WCW:The Last Monday Nitro (03,26,2001 Full Show): http://youtu.be/YaocHIpPLPo
The very first episode of Monday Night Raw - Janu…: http://youtu.be/iS4o4ldqPGk
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Friday, August 29, 2014
Just How Did This Happen?
I'm not entirely sure I can comprehend how I now have 67437 File(s) in my MP3 folders. Just last month, I had 57391 so I've added nearly 10,000 music files between 8/15 and today? Really? I have a feeling that that number is artificially inflated by the consolidations of the MyCloud drive partitions and that the number for 9/1-9/15 will correct that. Regardless of the artificial inflation, there are 93 Days remaining until the end of the CD reconversion project. My progress continues to the extent that I will certainly be done prior to December 1, 2014. If things continue as they have been, it may be October 1, 2014, when I rip my last CD.
Uncle Rico Videos
I'm not in any of these videos.
New Wave 80s Rock Covers
Ring of Fire cover
70s Punk Rock covers
Buddy Holly Covers
Song Name -- Artist (original artist)
New Wave 80s Rock Covers
Ring of Fire cover
70s Punk Rock covers
Buddy Holly Covers
Song Name -- Artist (original artist)
- All These Things That I've Done -- Killers
- Bad Case of Loving You -- Robert Palmer
- Basket Case -- Green Day
- Blister in the Sun -- Violent Femmes
- Blitzkreig Bop -- Ramones
- Brown Eyed Girl -- Van Morrison
- Brown Sugar -- Rolling Stones
- Dancing Queen -- Yayhoos (ABBA)
- Dancing With Myself -- Billy Idol
- Don't Change -- INXS
- Fight For Your Right -- Beastie Boys
- Folsom Prison Blues -- Johnny Cash
- Hey Jealousy -- Gin Blossoms
- Hot Stuff -- Cockroach (Donna Summer)
- I Ran -- A Flock of Seagulls
- I Saw Her Standing There -- Beatles
- I Wanna Be Sedated -- Ramones
- I Will Survive -- Shout (Gloria Gaynor)
- I'm a Believer -- Smash Mouth (Monkeys)
- I'm Gonna Be, 500 Miles -- Proclaimers
- Interstate Love Song -- Stone Temple Pilots
- I've Been Everywhere -- Johnny Cash
- Jenny / 867-5309 -- Tommy Tutone
- Jet Airliner -- Steve Miller
- Johnny B Goode -- Chuck Berry
- Just Like Heaven -- Cure
- Lola -- Kinks
- Lonely Boy -- Black Keys
- Love Her Madly -- The Doors
- Margaritaville -- Jimmy Buffet
- Melt With You -- Modern English
- Mony Mony -- Billy Idol
- Oh Boy -- Crickets (Buddy Holly)
- Paranoid -- Black Sabbath
- Pump It Up -- Elvis Costello
- Ring of Fire -- Social Distortion (Johnny Cash)
- Rock and Roll All Nite -- Kiss
- Rockin' in the Free World -- Neil Young
- Rock'n Me -- Steve Miller
- Santa Monica -- Everclear
- Should I Stay or Should I Go -- Clash
- Squeeze Box -- Who
- Still Rock and Roll to Me -- Billy Joel
- Sweet Caroline -- Neil Diamond
- Train in Vain (Stand By Me) -- Clash
- Two Princes -- Spin Doctors
- What I Like About You -- Romantics
- When the Sun Goes Down -- Kenny Chesney
- Wonderful Tonight -- Eric Clapton
- You May Be Right -- Billy Joel
- Your Mama Can't Dance -- Poison (Loggins and Messina)
- For next rehearsal
- It's the End of the World -- REM
- Angie -- Rolling Stones
- A Hard Day's Night -- Beatles
- Accidentally In Love -- Counting Crows
- All Shook Up -- Elvis
- All the Small Things -- Blink 182
- An American Girl -- Tom Petty
- Angie -- Rolling Stones
- Authority Song -- John Mellencamp
- Break Up Song -- Greg Kihn
- Burning Love -- Elvis
- Bus Stop -- Hollies
- Cars -- Gary Numan
- Come Out and Play -- Offspring
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love -- Queen
- Crocodile Rock -- Elton John
- Day Tripper -- Cheap Trick (Beatles)
- Don't Be Cruel -- Elvis
- Driver 8 -- REM
- Fortunate Son -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Go All the Way -- Raspberries
- Good Girls Don't -- Knack
- Hello Mary Lou -- Creedence Clearwater Revival (Ricky Nelson)
- I Fought the Law -- Clash (Crickets)
- I Love Rock n Roll -- Joan Jett
- I Wanna Be With You -- Raspberries
- I Want to Hold Your Hand -- Beatles
- I'm Yours -- Jason Mraz
- It's Not My Time -- 3 Doors Down
- Know Your Enemy -- Green Day
- Kodachrome -- Paul Simon
- La Bamba -- Los Lobos (Ritchie Valens)
- Lay Down Sally -- Eric Clapton
- Monster Mash -- Bobby "Boris" Pickett
- Mrs Robinson -- Lemonheads (Simon/Garfunkel)
- Oh Pretty Woman -- Roy Orbison
- Photograph -- Ringo Starr
