Everybody Loves Raymond

By far, my favorite clips in the "Everybody Loves Raymond" series.

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Unexpected

Last night, we were nearly on the way to Wellman for Alex's baseball game when we got the word that the game had been cancelled. Yes, it was rainy, but the game was cancelled because the field was double-booked. It was a good thing we found out before we drove around 1 hour to the game.

Instead, Karen, Alex, and I went to Culver's for supper (Megan was working) and, during supper, it was determined that we would go to Lowe's to pick up some mulch, patching seed, and plants. Spent $__ at Lowe's. Upon returning home, we went to work with the stuff we had bought and got that all done.

Then, unexpectedly, the night was open. While I watched the Indiana Pacers lose to the Miami Heat on our bed, Karen watched television in the living room.

I was asleep almost instantly.

Recap of Last Night's Scary Robots Rehearsal

We had Scary Robots rehearsal at 8 and, overall, I was happy with how we sounded. It was a work session as we spent a lot of time working hard to nail the ending of "Saturday Night". The fact that we were now working on the ending of the song is kind of funny - we haven't actually made it through to the end of that song as many times as you'd think for it being on our list!

We also talked about playing our first gig in August and some logistics of that as well as confirming we are not going to rehearse this coming Friday (Joe is going to Chicago for his mother's 90th birthday party / Matthew has out of town guests). I think this actually will work out good for me. We still got our 'weekly quota' fulfilled because we rehearsed last night. There was a good conversation about a couple of other gigs - even though after checking the calendar when I got home, I can't commit to one of them - and the need for us to just go out and play in front of people. There was talk of playing in a backyard on a cement pad that is being poured for a basketball court.

Playing in front of people is increasingly shaping up to being a task that we need to complete. I think we are getting serious about finding the best way to complete it. We have been rehearsing fairly regularly for about a year. Matthew pointed out that we could do a hour now (I think he used the adjective "sloppy") and that with our regular rehearsals, by August, we would be even more polished. I am totally on-board with that.

Personally, I have some things I need to work on:

• Practicing. I played the Yamaha set for a solid 1/2 hour prior to leaving for rehearsal last night. I think the electronic set is really good for loosening up the muscles. I also took 600 mg of ibuprofen before I left because, after 30 straight minutes of playing, I could feel my shoulders tensing up. I need to get myself to the peak of my drumming potential. I need to be able to play the songs on our set list and, frankly, be able to play even more in case we have the time remaining in our time slot.

Right now, there are three songs on our list that I need to continue to internalize and the best way to do that is to spend time on the Yamaha set on a nightly basis. The fact remains that my time is not a metronome anymore. As the drummer, it's my duty and responsibility to nail the tempo and keep it consistent. That is an issue with these songs:

1. "Saturday Night"
• This song is fast and my endurance is challenged. I talk about this song being at the beginning of a set because it's a hard song for me to play. We haven't pounded through it enough times for me to settle on when I'm going to nail the snare on 2 and 4 and when I'm going to nail the snare on 1, 2 3, 4.  I simply need to spend more time with it
2. "American Girl" 
• While I can play it better than when we started to polish the tune, it's still very mechanical when I play. Without listening to the recording from last night, I think I was decent. It's not especially a 'fun' song for me to play. I can now play the drum beat and hit the open hi-hat on the 3 of the second bar in the 2 bar phrase. At the same time, if I am not concentrating 'really hard', I don't play it correctly. Though I am not in the same league as Metallica's Lars Ulrich, I remember reading an interview with Ulrich where he talked about playing their complicated parts when they would play songs from the "And Justice for All" release in concert. He described those songs with the complicated parts as not being as fun to play because he had to concentrate instead of relying on the 'feel' of the song. Looking back on this idea, it makes sense that their next release was the "Black" album, which were definitely more straight-forward songs than what they had done on the "Justice" release. This relates to me because I like playing "Break Up Song" and "What I Like About You" - two of the simpler songs on our list - more than "American Girl."
3. "Cheap Sunglasses" 
• continues to have me baffled. Back in 1999 / 2000, when I was in "Free Beer" with Steve on guitar  / vocals, Ralph on bass / vocals, and Jon on guitar / vocals, we would play this tune and it had a much different feel and groove. I know that Brian Guitar, Joe, and Matthew are different musicians - totally get it - but I just can't put my finger on what is so different between the way the song was played then and the way the song is played now. I am convinced I need to listen to our rehearsal recording from last night as well as going back to the recording of the Free Beer version and pick apart the differences.

