Corriganville Movie Ranch

Southern California is known for Movies and Television.  There are plenty of big studios in the heart of Hollywood.  While these studios are great for the interior portions of a movie the great outdoors is sometimes the backdrop for many movies.  This is where the Movie Ranches of yesteryear came in.





Westerns once dominated the motion picture landscape.  These westerns needed a lot of outdoor shooting and western town sets. Movie Ranches provided the perfect setting for these needs.









Corriganville was a fully functioning movie ranch for years, later becoming a tourist attraction somewhat like a small scale Universal Studios.


Owned by stuntman Crash Corrigan the ranch was in operation until 1965 when it was sold to Bob Hope.  There were a handful of movies filmed there after that but fires in 1970 and 1979 destroyed the ranch. The buildings are long gone but there is still some evidence of the history of this site which is now part of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.



Here are the gates of Corriganvile. 














A shot from the hill above Silvertown back in the day.

Below are a couple of shots from the hill above the former location of Silvertown

Silvertown then…….







































And Now.









This rock formation used to have a facade built on to it to create a Hideout Cave.

This was known as Stunt Rock. A diving platform above an artificial lake.

The famous Gorilla Rock.  I’m sure you can guess where it got it’s name.


For more information please visit http://www.corriganville.net/
If you would like to explore this site yourself it is open to the public.

Ibanez Tone Lok series CF7 Chorus/Flanger demo

Back in the late 90’s, Ibanez had a great idea for their new series of effects pedals.The Tone Lok series allowed you to set your knobs then depress them and lock them in place preventing them from being moved or accidentally stepped on.

 

This idea in itself was great, but they went even further (at least with some of the series).  the CF7 Chorus/Flanger featured a “Krazy” switch to go between normal and “WAKD”.  The normal settings were average swirly modulation sounds but the “WAKD” setting allowed for Vibrato,Leslie, Ring Mod, and beyond. 

 

I acquired one of these pedals for about $30 on ebay and decided to do a video demo, similar to my “Yestergear” posts from my old blog.

 

Enjoy. 

St. Francis Dam disaster

The St. Francis Dam disaster was one of the worst engineering failures in California history.  On March 28th 1938, the St. Francis Dam failed and collapsed.  A wall of water flowed through San Fransicquito canyon, through the Castaic Junction, Fillmore, Santa Paula and finally ended up in the pacific ocean.

Growing up in Southern California I don’t recall ever hearing about this, I guess it wasn't a proud moment in California History.  As an adult living in the Santa Clarita Valley I became interested in the history of the surrounding areas.  After reading up on the disaster and the history of the site I decided to go check it out for myself.  It’s hard to believe that the site and the remains of the dam have just been sitting there off San Fransisquito Canyon road for nearly 90 years.

Below are some pictures I took from three different trips out to the site between Feb and Nov  2014

Someone was nice enough to let you know when get there and when you pass  the site.

This is the top of the west ridge. The remains are far less weathered up here.

This huge rock like structure is actually a large piece of the dam. This is about 1/4 mile down the river bed from the dam site.  I'd say it's about the size of a two story house.


You can line up this last shot with the shot right after the dam failed linked below. Note the dark rubble on top of the stepped concrete.
 

http://www.scvhistory.com/gif/al3030.jpg






This is an interesting trip and not a long hike.  If you’re interested in learning more about this site and the history please visit the link below
http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/stfrancis.htm

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!!

Enjoy my rendition of the our country's National Anthem.

10 things you should never do onstage

 

  Never stop the song.The audience will forgive you if you got a little off track but keep going.  Once you find your way back everyone will be into the song and they will forget all about the glitch.

Never drink to the point of passing out.This should go without saying.  Having a drink or two to loosen up is OK but getting hammered during a gig is just unacceptable.

Never let the audience know you made a mistake. If by chance you hit a bad note or miss a phrase just keep moving. Smile, do a big rock and roll pick slide and pretend like you are  having the time of your life.  Only the die hard music fans will notice the mistake but the rest of the crowd is having too much fun so just let it go.

Never fall off the stage Sometimes it happens but nothing brings a gig to a halt like a member of the band disappearing into the crowd in front.  If you do fall of the stage, try to keep going with the song and just get back up there. (even if you’ve lost a limb)

Never insult the soundman (on mic) We all have to deal with soundmen.  They can be a life saver or they can make you sound like dog crap in a can.  If something isn’t quite right, respectfully talk to the soundman off mic. You should never announce through the PA that mix sound like crap.

Never argue with a drunk in the audience. There are always a few of those loud mouth drunks who will make their opinions of your band known.  Just smile and keep playing.  There is no point in arguing with someone who isn’t going to even remember you in the morning.

Never smile at the drunk chick dancing in front (she might get the wrong idea) Sure it’s tempting to flash a little smile at the drunk girl dancing down front. Unfortunately she may think that means you and her have a connection.  There is nothing worse than a sloppy drunk chick trying to get in your face while your trying to tear down and go home. 

Never smile at the drunk dude dancing in front of you( he will definitely get the wrong idea) The same as above applies.  You really don’t want the drunk guy dancing getting the wrong idea.
 
Never set your drink on top of your amp.  It only takes a second for you drink to spill down the back of your amp and cut your gig short.  Better yet, drink bottled water during the set and have your beer or jack and coke during your break.

Never take yourself to seriously. Music is about having fun.  Even if it is your job is to play music you need to entertain.  You should look like your having fun which in turn helps the audience to have fun. In the end, it’s just a gig, your not performing brain surgery .