Even though, as I look out the window in the den I see sunshine, Megan's pitching clinic is cancelled. It alleviates the schedule a little bit, but with a full slate of practice, clean-up day, a birthday party, Acolyte training @ church, and another birthday party tonight, it is a full slate. It is 7:00 AM and I have, roughly, until 8:00 to mess around on the PC.
Of course, that means I had to go to the About.com pro wrestling site and read about Backlash, the PPV this Sunday.
Late yesterday, I was approached by our sys admin and... well, here is the email I sent:
I am being asked if the Word 2007 add-in "Save as PDF & XPS" can replace Adobe Acrobat. In the past, I used the "Convert cross-references and table of contents to links" option in my Distiller settings to make my TOC clickable. I downloaded the add-in, it installed fine, but I can't find an option that is the equivalent of what Adobe Acrobat allowed me to do.
I googled for "Convert cross-references and table of contents to links" "Word 2007" and got 3 hits - none of them helpful.
Am I just missing a simple setting somewhere?
Initial responses indicate no, I'm not missing a simple setting somewhere. Rats.
The full story is that I am migrating from my virtual W2K PC to Vista. I have a grocery list of software I need - RoboHelp 7, Dreamweaver, Paint Shop Pro - in order to duplicate my W2K setup on the Vista PC. I'm not interested in asking my employer to spend buttloads of money so not needing Acrobat would be ~$50 less bucks they need to spend.
In other news, I've been listening to Metallica's St. Anger release in light of reading about their upcoming 9th studio release. I'm starting to get excited about it, even if the new CD doesn't end up sounding like SA.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Pickles and the MiM schedule
Here's some shameless self-promotion - my review of the new Whitesnake CD is now published on Daily Vault.com.
In addition to having a review published - always a good day in my mind - I woke up today. That's better than not waking up in my book.
Second of all, the Pickles cartoon in the newspaper today was hilarious:
I think there are a lot of husbands in the world who read that and think, "Wow. How'd they get the hidden camera set up!"
Third, the Memphis in May 2008 time schedule was released. I think the lineup looks pretty good but, honestly, not as good as last year and not as good as 2004. I think the main gist of my opinion comes from my musical tastes.
I think it would be a good time - the two times I went were a lot of fun - and I admit to liking to being with the guys in a strange city. The weather has cooperated about 75% of the time - there has been rain both times I was in Memphis - but the people are great. I think that there is something to be said very positively for the city of Memphis. There are a lot of attractions and walking down Beale Street and absorbing the history of this avenue is inspiring. The food is outstanding and as long as you don't go to a busy restaurant, you're fine.
This year, though, instead of being in Memphis, I'll be in Iowa. The last time I missed 'the next year' after a Memphis trip, my family went to Disney World in Orlando.
As a side note, in 2008, there's actually no big vacation planned. We are going to not go on a major family vacation. Instead, we're going to go to the Grand Canyon next summer and fly down instead of driving. My parents are taking the kids to Mackinac Island in MI so that's their vacation and my vacation is 5 weeks of camping in Elkader. We will park our camper in our spot on Friday, June 13th (oh how I do not want to have bad weather or issues that day!) and not move it until Sunday, July 13th. Do not expect a lot of updates during that month!
Fourth and finally, there's a lot of good information about Metallica's ninth studio album @ Wikipedia. I have been a Metallica fan since 1988. Shortly after I graduated from high school, it seems, I started getting into their music. In college, prior to the Black release, I was ridiculed for liking Metallica. "That's not music," I remember a friend of mine telling me. That same friend thought "Enter Sandman" was awesome when it was released. Radio stations never wanted anything to do with Metallica's Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightening, or Master of Puppets releases when they were new. Yet, now, the two local rock stations, KRNA & Rock 108, now proudly play vintage Metallica. I've heard "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Fade to Black," "Seek and Destroy," "One," "Harvester of Sorrow," and, just yesterday, Rock 108's "6 Pack at 5" show started out with "Blackened." I saw the band in August 2004 and they were excellent. I even bought that gig from http://www.livemetallica.com because it was so stellar. I don't really care when the 9th studio CD is released - it could be Christmas for all I care. I just want it to be a good release and for the band to fully integrate Robert Trujillo's bass into their sound. That's the key - incorporate the bass into the next generation of Metallica.
In addition to having a review published - always a good day in my mind - I woke up today. That's better than not waking up in my book.
Second of all, the Pickles cartoon in the newspaper today was hilarious:
I think there are a lot of husbands in the world who read that and think, "Wow. How'd they get the hidden camera set up!"
Third, the Memphis in May 2008 time schedule was released. I think the lineup looks pretty good but, honestly, not as good as last year and not as good as 2004. I think the main gist of my opinion comes from my musical tastes.I think it would be a good time - the two times I went were a lot of fun - and I admit to liking to being with the guys in a strange city. The weather has cooperated about 75% of the time - there has been rain both times I was in Memphis - but the people are great. I think that there is something to be said very positively for the city of Memphis. There are a lot of attractions and walking down Beale Street and absorbing the history of this avenue is inspiring. The food is outstanding and as long as you don't go to a busy restaurant, you're fine.
This year, though, instead of being in Memphis, I'll be in Iowa. The last time I missed 'the next year' after a Memphis trip, my family went to Disney World in Orlando.
As a side note, in 2008, there's actually no big vacation planned. We are going to not go on a major family vacation. Instead, we're going to go to the Grand Canyon next summer and fly down instead of driving. My parents are taking the kids to Mackinac Island in MI so that's their vacation and my vacation is 5 weeks of camping in Elkader. We will park our camper in our spot on Friday, June 13th (oh how I do not want to have bad weather or issues that day!) and not move it until Sunday, July 13th. Do not expect a lot of updates during that month!
Fourth and finally, there's a lot of good information about Metallica's ninth studio album @ Wikipedia. I have been a Metallica fan since 1988. Shortly after I graduated from high school, it seems, I started getting into their music. In college, prior to the Black release, I was ridiculed for liking Metallica. "That's not music," I remember a friend of mine telling me. That same friend thought "Enter Sandman" was awesome when it was released. Radio stations never wanted anything to do with Metallica's Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightening, or Master of Puppets releases when they were new. Yet, now, the two local rock stations, KRNA & Rock 108, now proudly play vintage Metallica. I've heard "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Fade to Black," "Seek and Destroy," "One," "Harvester of Sorrow," and, just yesterday, Rock 108's "6 Pack at 5" show started out with "Blackened." I saw the band in August 2004 and they were excellent. I even bought that gig from http://www.livemetallica.com because it was so stellar. I don't really care when the 9th studio CD is released - it could be Christmas for all I care. I just want it to be a good release and for the band to fully integrate Robert Trujillo's bass into their sound. That's the key - incorporate the bass into the next generation of Metallica.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
6:50
Oh my...
I sat in my neighbors' driveway and drank beer. It was totally awesome. I may not accomplish a single thing from now on. This night.
Me.
I sat in my neighbors' driveway and drank beer. It was totally awesome. I may not accomplish a single thing from now on. This night.
Me.
Filmstrip
This post is dedicated to a teacher I had in high school. I kept track of the number of films, filmstrips, and slides he showed during a semester. There were 59 days of school and he showed 65 films, filmstrips, and slides.
A day of rest? Hardly!
Today is already shaping up to be a very busy day. On our way home from Cedar Falls last night, all I could really do was think about the tasks I need to complete in the immediate future.
On top of all of that, it is a typical 'spring' week.
Jeff Foxworthy, the redneck comedian, talks about how he loves his life and wouldn't change any of it (before he launches into his routine about being single) and I agree with what he says. My life is busy but that's okay. In the big picture, I understand the hectic schedule I'm immersed within is only going to last another decade.
At the end of that decade, Alex will be graduating high school and the list of the above tasks will be nearing the end of the tunnel. Megan will be in college and life will be a lot different than it is now. It is already a lot different in 2008 than it was in 1998 than it was in 1988.
In 1988, I was a senior in high school. I had not met my wife and wanted to be an English teacher.
In 1998, I was married for 6 years, Megan was born and Alex was on the way.
In 2008, I have been married for nearly 15 years (August), Megan and Alex are talking and walking and a joy to be around.
In 2018, Karen and I will be approaching 25 years of marriage, the kids will be nearly out of the house, and who can guess what other challenges and exciting things will happen. That's what I like about my life - there is never a dull moment.
The challenge is to stay focused. Where am I now? What am I doing now? I find it easy to focus on the future. Even though it takes place in a galaxy far far away, Yoda criticizes Luke Skywalker for thinking like that - Luke focuses on the future and craves excitement.
I feel like I need to consciously check the balance in my mind between the future and the present. I don't want to miss anything while I am consumed by thoughts about the future but I don't want to be unprepared for the future.
Speaking of the future, it's time to prepare for Mass.
