Hoosiers Went Down!

Beer Mile Part Deux?

I'm a bit surprised by the lack of response to my post to the hash list about the Beer Mile this Saturday. The active hashers probably don't remember who I am, so maybe I shouldn't be. Most of the cooler ones (who do remember me) are out of town or busy this Saturday so they can't be my DD. The worst case scenario is that I'll just go down and watch, which will still be fun. In fact, I may have had the most fun watching everyone behind me finish and puke their guts out last time.

Look Through Any Wingdow

"Look Through Any Window" / The Hollies

This Hollies' hit has faded over time in comparison to songs like "Bus Stop" or "Long Cool Woman...," which makes me surprised to hear it played, but being surprised by the music is the reason I started this series in the first place. You can tell this is Hollies pretty quickly with the harmonies (not only thirds but sometimes sevenths) and Graham Nash's distinctive voice (it stands out to me, anyway). I guess I never listened to the lyrics that closely because I assumed this probably had to do with some girl and some love struck guy--who therefore must be a peeping tom, looking in through a very specific window. Upon listening more closely tonight, I realize the song is completely clean and innocent: it's about looking through ANY window from the inside to the OUTSIDE. This song is much more boring now...

Also notable in this song is the once overused (like 40 years ago) but now sorely missing half-step modulation of the last verse/chorus. And the relative minor ending chord.

Follow My Lead

I haven't blogged any about the dancing lessons I've been taking, mostly because it's taken me a long time to figure out how I felt about them. It's been an activity very different from anything else I've done. Because its been so different, it's taken my mind off of everything else and I was able to really enjoy it. Tonight was the last session of the 4 week course, and for the first time I finally felt like I was getting the hang of it. One of my dance partners even commented that she thought I was the best leader out of the group. That really meant a lot, since because I don't really know enough about what I'm doing to know how well I'm doing it, I don't know that she's wrong.

It sucks that I don't know if I'll see the people from the class again. I felt like I was starting to be friends with some of the ladies, but not quite enough to make future plans.

Job

So if I constantly tell myself that the only reason I stay at this job is for the money--yet I have plenty of money saved up, so I don't need any money for the forseeable future--what reason do I have to stay?

If you were paid $X/hour (or $XK a year, whatever) to jump up and down for 8 hours a day, or something equally pointless, wouldn't you have to quit eventually, no matter what X was?

If I quit, does that mean I'm throwing away the last four years it took to get "here," or does that mean that I'm choosing not to waste my future?

I would really like to hear y'all complain about your jobs, for some much needed perspective.

Kurt Hundl Day

This is how I spent Kurt Hundl day:

- Didn't get much sleep, as expected
- Got up early and got to work only 15 minutes late, much better than my usual hour late, but still earlier than 80% of the employees
- Acted goofily and smartassishly due to lack of sleep and as a consequence was relatively happy for the morning and early afternoon work hours
- Turned bitter as I struggled to complete my annual self-evaluation, which I did not complete by the deadline of EOB, and which I wrote so negatively that I am surprised I still haven't quit yet
- Played my best show on guitar and my first on 6th street
- Shook Kurt Hundl's hand, and ate 18 wings and had several beers at the Rio Grande Plucker's and wondered why @G couldn't bother to show up, even for just a minute

That is where I'm at now at 1:25 AM. Who knows where I'll be at 9 AM this morning (which would be my normal one hour late for work)

It's Monday

I did practice quite a bit Sunday for our gig at Friends tonight, so I'm happy with myself. I'll have to balance playing guitar and possibly embarrassing myself with being a tool with a shaker and playing it safe. I could find something to play on guitar for practically every song but its probably best that I don't.

While it would be tempting to stay on 6th street after we're done playing tonight (we will be done by 10:30), it is also Kurt Hundl day at Plucker's, which means $1 beers and 30 cent wings. Gotta take advantage of that!

I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight, stressed out. Not because of the gig, work stuff. Blah...

Siren

Ha.. Neko Case from my favorite band playing a siren on ATHF. Can she be any cooler?

Where are you?

I made it a point to stop downtown on the way home from Ruta Maya to get a kebabilicious last night, and it WASN'T THERE! Where'd you go?!

