If it is not Sunday when you are reading this, you may wish to wait untill that day for maximum effect.
Or not.
Spending most of today using my computer. Thought I'd take the time to rip an old cassette I have from the Finnish band Terveet Kadet and make a CD. Not going well. The source material isn't terribly well recorded. GIGO. Sounds like mud no matter how much tweaking I do.
My other computer-related project is debugging a comic-book database I'm writing in Java. I've been working on this project in one form or another for over a decade. I get a useable product and then restart. I'm just having fun, so it doesn't really matter.
This post is totally off task. Doesn't fit into the structure I have for this blog at all.
[Ominous music]
Or does it?
[Ominous music fades]
Sunday, July 15, 2007
The Lost Post (Freakwater)
Well, everything turned out for the best with loosing my last post. I'll never get that hour and a half back, and I haven't found a way to retrieve what I had written, but it set events in motion that ended a years-long quest.
First though, the external sites I linked to. I went through the trouble of tracking this stuff down, might as well use it: Hayseed Dixie, Otyg, Finntroll, The Angels. Obviously I had a musical theme, but I may use the same general themes in a later entry, so like the guy in the Monty Python sketch says: "Say no more!"
Pity I lost the post. Best writing I've ever done. Shakespeare quality really. Would have changed the world of music criticism forever. And who's going to contradict me? :)
Actually, losing the post saved me the embarassment that would have resulted from posting it. See, I made a little mistake. In one part I mentioned a band but couldn't quite remember the name - and got the name wrong. It's funny how memory works. The group in question records for a label out of Chicago. I was using the name of another band also releasing stuff on a Chicago label.
The group I was misnaming is Freakwater. Being able to say that represents the end of a quest.
The quest began several years ago when I heard this haunting Carter Family-style cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs". It was a "Brian Wilson" type moment for me. (The first time Brian Wilson heard the Ronnettes "Be My Baby" on his car radio he actually had to pull over and stop driving. I call that a Brian Wilson moment - you hear a song and it just floors you, expanding your notions of what music can be.) I've since heard it again once or twice, but could never quite remember who it was.
I figured I might as well link to info on the band as long as I was redoing my original post. In looking for info on a group whose name I could not remember I finally found the information I had been looking for on and off for years.
Freakwater.
First though, the external sites I linked to. I went through the trouble of tracking this stuff down, might as well use it: Hayseed Dixie, Otyg, Finntroll, The Angels. Obviously I had a musical theme, but I may use the same general themes in a later entry, so like the guy in the Monty Python sketch says: "Say no more!"
Pity I lost the post. Best writing I've ever done. Shakespeare quality really. Would have changed the world of music criticism forever. And who's going to contradict me? :)
Actually, losing the post saved me the embarassment that would have resulted from posting it. See, I made a little mistake. In one part I mentioned a band but couldn't quite remember the name - and got the name wrong. It's funny how memory works. The group in question records for a label out of Chicago. I was using the name of another band also releasing stuff on a Chicago label.
The group I was misnaming is Freakwater. Being able to say that represents the end of a quest.
The quest began several years ago when I heard this haunting Carter Family-style cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs". It was a "Brian Wilson" type moment for me. (The first time Brian Wilson heard the Ronnettes "Be My Baby" on his car radio he actually had to pull over and stop driving. I call that a Brian Wilson moment - you hear a song and it just floors you, expanding your notions of what music can be.) I've since heard it again once or twice, but could never quite remember who it was.
I figured I might as well link to info on the band as long as I was redoing my original post. In looking for info on a group whose name I could not remember I finally found the information I had been looking for on and off for years.
Freakwater.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Paradigm
I continue to be befuddled by Blogger. I've taken to just signing in to make a new post right off my blog's page, but today doing that froze my browser. No problem, that has happened before, I just kill the process the browser is running as, it goes away, all is right with the world. Only today I couldn't kill the process and had to reboot entirely. Weird.
And I have a reason to want to blog today. No, nothing notable is going on in my life, and my desire to ramble about girl groups isn't THAT compelling, but when life pretty much hands you a topic, well, you gotta blog about it.
Three things that have a common thread:
Thing one:
I sumbled across the MySpace page for the band (A).P.P.L.(E). I probably haven't thought about them once in the last dozen years. I listened to them a lot in the early/mid 90s. I kind of like when folks play with expected musical paradigms, and with a style that can only be described as folk-punk (folkcore?), (A).P.P.L.(E) do just that. Glad to see they're still kicking around. Real blast from the past for me.
Thing two:
A coworker lent me a big stack of CDs. Mostly anime soundtracks, but one of the non-Japanese discs was
THIS STINKS. I just lost 1 1/2 hours work finishing this post ... and no, nothing beyond the above was saved as a draft. I'm going to bed, and maybe redo this tommorrow ...
And I have a reason to want to blog today. No, nothing notable is going on in my life, and my desire to ramble about girl groups isn't THAT compelling, but when life pretty much hands you a topic, well, you gotta blog about it.