- Now that Sharp is sending us a replacement microwave, I need to go to Lampe Appliances and retrieve our old microwave so it can be sent back to Sharp.
- Purchase a birthday present for my godson Daniel.
- Complete my reorganization of the den. I was up at 7 AM and made a good dent but there is much work to complete. I'm unsure if I will have time to accomplish this task today or if it will be after Desperate Housewives tonight before I can take it on.
- Organize the stuff that is to be taken to the dump on Saturday and get it loaded into the truck.
- Retrieve any clothes that were put in the storage room so they can be taken to the local Stuff store this Friday.
On top of all of that, it is a typical 'spring' week.
- Monday
- Megan has softball
- Tuesday
- Hard to believe but NOTHING
- Wednesday
- Megan has piano
- Alex has baseball. Mark, the head coach is gone so I am running practice with the Assistant Coach.
- Thursday
- Megan has softball
- Survivor, new Grey's Anatomy, new Lost, new ER
- Friday
- Prepare for the weekend & my father's birthday
- Saturday
- Alex has baseball practice, Megan has a pitching clinic, Spring Clean-Up Day in the AM; Godson's birthday party in the PM in Ely
- Sunday
- Godson's First Communion in Davenport
Jeff Foxworthy, the redneck comedian, talks about how he loves his life and wouldn't change any of it (before he launches into his routine about being single) and I agree with what he says. My life is busy but that's okay. In the big picture, I understand the hectic schedule I'm immersed within is only going to last another decade.
At the end of that decade, Alex will be graduating high school and the list of the above tasks will be nearing the end of the tunnel. Megan will be in college and life will be a lot different than it is now. It is already a lot different in 2008 than it was in 1998 than it was in 1988.
In 1988, I was a senior in high school. I had not met my wife and wanted to be an English teacher.
In 1998, I was married for 6 years, Megan was born and Alex was on the way.
In 2008, I have been married for nearly 15 years (August), Megan and Alex are talking and walking and a joy to be around.
In 2018, Karen and I will be approaching 25 years of marriage, the kids will be nearly out of the house, and who can guess what other challenges and exciting things will happen. That's what I like about my life - there is never a dull moment.
The challenge is to stay focused. Where am I now? What am I doing now? I find it easy to focus on the future. Even though it takes place in a galaxy far far away, Yoda criticizes Luke Skywalker for thinking like that - Luke focuses on the future and craves excitement.
I feel like I need to consciously check the balance in my mind between the future and the present. I don't want to miss anything while I am consumed by thoughts about the future but I don't want to be unprepared for the future.
Speaking of the future, it's time to prepare for Mass.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Almost a day of Rest...
I played in the Euchre tournament last night with my co-workers. I played 6 games. I started out really good, winning the first two games. Then the cards started to be poor. I lost the next 2 games. All in all, it was a good time and fun to be with the people I only know as co-workers to see what they are like outside of work.
I got a note from the singer of Angel Blake, thanking me for my review of their CD. Their new CD comes out soon but there is no US release date.
I put in a couple of press pass requests to some shows - Rush in Moline, IL, & a Motley Crue Fest tour stop in Milwaukee - so I'm hoping one or both works out. Getting a press pass to a show can be a frustrating thing. I always seem to run into issues and when I do, it's never fun.
The first time I ever had a press pass for a show was in January 1994. I had interviewed VoiVod's drummer on the phone and then was told I could go to their gig opening for Fight in Cedar Rapids. What a great show Fight put on! I still remember Rob Halford looking around 3Rd Street Live, smiling, and remarking, "I like this place. Maybe I should buy it." Wouldn't that have been amazing?!? Of course, I bought into his remarks hook, line, and sinker.
I remember going to see Everclear & Filter at the IMU in Iowa City. I thought I had two press passes but b/c the tickets were so cheap <$10?>, my friend had to buy a ticket. Actually, the ticket person went 2 for 1 on a ticket because there was someone else there who was supposed to be getting in for free as well. Everclear rocked the house. I saw the lead singer but was star struck and didn't approach him.
The worst time was in August 1998. A publicist called me and asked me if I wanted to interview Slaughter's Dana Strum in person prior to their gig in Des Moines, IA, at the Iowa State Fair. I remember jumping through all sorts of personal hoops to make that happen. Megan was 2 so I had to make sure she was 'covered,' find someone to go with. It ended up that I drove our (then) new van to Des Moines. I had promised my wife that since it was our new van, I would not drink and drive - which no one should ever do. There was a group of 6 of us (I think) and the other 4 had tickets to the show. My friend and I were going to go to the ticket office and pick up two press passes. When I got to the will call window, my name wasn't on the list. As show time came and went, I was forgotten. I had driven nearly 2 hours to interview and see a band and the best I could do was to stand outside the grandstand and hear the bands. Sober and upset, my friend and I walked around. It seemed surreal but every one had big glasses of beer. We ended up seeing the country singer that sings "Butterfly Kisses" in a tent and the world's largest reptiles.
Things like this have happened since - not the reptiles - but showing up for a concert and not having a ticket. The Poison show in Des Moines, IA, on Father's Day weekend a couple of years ago was like this. I wasn't on the list but I told the lady I was supposed to be so she gave me a press pass and one for my friend. I was supposed to see Nickelback and that pass fell through. Even at a small venue, my name seems to never be on the list. I was supposed to see my beloved Bigwig play at Gabe's Oasis (now called the Picador) and I wasn't on the list. In that case, $6 was worth the excellent show.
So it seems like every time I have high hopes for seeing a show on a press pass, it falls through. I'm not even at 50/50 of thinking I have a press pass / total times I've thought I've had one. I'm prbably at 15% of the time that the press pass works for me. The most recent time it did was seeing Godsmack, Breaking Benjamin, and Hour Cast in Moline, IL I went up to the will call window, showed my driver's license to prove who I was, and wham! an envelope with two tickets were handed to me. Perfect seats too!
As you might expect, there are a lot of good concerts coming around the Midwest. Rock 108 does a decent job of keeping their concert calendar up-to-date but what I don't understand is why Rush isn't on that calendar. And, if you go to the Lazer 103.3 website, they don't list Rush in Moline, IL, either. Lazer 103.3 and Rock 108 serve the same audience in two different markets. KRNA, based in Cedar Rapids, serves the same audience and directly competes with Rock 108, based in Cedar Falls..That's why Tantric in Cedar Falls @ the Reverb in Cedar Falls, isn't on the KRNA concert calendar, even though KRNA plays Tantric - I've heard them on KRNA.
Not only do I wish press passes would materialize when the publicist tells me they will, I wish there was a single site for all concerts in IA, MO, WI, IL, NE, and MN. Maybe I need to use this blog as the perfect concert calendar!
In the meantime, Megan's pitching clinic was cancelled due to the weather but Alex still has practice so I'd better go.
I got a note from the singer of Angel Blake, thanking me for my review of their CD. Their new CD comes out soon but there is no US release date.
I put in a couple of press pass requests to some shows - Rush in Moline, IL, & a Motley Crue Fest tour stop in Milwaukee - so I'm hoping one or both works out. Getting a press pass to a show can be a frustrating thing. I always seem to run into issues and when I do, it's never fun.
The first time I ever had a press pass for a show was in January 1994. I had interviewed VoiVod's drummer on the phone and then was told I could go to their gig opening for Fight in Cedar Rapids. What a great show Fight put on! I still remember Rob Halford looking around 3Rd Street Live, smiling, and remarking, "I like this place. Maybe I should buy it." Wouldn't that have been amazing?!? Of course, I bought into his remarks hook, line, and sinker.
I remember going to see Everclear & Filter at the IMU in Iowa City. I thought I had two press passes but b/c the tickets were so cheap <$10?>, my friend had to buy a ticket. Actually, the ticket person went 2 for 1 on a ticket because there was someone else there who was supposed to be getting in for free as well. Everclear rocked the house. I saw the lead singer but was star struck and didn't approach him.
The worst time was in August 1998. A publicist called me and asked me if I wanted to interview Slaughter's Dana Strum in person prior to their gig in Des Moines, IA, at the Iowa State Fair. I remember jumping through all sorts of personal hoops to make that happen. Megan was 2 so I had to make sure she was 'covered,' find someone to go with. It ended up that I drove our (then) new van to Des Moines. I had promised my wife that since it was our new van, I would not drink and drive - which no one should ever do. There was a group of 6 of us (I think) and the other 4 had tickets to the show. My friend and I were going to go to the ticket office and pick up two press passes. When I got to the will call window, my name wasn't on the list. As show time came and went, I was forgotten. I had driven nearly 2 hours to interview and see a band and the best I could do was to stand outside the grandstand and hear the bands. Sober and upset, my friend and I walked around. It seemed surreal but every one had big glasses of beer. We ended up seeing the country singer that sings "Butterfly Kisses" in a tent and the world's largest reptiles.