Goodbye THM

I went to Ruta Maya last night to see Tammany Hall Machine. Getting there was a little tense because. my car started making weird noises once I got up to 40 or 50 mph. I almost figured out what it was while I was driving as I remembered that I had put my motorcycle cover in the back--but why would that cause a noise? It turns out a strap was hanging outside the hatch. Whew...

The first band was The Boxing Lesson, consisting of a guy on guitar singing lead, a chick on keyboards singing backup, and a guy on drums. The chick's setup was quite involved. She had three or four keyboards as well as some other stuff going on. All I could think was "man I'm glad I don't have to set up that much stuff." She covered the bass parts on one of those keyboards. The band was OK but I thought they were too effects heavy especially on the vocals. It reminded me of the Adios Johnny Bravo episode of the Brady Bunch where Greg hears his over-produced recording and backs out. "That's not how I sound" OK so this band chooses to sound this way.. I guess its just not MY sound.

Tammany Hall Machine was great. Being their last gig, they explained that they were going to play a few more covers that they liked to play. "Dig A Pony" by the Beatles was one. I haven't heard that song in forever. I didn't even recognize it from the beginning, and I'm having a little trouble remembering how it goes now. Cool song though, maybe its time I finally get a copy of "Let It Be." They played "Suffragette City" too, which gave me that weird cosmic connection feeling I sometimes get when you hear an infrequently played song twice within the span of a few days, or are doing whatever the lyrics are saying at the same time you are hearing them. In this case, I spontaneously starting playing this song at the end of practice on Friday. Their original stuff was great too. I wrote down that one of their songs reminded me of "Can't Get It Out of My Head" by ELO and another of "Underground" by Ben Folds Five. I believe some of the chord structures were the same, that's all. I bought their CD so I'll have to see if I can find those songs. One of the band members played keyboard, guitar, and trombone so now I'm feeling a little inferior. I really need to pick up trombone, trumpet, or sax!

Someone in the band or club must really like David Bowie, because after their set they put on Hunky Dory (which starts with the situation appropriate "Changes"). "Oh! You Pretty Things" is after that and I haven't heard that in forever. I only have a greatest hits assortment and that is not on it.

Not Repeating Last Weekend

Now that I've opened my eyes to the live music world and found some way to stay conscious at 10 pm, I'm almost glad I'm having trouble deciding who to see tonight. There's soul at Antone's, ska at Flamingo, Keller Williams at La Zona Rosa, and Al Stewart at the Cactus Cafe. I wish I would've noticed Al Stewart was in town sooner because I've always found his music an almost guilty pleasure and would love to see him once. However, I would feel a little too self conscious at Cactus by myself and its too late to find someone to go with (not to mention that the show started an hour ago). I think will go see Tammany Hall Machine who I've seen on MEtv a few times. I make this choice partly because this will be their last show ever, as they are breaking up.

Believe It Or Not

I think I've found a new regular band to see! Like my other regular band the Mad Cowboys, they play once a month on Fridays at the Carousel Lounge. They are the Greatest American Heroes, and they play TV themes and surf rock. They came up in conversation at practice last week, and after practice Friday me and our guitar player went down to Carousel to check them out. I only got to see the second set, but they played awesome stuff like Wonder Woman, Green Acres, Three's Company, the Dating Game--really awesome stuff to see live. The crowd was really into it too, up on the dance floor at times. The band has a trumpet player which really adds a lot. They played Miserlou and Tequila which sounded great and I tried to make the point to our guitar player why I'm OK playing background brass on the keys but never want to play trumpet or sax leads on the keys. It just doesn't compare at all to the real thing.

Staying Put

Finally--I'm NOT going on the next work trip! I realized it this week when someone who is going asked my why I wasn't. Of course, my boss didn't bother to tell the rest of us anything about the trip--like even when it is, even though we are all on the project and need to know. My first reaction was my typical negative one, and I started thinking maybe I'm not going on the trip because they are planning on firing me or something. But now I'm pretty sure there's a real reason, that being that I need to be here to support the system being delivered now. And, my boss not keeping everyone informed is not unusual. It is somewhat amusing watching everyone once again spend days and days struggling to figure out how to get airplane tickets and hotels, something that would take me an hour or two. I work with morons.