Songs we did at rehearsal - though not in order:

1. Break Up Song
2. Saturday Night
3. For What It's Worth
4. Sunshine of Your Love
5. American Girl
6. Rocking in the Free World
7. Cheap Sunglasses
8. What I Like About You
9. Dead Flowers
10. Lonely Boy
11. Sweet Jane

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Songs we didn't do that are on our list:

12. Hey Joe
13. Big River
14. Stuck in the Middle
15. Key to the Highway
16. Foghat

All Fired Up

After Matthew volunteered to sing "Hit Me With your Best Shot", it reminded me of my favorite Pat Benatar song of all time. These are the lyrics that speak to me in "All Fired Up":

Now I believe there comes a time

When everything just falls in line

We live an' learn from our mistakes

The deepest cuts are healed by faith

Iowa Hawkeye Sports Update

I like the direction of the Iowa men's basketball team. The 2012-13 team ended the season as the runner-up in the NIT tournament and were set to return 9 of the 10 players that saw the most playing time. Recently, though, on May 14, it was announced that Patrick Ingram was going to transfer, which drops the top 10 from 90% returning to 80% returning. However, the fact that Iowa has transfer Jarrod Uthoff coming in and Kyle Meyer, who sat out as a red shirt freshman coming into the mix, makes up for the loss of senior Eric May and Ingram's transfer.

And I know a lot will be written between now and the fall about Iowa basketball and there will be a lot of hype and excitement. It will be a packed team, just like the season that just ended. My hope is that the excitement translates into sold out games, victories, and the end of my biggest pet peeves - fans leaving before the end of the game and fans not standing up and cheering throughout the game. I can't believe that other Big 10 school fans leave just to beat the traffic.

Just a side note, I don't blame anyone for transferring out of any college basketball program. It's sad and it's distressful when it's not the right match and the only resolution is to do so, but frankly, college basketball is about preparing for the next step as well as having fun doing it. If you are on the bench and you are not able to compete at the level of your teammates, then that's the way it goes. I saw a lot of promise in Ingram as a player - it's too bad he won't end his career as an Iowa Hawkeye.

As far as the football team goes, it remains to be seen. The season was disappointing and I'm not overly excited about the upcoming season.

Conversion Update

56304 File(s) 400,072,787,321 bytes

Bob's Your Uncle Provides a Brief Pause before Chaos of a Busy Life!

One of the best times in life is going to eat with co-workers at lunch time. Erica, Carol, Joe, Matthew, and I went to Bob's Your Uncle for lunch. I had the sliders and they were really good. We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed good conversation. That said, I'm looking forward to summer hours beginning and working 7-4 M-R, 7-11 Friday.

The current thought is Scary Robots will rehearse on Fridays from noon - 230-ish. We are awaiting confirmation for what we hope is a first gig. I hope for more details soon.

Speaking of Scary Robots, we rehearse on Tuesday from 8-10.

This week is chaos.