Things like this have happened since - not the reptiles - but showing up for a concert and not having a ticket. The Poison show in Des Moines, IA, on Father's Day weekend a couple of years ago was like this. I wasn't on the list but I told the lady I was supposed to be so she gave me a press pass and one for my friend. I was supposed to see Nickelback and that pass fell through. Even at a small venue, my name seems to never be on the list. I was supposed to see my beloved Bigwig play at Gabe's Oasis (now called the Picador) and I wasn't on the list. In that case, $6 was worth the excellent show.
So it seems like every time I have high hopes for seeing a show on a press pass, it falls through. I'm not even at 50/50 of thinking I have a press pass / total times I've thought I've had one. I'm prbably at 15% of the time that the press pass works for me. The most recent time it did was seeing Godsmack, Breaking Benjamin, and Hour Cast in Moline, IL I went up to the will call window, showed my driver's license to prove who I was, and wham! an envelope with two tickets were handed to me. Perfect seats too!
As you might expect, there are a lot of good concerts coming around the Midwest. Rock 108 does a decent job of keeping their concert calendar up-to-date but what I don't understand is why Rush isn't on that calendar. And, if you go to the Lazer 103.3 website, they don't list Rush in Moline, IL, either. Lazer 103.3 and Rock 108 serve the same audience in two different markets. KRNA, based in Cedar Rapids, serves the same audience and directly competes with Rock 108, based in Cedar Falls..That's why Tantric in Cedar Falls @ the Reverb in Cedar Falls, isn't on the KRNA concert calendar, even though KRNA plays Tantric - I've heard them on KRNA.
Not only do I wish press passes would materialize when the publicist tells me they will, I wish there was a single site for all concerts in IA, MO, WI, IL, NE, and MN. Maybe I need to use this blog as the perfect concert calendar!
In the meantime, Megan's pitching clinic was cancelled due to the weather but Alex still has practice so I'd better go.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Taking out the Trash
Sometimes, I write pieces for myself. My review of the Marshalltown, IA, band Modern Life is War is one such piece. This band is awful. I have been writing music reviews for many years - since 8th grade if you wanted to count my review of Grim Reaper's "See You in Hell" in 8th grade back in 1983-ish - and MLIW is enough to make me cringe. I've heard bad bands before - Juggernaut in the Twin Cities was awful as was Dokken's "Shadowlife" and a few in my "30 in 30" effort like D.O.A. Modern Life is War tops all of those bands as being the absolute worst. Mindless drivel that deserves to never be heard again. Of course, me writing about it deserves to be read.
A couple of other housekeeping notes:
A couple of other housekeeping notes:
- I work as a Technical Writer @ a software company in Cedar Rapids. I've been with the company since 10/1/98. I have a fantastic cool manager who lets me get up on a soapbox every so often. I didn't think it was clear what I do to earn a paycheck.
- I love my life. I have an excellent family who makes my world complete. My wife continually shows me what life can be like. My kids are the best in the world and make my life complete.
- I think there is a lot of political nonsense going on in the world. I think there's a lot of rhetoric from both sides of the aisle about 'changing Washington.' I think that has been talked about and talked about and nothing ever gets done. 'We feel your pain' says the candidate to the poor, 'but I'm looking out for myself first.' Gas prices are outrageously high, oil companies have huge profits, and... oh wait. I don't want this to turn into the Daily Koos website or the O'Reilly Factor page on the FoxNews.com site. I wish gas would go back to $1.50/gallon but I think it's going to be up to $4.00/gallon before long.
- Finally, it's 12:15 AM on Friday and I have a long day ahead of me.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
MC, Life, and a Pitty Den
This week has been exciting.
First of all, Motley Crue has announced their own Crue Fest tour. According to the information I have:
How awesome is that tour? I'm not making the trek to Memphis in May this year so a one day trip to Milwaukee may be in the cards. I'll have to see how that works out.
Secondly, this week flew by with softball on Monday, a trip to Pizza Hut on Tuesday, the rescheduled kids' Spring Musical (last week was the tornado warning), and tonight was supposed to be softball, but the heavens opened up a downpout so I had to watch "Survivor," TNA Wrestling, and ER.
Third and finally, tonight is the first night I've been in the den for more than a minute since Sunday. When I was tearing the room apart to locate the tax info, I made a mess. I did not finish putting it all away or even going through the mound of paper on Sunday. That means it surrounds me now as I write this.
Big weekend this weekend. Tomorrow night, there is a Euchre tournament for my co-workers. It's starts @ 6 and gets over ~10 or so. I imagine I'll get home ~10:30. Saturday is Alex's baseball practice @ 9 and I'm taking Megan to a pitching clinic. She is supposed to be from 10:45-12 but I'm taking her to the early one so that we can leave @ 10:30 to go up to Cedar Falls for my nephew's birthday party. I know we're coming home Saturday evening. Sunday AM will be 11 AM Mass. I need to find out what condition the drums behind the altar are in so I know what to bring for the Confirmation Mass.
Next week is even busier with baseball and softball practice, a new Lost, a new ER, and lots of other stuff. On Saturday is North Liberty Spring Clean Up Day so there will be some prep work for that. After that is our friends' son's birthday party. Sunday AM is my nephew/godson's 1st Communion in Davenport so we'll be there on Sunday. Then we're already into May.
Life is moving very quickly, but I enjoy it.
First of all, Motley Crue has announced their own Crue Fest tour. According to the information I have:
Produced by Live Nation, Crüe Fest, a touring rock festival featuring thehottest names in rock and alternative, kicks off on July 1st, and will hitover 40 major North American cities by the end of August. As if fansgetting to see a Mötley Crüe show were not enough, there is an impressiveline-up for the first year of the tour which includes Buckcherry, PapaRoach, breakout rock artist Sixx:A.M., and alternative rock band Trapt. Tickets will go on sale via www.LiveNation.com beginning Friday or Saturday, depending on the market. Fans that can’t wait for the onsale can get their tickets immediately by going to TheRockvine.com.
How awesome is that tour? I'm not making the trek to Memphis in May this year so a one day trip to Milwaukee may be in the cards. I'll have to see how that works out.
Secondly, this week flew by with softball on Monday, a trip to Pizza Hut on Tuesday, the rescheduled kids' Spring Musical (last week was the tornado warning), and tonight was supposed to be softball, but the heavens opened up a downpout so I had to watch "Survivor," TNA Wrestling, and ER.
Third and finally, tonight is the first night I've been in the den for more than a minute since Sunday. When I was tearing the room apart to locate the tax info, I made a mess. I did not finish putting it all away or even going through the mound of paper on Sunday. That means it surrounds me now as I write this.
Big weekend this weekend. Tomorrow night, there is a Euchre tournament for my co-workers. It's starts @ 6 and gets over ~10 or so. I imagine I'll get home ~10:30. Saturday is Alex's baseball practice @ 9 and I'm taking Megan to a pitching clinic. She is supposed to be from 10:45-12 but I'm taking her to the early one so that we can leave @ 10:30 to go up to Cedar Falls for my nephew's birthday party. I know we're coming home Saturday evening. Sunday AM will be 11 AM Mass. I need to find out what condition the drums behind the altar are in so I know what to bring for the Confirmation Mass.
Next week is even busier with baseball and softball practice, a new Lost, a new ER, and lots of other stuff. On Saturday is North Liberty Spring Clean Up Day so there will be some prep work for that. After that is our friends' son's birthday party. Sunday AM is my nephew/godson's 1st Communion in Davenport so we'll be there on Sunday. Then we're already into May.
Life is moving very quickly, but I enjoy it.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Confessions, Old Stew, and those darn Tentacles
I filled 19 spiral notebooks with songs and poetry from 1989 to 1996. I wrote some good stuff and some not so good stuff. I refuse to post every single piece I wrote because that'd be embarrassing and too self-indulgent for my tastes. Instead, as I see fit, I may share something. I confess to writing very painfully bad pieces. The worst pieces forced a ABABCDCD rhyme scheme and relied upon cliches instead of imagery.
Some of the pieces I wrote were either for or about the band Old Stew. The name Old Stew is not one I can utter without bringing a smile to my face. I've told the story of how the band came together to many people over the years. This is what I would call the official story. Because there are references to illegal drug use, I'm changing the names of those that participated in those activities.
My friend Ken was a guitarist. We were the same age. He and I had been playing together since the summer of 1989. We mostly worked on covers of metal songs like Dokken's "In My Dreams" and the Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane." There was another guitarist, James, and he was younger and wilder than either of us. He would show up to rehearsal late. He had a cool vibe about him and I loved to listen to him speak. Even though he was younger than me, I felt cool that he would actually want to be around me.
In the fall of 1990, James was a senior in high school and wanted to put together a performance for his high school's talent show. He wanted to play Hendrix's "Purple Haze" as an instrumental. We started rehearsing at his house and actually pulled off a good set. He had recruited a teacher that played bass and the three of us played well. I have an audio tape of us and Jonesy smoked on the guitar. His guitar playing was outrageously good.
