O'Bob profile picture

O'Bob

I am here for Networking

About Me

Happily married to my wife and wonderful rainbow... always there after a storm. Raising our eleven yr. old daughter, who is the light of our lives. Currently working at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, the known center of the universe, as Catia V5 Designer (25yrs.) filleting parts for CAE surface mesh analysis. Hour & twenty to A2 an hour and twenty from A2 plus 12 hours a day leaves about 9. Somethins' gotta give...Anyway... I'm a husband, father, & caregiver, a picker & a grinner, a lover, & yes, a sinner - though I try to keep that to a minimum. Member of IBMA, MBMA, SPGMA, and Lansing Area Folksong Society. I write melodies in the bluegrass/americana/folk genres and keep a shoebox full of two, three & even sometimes even four line lyric ideas that have yet to be developed, I'm a melody guy. Any co-writers in need of melodies or collaboration?I've had a few jobs in my life, a cook & bartender in Yellowstone, an apprentice printer, a construction site supervisor, gold miner in Arizona, scene designer, regional computer media representative. I ran HANNAH JO PRODUCTIONS - a Bluegrass/Folk Music event production venture in 2002 -2004, and still do some local Bluegrass/Folk band booking. I'm also co-chair and house manager of Folk With Shades Of Blue, a traditonal music association in Michigan which promotes traditional acoustic music through local, regional, and national music acts, Town Hall Jams, instructional workshops, & community education with the IBMA's Bluegrass in the Schools Program. Please see: www.folkwithshadesofblue.com It's really more a hobby I guess, a labor of love. Finally, my longest career that pays the bills, a Sr. Product Designer in the dismal Michigan automotive industry, so now I'm looking to reinvent myself...AGAIN. Alternative energies have my interest right now and I have begun investigating this as an option to enhance my design career.
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My Interests

Bluegrass, traditional & Newgrass, Americana, Alternative Country, Alternative energy, Folk, Old Tyme. D28/ Martin SP's, alturnit spelling, Kentucky KM620 mandolin/ D'Addario, plus other alternatives and organic additives. Music, networking, travel, jamming, cooking, food, camping, friends, intelligent conversation, family, art. Music Festivals: Wheatland, Kerrville, IBMA, Telluride, Cass' White Lake Music Festival, Swede's OctoberFest in Alpena. Yellowstone, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Texas, the Keys... Michigan, Leland, Frankfort, O'Town... Folk With Shades Of Blue.mspmb allowScriptAccess="never" src="http://lads.myspace.com/slides/photoslider.swf?u=589952 00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="445" height="230"

I'd like to meet:

Others of similar interests to network and make music with as well as CAD design folks in Michigan - if any are left. Alternative energy folks, primarily solar & like minded individuals, musically creative, intelligent, good people & co-writers in need of melodies or collaboration. Andy Griffith Show

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Music:

Ok, here goes...John Hartford, Vassar, Doc n'Dawg, Garcia, AKUS, Tim O'Brien, Casey Dreissen, Darrell Scott, Buddy/Julie Miller, Radney Foster, the Dillards, Randyl Hilton, Rodney Crowell, the WHEEL, Robbie Robertson, Mark O'Connor, Elana James, Bruce Cockburn, Hank, Mr. Bill Monroe, Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, Robert Earl Keen, Townes Van Zandt, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Special Consensus, Dougie McClean, the Chieftains, John Doyle, SOLAS, Tyler Andal, Uncle Earl, the Wilders, John Hiatt, EmmyLou, Jay Ungar, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Roy Huskey, Jake Erwin, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Jimmy Martin, Joshua Bell, Hot Club of Cowtown, Dylan, the Beatles, Motown, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, Dirk Powell, Johnny Gimbel, Kenny Baker, Open Road, Johnny Cash, Kinky Friedman, Guy Clark, Asleep At The Wheel, Del McCoury, Cadillac Sky, Tito & The Hotpockets, Django, Whit, Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow, Pablo Casals, Yo-Yo Ma, CSN&Y, the Byrds, Yes, Traffic,

Movies:

The Man Who Would Be King...the dreams of youth. Forrest Gump... life IS like a box of chocolates. It's a Wonderful Life...ah, idealism is fun. The Quiet Man... me green be showin' Ghengis Blues...Tuva National Singing Champion "Earthquake Pena" - you wanna see a wild movie? 7 Years in Tibet...the top of the world Shawshank Redemption...I dunno, it just did it for me. Steven King is today's Poe without a doubt. The Green Mile...same Rio Bravo...John Wayne, nuff said. A Fistful of Dollars... I worked with those guys! Shane... gotta love it! Barbarella... OH baby! Roy Orbison, a Pine Valley Tribute. sTUPORe pRODUCTIONS O'Brother, Where Art Thou?.. T-bone's Illiad, funny chit! Gandhi...sad commentary Munich...ditto Second Hand Lions One Night with the King

ROGERS STAN lyrics

Television:

I got me one of them. Media Opiate mostly. History Channel, National Geographic, PBS Red Wing Hockey, Tigers.

