Me

Here's one taken by a dear friend:

RCS

Preface to Kurt Vonnegut's - Deadeye Dick

"To the as-yet-unborn, to all innocent wisps of undifferentiated nothingness: Watch out for life.

I have caught life. I have come down with life. I was a wisp of undifferentiated nothingness, and then a little peephole opened quite suddenly. Light and sound poured in. Voices began to describe me and my surroundings. Nothing they said could be appealed. They said I was a boy named Rudolph Waltz, and that was that. They said the year was 1932, and that was that. They said I was in Midland City, Ohio, and that was that.

They never shut up. Year after year they piled detail upon detail. They do it still. You know what they say now? They say the year is 1982, and that I am fifty years old.

Blah blah blah."

- Kurt Vonnegut

Gotta love it!

RCS

Reality, or something like it

It's been some time since I felt motivated to post. Life is an adventure and mine has been incredible of late. I will post more soon. For now, I leave you with this from one of the masters of the last age.

Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavour to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears it ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenious he may form some picture of the mechanism which could be responsible for all the things he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations. He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility of the meaning of such a comparison.

- Albert Einstein

Enjoy!

RCS

Rob in Concert... The UCDHSC Pop Rock Ensemble Live - Spr '06

All of the following tunes were performed by the UCDHSC Pop Rock Ensemble - Spr '06 in which I was enrolled this semester. I thought I'd share it with you for those of you who were unable to make the trip. I'll add more details when I get a spare moment. Band members include:

Robert Caviness, Guitar
Aaron Collins, Keyboard
Clayton Cushman, Guitar
Andrew Goldstone, Vocals
Aaron Grimes, Drums
Israel Jimenez, Saxophone
Todd Price, Sound Reinforcement
Alexander Pugh, Drums
Martin Schroeder, Bass
Robert Seifert, Guitar
James Sweeting, Vocals

The sound quality is pretty sketchy so you may have to turn it up a bit since this is really like one step better than a bootleg.

Pulling Mussels (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "The Squeeze." I play rhythm guitar on this one as well as the first guitar solo.

Spinning Wheel (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "Blood, Sweat, & Tears." I'm the dood playing the horn parts on guitar.

Norwegian Wood (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "The Beatles." More rhythm guitar and I take the first guitar solo.

Have Love Will Travel (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "The Black Keys." All rhythm on this one.

Hurt (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "Nine Inch Nails" and performed in the style of Johnny Cash. I play the lead on this one.

Get Free (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "The Vines." Rhythm on this one.

We Were Born To Be Loved (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "King's X." Rhythm on this one.

Jacob's Ladder (Live)



This is a tune created made popular by the members of "Rush." Yep rhythm on this one too!

RCS

I have many men and they are good fighters!!!

I’ve decided that it’s time to get myself back in some kind of reasonable shape – preferably something other than round. To that end, I’ve decided to return to the study of martial arts after a nearly 11yr hiatus. Let me tell you, being in great shape and then doing nothing for 11yrs but eat makes for a fairly painful recovery period. My flexibility is gone, my breathing is gone, and worse yet, the body remembers what it could once do and so I have to be very careful to not let reflexes take over or I could hurt myself – the body has failed to account for the stiff limbs and 60lbs that weren’t always there… The good news, I haven’t forgotten everything and it’s getting easier to breath. The bad, I had to get a new uniform and belt because my old ones shrunk!

I’ve returned to a school I used to attend before I had children, the Chinese Shao-lin Center. Sadly, many of the people I remember have moved on. Thankfully, a few remain. Anyway, in celebration of my commitment to pain and progress I’ve decided to post the contents of an email I received 10yrs ago for your amusement. It is as follows:

Actual Hong Kong Subtitles…

I am damn unsatisfied to be killed in this way.

Fatty, you with your think face have hurt my instep.

Gun wounds again?

Same old rules: no eyes, no groin.

A normal person wouldn’t steal pituitaries.

Damn, I’ll burn you into a BBQ chicken!

Take my advice, or I’ll spank you without pants.

Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?

Quiet or I’ll blow your throat up.

You always use violence. I should’ve ordered glutinous rice chicken.

I’ll fire aimlessly if you don’t come out!

You daring lousy guy.

Beat him out of recognizable shape!

I have been scared shitless too much lately.

I got knife scars more than the number of your leg hair!

Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.

The bullets inside are very hot. Why do I feel so cold?

How can you use my intestines as a gift?

This will be of fine service for you, you bag of scum. I am sure you will not mind that I remove your manhoods and leave them out on the dessert flour for your aunts to eat.

Yah-hah, evil spider woman! I have captured you by the short rabbits and can now deliver you violently to your gynecologist for a through extermination.

Greetings, large black person. Let us not forget to form a team up together and go into the country to inflict the pain of our karatefeets on some ass of the giant lizard person.

RCS

Rob's New Axe - 2005 Fender American Stratocaster Deluxe FMT

Well folks, I'm the proud new owner of this beautiful guitar and I must say, it's the finest guitar I've ever owned. It's a dream to play and it has incredible tonal range. The noiseless pickups are indeed noiseless. I can sit directly in front of my amp turn up way past reasonable levels with NO FEEDBACK - the boys in the ensemble will be pleased I'm certain. I love the flame maple top, although the photo's don't do it justice (I was in too big a hurry to get back to playing the damn thing). If your a guitar nut like me, take a look at Fender's site for the details and the specifications.

Other news on the music front includes me taking a new student, my lovely wife. She wants to learn how to play bass. While a bass player I am not, I can definitely get her started and then, if she's still interested, direct her to a real bass player. I'm really using her as a guinea pig. You see, I need to develop a teaching format so that I can take on some paying students and actually make it worth their while. Anyhoo, I'll be having some professional photos taken soon and I'll post a couple of those with me and my new baby soon. Gotta go play some more!

RCS

Fretboard Notes for 6 String Guitar - Standard Tuning *UPDATE* and for 5 String Bass - Standard Low B Tuning

I thought I'd post this for whomever might find it useful. I created it to help me learn the fretboard.



And an update! (Since Cher wants to learn Bass)




RCS