The truth is I'm really glad I'm not going. Besides the fact that it puts the rest of my life on hold, the quality of our work out there is just not high enough to give me any satisfaction anymore. While working out there was initially better than working with people here, I have been impressed with the new people I've worked with recently on the system being delivered. I wonder if there's a way I could be permanently transferred to that group.

Six Wings Ate

"Got my Mind Set on You" - George Harrison

From Cloud Nine, George's 1987 album and first album in 5 years. This might actually probably the first Beatles/post-Beatles CD I ever bought. It was part of my NES collection of CDs I would listen to while playing Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda. It is one of those rare songs that songs with a multi-measure drum intro. Like most of the music I like, it is simple and catchy. Not much going on lyrically either--remember Weird Al's parody "This Song is Just Six Words Long?" This was a good album, with other hits such as "Devil's Radio" and "When We Was Fab." You can also hear Jeff Lynne's influence. This was the beginning of the Travelling Wilburys sound I imagine.

Busy at Work

Work today was different. I actually went to a few meetings where it was clear what was going on, and the leaders actually had plans, and those plans even made sense. When I wasn't at a meeting I was actually doing stuff that made sense too. This is not what usually happens at work. Usually nobody knows what they should be doing, no one has a coherent plan for what people should be doing, and nobody cares that this is the case. So... it was nice to see a glimmer of sanity and intelligence today. Maybe there is life on this planet.

High Action

I had a one-on-one session with my lead guitarist tonight which went really well. We need to do this more often. We tweaked the effects on my keyboard that I play the guitar through. It turns out the tube amp distortion setting sounds a bit better than the stack distortion I had set up. Also, it should have been a no-brainer to add a noise gate but we didn't think of it til we sat down and looked through what was available. Hopefully my guitar will sound a lot better now.

Also we noticed that the action on my guitar is set really high, "higher than his and he likes his a little high" he said. I remember I raised the action twelve or so years ago because the strings were buzzing on the frets, but I didn't really know what I was doing. I'm going to get my guitar tuned up by someone who knows what they're doing now, because our I discovered last night that our lead guitarist's guitar was much easier to play. Unfortunately I probably won't get this done before our gig on Monday, but it's good to know that my bad guitar playing might not all be my fingers' fault.

Monday Music

Alright! After meaning to go see live music on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, I finally did last night. I went to the Hole in the Wall and saw almost three sets by three bands (I missed much of the first band). This show was on the Chronicle's recommended list and the description was interesting enough. The Hole in the Wall is by campus and that's an area of town I don't hang out in much. It was cool to be somewhere different.

The first trio (bass guitar drums), Basic, was really together. The first thing I thought was how I wished I was in a band that sounded that tight. The second trio (bass guitar drums again), Cavedweller, was a little looser but the lead singer was a bit more animated. The last band, The Hunnies, had potential to be more interesting as it had two chick singers and was a four piece (add a huge Roland keyboard). Their vocals were a little off and a little weak but still enjoyable. Also, everyone but the drummer changed instruments throughout the set which was cool. All of the music by all of the bands was fairly simple but catchy enough that I really liked it.

I am really getting used to seeing new bands and am not getting bored like I have in the past. I'll continue to see a lot of unknown bands this year.

Homework

I don't know how many times I've decided that I'm just not going to go to work tomorrow, and then chicken out the next morning and go. This morning I finally said eff it and didn't go. I didn't tell my boss, and I think I got away with it. But, I probably got more work done here than I would've there, so I'm not really being too "bad." Now that I've done it, I have a feeling this is going to become more and more tempting.

Screwed up Saturday Night

Apparently I overdid my mini-hash yesterday because I fell asleep soon after I got home. I didn't wake up til after midnight and it was too late to find some live music. So, a loserish weekend so far. I also made the mistake of buying a 6 pack of Leinenkugels Berry Weiss on the way home. I drank one bottle and still have a headache from it. Fruit flavored beers to that to me sometimes.

On the bright side, I watched some good TV and radio while I was up all night, particularly an interesting Nova on Bose-Einstein condensate, and a very entertaining music talk show which I'll have to add to my podcast list.