- Promises -- Eric Clapton
- Puppy Love -- Donny Osmond
- Red Solo Cup -- Toby Keith
- Rock and Roll Music -- Beatles (Chuck Berry)
- ROCK in the USA -- John Mellencamp
- Run Rudolph Run -- Bryan Adams (Chuck Berry)
- Running Down a Dream -- Tom Petty
- Seven Nation Army -- White Stripes
- Sex and Candy -- Marcy Playground
- Shake Your Booty -- KC & Sunshine Band
- Shama Lama Ding Dong -- Lloyd Williams (Animal House)
- Somebody to Love -- Jefferson Airplane
- Surrender -- Cheap Trick
- Suspicious Minds -- Elvis
- Teddy Bear -- Elvis
- That'll be the Day -- Buddy Holly
- The More I Drink -- Blake Shelton
- They Say Its Your Birthday -- Beatles
- Twist and Shout -- Beatles
- Upside Down -- Jack Johnson
- Vertigo -- U2
- Who Says You Can't Go Home -- Bon Jovi
- Wild Child -- Chris Ocasek (Crickets)
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Snap! Poof! Wa-la!
From cedarrapids.craigslist.org:
4 Piece rock cover band in CR looking for pro drummer. Preferably 35-50.
Classic rock, modern rock, a little rockin' country maybe to tease the ladies and maybe some pop here and there. However, it's mainly geared around 80's 90's and today's rock.
practice on average once a week, gig approximately twice to three times a month. Probably gig more in the fall and winter, then we like to take some time off for summer and play outdoor fests/gigs then. All in our early 40's and have decades of experience. We're looking for a dedicated drummer with experience. Plus if you have backup vocals and/or venue connections, but not a must on either. We have really good vocals right now and venue connections, but more always helps.
Email me with your credentials if interested in meeting us.
Please contact us if interested in trying out. Thanks,
4 Piece rock cover band in CR looking for pro drummer. Preferably 35-50.
Classic rock, modern rock, a little rockin' country maybe to tease the ladies and maybe some pop here and there. However, it's mainly geared around 80's 90's and today's rock.
practice on average once a week, gig approximately twice to three times a month. Probably gig more in the fall and winter, then we like to take some time off for summer and play outdoor fests/gigs then. All in our early 40's and have decades of experience. We're looking for a dedicated drummer with experience. Plus if you have backup vocals and/or venue connections, but not a must on either. We have really good vocals right now and venue connections, but more always helps.
Email me with your credentials if interested in meeting us.
Please contact us if interested in trying out. Thanks,
Windows Maintenance & Other News
I will probably forget about these two articles but am thinking if I put them here, as a blog post, I may stumble upon them in the future.
The role of System Administrator has become mine at home. When the Toshiba laptop doesn't function as expected, I try to figure it out. Often, I am merely guessing or making slightly educated guesses, based upon whatever website Google takes me to as I research the issue. From an email newsletter I subscribe to about Microsoft Windows, I skimmed the following two articles about Windows maintenance.
There's also news about the Los Angeles school district and my employer: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-ipads-20140822-story.html
Another thing that has bugging me lately is what Windows Media Player does. When I rip a CD, as part of the CD to MP3 conversion, I am often already listening to a MP3. What WMP does is automatically stop playback of the music and takes its focus to ripping the CD. This article -
http://superuser.com/questions/53703/how-do-i-stop-windows-media-player-12-auto-playing-cds - provides an easy solution of adding a registry key. Don't muck with the registry if you're uncomfortable doing so.
And speaking of the CD to MP3 conversion, I am at
The role of System Administrator has become mine at home. When the Toshiba laptop doesn't function as expected, I try to figure it out. Often, I am merely guessing or making slightly educated guesses, based upon whatever website Google takes me to as I research the issue. From an email newsletter I subscribe to about Microsoft Windows, I skimmed the following two articles about Windows maintenance.