• Saturday
• Megan works at Fareway
• Alex's baseball game in Riverside
• Racing back to get ready for a wedding
• Wedding
• Megan / Alex to the Ped Mall for a jazz band concert
• Possibly, a graduation party
• Sunday
• Early shift (9 AM) at the NCYC Pancake Breakfast
• Drums @ 11 AM Mass
• Possibly, a meeting about the Iowa Ambassadors of Music Europe trip in summer 2014
• Monday
• Lessons
• Tuesday
• Megan is on the interview committee at church
• Karen out with friends for supper
• Scary Robots 8 - 10 
• Wednesday
• Alex baseball game in Wellman
• Thursday
• Karen to Riverside Casino
• Friday
• Scary Robots rehearsal noon - 230ish
• Alex baseball game in Waco
• Saturday
• Graduation party in Manchester
• Then Balltown
• Sunday
• It had better be great weather b/c I think we're pulling the camper home
• Monday
• Relax?
• Tuesday
• Couch guy
• Wednesday
• not sure
• Thursday
• Alex baseball game @ 6
• Friday 
• Scary Robots rehearsal noon - 230ish
• Alex baseball game @ 6
• Rattlebox at J & A Tap - guitarist is a co-worker and the band plays material similar to Scary Robots

And then it's June, which does not get any slower. The calendar is pretty full already, but I don't really want to write about June when nearly half of May has to pass.

Not Open-Minded

Here's what the guitarist says about "Heritage" and Opeth fans:

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The problem is not that fans are not open-minded - the problem is that "Heritage" is not a good release. Opeth needed to experiment, branch out, try something new. Fine. I get it. Metallica did it with "Load", "Re-Load", and "Lulu" - all of which are not good releases. Frankly, I still argue "Load" and "Reload" could have been combined into a single good release, but that's beyond the scope of this post.

Progress

Brent Smith, lead singer of Shine Down, has really made a drastic change in his life. He gave up his vices and is a new man. I was thoroughly impressed when I saw Shine Down in concert. He looks fantastic. I will probably never meet the guy, but his ability to put aside what makes him weak - as a man, as a father, as a human - and to end up in a much better place is inspiring to me. I don't want to say I will model my life after his, but I will say I hope I can continue making progress in setting aside the things in my life that I want to set aside.

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Link:
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=189924

L.O. - boom boom - V.E. - boom boom - LOVE Machine!

In 1984, when this release came out, I remember it being played during gym class at Harding while we ran / jogged around the gym. 

Crossed 56000!

Just ran the DOS batch file to update the conversion status: 56087 File(s) 393,765,719,084 bytes

Still have a lot of work to do and, frankly, with summer rapidly approaching, I am trying to work on this project as much as I can. Once summer hits, I will be surprised if I continue to see progress.

Next

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/13/1208788/-Obama-says-IRS-actions-are-outrageous-calls-GOP-Benghazi-investigation-a-political-circus

Worst Bands

From the magazine that had the gall to put Justin Beiber on its cover, Rolling Stone now names these bands as the worst bands of the 1990s:

1. Dave Matthews Band
2. Ace of Base
3. Spin Doctors
4. Bush
5. Hootie and the Blowfish
6. Nirvana
   
7. Hanson
   
8. Limp Bizkit
9. Nickelback
   
10. Creed
    

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My Comments

1. Dave Matthews Band - drummer is awesome & I love "What Would You Say."
2. Ace of Base - I'm not really familiar with them - can't name their 'famous' tune
3. Spin Doctors - drummer is awesome & I do not believe they belong on this list
4. Bush - I do not believe they belong on this list
5. Hootie and the Blowfish - I do not believe they belong on this list
6. Nirvana - it's really funny how the band that changed the music industry is placed on this list...
7. Hanson - I know that "Mmmm-Bop!" was annoying so maybe?
8. Limp Bizkit - they really went out of their way to fuse rap & metal ... only to find their way onto this list...
9. Nickelback - honestly, I don't get why this band gets all the hate...
10. Creed - this is cliche. No one likes Creed . . . but yet they sold a lot of albums... Go figure...

Source: Creed Named Worst Band of the 90s

Try Not to Get any On your Shoes

Benghazi has exploded. It's suddenly a mainstream media story. Some thing that it is all about smearing Hilary Clinton's reputation so that she doesn't win in 2016. You get comments on youtube.com like this:

This clip is "fact v. politics" and you can decide if it is biased or not.


