A little more information

The two main activities in my life: Helping the hungry in the late hours of the night and helping guitar players sound better one amp at a time.

I always try to remember that in order to do good one has to take action and actually do something.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I have watched the city and Southern California change for well over half a century.

I can be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/mylesr or on twitter at www.twitter.com/myles111us

As of late 2019 the music related links and prints noted on this page which had their links to by GAB (Guitar Amplifier Blueprinting) website are no longer accessible. I grew weary of updating my GAB website and let it go away. You can contact me on Facebook. Saunders Stewart Models continues full operation but we are not accepting new clients without a referral.

Los Angeles Architectural History

Los Angeles Architectural History
1935 Art Deco at some of its finest: No. 168 - Griffith Observatory- (click on the photo for information)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Bar-B-Que for 1,000

Today Stubb's Bar-B-Q sauces and marinades (http://www.stubbsbbq.com/ ) came to Union Rescue Mission and put on one heck of a lunch for 1,000 folks.

These Stubb's folks are the real deal.  On the back of a business card there is information on a program they run called "Feed the World".   On their website they have an area that talks about this.  The link is:


I talked with a number of their crew that came in from Texas including their President Kurt Koegler.  Terrific folks.  They brought everything; all the food, supplies, cooked it all and served it themselves as well.  Talk about a turn key BBQ meal!

Alex Cornejo, the head man of the Volunteer arm of http://www.urm.org/ gave me a little insight as to what was going to happen in a small audio clip.  http://guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/audio/alex101310.wma

I will post a few cell phone shots of the activity today.  Next time I go down to http://www.urm.org/ I will bring one of my better cameras to augment my cell phone camera.

Some of these shots are from Andy Bales, the CEO of Union Rescue Mission.  I will note his shots with a bit of commentary.

The above shot was from Andy Bales.  He and I often swap food shots on twitter or facebook.  Andy is @abales on twitter if you wish to find the guy or attempt to keep up with the man.

One of my shots of Andy Bales in the blue shirt.  The man never stops.  He ate his lunch in under three minutes and jumped on his phone to answer emails, send info out to many folks and attend to the business of the day.

When one talks BBQ one thinks of meat.  My task started with pickles.

This is less than 1/3 of the pickle jars we emptied into serving trays to serve lunch for over 1,000 folks. I opened most of the jars with my bare hands. I was glad there were not too many more jars than what was on hand.


Other folks had different tasks such as BBQ beans for 1,000


Here is the guy that made it happen, the President of Stubb's Bar-B-Q Kurt Koegler.  He brought his crew to Los Angeles from Austin Texas. 

Make no mistake.  This trip to Los Angeles was anything but a one shot deal.  They have done a bit of this before and have more to do in the future.  Their "tour" schedule is just as agressive as any of the artists I work with AND what they do seems to be a lot more work than a typical set at a typical concert.  Like I said, they supplied it all from plates to drinks, prepared, cooked and served.




The above two shots are from Andy Bales of Union Rescue Mission

Alex Cornejo - the head man of the Volunteer arm of http://www.urm.org/ getting ready for a great lunch.


Pudding for 1,000 - just the start of the pudding stock on hand.



Buns for the first few sandwiches.  There were mountains of buns. 


The cellophane bags the buns came in when empty quickly filled an industrial trashcan.  This was about fifteen minutes into the first lunch shift.

Somebody had to try the first sandwich.  This task was Andy Olivas? (not sure of the last name or spelling).  Andy works with Alex Cornejo in the Volunteer Division at http://www.urm.org/.  If you want to volunteer drop Alex note or hit the page at http://www.urm.org/get-involved/volunteer-center/  You can also find Alex on twitter at @urmvolunteers

Some folks took front scene shots.  I took this behind the scenes shot.

At the end of the first shift of lunch the folks from Stubb's took a few moments to eat themselves before the next wave of people came into the dining area.
 
The shots below are from the folks at Stubb's Bar-B-Q.  They were copied from their facebook page and show a different perspective than my own shots above.



Side note - Jennifer in the center of the above photo showed me the ropes today.

There is even more .....

Monday, October 11, 2010

Just Another Night on Skid Row - Andy Bales



I thought I'd take a few minutes to recap some of what Andy Bales was doing yesterday late evening on 10/9 and early the morning of 10/10. 