- Part 1: http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/the-windows-maintenance-challenge-part-1/
- Part 2: http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/the-windows-maintenance-challenge-part-2/
There's also news about the Los Angeles school district and my employer: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-lausd-ipads-20140822-story.html
Another thing that has bugging me lately is what Windows Media Player does. When I rip a CD, as part of the CD to MP3 conversion, I am often already listening to a MP3. What WMP does is automatically stop playback of the music and takes its focus to ripping the CD. This article -
http://superuser.com/questions/53703/how-do-i-stop-windows-media-player-12-auto-playing-cds - provides an easy solution of adding a registry key. Don't muck with the registry if you're uncomfortable doing so.
And speaking of the CD to MP3 conversion, I am at
What a Coincidence!
After Karen was dropped off at work this AM, instead of listening to the recordings of the Uncle Rico gig from 8/23/14, I turned on Rock 108. Guess what song they were playing! Yes! Pantera's "Walk" that I wrote about yesterday! Rock 108 doesn't play an extensive number of Pantera songs. In fact, "Walk" and their cover of "Planet Caravan" are the only two Pantera songs I can think of that I've heard on that station. Of course, I turned up the bass and played my air drums flawlessly as I drove.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Mentioned Thousands
I have been working rather feverishly on the CD to MP3 conversion. I am in what I would call the final stretch. I have, roughly, 500 more CDs to go. I have also been consolidating the music and other files on the MyCloud drive. Bluntly, I created a mess and have so many duplicates that it is a terrible and time consuming mess. As I write this, I have 4 DOS windows open on the Toshiba laptop running RoboCopy from 4 different partitions on the MyCloud to an external hard drive. In the meantime, I have already copied some of the files from those directories into my 'master' music folder and the result is that when I ran my DOS batch file a little while ago, I had 93199 File(s). Lucky for me, I have a freeware called Search My Files and I can look for all files with (2) in the file name and delete them. It's not a big deal to also look for all files with @ in the file name and delete them. Yet, it's also kind of fun to say "I have 93,199 files in my music collection."
Easily Selfish
The first measure of Pantera's "Walk" does it to me every time. I feel chills up and down my spine. It is in my personal Top 25 songs. For me, with 1000s of MP3s on my hard drive, that's prestigious as far as I'm concerned. Anyways, that song is the epitome of heavy metal. Yes, I know Pantera started out as a glam band and I've seen the photos of them decked out in outfits that make them easily confused with the band Poison. But, by the time "Walk" came into my ears the first time, it was something that filled a hole in me that I didn't know was even there. Nearly a decade ago, Pantera's guitarist, Dimebag, was shot on stage. Within the last, oh, couple of years, there's been these swirling rumors that "Pantera" would get back together and that it would be former Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde playing guitar with vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and drummer Vinnie Paul. It seems every couple of weeks, this rumor comes up and, without any shred of doubt, each time, Dimebag's brother Vinnie Paul slams the rumor down. Just today, on Loudwire, there's another interview with Vinnie Paul and yet another slamming of this rumor. I don't think I really understood Vinnie Paul's feelings until he laid it out the way he did in this interview. He asked if Eddie Van Halen was shot, would the fans be asking Zakk Wylde to fill in on guitar and to call it Van Halen?
When I read that, I felt Vinnie Paul's pain that I imagine he feels each time he is asked about this idea. It was not just the chance of a Pantera reunion that was destroyed when Dimebag was shot. That's the easy thing to think about. This was Vinnie Paul's brother who was shot in front of him on a stage, playing music together.
In the interview, Vinnie Paul calls the fans "selfish" for not letting this idea die. And, okay, until today, when I read the interview and read how clearly the idea of Zakk Wylde replacing Dimebag is ludicrous in Vinnie Paul's mind, I would label myself selfish. I wanted to hear the magic of "Walk" being played again by Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown and sung by Phil Anselmo. I wanted to hear that not because I don't respect the tragedy of losing a brother.
I wanted to hear that because "Walk" releases an emotional burden when I listen to the song. Like I said, it's in my personal Top 25. If being selfish is liking a song so much that I thought about my adoration of Pantera's accomplishment with that song - that it could help me through sadness and rile me up when I have felt lackadaisical, then yes, easily, I am a selfish son of a bitch.
When I read that, I felt Vinnie Paul's pain that I imagine he feels each time he is asked about this idea. It was not just the chance of a Pantera reunion that was destroyed when Dimebag was shot. That's the easy thing to think about. This was Vinnie Paul's brother who was shot in front of him on a stage, playing music together.