NO!! That's not it! I don't agree with it. This is it. Terrorism was the cause, it was always the cause, and yet, Susan Rice blamed a video, Hilary Clinton blamed a video, and Obama blamed a video. If it was terrorism and everyone knew it was terrorism, why did it get repeated for several weeks that a video caused it? Why?

What is the end game to all of this? Do I think this will have any impact in the 2014 elections? In the 2016 elections?
Only time will tell.

Two Survivors

1. The 2013 edition of Survivor has wrapped up and the winner was Cochran, the guy with the Harvard law degree and who looks like a nerd. He now has $1,000,000 and wow. That's awesome.
2. The second survivor that has my attention tonight, thanks to a "Behind the Music" episode about Pat Benatar. I didn't realize that she had been singing opera and ready to go to college to study singing.

Stepping Up?

Sorry, more Benghazi stuff. With a big scary headline too.

Exclusive: Benghazi Talking Points Underwent 12 Revisions, Scrubbed of Terror Reference

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Link:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/exclusive-benghazi-talking-points-underwent-12-revisions-scrubbed-of-terror-references/

Rehearsing Again

Like our previous rehearsal on 4/26/13, the ones we’re working on tonight include:

1. Lonely Boy
2. Big River
3. Stuck in the Middle
4. Break Up Song
5. Sunshine of Your Love
6. Key to the Highway
7. Foghat
8. American Girl
9. Rocking in the Free World
10. Cheap Sunglasses
11. What I Like About You
12. Saturday Night
13. Dead Flowers
14. Hey Joe
15. Sweet Jane

I had every intention of not writing another word about Benghazi. Then I saw Eugene Robinson's article called:

Republicans lead a witch hunt on Benghazi

I smirked a little, then came across Michael Gerson's article called:

Incompetence, not criminality, in Benghazi investigation

Slightly amused, I went on to find Dan Gainor's article called:

Liberal media spin Benghazi scandal to protect Team Obama

The links to the articles are at the bottom of this post.

One of the questions I wanted to have answered was who altered the talking points memo. Who changed the comments that Susan Rice delivered on five separate Sunday talk shows?

While Eugene Robinson's article doesn't have a 'hit' when you search for "talking points", Michael Gerson mentions the talking points memo twice. In context, he wrote:

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"Information on the true nature of the attack had traveled the 5,000 miles to CIA headquarters and was incorporated into the agency’s initial talking points. But somewhere in the final few miles between Langley, Foggy Bottom and the White House, the attack was called a “demonstration” and then, according to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, the “direct result of a heinous and offensive video.” The administration’s characterizations became more emphatic as they became less accurate.
In pinning the blame for Benghazi on a crude, anti-Muslim video, confusion moved along the contours of convenience. For the State Department, it shifted attention away from careless security practices in an obviously dangerous place. For the White House, it avoided pre-election discussion of the war on terror that was supposed to be largely won. For whoever made the military decisions on that night, it obscured the timidity of their response when Americans came under attack."

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There. The President of the United States made a political decision. There it is. Thank you. It was a political decision to talk about a heinous video being the reason four Americans are dead. Robinson points out that in the past, Republicans called for unity and criticized the politicizing of American deaths for gain. I agree with him. And that's why I want to know, quite frankly, on what basis was it decided to blame the anti-Muslim video on the Benghazi attack. Who said, more or less, "Get rid of all the terrorism stuff and blame the video." Who approved it? Was President Obama in the room? Did he sign off?

Yesterday, I wrote that I didn't want to write about this anymore. I will say the same thing again. I don't. I'm not a Conservative crazy. I actually (gasp!) agreed with Rachel Maddow the other night when she talked about how the legislature in one state passed a bill that allowed

• hunting with silencers
• teaching kids to write in cursive

She thought it was crazy that two unrelated ideas could be in the same bill. I agree - the two issues have nothing to do with each other. If you listen to Ann Coulter enough, you realize that Coulter is about as 'out there' as Al Sharpton, Chris Matthews, and the new poster boy that seems to be everywhere now, Chris Hayes, among others on MSNBC.