I was a junior in college and Mount Mercy was going to have a talent show. I wanted to have Jonesy and the bassist play in the talent show with me. I also wanted a singer so I recruited Ken. Our set list was "Purple Haze," "Tush," and then a drum solo to end the set.
That show was panned in the Mount Mercy Minstrel. Something about the music was too loud, the vocalist wasn't very good, and how we gave a bad association to the phrase "garage band." A few weeks later, a letter to the editor appeared in the same paper which I came across this letter today while I was looking for my 2007 tax information:
The last issue of the Minstrel included a review of Standing Room Only, the talent show held during interim. As MC of the show and vice president of the Drama Club, I appreciate the recognition given to our first production of what will hopefully become an annual event. However, I was disappointed that your comments about the band Prophesy did not include reference to the one member who is a student here at MMC. Paul Hanson's talent was evident as he entertained us all on the drums; his energized solo received an enthusiastic response from the audience. I was sorry that this was seemingly overlooked in your article.
Thank you again for your critical comments. Hopefully, practice will make perfect and the show will get better every year.
Desire Steigauf
During the summer of 1991, I was determined to put together an even better winter 1992 talent show performance than I had in 1991. I still wanted to work with Ken and James but I didn't know exactly what to do. It happened that Ken came over one day after learning the riff to Metallica's "Enter Sandman." Wow, I thought. That would be an awesome song to play in the talent show.
At the same time that that was happening, James had hooked up with Catfish and Shoebox. The three of them had started working on tunes. Catfish was James' age and I knew of him. Shoebox was an unknown. I had never heard him sing until he was in my apartment and James and Catfish played the Black Crowes' "She Talks to Angels" while I played along on my Yamaha drum machine. It was magic. We sounded good. We talked about maybe doing the talent show.
Through some negotiations, we came up with a set list. We would play "Enter Sandman," I'd do a brief drum solo, then we'd play an original song that Catfish had written called "Bullfrog Blues." Ken would play lead guitar, James would play bass for "Enter Sandman" and then they would switch instruments to play "Bullfrog Blues."
The talent show that year was two nights. The first night, the nerves struck. I watch the video of us and all of us looked scared. Shoebox walked in front of Ken during "Sandman" and unplugged his guitar by tripping over it. Then during Ken's solo, he walked in front of Ken. My solo was uninteresting and "Bullfrog Blues" had some mistakes.
I remember walking down to my on-campus apartment that night and watching the video with the band. "Don't walk in front of Ken during the guitar solo," I told Shoebox. Shoebox nodded.
The next night, though, was magic. I was pumped, ready to play better than the night before. In the audience were my best friend and my parents. The house was packed. The show went off better. Shoebox jumped off the stage and ran up and down the center aisle of the auditorium during Ken's guitar solo. I played more interestingly than the previous night. We even threw in an impromptu blues stomp at the end. If you were to see the video, you'd see Ken looking confused as it was unrehearsed and unplanned.
That night, I went to a party with the other band members. It was a great time. I drank a lot of beer and, frankly, I don't remember much else about the night except that Old Stew was alive and well and ready to take on the music scene in CR.
And for awhile, that's what we seemed to do. We started rehearsing twice a week. Ken left because he didn't want to play bass - he had always played guitar and since Catfish wasn't going to play bass and James didn't want to play bass, we suddenly had three guitarists and no bassist. No one gave in so Ken left.
I remember that Shoebox disappeared for a week or so. He had a daughter named Mackenzie Rose who lived in Waterloo so he went up to visit her. We all met up again at a downtown bar, now called Brick's, but it used to be called Kurtz. We went to the house that Shoebox was living in and, literally, played music all night. I played a set of bongos and we did not sleep. We drank beer and enjoyed each other's company. It was the kick in the butt we needed.
The four of us started rehearsing at Catfish's dad's house. We started putting together a set list. We learned BTO's "Takin' Care of Business," Clapton's "Cocaine" and arranged "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" with influences from Axl and Clapton. We got a Sunday night gig at a bar called Bonehead's. We were never paid a cent but we got free beer. Around Easter 1992, the gigs stopped. It was okay, I guess, because during the 2-a-week rehearsals, my academics had started to slide. I had senioritius.
Our last gig was on a Sunday in May. We set up and played at Mount Mercy as part of the Spring Fling weekend and then played at Bonehead's later that night.
The band took a break for most of the summer of 1992. James went away to Paris on a school trip. I had graduated from college and had proposed to my wife. I also was intensifying my job search as I did not want to continue working at the restaurant I wrote about earlier in this blog after I became a husband.
We regrouped in the fall and started rehearsing again. Catfish had written more songs and wow! they were good. We would go into long jams at rehearsal and I'd walk out with sore arms. It was also around this time that a bassist named Dave joined us. No one really liked him but he helped shape a couple of the songs we had been working on and helped round out our sound. The problem with Dave was that he played his bass like it was a guitar and kept trying to play melodies. That didn't really fit into the songs that Catfish was writing.
By this time, there was a definite pecking order in the band. Catfish was the leader. Shoebox was the wildcard and would sometimes skip rehearsals for weeks at a time. When he was there, he helped Dave, Catfish, and James smoke pot. It drove me nuts. This was unacceptable to me. I was old enough to know better - college educated and all - and there I was with 4/5ths of the band I had put together, watching them smoke pot. I tolerated it longer than I should have.
Eventually, Shoebox, Catfish, and James got a gig at Open Mic night at a bar called the Mill in Iowa City on a Monday night. I told them to pick me up - that I wanted to watch them. They didn't pick me up. I have a cassette of their performance. I really wish I had seen them play. They played a song I wrote, that we had been working on, called "Sunshine Summer." That song was a love song I had written to my wife and Shoebox sang it beautifully. Catfish and James had come up with some ferociously awesome acoustic guitar melodies and ... it was magic.
A couple of years later, long after I had left the band and moved on in life with marriage and moving to Coralville, I wrote a piece called "Tentacles." At the time, I hadn't seen Shoebox in a couple of years. It's actually been over a decade since I saw him. I asked James about him the other week and was told that he isn't doing well, apparently living in a commune in Colorado and that he'd had a mental breakdown. I've added Shoebox to my daily prayers.
The epilogue to the Old Stew story isn't very interesting. James and I have had lunch. Ironically, he plays bass now. In February 2008, a guitarist I know came over to jam. I asked James to bring his bass over. James couldn't make it as one of his twin boys had an earache and the other had strep throat. I haven't seen Catfish in years. James did tell me that Catfish moved into a loft in Marion and that he had gone up there to jam with him. James said something about a reunion and while the idea has merit, I'd have to say it wouldn't be the same unless Shoebox was there. Shoebox always had a great smile. He appeared to have a good heart. I can only imagine what he's going through nowadays and I hope he is okay. "Tentacles" is the song I wrote about him on 02/03/94. In the song below, "Johnny" is "Shoebox" because what parent would name their child "Shoebox" after all. His real name was John.
I made music with Johnny
During the wildest daze of my life
We'd set up and play
Songs he wrote from his soul
When we had enough songs together
Sunday night was our night
We'd set up at a bar
You know, we never wanted to go too far
When the tentacles are around
They crush the life from your soul
Like a burned cigarette
Dance the mystic rhythms as you fall . . . falling
When the tentacles are around
You must beware
The giant octupi strips away dreams
Replaces them all . . . with screams
I haven't seen Johnny since he left town
Don't know where he is, whether he's high or down
Been thinking about soul brothers
And what they really mean
Drifting is the life Johnny knows
He follows the flight of the crow
I think about the music we made
And wish that bird could've stayed
We sat on the front stoop of the house
Taking a smoke break from the jams inside
Johnny held his cigarette tight
Smiled as he told me I'd be the one smoking one day
So I look at me now, the burning in my hand
Wondering why I started remembering this band
And it seemed so painless when I started
Then I reach the memory when I departed
Some of the pieces I wrote were either for or about the band Old Stew. The name Old Stew is not one I can utter without bringing a smile to my face. I've told the story of how the band came together to many people over the years. This is what I would call the official story. Because there are references to illegal drug use, I'm changing the names of those that participated in those activities.
My friend Ken was a guitarist. We were the same age. He and I had been playing together since the summer of 1989. We mostly worked on covers of metal songs like Dokken's "In My Dreams" and the Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane." There was another guitarist, James, and he was younger and wilder than either of us. He would show up to rehearsal late. He had a cool vibe about him and I loved to listen to him speak. Even though he was younger than me, I felt cool that he would actually want to be around me.
In the fall of 1990, James was a senior in high school and wanted to put together a performance for his high school's talent show. He wanted to play Hendrix's "Purple Haze" as an instrumental. We started rehearsing at his house and actually pulled off a good set. He had recruited a teacher that played bass and the three of us played well. I have an audio tape of us and Jonesy smoked on the guitar. His guitar playing was outrageously good.
