Tag Archives: @AiXeLsyD13

Finally set up a place to rock.

Posted on by Standard 2
AiXeLsyD13's Guitar Room

I finally got a permanent place set up to rock. All my guitars, ukes, amps, pedals, and even an electric kazoo are easy to quickly access and just start rocking when inspiration hits.

AiXeLsyD13's Guitar Room
Axetopia? CBGB’s (Carroll’s Big Guitar Bunker)? The Guitarmory?

I have talked about it, or even blogged about it for years.

AiXeLsyD13's guitars - Left of the door.
AiXeLsyD13's guitars - Right of the door.
AiXeLsyD13's guitars - I ran out of walls.
AiXeLsyD13's Amps
AiXeLsyD13's pedals
The Spark!
There's so much room for activities!

It still needs a name. I haven’t officially decided. I have been calling it “the music room” or “the guitar room.” Both of those seem boring. Maybe this? I find it amusing but clunky.

I may make some videos of guitar shenanigans as a creative outlet. Not sure what direction they’ll take. I’m not a particularly good or technical player, but I can demo some gear or do some fun silly stuff. I do already have a YouTube playlist started for my guitar-related videos.

The Postitive Grid Spark amp & app have really made jamming quick and fun… they have a cool in-app video feature, but it’s not much different than recording straight-up with the phone’s camera.

I have been having a blast playing along to stuff on YouTube… from stuff from my old bands, to Black Sabbath, to Snuff, to the Ramones, and my new favorite song to play along to; “Bigger than Kiss” by Teenage Bottlerocket.

More setup inspires more setup. I need a way to store my physical media (mostly CD’s) so it’s easily accessible. I have a lot. Too many probably. I need to build some shelves and the stuff I’m finding online seems painfully expensive and not quite a fit. And I’d like to dump that all on a personal media server. I have a lot of stuff not available on Amazon or Spotify.

The next itch I can already feel will need scratching is some kind of recording setup. I’d like to layer stuff I can hear in my head, without the aid of a looper. I miss the days of a Tascam 4-track with a cassette tape. Maybe I’ll delve into a nice simple digital version of that.

The kids have guitars, ukes, and a keyboard too… and now we almost need drums and a bass or too, right?

At any rate… it’s important to have a creative outlet. Live isn’t conducive to me jamming regularly with a band right now. I only seem to do mazes when the inspiration hits, and I blog pretty randomly. Music is one more option for expression, creativity, and constant learning/exploring. I hope to foster the kids’ musical expression and drive home how important it is to remain creative themselves and appreciative of art in general.

Keep watching the blog, social media, and YouTube if you’re interested in the musical stuff.

So, I’ll take your suggestions in the comments!

  • What should I officially call the axe-cave?
  • Where can I get cheap media shelves for over 1500 CD’s & other assorted media?
  • What do you want to see in guitar videos?
  • What’s a good cheap recording solution?

Share your space to create in the comments too!

Chili (AiXeLsyD13 Style) 🌶

Posted on by Standard 5

Chili 🌶

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. round steak, cut into cubes
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • ½ package of bacon pieces
  • 1 10.75 oz. can condensed tomato soup
  • 1 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes with sweet onions
  • 1 12 oz. can tomato paste
  • 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
  • 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
  • 1 15 5 oz. can kidney beans
  • 1 15.5 oz. can black beans
  • 1 fresh jalapeño, diced
  • 1 fresh orange bell pepper, diced
  • 1 fresh sweet banana pepper, diced
  • 1 12 oz. bottle of Straub Amber
  • 1 pack of chili spice mix
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • Onion powder, garlic powder, steak seasoning, seasoned-salt, cumin, paprika, cayenne, black pepper, white pepper

I wanted to try 2 things, the Ninja Foodi pressure-cooker function & steak in the chili. The steak was successful, the pressure-cooking was not so much.

I cut up the steak and sautéed with a tiny bit of EVOO in a pan on the stove on high then medium-high, added about half of each chopped up fresh pepper, the ground beef, and about a tablespoon of minced garlic. This is where I added all of the dry spices at the end. I don’t measure. I also used some Straub to deglaze the pan. This mix was delicious.

I added the rest of the ingredients into the Foodi after draining & rinsing both cans of beans… including the unused peppers, garlic, and beer.

It got up to pressure then insisted I “ADD WTR.” I reluctantly added a cup of water and a beef bullion cube. I like chili thick enough to eat with a fork.

It got up to pressure again and insisted “ADD WTR.”

Googling solutions seemed to lean to the fact that it could be overheating, stuff could be burning on the pan, or a few other suggestions. A real life friend confirmed the burning thing via Facebook. It eventually got to a boiling point after the second pressure-up, but again demanded “ADD WTR.” No, Foodi. I like thick chili! NO ADD WTR! NO ADD WTR! I put it on the saute setting and let it boil down for a bit.

I think the stove top would have been the same amount of time. The flavors were great. Would they had been enhanced with proper pressurized cooking? Will the Foodi learn to say “STR SHT” when that’s what it really means?