I'll listen to any idea that attempts to solve the problems in the country. I'm not going to be around forever. My kids are going to inherit the trillions in deficits. My kids are going to inherit a world that is much different. Different is good. I like different as long as it's not change. (wink wink)

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Eugene Robinson's article: Republicans lead a witch hunt on Benghazi
Michael Gerson's article: Incompetence, not criminality, in Benghazi investigation
Dan Gainor's article: Liberal media spin Benghazi scandal to protect Team Obama

My Take on Benghazi

I don't really know how long this whole crappy Benghazi situation is going to fester. I don't know if this controversy lives another six months. When it happened, in September 2012, I sincerely believe the mainstream media wanted to downplay the situation and that idea is true now. I watched, in disbelief, as ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer spent more time on finding three girls in Cleveland, OH, and spent a short blip (in comparison) about the implications the hearing about this attack will have in the future. This story somewhat summarizes what I think:  
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/8/hurt-benghazi-shows-democrats-most-desperate/?page=all#pagebreak

But the big thing that gets me is that the Democrats have no answer for Hilary Clinton's often replayed "what does it matter" defensive comment. They can't answer why she is so defensive about this event. I mean, seriously, if it doesn't matter what happened, why the hell didn't she present a clear, comprehensive, and reasonable explanation? Why? And it's not, as some think, that those like me who have Republican tendencies are out to get Clinton. It's not. Really. I just want to know two things:

1. Why didn't we know what to do when the Libyan embassy was attack? Why did four Americans have to die? What could we have done better?
2. Why were the talking points changed? Who changed them? Why?

Despite all the mainstream media would have you believe, if my President really wasn't concerned about these hearings, why, oh, why would he go waaayyyy far away from Washington, DC, on the day of the hearings? Why didn't he stand in the Rose Garden after the hearings? He's certainly been in town when there are hearings. He often comments about them when he asked by reporters.

My impression is that my president knows this is bad. There is unlikely a scenario where his legacy is untarnished. It is unclear life will never be the same.

I will probably not write about Benghazi in the near future. Maybe a month from now, I'll wipe the egg from my face and look back at this and smirk. I hope there is a clear, concise, and reasonable answers are given to the answers above.

Regression, Not Progression

1. I'm not making progress on the conversion:55849 File(s) 389,338,746,483 bytes
2. I haven't finished a Huey Lewis & the News CD review
3. I haven't finished a Slayer CD review
4. I played the Yamaha set for about 1 hour last night
5. Scary Robots is rehearsing tomorrow night
6. Alex's baseball game was cancelled last night
7. I watched too much television, including an episode of "How to Live with your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)" and "Tool Guys" - both new shows, both not really my style, but they were on after The Middle and Modern Family.

Who are You to wave your finger?

This guy is not flashy but damn, he nails this song.

College

I used to watch Home Improvement a lot. I always consider it one of the best situation comedies that has ever been on television. I know that a lot of the show's contents focused solely on the Tim Allen character, Tim Taylor, getting hurt and being unable to stay out of the hospital. As I get older, though, I think the show's appeal to me is more about Tim Taylor growing as a father. The following episode is my all-time favorite. It focuses on Tim meeting up with Stu, his former college buddy. Stu lives in the past and wants Tim to join him in reliving 'all the great times' which leaves Tim torn. This all takes place on the backdrop of family night and spending time with his family.

It doesn't help that his wife is not Stu's advocate. Jill asks Tim if Stu would still be his friend and Tim says yes. Later, Wilson and Tim talk. Wilson uses the Bible quote about setting aside childish things and becoming an adult. Wilson also asks Tim is Stu your best friend or was he your best friend twenty years ago?

That statement resonates within me. I have friends like Stu. Treasured friends. Friends I would go through hell for. Friends I have been through hell with. Friends I don't talk to nearly enough. Friends that are never far from my thoughts.

I heard a story about two cousins over the weekend. "Misty" said that she missed "Kristina" and that she was sad they weren't close. As I listened to other details about the situation, not recorded here to protect Misty's privacy, I picked up the phone and gave it to her. "Call her."