In the interview, Vinnie Paul calls the fans "selfish" for not letting this idea die. And, okay, until today, when I read the interview and read how clearly the idea of Zakk Wylde replacing Dimebag is ludicrous in Vinnie Paul's mind, I would label myself selfish. I wanted to hear the magic of "Walk" being played again by Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown and sung by Phil Anselmo. I wanted to hear that not because I don't respect the tragedy of losing a brother.
I wanted to hear that because "Walk" releases an emotional burden when I listen to the song. Like I said, it's in my personal Top 25. If being selfish is liking a song so much that I thought about my adoration of Pantera's accomplishment with that song - that it could help me through sadness and rile me up when I have felt lackadaisical, then yes, easily, I am a selfish son of a bitch.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Image Issue
An American is beheaded (though there are now rumblings that the video was a fake?) and minutes later, the POTUS is on the golf course and that, per Erick Erickson, is playing the game badly.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Bittersweet
In a single word, the gig on Saturday night was "bittersweet" in the sense that there were positives and negatives.
On the positive side, I am estimating that I played at a 95% "grade" as far as hitting spots that we worked on in rehearsal. I call that tremendously awesome. I felt positive about how I played Alex's drums. As I begin to listen to the 3 files I created on my phone (one for each set), that impression is being reinforced.
On the negative side, I am saddened to report that Uncle Rico the Band is not going to be a band anymore. Why is the band not going to be a band? There's a variety of factors but probably the two biggest are time and there just isn't enough of it in a day to balance family, the band, and work by other members of the band.
When I think about my time over my tenure with the band, it's easy to look at numbers. What I've been thinking about is I spent 60 hours (including transportation from North Liberty to rehearsal in Cedar Rapids and then back home) with Uncle Rico. That doesn't count the hours I made my family listen to our setlist on my MP3 player whenever we were traveling somewhere in the Ford. It also doesn't count the hours I spent practicing the songs in the den on Alex's Yamaha electronic set. So, given 60 hours, the payout of those hours is a 3 hour gig and the $100 I got paid.
I'm not complaining about the time I invested. This was only my third band since high school - Old Stew and Lou's Classic Ride being the other two - and I think playing with Gary made me a much more precise drummer than the other two. With the other two, if I changed up my pattern or changed up a drum fill, it wasn't usually noticed. With Gary, though, it was noticed. Gary is a very precise guitarist and keys in on certain parts that are played by others. It wasn't an easy concept to dial in to my mentality.
Maybe something will change in the future and, if it does, I will be happy to play with Scott, Gary, and Greg. I updated the All Videos of Me Playing Drums page with some pictures. When I get the videos Alex took on his iPod, I'll add those as well.
I'm not in any of these videos.
New Wave 80s Rock Covers
Ring of Fire cover
70s Punk Rock covers
Buddy Holly Covers
On the positive side, I am estimating that I played at a 95% "grade" as far as hitting spots that we worked on in rehearsal. I call that tremendously awesome. I felt positive about how I played Alex's drums. As I begin to listen to the 3 files I created on my phone (one for each set), that impression is being reinforced.
On the negative side, I am saddened to report that Uncle Rico the Band is not going to be a band anymore. Why is the band not going to be a band? There's a variety of factors but probably the two biggest are time and there just isn't enough of it in a day to balance family, the band, and work by other members of the band.
When I think about my time over my tenure with the band, it's easy to look at numbers. What I've been thinking about is I spent 60 hours (including transportation from North Liberty to rehearsal in Cedar Rapids and then back home) with Uncle Rico. That doesn't count the hours I made my family listen to our setlist on my MP3 player whenever we were traveling somewhere in the Ford. It also doesn't count the hours I spent practicing the songs in the den on Alex's Yamaha electronic set. So, given 60 hours, the payout of those hours is a 3 hour gig and the $100 I got paid.
I'm not complaining about the time I invested. This was only my third band since high school - Old Stew and Lou's Classic Ride being the other two - and I think playing with Gary made me a much more precise drummer than the other two. With the other two, if I changed up my pattern or changed up a drum fill, it wasn't usually noticed. With Gary, though, it was noticed. Gary is a very precise guitarist and keys in on certain parts that are played by others. It wasn't an easy concept to dial in to my mentality.
Maybe something will change in the future and, if it does, I will be happy to play with Scott, Gary, and Greg. I updated the All Videos of Me Playing Drums page with some pictures. When I get the videos Alex took on his iPod, I'll add those as well.
I'm not in any of these videos.