I was a junior in college and Mount Mercy was going to have a talent show. I wanted to have Jonesy and the bassist play in the talent show with me. I also wanted a singer so I recruited Ken. Our set list was "Purple Haze," "Tush," and then a drum solo to end the set.
That show was panned in the Mount Mercy Minstrel. Something about the music was too loud, the vocalist wasn't very good, and how we gave a bad association to the phrase "garage band." A few weeks later, a letter to the editor appeared in the same paper which I came across this letter today while I was looking for my 2007 tax information:
The last issue of the Minstrel included a review of Standing Room Only, the talent show held during interim. As MC of the show and vice president of the Drama Club, I appreciate the recognition given to our first production of what will hopefully become an annual event. However, I was disappointed that your comments about the band Prophesy did not include reference to the one member who is a student here at MMC. Paul Hanson's talent was evident as he entertained us all on the drums; his energized solo received an enthusiastic response from the audience. I was sorry that this was seemingly overlooked in your article.
Thank you again for your critical comments. Hopefully, practice will make perfect and the show will get better every year.
Desire Steigauf
During the summer of 1991, I was determined to put together an even better winter 1992 talent show performance than I had in 1991. I still wanted to work with Ken and James but I didn't know exactly what to do. It happened that Ken came over one day after learning the riff to Metallica's "Enter Sandman." Wow, I thought. That would be an awesome song to play in the talent show.
At the same time that that was happening, James had hooked up with Catfish and Shoebox. The three of them had started working on tunes. Catfish was James' age and I knew of him. Shoebox was an unknown. I had never heard him sing until he was in my apartment and James and Catfish played the Black Crowes' "She Talks to Angels" while I played along on my Yamaha drum machine. It was magic. We sounded good. We talked about maybe doing the talent show.
Through some negotiations, we came up with a set list. We would play "Enter Sandman," I'd do a brief drum solo, then we'd play an original song that Catfish had written called "Bullfrog Blues." Ken would play lead guitar, James would play bass for "Enter Sandman" and then they would switch instruments to play "Bullfrog Blues."
The talent show that year was two nights. The first night, the nerves struck. I watch the video of us and all of us looked scared. Shoebox walked in front of Ken during "Sandman" and unplugged his guitar by tripping over it. Then during Ken's solo, he walked in front of Ken. My solo was uninteresting and "Bullfrog Blues" had some mistakes.
I remember walking down to my on-campus apartment that night and watching the video with the band. "Don't walk in front of Ken during the guitar solo," I told Shoebox. Shoebox nodded.
The next night, though, was magic. I was pumped, ready to play better than the night before. In the audience were my best friend and my parents. The house was packed. The show went off better. Shoebox jumped off the stage and ran up and down the center aisle of the auditorium during Ken's guitar solo. I played more interestingly than the previous night. We even threw in an impromptu blues stomp at the end. If you were to see the video, you'd see Ken looking confused as it was unrehearsed and unplanned.
That night, I went to a party with the other band members. It was a great time. I drank a lot of beer and, frankly, I don't remember much else about the night except that Old Stew was alive and well and ready to take on the music scene in CR.
And for awhile, that's what we seemed to do. We started rehearsing twice a week. Ken left because he didn't want to play bass - he had always played guitar and since Catfish wasn't going to play bass and James didn't want to play bass, we suddenly had three guitarists and no bassist. No one gave in so Ken left.
I remember that Shoebox disappeared for a week or so. He had a daughter named Mackenzie Rose who lived in Waterloo so he went up to visit her. We all met up again at a downtown bar, now called Brick's, but it used to be called Kurtz. We went to the house that Shoebox was living in and, literally, played music all night. I played a set of bongos and we did not sleep. We drank beer and enjoyed each other's company. It was the kick in the butt we needed.
The four of us started rehearsing at Catfish's dad's house. We started putting together a set list. We learned BTO's "Takin' Care of Business," Clapton's "Cocaine" and arranged "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" with influences from Axl and Clapton. We got a Sunday night gig at a bar called Bonehead's. We were never paid a cent but we got free beer. Around Easter 1992, the gigs stopped. It was okay, I guess, because during the 2-a-week rehearsals, my academics had started to slide. I had senioritius.
Our last gig was on a Sunday in May. We set up and played at Mount Mercy as part of the Spring Fling weekend and then played at Bonehead's later that night.
The band took a break for most of the summer of 1992. James went away to Paris on a school trip. I had graduated from college and had proposed to my wife. I also was intensifying my job search as I did not want to continue working at the restaurant I wrote about earlier in this blog after I became a husband.
We regrouped in the fall and started rehearsing again. Catfish had written more songs and wow! they were good. We would go into long jams at rehearsal and I'd walk out with sore arms. It was also around this time that a bassist named Dave joined us. No one really liked him but he helped shape a couple of the songs we had been working on and helped round out our sound. The problem with Dave was that he played his bass like it was a guitar and kept trying to play melodies. That didn't really fit into the songs that Catfish was writing.
By this time, there was a definite pecking order in the band. Catfish was the leader. Shoebox was the wildcard and would sometimes skip rehearsals for weeks at a time. When he was there, he helped Dave, Catfish, and James smoke pot. It drove me nuts. This was unacceptable to me. I was old enough to know better - college educated and all - and there I was with 4/5ths of the band I had put together, watching them smoke pot. I tolerated it longer than I should have.
Eventually, Shoebox, Catfish, and James got a gig at Open Mic night at a bar called the Mill in Iowa City on a Monday night. I told them to pick me up - that I wanted to watch them. They didn't pick me up. I have a cassette of their performance. I really wish I had seen them play. They played a song I wrote, that we had been working on, called "Sunshine Summer." That song was a love song I had written to my wife and Shoebox sang it beautifully. Catfish and James had come up with some ferociously awesome acoustic guitar melodies and ... it was magic.
A couple of years later, long after I had left the band and moved on in life with marriage and moving to Coralville, I wrote a piece called "Tentacles." At the time, I hadn't seen Shoebox in a couple of years. It's actually been over a decade since I saw him. I asked James about him the other week and was told that he isn't doing well, apparently living in a commune in Colorado and that he'd had a mental breakdown. I've added Shoebox to my daily prayers.
The epilogue to the Old Stew story isn't very interesting. James and I have had lunch. Ironically, he plays bass now. In February 2008, a guitarist I know came over to jam. I asked James to bring his bass over. James couldn't make it as one of his twin boys had an earache and the other had strep throat. I haven't seen Catfish in years. James did tell me that Catfish moved into a loft in Marion and that he had gone up there to jam with him. James said something about a reunion and while the idea has merit, I'd have to say it wouldn't be the same unless Shoebox was there. Shoebox always had a great smile. He appeared to have a good heart. I can only imagine what he's going through nowadays and I hope he is okay. "Tentacles" is the song I wrote about him on 02/03/94. In the song below, "Johnny" is "Shoebox" because what parent would name their child "Shoebox" after all. His real name was John.
I made music with Johnny
During the wildest daze of my life
We'd set up and play
Songs he wrote from his soul
When we had enough songs together
Sunday night was our night
We'd set up at a bar
You know, we never wanted to go too far
When the tentacles are around
They crush the life from your soul
Like a burned cigarette
Dance the mystic rhythms as you fall . . . falling
When the tentacles are around
You must beware
The giant octupi strips away dreams
Replaces them all . . . with screams
I haven't seen Johnny since he left town
Don't know where he is, whether he's high or down
Been thinking about soul brothers
And what they really mean
Drifting is the life Johnny knows
He follows the flight of the crow
I think about the music we made
And wish that bird could've stayed
We sat on the front stoop of the house
Taking a smoke break from the jams inside
Johnny held his cigarette tight
Smiled as he told me I'd be the one smoking one day
So I look at me now, the burning in my hand
Wondering why I started remembering this band
And it seemed so painless when I started
Then I reach the memory when I departed
Hey, wanna start a Rock Band?!? Why? You know a good Drummer?
Our neighbors across the street have a PS 2 and the game called "Rock Band." I went over to pick up the kids and it was my first time seeing this game. WOW! Is that ever fun! Alex tried the guitar, I got the drums, and Megan sang. We tried the Clash's "Should I Stay or Go." What's funny is that when the drums were set to 'easy,' I consistently failed the song. I could hear the hi-hat, but it wasn't telling me to play it. So we changed the drums to "Expert" and I did better.
As it turns out, I may have a gig playing for the upcoming Confirmation Mass in early May. The parish music directory, Judy, wants to have a drummer so I'm going to do it. There is an old set back behind the altar so next Saturday I'm going to stay after Mass and try setting it up to hear what it sounds like. Then I'll also know what I need to bring to be comfortable. I'm assuming I'll bring my own snare and hi-hat and maybe my bass drum pedal. Of course, sticks too and maybe a crash cymbal. I'm not sure exactly what that set has with it. I think it's a fairly old kit - maybe from the 70s, judging by the finish.