Three things that have a common thread:
Thing one:
I sumbled across the MySpace page for the band (A).P.P.L.(E). I probably haven't thought about them once in the last dozen years. I listened to them a lot in the early/mid 90s. I kind of like when folks play with expected musical paradigms, and with a style that can only be described as folk-punk (folkcore?), (A).P.P.L.(E) do just that. Glad to see they're still kicking around. Real blast from the past for me.
Thing two:
A coworker lent me a big stack of CDs. Mostly anime soundtracks, but one of the non-Japanese discs was
THIS STINKS. I just lost 1 1/2 hours work finishing this post ... and no, nothing beyond the above was saved as a draft. I'm going to bed, and maybe redo this tommorrow ...
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Live Earth
You readers don't know how lucky you are. I had a different post in mind, but 2 things happened:
1) The Live Earth concerts were today
and
2) It was the hottest day of the year, and heat tires me out - even when I'm not actually out doing anything in it.
I had planned on listening to the concerts on XM, but spent enough of the day in a situation where I had to be able to hear anyone buzzing my apartment that I just said to heck with it (another effect of hot weather - almost complete lack of ambition). I did manage to catch the summary show on NBC, which included at least some of what I was interested in.
Madonna - I really prefered her performance at Live 8. Too much emphasis today on the non-musical aspects of the performance. I like Madonna, but really wonder - why did she get TWO songs on NBC when everybody else got at most one?
Metallica - I never thought of them as a global benefit performing sort of group, but there they were. Unfortunately the song shown on NBC was "Enter Sandman". These guys did 3 straight-on classic albums (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice For All), somebody thinks we need to hear a song off a less-than-classic album. I guess the fact that it was a commercial success decides these things ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Continuing the theme of bands I like doing material that doesn't grab me ... If you're going to play an older song, at least make it from your artistic high point. But again, probably the whole commerial success thing.
Duran Duran - Speaking of older songs, it is either cool or sad that the one NBC broadcast ("Girls on Film") is nigh on 25 years old. But I liked it then, liked it today.
Roger Waters - The good first: giant floating inflateable pigs are cool. It's axiomatic. And the giant inflateable floating pig was present. The bad: performed "Another Brick in the Wall II" (no points for creativity, but an OK choice) with a bunch of kids on stage - and I'm pretty sure they weren't miked! They made little hand motions and stuff, but the kid vocals were clearly lifted from the album.
Those were pretty much the ones I was looking forward to. Pleasant surprise: Garth Brooks. He did almost an old-time spiritual, a la "We Shall Overcome". I enjoyed it, which is not what I expect as a reaction to Garth Brooks. Only one performer inspired me to channel hop and wait for it to be over: Shakira.
Not a mind-blowing musical experience by any stretch, but not a terrible batch of performances either. I give it (what I heard of it) 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
You're probably wondering how you are lucky to get this little rant rather than my original idea. Stay tuned. "What's In A Girl (Group)" is on its way. :)
1) The Live Earth concerts were today
and
2) It was the hottest day of the year, and heat tires me out - even when I'm not actually out doing anything in it.
I had planned on listening to the concerts on XM, but spent enough of the day in a situation where I had to be able to hear anyone buzzing my apartment that I just said to heck with it (another effect of hot weather - almost complete lack of ambition). I did manage to catch the summary show on NBC, which included at least some of what I was interested in.
Madonna - I really prefered her performance at Live 8. Too much emphasis today on the non-musical aspects of the performance. I like Madonna, but really wonder - why did she get TWO songs on NBC when everybody else got at most one?
Metallica - I never thought of them as a global benefit performing sort of group, but there they were. Unfortunately the song shown on NBC was "Enter Sandman". These guys did 3 straight-on classic albums (Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice For All), somebody thinks we need to hear a song off a less-than-classic album. I guess the fact that it was a commercial success decides these things ...
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Continuing the theme of bands I like doing material that doesn't grab me ... If you're going to play an older song, at least make it from your artistic high point. But again, probably the whole commerial success thing.
Duran Duran - Speaking of older songs, it is either cool or sad that the one NBC broadcast ("Girls on Film") is nigh on 25 years old. But I liked it then, liked it today.
Roger Waters - The good first: giant floating inflateable pigs are cool. It's axiomatic. And the giant inflateable floating pig was present. The bad: performed "Another Brick in the Wall II" (no points for creativity, but an OK choice) with a bunch of kids on stage - and I'm pretty sure they weren't miked! They made little hand motions and stuff, but the kid vocals were clearly lifted from the album.
Those were pretty much the ones I was looking forward to. Pleasant surprise: Garth Brooks. He did almost an old-time spiritual, a la "We Shall Overcome". I enjoyed it, which is not what I expect as a reaction to Garth Brooks. Only one performer inspired me to channel hop and wait for it to be over: Shakira.
Not a mind-blowing musical experience by any stretch, but not a terrible batch of performances either. I give it (what I heard of it) 2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
You're probably wondering how you are lucky to get this little rant rather than my original idea. Stay tuned. "What's In A Girl (Group)" is on its way. :)
Thursday, July 5, 2007
The Letter
I'm posting this from work. Which is probably wrong, but oh well. I picked up my mail before work. I got this bizarre card in it.