New Wave 80s Rock Covers
Ring of Fire cover
70s Punk Rock covers
Buddy Holly Covers
Song Name -- Artist (original artist)
- All These Things That I've Done -- Killers
- Bad Case of Loving You -- Robert Palmer
- Basket Case -- Green Day
- Blister in the Sun -- Violent Femmes
- Blitzkreig Bop -- Ramones
- Brown Eyed Girl -- Van Morrison
- Brown Sugar -- Rolling Stones
- Dancing Queen -- Yayhoos (ABBA)
- Dancing With Myself -- Billy Idol
- Don't Change -- INXS
- Fight For Your Right -- Beastie Boys
- Folsom Prison Blues -- Johnny Cash
- Hey Jealousy -- Gin Blossoms
- Hot Stuff -- Cockroach (Donna Summer)
- I Ran -- A Flock of Seagulls
- I Saw Her Standing There -- Beatles
- I Wanna Be Sedated -- Ramones
- I Will Survive -- Shout (Gloria Gaynor)
- I'm a Believer -- Smash Mouth (Monkeys)
- I'm Gonna Be, 500 Miles -- Proclaimers
- Interstate Love Song -- Stone Temple Pilots
- I've Been Everywhere -- Johnny Cash
- Jenny / 867-5309 -- Tommy Tutone
- Jet Airliner -- Steve Miller
- Johnny B Goode -- Chuck Berry
- Just Like Heaven -- Cure
- Lola -- Kinks
- Lonely Boy -- Black Keys
- Love Her Madly -- The Doors
- Margaritaville -- Jimmy Buffet
- Melt With You -- Modern English
- Mony Mony -- Billy Idol
- Oh Boy -- Crickets (Buddy Holly)
- Paranoid -- Black Sabbath
- Pump It Up -- Elvis Costello
- Ring of Fire -- Social Distortion (Johnny Cash)
- Rock and Roll All Nite -- Kiss
- Rockin' in the Free World -- Neil Young
- Rock'n Me -- Steve Miller
- Santa Monica -- Everclear
- Should I Stay or Should I Go -- Clash
- Squeeze Box -- Who
- Still Rock and Roll to Me -- Billy Joel
- Sweet Caroline -- Neil Diamond
- Train in Vain (Stand By Me) -- Clash
- Two Princes -- Spin Doctors
- What I Like About You -- Romantics
- When the Sun Goes Down -- Kenny Chesney
- Wonderful Tonight -- Eric Clapton
- You May Be Right -- Billy Joel
- Your Mama Can't Dance -- Poison (Loggins and Messina)
- For next rehearsal
- It's the End of the World -- REM
- Angie -- Rolling Stones
- A Hard Day's Night -- Beatles
- Accidentally In Love -- Counting Crows
- All Shook Up -- Elvis
- All the Small Things -- Blink 182
- An American Girl -- Tom Petty
- Angie -- Rolling Stones
- Authority Song -- John Mellencamp
- Break Up Song -- Greg Kihn
- Burning Love -- Elvis
- Bus Stop -- Hollies
- Cars -- Gary Numan
- Come Out and Play -- Offspring
- Crazy Little Thing Called Love -- Queen
- Crocodile Rock -- Elton John
- Day Tripper -- Cheap Trick (Beatles)
- Don't Be Cruel -- Elvis
- Driver 8 -- REM
- Fortunate Son -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Go All the Way -- Raspberries
- Good Girls Don't -- Knack
- Hello Mary Lou -- Creedence Clearwater Revival (Ricky Nelson)
- I Fought the Law -- Clash (Crickets)
- I Love Rock n Roll -- Joan Jett
- I Wanna Be With You -- Raspberries
- I Want to Hold Your Hand -- Beatles
- I'm Yours -- Jason Mraz
- It's Not My Time -- 3 Doors Down
- Know Your Enemy -- Green Day
- Kodachrome -- Paul Simon
- La Bamba -- Los Lobos (Ritchie Valens)
- Lay Down Sally -- Eric Clapton
- Monster Mash -- Bobby "Boris" Pickett
- Mrs Robinson -- Lemonheads (Simon/Garfunkel)
- Oh Pretty Woman -- Roy Orbison
- Photograph -- Ringo Starr
- Promises -- Eric Clapton
- Puppy Love -- Donny Osmond
- Red Solo Cup -- Toby Keith
- Rock and Roll Music -- Beatles (Chuck Berry)
- ROCK in the USA -- John Mellencamp
- Run Rudolph Run -- Bryan Adams (Chuck Berry)
- Running Down a Dream -- Tom Petty
- Seven Nation Army -- White Stripes
- Sex and Candy -- Marcy Playground
- Shake Your Booty -- KC & Sunshine Band
- Shama Lama Ding Dong -- Lloyd Williams (Animal House)
- Somebody to Love -- Jefferson Airplane
- Surrender -- Cheap Trick
- Suspicious Minds -- Elvis
- Teddy Bear -- Elvis
- That'll be the Day -- Buddy Holly
- The More I Drink -- Blake Shelton
- They Say Its Your Birthday -- Beatles
- Twist and Shout -- Beatles
- Upside Down -- Jack Johnson
- Vertigo -- U2
- Who Says You Can't Go Home -- Bon Jovi
- Wild Child -- Chris Ocasek (Crickets)
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
Under a Rock
I think I have been under a rock. I don't think I have ever listened to the Replacements until yesterday. My initiation began with "Cant Hardly Wait." Here's a link to a cover. The quality of the video has something to be desired, but the tune is an awesome gem. Here's the link: http://youtu.be/33k1uLsGAIg
Here's a link to the band playing at a concert: http://youtu.be/O24c02t5Hv8
How Deep Do You Go
How deep do you go when you are using expand / collapse functionality on a help page is a recent discussion topic at work. If you are using expand / collapse functionality in your help system, and you expand a section, would you put an expandable section within that section so, essentially, you would be able to drill down 3 levels?