As it turns out, I may have a gig playing for the upcoming Confirmation Mass in early May. The parish music directory, Judy, wants to have a drummer so I'm going to do it. There is an old set back behind the altar so next Saturday I'm going to stay after Mass and try setting it up to hear what it sounds like. Then I'll also know what I need to bring to be comfortable. I'm assuming I'll bring my own snare and hi-hat and maybe my bass drum pedal. Of course, sticks too and maybe a crash cymbal. I'm not sure exactly what that set has with it. I think it's a fairly old kit - maybe from the 70s, judging by the finish.
And then...
First, if you want results of TNA's Lockdown PPV, go here. Pretty entertaining PPV from the results and, actually, it's kind of refreshing that the faces won. Joe won, Christian's team won, and Jesse James (can't remember his name from his DX days) beat the wrestler I grew up calling "Billy Gunn."
Second, I admit that, as a father of a daughter, watching "Father of the Bride" and "Father of the Bride 2" makes me cry. In "Father of the Bride," after Steve Martin's character has a meltdown about pricing and the wedding, he comes across his daughter reading a bridal magazine article about "how to have a cheap wedding." He reads part of the article that says 'hire a friend to take pictures' and 'bake your own wedding cake.' It is at that moment that he decides he needs to shut up and be a father of the bride. The actual wedding reception at the house is sad as well when he is trying to be in the same room as his daughter and it just doesn't work. In "Father of the Bride 2," there's sadness when Steve Martin just loses it with his wife and making bad choices about selling the house to "Abib." It's crazy that life takes over and he makes decisions without checking with his wife. It's insanity! Marriage is a commitment to work together. The touching scene in that movie is when he agrees to sleep on the floor b/c the dogs are laying (or lying?) on the bed and won't let him in.
Second, I admit that, as a father of a daughter, watching "Father of the Bride" and "Father of the Bride 2" makes me cry. In "Father of the Bride," after Steve Martin's character has a meltdown about pricing and the wedding, he comes across his daughter reading a bridal magazine article about "how to have a cheap wedding." He reads part of the article that says 'hire a friend to take pictures' and 'bake your own wedding cake.' It is at that moment that he decides he needs to shut up and be a father of the bride. The actual wedding reception at the house is sad as well when he is trying to be in the same room as his daughter and it just doesn't work. In "Father of the Bride 2," there's sadness when Steve Martin just loses it with his wife and making bad choices about selling the house to "Abib." It's crazy that life takes over and he makes decisions without checking with his wife. It's insanity! Marriage is a commitment to work together. The touching scene in that movie is when he agrees to sleep on the floor b/c the dogs are laying (or lying?) on the bed and won't let him in.
A Breath of Fresh Air
So, now, with 8 minutes until I need to go upstairs and get ready for our meeting, I can celebrate because I found the tax information and life is good. The den is still a pit - papers strewn everywhere and the two black boxes are full but there are more piles to be sorted and evaluated. I will probably tackle putting that stuff all away after the new "Desperate Housewives" episode tonight.
That fits into my grand plan for tonight. The TNA PPV is tonight and while I never buy pro wrestling PPVs, I know from watching Thursday's edition of TNA that Sting, Kevin Nash, Christian, Rhyno, and Matt Morgan are fighting Team 3-D, AJ Styles, Tomko, and someone else (I don't remember their 5th.)
Editor's Note: Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockdown_(2008), the "someone else" is James Storm.
Also, in the other main event, Kurt Angle fights Somoa Joe with the stipulation that if Joe loses, he gives up wrestling, not just TNA wrestling, but the sport of pro wrestling. I don't see how they would allow that to happen so I'm predicting Joe wins. Otherwise, the bookers will have to come up with a slick way around to allow Joe to continue to wrestle without losing all basis in reality.
I'm spinning one of my Top 200-175 CDs now before going upstairs - Black Sabbath's "Paranoid." It's perfect timing, in a way, because I'm up to the instrumental "Rat Salad" and when this song is over, it'll be time to go upstairs. The funny thing about this release is that it was a fluke I ever bought the cassette years ago. I think it was in the bargain bin for $1.99. The original cassette I bought has no liner notes and no indication that it is a guy named Ozzy Osbourne singing, Bill Ward on drums, etc. It took many years before I actually understood that Ozzy was in Black Sabbath before he sang "Bark at the Moon." My exploration of Ozzy's BS days has never led me in very deep. I've dabbled with their other songs but Paranoid does every thing I need. The instrumental interlude before beginning "Fairies Wear Boots" features my favorite structure where the guitars play and then drop out allowing the drummer to do a fill. The riff of "Fairies" is cool too.
It's 3:01 and I am leaving.
Watch the PPV
Editor's Note: Here are the results for the TNA PPV on Sunday, April 13, 2008: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockdown_(2008)#Results
One step behind a disaster
It starts out as a simple task: find the 2007 tax information. It's supposed to be in the den. That task turns into organize the four drawer file cabinet. That task turns into consolidate copies of pay stubs, financial statements, bank statements, and miscellaneous other stuff into files. That turns into why don't I put all the stuff I don't need on a regular basis - press photos of bands I've collected since getting into freelance music reviewing - and put those in the file cabinet and put the stuff I need to get to - insurance, TAXES, and financial statements - into one of two black boxes that are outfitted to hold hanging files. That turns into "I need to print information about Abigail Adams for school" but the printer is out of ink and thinks it should be on a different port b/c somehow "Flashpaper" was installed and has overtaken the port. That turns into we're authentically out of Magenta ink and, for whatever reason, the printer thinks life can't continue if its out of ink. That turns into I need Alex's baseball coach's phone number to tell him Alex's spring musical was rescheduled for Wed, when he is supposed to have practice, and that we need a schedule (I was in the field helping Coach and didn't get a schedule). At least with that, my wife thinks she has his phone number at work and will get it tomorrow. Then it's back to looking for the tax information. We have an engagement we need to leave at 3:30 for and I have to find the tax stuff before we leave. It's 2:15 now so I have 1 hour, 15 minutes, to turn a mess into a discovery. It is so frustrating to be a step behind the next disaster and feel like it's only a few moments until the next one strikes. It's hopelessness on a new level, I guess, to acknowledge this. Now it's 2:17 - so I have 1 hour, 13 minutes.
Update! At 2:40 PM, I found the tax information!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Rain and Pours
The end of my week turned out a little different than I expected.
We had the kids' Spring Musical @ school on Thursday night but there was a tornado warning. When the principal gave the all clear signal, we grabbed the kids and drove home through the driving rain. When we got home and had the van in the garage, the heavens opened up and it began to rain even harder. It was good timing to have arrived @ home when we did.
Last night was the Pre-Gala at school. We met a group of parents at a restaurant called the Blackstone. Of course, since there was a pool table, I got into a doubles game with the three other guys. We won the first game b/c the other team scratched on the 8 ball, but after that, we lost 3. It was competitive, but I couldn't find my rhythm. I'd make a shot, be set up to make a second one and miss. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon and cheddar cheese, which came with fries, and it was good. I'd go there again. The atmosphere of the place is a sports bar with lots of big flat screen TVs.
The Pre-Gala itself has improved in my eyes over the years. As our kids have gone through the grades, we see more and more of the same people to the degree that it's a big social event. You walk around bidding on prizes all in an effort to raise money for the school. They serve drinks and food and it's fun. I bid on an Iowa Men's T-shirt and won it for $7. I also was bidding on a Green Bay Packers blanket - my last bid was $55 - but I was outbid @ $60.
We left around 10, got home, had a beer with the babysitter, started watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" - the episode where Debra asks Marie about their private bedroom life - and fell asleep.
Today, Saturday, is baseball practice with Alex from 9-11, then Mass @ 5:15, then up to Cedar Rapids for the "Club Swing" show at the Paramount. My friend Phil gave me his tickets b/c he's in Las Vegas for a co-worker's wedding.
Tomorrow, we have nothing planned except needing to put down step 1 of the fertilizer on our yard. I'll work with my son on his tutor assignment, listen to his piano lesson, and do some flash cards.
By the by - no piano bag yet. I've heard anecdotes that when you least expect it, it will show up. I hope that is the case.
The weather has been rainy all week. My brother-in-law's sump pump quit, ran on battery backup for 8 hours, died, and now he has 1" of water in his basement. I feel awful for him. He is already remodeling his house and garage - it's a massive project that I feel like I've not helped hm enough with - and he had been storing furniture and stuff during it in the basement. It serves as a painful reminder that if you have a sump pump, you need to check it.
As far as music goes, when we were playing pool last night, a song called "When the Heart Rules the Mind" came on. GTR was a band that I used to adore. The guitarists were Steve Hackett & Steve Howe. Their other single from their debut release was called "The Hunter." I'd forgotten about them until I heard the song. Hearing it didn't help my pool game.