Yes, card not letter. But I have this little game where I title posts after songs. I don't know of a song called "The Card" ("Postcard", yes. But not just "card". Synchronicity here: that is a Boris Grebeshnikov song ... I mentioned him a few posts ago ...) Thus "The Letter".
The card was from the manufacturer of the drug I inject daily to control my MS symptoms. It congratulated me on one year of taking the drug.
Weird, huh?
Yes, card not letter. But I have this little game where I title posts after songs. I don't know of a song called "The Card" ("Postcard", yes. But not just "card". Synchronicity here: that is a Boris Grebeshnikov song ... I mentioned him a few posts ago ...) Thus "The Letter".
The card was from the manufacturer of the drug I inject daily to control my MS symptoms. It congratulated me on one year of taking the drug.
Weird, huh?
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Final
No, I'm not going away.
Final words (probably) on Chris Benoit here. And they're not even mine! But they are very similar to what I would write.
Final climb: I'm tiring of this metaphor. I had planned on a big celebratory post and virtual flag-raising. But things didn't turn out that way. Reached the summit, on the other side just more mountains.
Oh well.
Up.
I guess.
Final words (probably) on Chris Benoit here. And they're not even mine! But they are very similar to what I would write.
Final climb: I'm tiring of this metaphor. I had planned on a big celebratory post and virtual flag-raising. But things didn't turn out that way. Reached the summit, on the other side just more mountains.
Oh well.
Up.
I guess.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
I'm gonna be the coolest kid in the neighborhood
I was feeling kind of down today. Let's face it, I've got plenty lately to feel down about. Even grocery shopping didn't work as a pick-me-up (I usually enjoy that activity. Go figger.) I stumbled across something that improved my mood.
I'm going to buy a T-shirt.
Not just any shirt, though. I came across a domestic source for shirts featuring the band Guitar Wolf.
Guitar Wolf is not horribly well known here in the US, even though the movie Wild Zero, featuring the band, is out on region 1 (US/Canada) DVD. Here are some links to learn about them: wikipedia, official site, MySpace, IMDB.
How I stumbled upon this shows the benefits of having a short attention span when using the Internet. I started trying to answer a simple question: who is touring currently as TheTime? Morris Day of course, but the rest of the group? They played a free concert tonight Unfortunately I couldn't go, but it got me curious. I of course ended up on Wikipedia looking at the current lineup. There was a link there to other Prince-associated artists, so I started clicking on some of those. Eventually that got me to the entry on Vanity 6. There was a link there to a list of girl groups.
I have to say, the definition there of "girl group" is flat-out wrong. The working definition seems to be groups fronted by multiple female vocalists. And many girl groups are indeed that. But other groups that fit that definition are most assuradly NOT girl groups. Including Vanity 6. But I digress.
Anyway, on this list was a link to an entry on Puffy AmiYumi. I like that group, so I clicked there. This linked me to a list of Japanese groups, which led me to Guitar Wolf, whom I had not even thought about in quite a while ...
I also might get a shirt for my favorite Japanese band Judy and Mary (the vocalist, Yuki, reminds me of a hyper Ronnie Spector. Who had been sucking helium.) I'm not sure because the one I found is a homemade shirt. No money gets back to the artist, which is important to me even if the artist's cut is small.
But anyway ... I figure once I get the shirt I'll just about be the coolest cat my workplace has ever seen. Of course no one but me will know (we are trolling some pretty obscure waters here), but that's part of being cool.
Right?
I'm going to buy a T-shirt.
Not just any shirt, though. I came across a domestic source for shirts featuring the band Guitar Wolf.
Guitar Wolf is not horribly well known here in the US, even though the movie Wild Zero, featuring the band, is out on region 1 (US/Canada) DVD. Here are some links to learn about them: wikipedia, official site, MySpace, IMDB.
How I stumbled upon this shows the benefits of having a short attention span when using the Internet. I started trying to answer a simple question: who is touring currently as TheTime? Morris Day of course, but the rest of the group? They played a free concert tonight Unfortunately I couldn't go, but it got me curious. I of course ended up on Wikipedia looking at the current lineup. There was a link there to other Prince-associated artists, so I started clicking on some of those. Eventually that got me to the entry on Vanity 6. There was a link there to a list of girl groups.
I have to say, the definition there of "girl group" is flat-out wrong. The working definition seems to be groups fronted by multiple female vocalists. And many girl groups are indeed that. But other groups that fit that definition are most assuradly NOT girl groups. Including Vanity 6. But I digress.
Anyway, on this list was a link to an entry on Puffy AmiYumi. I like that group, so I clicked there. This linked me to a list of Japanese groups, which led me to Guitar Wolf, whom I had not even thought about in quite a while ...
I also might get a shirt for my favorite Japanese band Judy and Mary (the vocalist, Yuki, reminds me of a hyper Ronnie Spector. Who had been sucking helium.) I'm not sure because the one I found is a homemade shirt. No money gets back to the artist, which is important to me even if the artist's cut is small.
But anyway ... I figure once I get the shirt I'll just about be the coolest cat my workplace has ever seen. Of course no one but me will know (we are trolling some pretty obscure waters here), but that's part of being cool.
Right?
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