Next time I will put the liquid on the bottom maybe? Also, no water/bullion cube… and I may eliminate the small can of tomato paste & sauce. The meat & pepper mix itself before other stuff was delicious. I could add the tomatoes, & soup, & beans right there and have a fine meal to be seved with rice or mashed potatoes.

Maybe I will go back to the slow-cooker. You can’t deny how awesome that is. My recipe is always changing.

One of these days I’m gonna try cocoa powder. I have seen stuff calling for brown sugar (which I love in spaghetti sauce), but no thanks in chili. I have also had cinnamon in chili, an that’s totally not my thing, but I get it if you dig it.

I had mine with some tortilla strips, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, and a dollop of sour cream. We had some pretzel breadsticks on the side too. They serves soft pretzels with chili at my elementary school, so they will always belong together for me. This would have also been great over mashed potatoes or on a baked potato, rice, or even pasta.

IG CHILI

How do you do chili (or chili con carne)? Beans? No beans? Over pasta? Over potatoes or rice? Any musts for the side like peanut butter, corn bread, sweet corn cake, rolls, cinnamon rolls, tortilla chips or strips, etc.?

Do you use cheese or sour cream? Do you like it hot? Do you cut the heat with anything?

Do you have a preferred cooking method?

Any tips on pressure-cooker (or Ninja Foodi) chili?

Teh Facebooks on Chili

Yinz like mazes?

Posted on by Standard Reply

Can you dig it?  Complete one.  Post it in the comments or on the social media platform of your choice, and tag me.  @AiXeLsyD13 is usually it.

Posting #AllMyAxes. 🎸 (Part 2)

Posted on by Standard 6

Did you see part one?  I felt like posting all my guitars online simply for something else to look at, and I thought others might enjoy.

I still plan to blog about some of the more interesting ones.  Hopefully you guys enjoy the content.  Thanks for the likes on social media.  I don’t think anyone else started to use the #AllMyAxes hashtag.  Oh well.  Ha ha.

Show me some of yours in the comments, tag me on social media, or use your own hashtag!

 

The Family Ukuleles & Mandolin

The Kids' Guitars

 

A Crazy Maze – Try it out!

Posted on by Standard 3

Lots of people have some extra time right now.  Take the time to challenge yourself with this maze.  I drew it on graph paper.  The paths are very small.  I would love to see someone tackle it.

I scanned the original & left as-is, then played with the brightness/contrast a bit on a second one to try to get the blue grid out.

Print one out & give it a try.  Or, try it out on your mobile or tablet screen.

If you do finish it, post it & tag me on social media.  I’m @AiXeLsyD13 on Instagram & twitter.  You can find me if you look on Facebook too.  You could even post it in the comments.

 

-✍️-

 

Crazy Maze

 

Crazy Maze 2

Take me to your leader. 👽🛸✍️

Posted on by Standard 1

Drew a maze in color with some Sharpies.  Don’t normally do that.  Enjoy if you’re so inclined.  Print & solve or solve on your screen with an art or notes app.  Share a solution here in the comments or on social media, & tag me: @AiXeLsyD13 (on Twitter & Instagram)

 

 

Alien Maze (Color) Alien Maze (Black & White)

 

I shared a photo on Instagram & Twitter earlier, this scan is only slightly better.

 

𝕾𝖔𝖈𝖎𝖆𝖑 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖟𝖊 →🖨️→✍️→📱→

Posted on by Standard Reply

I won’t get preachy here other than to say stay informed, follow the best practices, and wash your damn hands.  I have posted plenty of that on Facebook.

Social Distancing Maze

Print, solve, & re-post!

Print it & complete with a pen, pencil, crayon, marker, or whatever.  Then take a photo & post it on your favorite social media site, and tag me; @AiXeLsyD13 (Twitter & Instagram)

You can even download it & use a note app or one like PicsArt on your phone to complete the maze, then share it too.  Share it on Pinterest.  Lots of people are looking for stuff to do right now.  I’d love to see how far this (or any of my mazes) can go.

→🖨️→✍️→📱→

Here’s some stuff I posted on Instagram but not really here; 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maze Mugs? A-Maze Mugs? a-MAZE-ing Socks?

Posted on by Standard 1

Did you see the first post and the last post about the maze mugs?  Mike has been doing some fun stuff, and I have (very slowly) been working on mazes for the box.  Also, Mike posted some fun stuff:

Check out this packaging!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8maHIiBpfu/

 

More than one maze per mug so you don’t get bored!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8poxfzBm4H/

 

Click through on the socks to see the second photo!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9KzKnehsK7/

 

So, what do you think? Want to see mazes on anything else? Want them solvable? Like that packaging or love it? Check out Mike’s other stuff on Instagram!  He has been making some killer skateboard decks and a topical T-shirt.

I won’t get into the COVID-19 / Novel Coronavirus outbreak here, but if you’re bored in quarantine… remember you can do all of my mazes.  It’d be cool if you finished one, posted on the social media platform of your choice & tagged me.

I need to put a maze on a guitar. I need to update photos of my collection. I want to catalog them here since the sites I have found to do it don’t really suit my needs. Add that to the endless list of unnecessary projects to be completed “someday.”