We had the kids' Spring Musical @ school on Thursday night but there was a tornado warning. When the principal gave the all clear signal, we grabbed the kids and drove home through the driving rain. When we got home and had the van in the garage, the heavens opened up and it began to rain even harder. It was good timing to have arrived @ home when we did.
Last night was the Pre-Gala at school. We met a group of parents at a restaurant called the Blackstone. Of course, since there was a pool table, I got into a doubles game with the three other guys. We won the first game b/c the other team scratched on the 8 ball, but after that, we lost 3. It was competitive, but I couldn't find my rhythm. I'd make a shot, be set up to make a second one and miss. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon and cheddar cheese, which came with fries, and it was good. I'd go there again. The atmosphere of the place is a sports bar with lots of big flat screen TVs.
The Pre-Gala itself has improved in my eyes over the years. As our kids have gone through the grades, we see more and more of the same people to the degree that it's a big social event. You walk around bidding on prizes all in an effort to raise money for the school. They serve drinks and food and it's fun. I bid on an Iowa Men's T-shirt and won it for $7. I also was bidding on a Green Bay Packers blanket - my last bid was $55 - but I was outbid @ $60.
We left around 10, got home, had a beer with the babysitter, started watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" - the episode where Debra asks Marie about their private bedroom life - and fell asleep.
Today, Saturday, is baseball practice with Alex from 9-11, then Mass @ 5:15, then up to Cedar Rapids for the "Club Swing" show at the Paramount. My friend Phil gave me his tickets b/c he's in Las Vegas for a co-worker's wedding.
Tomorrow, we have nothing planned except needing to put down step 1 of the fertilizer on our yard. I'll work with my son on his tutor assignment, listen to his piano lesson, and do some flash cards.
By the by - no piano bag yet. I've heard anecdotes that when you least expect it, it will show up. I hope that is the case.
The weather has been rainy all week. My brother-in-law's sump pump quit, ran on battery backup for 8 hours, died, and now he has 1" of water in his basement. I feel awful for him. He is already remodeling his house and garage - it's a massive project that I feel like I've not helped hm enough with - and he had been storing furniture and stuff during it in the basement. It serves as a painful reminder that if you have a sump pump, you need to check it.
As far as music goes, when we were playing pool last night, a song called "When the Heart Rules the Mind" came on. GTR was a band that I used to adore. The guitarists were Steve Hackett & Steve Howe. Their other single from their debut release was called "The Hunter." I'd forgotten about them until I heard the song. Hearing it didn't help my pool game.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Wanted: Denim ballerina bag with Piano books inside
What should be the hardest thing to lose has disappeared.
Somewhere, in our house, is a blue denim bag with ballerina slippers on the outside. Inside the bag are my daughter's piano books. It was shortly prior to bedtime last night when the tears started falling.
Tonight, it was more tears and raiding the shoe box she stores her money in as she is saving up for an MP3 player because her father won't let her buy an iPod. She thinks she has enough money saved up to purchase her piano books.
I told her that was silly. There is no reason for her to buy another set of piano books. They have to be somewhere. I was confident, when I said that, we would be able to find her piano bag. She says she remembers her bag being upstairs in her room. Now it is gone off the face of the earth.
We started in the obvious place but, for whatever reason, the bag is not in the sun room, where our piano rests. Instead, the piano bag is elsewhere, in a mysterious place, that no one - not me, not Megan (my daughter), not Alex (my son), not Karen (my wife) - can find. We started at the top - checked in my daughter's bedroom & closet, in the toy box, & in my son's room. On our main level, we looked in the piano room, in the master bedroom, and in the sun room. We looked in the living room and we looked in both vehicles. Then we looked downstairs. I looked in the furnace room, in the living room area, in the sump pump storage room, and in the den. It is nowhere to be found in this house. It has to be somewhere - I'm assured that a denim ballerina bag with piano books inside cannot grow legs and walk away.
The worst part is that I vaguely remember seeing the piano bag and remember thinking, "That's a weird place for the piano books." Of course, I didn't take the piano bag, at that time, and put it in the sun room. I don't have an answer to the question "Why didn't you put it in the sun room if you thought you were seeing the piano bag in the wrong place?" I apparently didn't think it was in such a strange place that I would never see it again.
In other news, though, I did find my knee brace. Prior to my knee surgery, I was wearing a flexible knee brace to help support my knee and make it not hurt. Then, it was gone. I found it under my bed. Not next to the denim ballerina bag with piano books inside, but the knee brace was found.
Life will go on and someday we will find where the piano bag is located. It is large enough that it will be found someday. It's not like a needle in the haystack - it's like a 8 1/2 x 11 blue denim bag. My daughter's piano books are within that bag and she needs that bag for tomorrow night - she has piano lessons @ 5:30. I get to go with her and be in the room when we tell her teacher we haven't been able to find her piano books. We have looked everywhere. And we have come up empty.
Monday, April 7, 2008
The craziness begins
It's baseball & softball season in North Liberty!
Monday -
5:30-6 Piano lessons - Alex
6:30-8 Softball practice - Megan
Tuesday
NOTHING
Wednesday
5:30-6 Piano lessons - Megan
6:30 -8 Baseball practice - Alex
Thursday
6:30-8 Softball practice - Megan
7 - Survivor (just kidding!)
Friday
Pre-Gala @ Regina
Saturday
9 - 11 Baseball practice - Alex
5:30 Mass
Sunday
CEW renewal
Rinse, repeat...
It will go like this until mid-June. Alex's last game is 6/19 and he has a tournament the following week - the week after the Sigwarth campout.
Monday -
5:30-6 Piano lessons - Alex
6:30-8 Softball practice - Megan
Tuesday
NOTHING
Wednesday
5:30-6 Piano lessons - Megan
6:30 -8 Baseball practice - Alex
Thursday
6:30-8 Softball practice - Megan
7 - Survivor (just kidding!)
Friday
Pre-Gala @ Regina
Saturday
9 - 11 Baseball practice - Alex
5:30 Mass
Sunday
CEW renewal
Rinse, repeat...
It will go like this until mid-June. Alex's last game is 6/19 and he has a tournament the following week - the week after the Sigwarth campout.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Too many projects
Simple. It was a simple goal. "Clean the garage." Good heavens.
I knew there were some old blinds in the rafters of our garage. North Liberty is having a 'Spring Clean-Up' day later this month so I wanted to get them down and put them in the pile to go to the dump. When I got them down, I discovered they matched the width of our two windows in the garage that did not already have blinds. So "clean the garage" was replaced with "hang blinds in the garage." It probably took longer than it should have - I'm not really the Tim the Tool Man type - but I was proud of myself when I got them up. The purpose of the blinds in the garage is to block the AM sun and the PM sun from the truck - our 2007 red Ford F-150. You know, the multi-thousand dollar vehicle we don't drive unless we have to b/c the van still runs and my car - an Achieva I bought from my Grandma years ago for $5 - still runs. So, after the blinds are up, and after some time passes, a friend of my daughter calls and wants her to come over. My wife takes her over but - because our van was in the auto shop @ Sears - my son and I go to Sears, my wife leaves to take my daughter and my son and I go to Payless Shoes @ the mall to take back a pair of tennis shoes.
When we finally come home, it is 2:30 and my left knee is starting to hurt. I last until 3:00 before I get down a chair from the rafters and sit. My wife comes home a little later. Is the garage done? At that point, nope. We had worked on it since ~10:30 and here it was 3:00 and we were not done.
At that point, I didn't care. Our neighbor Margaret came over, I offered her a beer, and that was the end of working on the garage. Later, our friend Jessica came over with her 4 year old 2nd cousin she was watching as did our neighbors from across the street with their newborn son. My wife was determined to get the garage done so she chatted while the rest of us sat on our butts. The sun was beautiful and if the wind would have been just a little calmer, it would have seemed like a lazy Saturday in July.
Then, around 5:30, people had to leave and I ended up going to the store with a list from my wife. Later we ordered pizza and watched the original Willy Wonka movie on TV. I also toggled over to the UNC v. KS game - for historical reference, KS won and plays Memphis in the championship game Monday night - before finally getting tired enough to go to bed ~10:30.
In the end, the garage is clean, the blinds are up, and life is good. We are going to 8:30 Mass and it's 7:30 now so I need to go.
I knew there were some old blinds in the rafters of our garage. North Liberty is having a 'Spring Clean-Up' day later this month so I wanted to get them down and put them in the pile to go to the dump. When I got them down, I discovered they matched the width of our two windows in the garage that did not already have blinds. So "clean the garage" was replaced with "hang blinds in the garage." It probably took longer than it should have - I'm not really the Tim the Tool Man type - but I was proud of myself when I got them up. The purpose of the blinds in the garage is to block the AM sun and the PM sun from the truck - our 2007 red Ford F-150. You know, the multi-thousand dollar vehicle we don't drive unless we have to b/c the van still runs and my car - an Achieva I bought from my Grandma years ago for $5 - still runs. So, after the blinds are up, and after some time passes, a friend of my daughter calls and wants her to come over. My wife takes her over but - because our van was in the auto shop @ Sears - my son and I go to Sears, my wife leaves to take my daughter and my son and I go to Payless Shoes @ the mall to take back a pair of tennis shoes.