We didn’t put the 3rd level on a separate page because we didn’t want to make the user click a link and go to another page and lose the context of what they were reading about, but now the question becomes, “Is that a justification for going 3 levels deep within the same page?”
Here's a screen capture (without proprietary information) to better understand the specifics of the page our team is working on.
We didn’t put the 3rd level on a separate page because we didn’t want to make the user click a link and go to another page and lose the context of what they were reading about, but now the question becomes, “Is that a justification for going 3 levels deep within the same page?”
Here's a screen capture (without proprietary information) to better understand the specifics of the page our team is working on.
Rollins on Williams
Henry Rollins - and I know I am not as familiar with his work as I perhaps should be - wrote about Robin Williams' suicide in this article and I think reading it is a good thing.
Meanwhile, trying to navigate through a lot of work and life stuff.
Meanwhile, trying to navigate through a lot of work and life stuff.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Too Busy
Work has been absolutely amazing and devastatingly busy in a twisted slam dance with Metallica's "Master of Puppets" in the background as I sit and watch the chaos.
Except that I don't have time to enjoy the chaos. Release 8.0 goes out tomorrow. There are pending changes to the documentation for it.
I keep a journal in a spiral notebook and it's not been written in this week.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Final Preps
Uncle Rico had our final rehearsal prior to Saturday's gig. It was a good rehearsal, but certainly not the best I've ever played. For a stretch of five or so songs, I couldn't nail the tempo. I was either too fast or too slow. We navigated through set 3 as well as some other songs that Greg and I wanted to run through - Greg chose the two Steve Miller songs ("Jet Airliner" and "Rockin' Me") while I wanted to nail the tempo for both "Margaritaville" and "When the Sun Goes Down." We also went through "Royals" since it is a recently added tune.
After rehearsal, I loaded Alex's electronic drums into the van and then helped Greg by carrying some of his equipment out of Gary's house so Greg could load his car. The ride home from Cedar Rapids to North Liberty was uneventful as I scrutinized the recording of our rehearsal that I had created with my cell phone.
The band members are meeting around 5 PM on Saturday to get set up for our 7 PM start time. I am already anxious and excited.
After rehearsal, I loaded Alex's electronic drums into the van and then helped Greg by carrying some of his equipment out of Gary's house so Greg could load his car. The ride home from Cedar Rapids to North Liberty was uneventful as I scrutinized the recording of our rehearsal that I had created with my cell phone.
The band members are meeting around 5 PM on Saturday to get set up for our 7 PM start time. I am already anxious and excited.
Lucky to Be Alive
Motley Crue vocalist Vince Neil recently reflected upon the band's history of living a very different lifestyle than I have, or ever, lived. When he says "we could have died many times from many different things," I'm glad to know he realizes how precious life is.
Farewell to a Legend
Per this article, Smulekoff’s, a fixture of downtown Cedar Rapids, is closing.
I wasn't a frequent shopper at the store, but I recognize it as a fixture. Why this story is relevant to me, then, is because I have a friend of mine named Gary. He graduated from Mount Mercy College with me in 1992 and, shortly after graduation, began working at Smulekoff's. He has worked there ever since. When my dad and I went there to get furniture for my mom's room in the nursing home, I remember asking specifically for Gary to deliver the furniture because I knew that he would be good at his job. It was a real comfort to me to know that I didn't have to worry about anything related to her furniture being delivered.
Now Gary has to find a new job after putting in 20+ years of service. I hope his job search is already over because of a contact he made through all the deliveries he made.