When I reflect on that advice I so easily handed out, I realize that I often do not take my own advice. It is very easy for me to look at a situation I have no vested interest in - it really makes no difference in my life whether Misty and Kristina ever reconnect - but very difficult to act upon that advice in the relationships that are close to me. Is that because the habits, the tendencies, the expectations, that were formed a long time ago, are too difficult to overcome and act as barriers to a different phase of my relationships? I'm not going to find out today.

That all said, this episode is speaks volumes about the way I exist in this world.

Just Another Day

It's Wednesday. Alex has a baseball game tonight, there's new episodes of the shows I like (The Middle, Modern Family, Survivor, Real World - Portland), and I'm enjoying life. I need to accomplish a few things.

1. Finish up a review for dailyvault.com
2. Practice drums for Scary Robots rehearsal on Friday night

That's not a lot so I hope to accomplish them with relative ease.

Glitch in the System

"It is also expected that newly hired resources into the Global Business Services U.S. practice live within a reasonable commuting distance (generally 50 miles) of the following cities: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Hartford, CT; Houston, TX; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New York City, NY and surrounding area; Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, DC."

You have to live within 50 miles of all those cities? Good luck with that!

Fighting the Urge

Drummer Steven Adler used to play drums for Guns-n-Roses. Long story short, he drank too much, did too many drugs, and, ultimately, was fired. Since then, it is well-documented that he has been battling his addictions to alcohol and drugs. He was on the Celebrity Rehab show and, for all intents and purposes, seemed to have it under control. More recently, though, his band Adler has been forced to cancel a tour because he started drinking again. I hope he figures out how to get his life back on track. He seemed to have been making good progress.

I Don't Like a Sniffle

We had Susie's 40th surprise party Saturday night. She was surprised.

I spent the majority of the party on a recliner in their basement, alternately napping and blowing my nose. The cold hit me Friday night and I have been miserable since.

We came home later than I expected, ordered Pizza Hut for supper, and now, at 10:45 PM, I'm cashing in. I hope I sleep well tonight.

ObamaCare

There is a renewed anger in the Conservative world about ObamaCare. 
http://www.redstate.com/2013/05/02/obamacare-is-not-living-up-to-its-promises-and-even-the-media-knows-it/

RIP Jeff Hanneman

I learned about his death on Blabbermouth.net and I was floored. The metal community is buzzing with reaction to the passing of one of the guitarists in Slayer, Jeff Hanneman. I didn't know the guy - obviously - but from reading the reactions from the other 3 bands in the Big Four - Anthrax, Metallica, and Megadeth -I get a sense of what he was like. I am putting on some Slayer today as my way of paying tribute to the man. I send my condolences and sympathy to his family as they go on in life without him.

Top 10 Slayer songs from Loudwire.

Yesterday, at work, I had a great 1:1 meeting with my manager. I smile when I think about where I am and where I have been, as documented on this blog. I appreciate the progress that has been made and the progress that will be made prior to the end of 2013.

I just came across the journal for Machine Head's lead singer. He writes an online journal / diary and in the few moments I spent browsing it, I got a sense that I have a daily visit to his site in my future. Eddie Murphy style language but seems worth reading. http://machinehead1.com/topics/journal

Working Hard on Removing Duplicate Files

Yesterday was 55905 File(s) and today is 55901 File(s). Don't work too hard there!

More Pruning

The DOS Batch file says I have 55905 File(s) 389,317,914,997 bytes now, which is 28 less than yesterday. As I've mentioned, there is some pruning of duplicate files happening. This entire project of converting CDs to MP3 is a slow process. Last night, I saw:

• in the sump pump room, the boxes of cassettes that have not been converted. 
• in the den
• the 400 CD-Rs on 4 spindles that have not been converted
• the CDs in cases that I have not been converted
• in our bedroom, the video tapes that have not been converted

At some point, all of these will be done. It just seems like I will be working on these conversions FOREVER! I'm not sad or depressed or even overwhelmed. I know that, eventually, I will be done.