To set the stage in a manner of speaking, back in June I posted a story that was written by Erin, one of the staff at http://www.urm.org/

My Terrifying Night on the Streets of Skid Row
by Erin on Thursday, June 24th, 2010 ......

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Weekly wrapup in a few photos

If a photo is worth a thousand words this may be a short story of the last week. 

Last week there was a press conference for two new amplifier models from http://www.65amps.com/  There were about a half a dozen magazines at the shop and by mid week the London Pro as carried in eighteen publication mentions.  In the first half of the week there were over 100 orders.

The 6th Annual Los Angeles Ampshow was held October 2 and 3.  I was the moderator on the Tone Wizzards panel for the 6th year which is always fun. 

These are all cellphone shots.  If you want some better ones of the ampshow there are some better camera shots and some of these cell shots in the album here -

Less words ... more photos ....


Tuesday, October 5, 2010

And I thought I had a busy week? I am a lightweight.

I thought I was busy?  Many of my friends think I am busy.  I am a lightweight.

Last week was the 6th annual Los Angeles Ampshow. 

There was a major press event at 65amps announcing their release of two new amplifiers. 

Friends and associates from all over the globe, from as far as Norway and Singapore, decended on Los Angeles for these events.  I was running at about 100 mph the entire week.  The folks at 65 Amps had been running at 200 mph for the last month.

Many of you saw my posts on the net on the events.  Busy few weeks.

As busy as I thought things were for me I sat down this morning and reflected on my week.  I then looked back on the week of my friends at Union Rescue Mission - http://www.urm.org/ 

I thought about the 113 degree heat last week which was the highest recorded heat in the history of Los Angeles since 1877 when statistics were first collected.  The people of URM pushing carts weighing 1500 pounds through the streets of skid row so they could pass out cold water bottles to the people on the street.   They do this anytime the temperture is above 85 degrees.  It was a hot week.  They were busy.  A lot.

113 degrees and the man is smiling?.....

Monday, October 4, 2010

Press conference, ampshow and more

The last week has been very busy.  There was a press conference on 10/1 where http://www.65amps.com/ showed two new amp models to the media at  press party.  Many friends were there and many random photos were taken, some seen here.


Rather than wear an amp company shirt or music company shirt I wore one of my shirts from Union Rescue Mission ( http://www.urm.org/ )   The shirt got a lot of comments, started a lot of great dialogue with others and made a great statement. .....

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tuesday - new stuff from 65 Amps and more

Yesterday was hot.  Today it was cooler.  Yesterday it reached 113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles.  This was a record since data was collected starting in 1877.


The big activity of the day was based around a new amp from the folks at http://www.65amps.com/ - The London Pro.  This is one of two new amps that will see their debut at The L.A. Ampshow this weekend 10/2 and 10/3.  There is another model not shown here that a number of folks played at the 65 Amps open house a few weeks ago.....

Monday, September 27, 2010

Monday is starting out by breaking records

Starting the week off Los Angeles saw 113 degrees downtown.  It was the hottest day in Los Angeles, or at least since 1877 when these things were recorded.

The 6th annual Los Angeles Ampshow is this weekend ( October 2,3) so folks are already coming into town for the event ( http://www.ampshow.com/)


Saturday, September 25, 2010

Just because you THINK you can sing .....

A little wrap up on yesterday 9/24/10 and I will add some of 9/25/10 at the end of this entry as well.

Just because you THINK you can sing it does not mean you should put out a CD.  OK, freedom of speech, art, expression, we are all different and on and on and on.  Yes, you may have the right but that does not make it right



Friday, September 24, 2010

The most critical, least expensive, most overlooked tubes in your amp.

Loni Specter on the left of http://www.ampshow.com/

I picked the photo above of myself and Loni as the 6th annual Los Angeles Ampshow is coming almost here, October 2,3 of 2010 in Van Nuys California.  I will be there as always and will once again be the moderator on the Tone Wizzards panel.

With the ampshow on the horizon I felt that posting something from another side of my life might be a nice change.

Preamp Tubes - The most critical, least expensive, most overlooked tubes in your amp.

The tonal signature of "your sound" and interchangeable without adjustment or the need of an amp tech.....