When we finally come home, it is 2:30 and my left knee is starting to hurt. I last until 3:00 before I get down a chair from the rafters and sit. My wife comes home a little later. Is the garage done? At that point, nope. We had worked on it since ~10:30 and here it was 3:00 and we were not done.
At that point, I didn't care. Our neighbor Margaret came over, I offered her a beer, and that was the end of working on the garage. Later, our friend Jessica came over with her 4 year old 2nd cousin she was watching as did our neighbors from across the street with their newborn son. My wife was determined to get the garage done so she chatted while the rest of us sat on our butts. The sun was beautiful and if the wind would have been just a little calmer, it would have seemed like a lazy Saturday in July.
Then, around 5:30, people had to leave and I ended up going to the store with a list from my wife. Later we ordered pizza and watched the original Willy Wonka movie on TV. I also toggled over to the UNC v. KS game - for historical reference, KS won and plays Memphis in the championship game Monday night - before finally getting tired enough to go to bed ~10:30.
In the end, the garage is clean, the blinds are up, and life is good. We are going to 8:30 Mass and it's 7:30 now so I need to go.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Guitar Hero Guru / MLIW / Top 200 - 175 Metal Albums
I used to be a drummer. I even wrote a poem in college called "Damned Drummer" that talked about what it was like for me to sit in a class and tap my hands while listening to a professor. I started lessons in 1980 and, I admit, I didn't practice nearly as much as I should have practiced. I didn't want to learn the rudiments and if I got through one of my exercises in my book, I was happy, even though my teacher would write "play 10 times" to encourage me to practice. Didn't work - I still neglected my practice time. This is a youtube vid of a guy who took all the practice time I neglected, changed to guitar and went to town. I am in awe.
By the way, I've tried Guitar Hero and, well, I'm sticking to drums. I don't have the patience to learn guitar. I have tried it a couple of times. I learned the beginning part of Rush's "Closer to the Heart" on a Saturday AM when the wife and kids were gone but it was a) the easy version and b) I couldn't play with any fluidity. I have since tried GH at Best Buy and it was embarrassing.
a) currently own it
b) currently can listen to the CD repeatedly without getting tired or bored listening to it
c) each song must be one I like in some way. This is a tricky criteria. I like, for example, Megadeth's "Cryptic Writings" but I don't like "The Disintigrators" and "She-Wolf." Never have. That excluded that release from my list. These are NOT in order.
When applicable, I've included a link to my review of the release in the pages of Dailyvault.com.
WAIT!! What about Aerosmith? What about Korn? What about Led Zeppelin? What about Deftones or Van Halen? Finally, what about Deep Purple or Sevendust? Not me. I might appreciate their music, in the case of LZ and VH and would enjoy seeing them in concert. Die-hard fan that breathes and lives for their music like a lunatic? Nah, that's not me.
This just in from Hit Parader re: the next Metallica release:
"As word about more and more songs begins to “leak” out from Metallica’s latest recording sessions, one fact has become abundantly clear; despite their stated desire to “experiment” with their current batch of tunes, for the most part the material has “Classic Metallica” stamped all over it. While some long-time fans may want to draw instant comparisons to past band magnum opuses such as ...And Justice for All and the legendary “black” album, the group members themselves aren’t so sure. “These songs have a quality all their own,” said guitarist Kirk Hammett. “There are definitely elements that people will relate to as being Metallica, but there is definitely something different going on here.”
By the way, I've tried Guitar Hero and, well, I'm sticking to drums. I don't have the patience to learn guitar. I have tried it a couple of times. I learned the beginning part of Rush's "Closer to the Heart" on a Saturday AM when the wife and kids were gone but it was a) the easy version and b) I couldn't play with any fluidity. I have since tried GH at Best Buy and it was embarrassing.
In Other News...
Modern Life is War is calling it a day after being on the road and playing together, according to their Myspace page, Apr 26 2008, @ 6:00P @ the Moose Lodge in Marshalltown, Iowa, is their last show. They are playing Iowa City on a Tuesday night - yeah, that's really practical for a working man to make - so I guess I'll never see them live. Oh well. Their music on their Myspace page is, well, average. There's a lot of aggression, which is usually pretty good. They just don't trip my trigger, though. If you are compelled to do so, you may read about them on the Lala website.Finally...
I used to buy Hit Parader when I was younger to read all about the bands I liked. I rarely missed an issue though, over the years, I've whittled my entire collection to a single 'metal lyrics' issue with lyrics from Dokken, Whitesnake, G-n-R, Poison, and others, if that tells you anything about the era in which I grew up. Well, my friend Phil sent me a note today about Hit Parader's current issue about the "200 Metal CDs You Can't Live Without." I'm already skeptical when I see the cover because it has pictures of Slipknot, Korn, and Aerosmith - three artists I don't consider in my head to be on my list. In fact, tonight, I wrote up a list. I couldn't come up with 200 'metal' CDs. Even though it is my favorite genre, my tastes cross over into other genres. I like Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" and Spitafield's "Remember Right Now" and neither of those releases are metal. So here's my 25 favorite metal CDs. My criteria to make the list:a) currently own it
b) currently can listen to the CD repeatedly without getting tired or bored listening to it
c) each song must be one I like in some way. This is a tricky criteria. I like, for example, Megadeth's "Cryptic Writings" but I don't like "The Disintigrators" and "She-Wolf." Never have. That excluded that release from my list. These are NOT in order.
When applicable, I've included a link to my review of the release in the pages of Dailyvault.com.
- Megadeth - Rust in Peace
- Slayer - South of Heaven
- Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
- Metallica - And Justice for All
- Metallica - Master of Puppets
- Disarray - In the Face of the Enemy
- Anthrax - Among the Living
- Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid
- Guns-in-Roses - Appetite for Destruction
- Dokken - Under Lock and Key
- Destroyer - KISS
- The Privilege of Power - Riot
- AC/DC - Back in Black
- Motley Crue = Shout at the Devil
- Archetype - Fear Factory
- Sacrament - Lamb of God
- Love at First Sting - Scorpions
- Dangerous Toys (self-titled debut)
- Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
- Ratt - Out of the Cellar
- Rush - Moving Pictures
- Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
- White Lion - Mane Attraction
- Judas Priest - Painkiller
WAIT!! What about Aerosmith? What about Korn? What about Led Zeppelin? What about Deftones or Van Halen? Finally, what about Deep Purple or Sevendust? Not me. I might appreciate their music, in the case of LZ and VH and would enjoy seeing them in concert. Die-hard fan that breathes and lives for their music like a lunatic? Nah, that's not me.
This just in from Hit Parader re: the next Metallica release:
"As word about more and more songs begins to “leak” out from Metallica’s latest recording sessions, one fact has become abundantly clear; despite their stated desire to “experiment” with their current batch of tunes, for the most part the material has “Classic Metallica” stamped all over it. While some long-time fans may want to draw instant comparisons to past band magnum opuses such as ...And Justice for All and the legendary “black” album, the group members themselves aren’t so sure. “These songs have a quality all their own,” said guitarist Kirk Hammett. “There are definitely elements that people will relate to as being Metallica, but there is definitely something different going on here.”
Why sitting with Max is beneficial to my writing...
There's a lot on my plate but nothing that is very interesting.
My daughter has piano lessons tonight. I like taking her. I sit in the piano teacher's living room and write. The dog of the house, Max, often will sit on my lap and that's fun. We don't have a dog and Max kind of reminds me of the dog we had - D.D. which stood for "damn dog" - who was sent to the farm back in 1995. The way it works currently is my son has piano on Mondays and my daughter has piano on Wednesdays. That's why sitting with Max is beneficial to my writing. I'm guaranteed 1 hour of writing a week!
My daughter has piano lessons tonight. I like taking her. I sit in the piano teacher's living room and write. The dog of the house, Max, often will sit on my lap and that's fun. We don't have a dog and Max kind of reminds me of the dog we had - D.D. which stood for "damn dog" - who was sent to the farm back in 1995. The way it works currently is my son has piano on Mondays and my daughter has piano on Wednesdays. That's why sitting with Max is beneficial to my writing. I'm guaranteed 1 hour of writing a week!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Copyrights and Legalities
According to http://tinyurl.com/2w9xf5, one of the best Youtube.com videos has been removed due to a copyright claim. . It was an animated Neil Peart playing drums to the Rush classic "YYZ."
Instead, I'll give you death metal office drumming.
Sigh...
Instead, I'll give you death metal office drumming.
Sigh...
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