just need to be an asshole.
I would like to thank Doyt for his wisdom.
So this is where it stands now: Two trailers, the carpentry on both close to being done. The one with the 4 foot circle on it will be the engine. The one to the right and a little behind is the car.
Here's a side view of the engine as it sits today. Four of these four foot disks will represent the steam boiler. Behind that will be a cabin for about 6 people to stand or sit in, where the engineer would be. Off the front of the platform will be a cowcatcher made with the roughest left over wood we have, hopefully 4x4 or larger. We need the weight on the front since it's going to be so heavy in the rear.
I thought it was important to show that I actually have done some physical labor, so I asked Judd to photograph me with my iPhone while I held a disc in place.
The drive wheels, the 3 foot wheels on the back of the engine, will turn with electric motors. The smaller, 2 foot wheels, in the front, will to. They will all turn at the same speed, though each of the wheels will have its own motor. In this photo, they are just there to make everyone understand the layout. The whole engine will be pretty tall. The platform on top of the bed of the trailer is three feet off the ground. So the whole thing will be over 9 feet tall, from the BED of the trailer, or about 13 feet tall from the ground.
This material is 36" wide and 36 feet long, and is made for building outdoor swimming pools. It's going to be the skin on the boiler. After it's in place, we'll wrap it with a black mesh called Grout-Stopper and paint it so it is round and looks like a steam engine.
While we were working on the float, an old friend of Danny's was hunting. He sent a short video of what would soon be dinner.
So, the Upper Valley Art League has agreed to have a show in February we're going call Portrait of Mission. This has little to do with the parade, other than that's where I'm going to distribute 100 more free cameras. the UVAL exhibit will be something like 2,000 4x6 snapshots by Mission residents and I'm going to serve a quasi-curatorial function and select 10 of the best of these to print and present as "art photographs." The others will be displayed in a grid on 5 large temporary walls in the gallery. Last years' video portrait of Mission from the Conjunto Float will also likely be shown, maybe as a projection on a wall, maybe on a tv screen. Some of my less controversial Mission photos may be framed and shown as well, probably landscapes. Tomorrow, I'm going to start looking through all of last years public parade photos and trying to winnow it down to the top ten to scan and print.
I've also written lyrics for a song called "Four Banditos," slightly mirroring the four pinatas that are supposed to be mounted on the cow-catcher. I'm hoping we can get the intro done by Gloria Jean on conjunto-style accordion. If all goes well, Jane will finish writing music to go along with it and the band can perform it during the parade.
As usual, law work must still be done, and my return to Mission is likely delayed while I spend a day thinking about a plan of reorganization, a disclosure statement, and a motion to establish voting procedures for a case in San Francisco.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)