Books:

Yeah, I know about books... I got a few. OK, "Five minds for the future" - Howard Gardner. Finally, someone I can relate to. A realistic explaination to creating positive core values for a successful, yet ethical world. I'm not done with it yet, but this one is on my top shelf. ... And I thought I only had one mind. "Wikinomics, How mass collaboration changes everything" - Dan Tapscott. My version is "How corporations can plot to manipulate even better" "America Alone" - Mark Steyn. It's in the numbers and demographics. I can't argue with the statistics... this seems pretty dismal. "War on the Middle Class" - Lou Dobbs. Ditto. Anybody? Use the power on your keyboard dummy and wake, shake and quake someone up! They're in Washington. American citizen lobbyists for foreign countries should be deemed traitors. In fact, all lobbying should be made illegal it corrupts the ethics and patriotism of this country. "The World is Flat" - Thomas Friedman. Pretty-much a happy little book telling me why I don't have a job right now. "American - Beyond Our Wildest Notions" - Chris Matthews A feel good book about America... Lord knows we need to feel good about America now don't we? Why Courage Matters - John McCain. Used to like the guy. The book is good... The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie. Simply sad, funny & bizzare. The Kite Runner - Kahlid Kousseini A Thousand Splendid Suns - Kahlid Housseini. 30 years of Afghan tragedy. God Bless America!
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Heroes:

Jesus, my sister Patti, my Dad, my wife Becky and my daughter Hannah Jo who saved me from myself, Thomas Paine, Ralph Nader, Thomas Jefferson, Tesla, Stan Ovshinsky, Benjamin Franklin, the Dalai Llama, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Colin Powell, Winston Churchill, Elaine, Steve Yzerman, Al Kaline, Barry Sanders, Teddy Roosevelt, Jacques Cousteau,

My Blog

POLITICS ASIDE, SUPPORT YOUR DEFENDERS

Whether you're for the war or against it, everyone has an obligation to support the men and women serving our country. Get patriotic!             ...
Posted by O'Bob on Sat, 29 Sep 2007 04:18:00 PST

Am I bitchin too much? Tough - it's my blog.

GREED, deceit, misrepresentation of fact, lobbying in general and lobbying by AMERICAN citizens for foreign counties such as China, pork barrel spending, not enforcing existing laws, crime, morality, ...
Posted by O'Bob on Thu, 31 May 2007 11:47:00 PST

Letter to Barak Obama

Senator,   Here's what you say about global warming on your website:   "We need to take steps to stop catastrophic, manmade climate change. If we do not act, the consequences will be devasta...
Posted by O'Bob on Thu, 31 May 2007 11:39:00 PST

History repeats...or...reruns again?

OK...George, Lyndon, Dick, Ted, get a load of this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18293284/site/newsweek/
Posted by O'Bob on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:46:00 PST

Patriot thoughts to my Senator

Senator, Respectfully, and knowing what lunacy would lie ahead, has any serious thought been given to  instituting a moratorium on many U.S. spending and finance issues globally and nationa...
Posted by O'Bob on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:02:00 PST

You need a TIME OUT! ( Moratorium anyone?)

Respectfully, seriously, and knowing what lunacy would lie ahead, has any serious thought been given to  instituting a moratorium on many U.S. spending and finance issues globally and nation...
Posted by O'Bob on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:36:00 PST

Interesting Citizenship Test

..> You Passed the US Citizenship Test ..http://images.blogthings.com/couldyoupasstheuscitizenshipt estquiz/approved.jpg" height="100" width="100">Congratulations - you got 9 out of 10 correct!..> ...
Posted by O'Bob on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 03:46:00 PST

BLOG ON!

Ok, I'm new to blogin' so forgive me if I babble as I try to make some sense of what is appropriate to confess and comment on to the whole blogosphere. The first was just a test posting of a poem...
Posted by O'Bob on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:53:00 PST

Simply put...

Sometimes a great notion, gets lost in the motion, of the mind that scatters, the thoughts of what matters....
Posted by O'Bob on Wed, 28 Feb 2007 06:48:00 PST