I wasn't a frequent shopper at the store, but I recognize it as a fixture. Why this story is relevant to me, then, is because I have a friend of mine named Gary. He graduated from Mount Mercy College with me in 1992 and, shortly after graduation, began working at Smulekoff's. He has worked there ever since. When my dad and I went there to get furniture for my mom's room in the nursing home, I remember asking specifically for Gary to deliver the furniture because I knew that he would be good at his job. It was a real comfort to me to know that I didn't have to worry about anything related to her furniture being delivered.
Now Gary has to find a new job after putting in 20+ years of service. I hope his job search is already over because of a contact he made through all the deliveries he made.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Fields in Word Documents
I sent a draft of a user guide to a co-worker today. In part, this is part of his reply to my email:
I want to mention that I think it is cool to see that you are using fields in your documents. I proposed doing this in our manuals a few years ago. My proposal was not accepted, so we are still doing it long-hand. I think fields are under utilized.
I couldn't resist ranting about fields in Microsoft Word so I replied with the following:
I have two brief stories related to using fields.
From 1998 - 2010, I worked at a company. My co-worker, Brian, was writing documentation before I arrived. The plan was for that portion of his job was to come to me. So, one day, we were looking at one of his Word documents. I think I suggested making a text change to one of the sections. He protested that it would be a lot of work to do that. When I asked for his reasoning, he took me through his process for writing the documentation and for creating the TOC. This was his process:
At a different company, the documentation was written in InDesign. My co-worker manually typed the TOC, same way as Brian at the other company, including the ... between the text and the page number. For the 200+ page user guide she was working on, she would then print the entire user guide so she could manually verify that the page number in the TOC matched the page number in the body. If she found a discrepancy, she reprinted the user guide. She told me a story about how she had to be up past midnight so that she could verify the TOC was correct by 9 AM. Their process was to send a PDF of the user guide to a print vendor, who then printed a set number of hard copies, and if the TOC was incorrect and 10 copies had been printed, it was an expensive mistake.
When I heard her story of woe, I had no idea how to set up a TOC in InDesign as I had never used that tool before I started there. By the end of the day, I had figured how to set up Heading styles as well as how to create an equivalent of a field in Word. The next day, when I showed her how easy it would be to use this, she rejected my suggestion. Her comment was that it looked "too complicated" to implement. To my knowledge, they are still manually typing a TOC instead of using what took me a day to figure out. Part of me wants to know, the other is okay with ignorance to how much time my "too complicated" technique would have saved her over the years.
Thus, if you have a way to make your life easier, I say go for it. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission.
I want to mention that I think it is cool to see that you are using fields in your documents. I proposed doing this in our manuals a few years ago. My proposal was not accepted, so we are still doing it long-hand. I think fields are under utilized.
I couldn't resist ranting about fields in Microsoft Word so I replied with the following:
I have two brief stories related to using fields.
From 1998 - 2010, I worked at a company. My co-worker, Brian, was writing documentation before I arrived. The plan was for that portion of his job was to come to me. So, one day, we were looking at one of his Word documents. I think I suggested making a text change to one of the sections. He protested that it would be a lot of work to do that. When I asked for his reasoning, he took me through his process for writing the documentation and for creating the TOC. This was his process:
- manually type the TOC entries, including the .... to the page number.
- manually create a bookmark for each heading style in the document (except he didn't use heading style - he used Normal and manually formatted each heading to match what he wanted it to look like)
- manually type the page number
- manually create a hyperlink from the page number in the TOC to the bookmark in the body of the document (and make the hyperlink blue & bold by manually applying that formatting to the page number).
- manually create a section break so that each section had different text in the header.
At a different company, the documentation was written in InDesign. My co-worker manually typed the TOC, same way as Brian at the other company, including the ... between the text and the page number. For the 200+ page user guide she was working on, she would then print the entire user guide so she could manually verify that the page number in the TOC matched the page number in the body. If she found a discrepancy, she reprinted the user guide. She told me a story about how she had to be up past midnight so that she could verify the TOC was correct by 9 AM. Their process was to send a PDF of the user guide to a print vendor, who then printed a set number of hard copies, and if the TOC was incorrect and 10 copies had been printed, it was an expensive mistake.
When I heard her story of woe, I had no idea how to set up a TOC in InDesign as I had never used that tool before I started there. By the end of the day, I had figured how to set up Heading styles as well as how to create an equivalent of a field in Word. The next day, when I showed her how easy it would be to use this, she rejected my suggestion. Her comment was that it looked "too complicated" to implement. To my knowledge, they are still manually typing a TOC instead of using what took me a day to figure out. Part of me wants to know, the other is okay with ignorance to how much time my "too complicated" technique would have saved her over the years.
Thus, if you have a way to make your life easier, I say go for it. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission.
Unrest in Ferguson
It would be irresponsible for me to not include a link to a story about the unrest in Ferguson, MO, which is described as a St. Louis suburb, after the shooting of Michael Brown, an 18 year old kid, but I also suspect that, as more details emerge, there will be a lot more information that needs to be edited for clarity and accuracy.
We Don't Have Thugs
I was wondering when the recent outbreak of college kids being college kids would end. I don't care if you are a Big Ten basketball player, a sorority girl, or any other kind of student, college kids make mistakes. That's all there is to it and Coach Fran says it the right way. Do I really need to list all of my mistakes that I made in college? I didn't think so.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Gigging
In case it's been lost in the jungle of all the other posts that have been made on this blog, Uncle Rico the Band is playing at a poolside party at the Elk's Club in Iowa City on Saturday night. I am so excited to be playing! We rehearsed twice last week (Monday and Wednesday) and rehearse for a final time tomorrow night. We will have gone through all three of our sets twice after tomorrow night's rehearsal. Randy, who is our Gary's (guitar/vocals) brother, has been running our sound through the PA to get things ready for Saturday. I have been especially happy with the way Alex's Yamaha electronic drums have sounded coming through the PA. The PA speakers are set up in what I would call a living room while the four of us play our instruments in what I would call a bedroom. Previously, I would use my cell phone to record our rehearsals with my cell phone in the same room as our instruments. However, at Wednesday night's rehearsal, I put my phone in the living room with the PA speakers. I like what I hear when I listen to the recording.
These are the songs we are playing.
These are the songs we are playing.
Set 1
Ring of Fire
|
57
|
Open HH
|
84
|
I've Been Everywhere
|
58
|
Jet
|
106
|
Oh Boy
|
58
|
Jet
|
96
|
Squeeze Box
|
53
|
Tamb & Click
|
68
|
Jet Airliner
|
58
|
Jet
|
61
|
Margaritaville
|
53
|
Tamb & Click
|
66
|
When the Sun Goes Down
|
53
|
Tamb & Click
|
53
|
Stand By Me
|
58
|
Jet
|
60
|
500 Miles
|
58
|
Jet
|
65
|
It's the End of the World
|
58
|
Jet
|
104
|
Just Like Heaven
|
4
|
Rock Kit
|
77
|
I Melt With You
|
4
|
Rock Kit
|
77
|
I Saw Her Standing There
|
57
|
Open HH
|
80
|
Love Her Madly
|
1
|
Oak Custom
|
74
|
I Will Survive
|
57
|
Open HH
|
60
|
Rock'n Me
|
58
|
Jet
|
62
|
Royals
|
57
|
Open HH
|
42
|
Set 2
You May Be Right
|
58
|
Jet
|
75
|
Blister in the Sun
|
58
|
Jet
|
87
|
What I Like About You
|
57
|
Open HH
|
80
|
Jenny / 867-5309
|
58
|
Jet
|
70
|
Brown Eyed Girl
|
53
|
Tamb & Click
|
73
|
Escape
|
58
|
Jet
|
88
|
Dancing Queen
|
58
|
Jet
|
54
|
I Ran
|
58
|
Jet
|
73
|
Wonderful Tonight
|
58
|
Jet
|
24
|
Folsom Prison Blues
|
58
|
Jet
|
104
|
Hot Stuff
|
57
|
Open HH
|
77
|
Bad Case of Loving You
|
58
|
Jet
|
74
|
Johnny B Goode
|
58
|
Jet
|
80
|
Sweet Caroline
|
58
|
Jet
|
65
|
Set 3
Hey Jealousy
|
58
|
Jet
|
77
|
Blitzkreig Bop
|
57
|
Open HH
|
89
|
I Wanna Be Sedated
|
57
|
Open HH
|
81
|
Should I Stay or Should I Go
|
53
|
Tamb & Click
|
56
|
Basket Case
|
58
|
Jet
|
88
|
Fight For Your Right
|
57
|
Open HH
|
67
|
Sweet Child O Mine
|
58
|
Jet
|
42
|
Paranoid
|
57
|
Open HH
|
87
|
Rock and Roll All Nite
|
57
|
Open HH
|
72
|
Rockin' in the Free World
|
57
|
Open HH
|
73
|
Brown Sugar
|
58
|
Jet
|
66
|
Your Mama Can't Dance
|
57
|
Open HH
|
76
|
Pump It Up
|
57
|
Open HH
|
69
|
Lola
|
57
|
Open HH
|
83
|
Oh Boy
|
58
|
Jet
|
96
|
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