Running Away

Today after my usual migas and sometimes haircut, I went for a run, which I also do sometimes on Saturday. What was different was that I didn't drive down to Zilker and instead started where I parked for the haircut in west campus. I ran down to Zilker, then ran through downtown to LJ's where I haven't been in almost a month, I think. A girl showed some interest in me and we talked a bit. She was alright looking. A word of advice to this chick--if you're going to hit on someone, and especially if you're going to go on about the guy you met at the last bar and were supposed to meet later but will dump in favor of someone better looking (like me, presumedly), PLEASE have the courtesy to address your speech impediment early in the conversation. If you didn't know you had one (which I find hard to believe), you should've gotten the hint after I had to ask you to repeat yourself a billion times. You might be a fairly normal person and we might have had a fairly normal conversation if you provided any sort of explanation, but you didn't, so I just felt weird the whole time. I guess this is what I get for blogging about my favorite BTO song.

Friday Plans

Every other day of the week I have something going on after work. Friday night sometimes I leave open. What's dangerous about this is that half of the time, I'll get home from work, turn on the TV, and fall asleep. Then, IF I wake up before midnight, often I won't feel like going out to do anything. This is what happened tonight.

6th St Gig

I am playing with these guys now. I don't have to wear a beard, because I don't actually exist. We'll be playing at Friends on 6th St on Monday the 28th, so come down and see us. I am a little hesitant to promote this since I am playing some guitar and I'm not very good. Maybe I can get good before then.

W-w-w-wings

"You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet" - Bachman Turner Overdrive

My favorite BTO song! It has a fun galloping beat, AND it makes fun of a member of the band's speech impediment (or is a relative of a member of the band, I don't remember) How can you possibly dislike it?

Jerseys

I bought my first football jersey this past Christmas Day at the Dane County Regional Airport. Not surprisingly, it is mostly green and has a large number 4 on the front and back. I don't know why it took so long. It is obviously very important, as evidenced by the news stories below:

N.E. will honor teen who was jeered by Indy crowd before AFC title game
This is a great story. She's a HS freshman, not some idiot kid, so she knew what would happen when she wore a Patriots jersey to the Colts' stadium. The Patriots made a great play by inviting her and her family to the next game--that action makes the Colts' fans look classless for booing a 14 year old girl, even though booing anyone in a Patriots jersey is completely justifiable for them.

Father arrested for taping Packers jersey to son
This one I just don't get. It's not like the guy was duct taping a Seahawks or (God forbid) a Bears jersey to his kid. This is just an example of good parental discipline.


OK in this picture the crowd is obviously correctly uniformed and Foreman ISN'T, but it makes me wonder--what would've happened if there was going to be a game in Dallas this Sunday and I would've worn my jersey? Do the Cowboys have real fans, or would I have escaped relatively unharmed?

Bowling Party

I ended up going to the end of season bowling party last night, and it was alright I guess. We bowled 2 games, and I bowled above my average for both, the last being a 155 which isn't bad at all. But I'm still done. There are better things to do on Monday night.

Horns

I did end up seeing some music Saturday night, but it wasn't what I expected at all. I headed downtown around 11. I walked passed Mohawk, but they were in between bands. I stood outside Emo's and didn't particularly like what I heard. Went around the corner and there was a huge line for Emo's outdoor stage, not going to wait for that. The band at Emo's Lounge sounded pretty good but it looked a little too dead inside. So, I continued to wander. I wandered all the way down to the warehouse district, and just about when I was ready to give up, I walked passed Cedar St Courtyard and heard a pretty kick ass horn section. So, I went in and watched Mingo Fishtrap's last set. It turns out a soul/R&B band with a four-piece horn section was just what I was in the mood for. It reminded me how I once wished I had a band with a horn section where I could arrange some parts. That would be fun.

Go Pack

I won't be going to Dallas next weekend. The Cowboys couldn't get a win today, so my ticket is worthless. On the bright side, because of the Cowboys loss, the Giants play the Packers at Lambeau, and the Packers have a better chance of winning there. For some reason I'm not as pissed at the Cowboys as I thought I'd be. It was a good game and they played well.

Halfway There

The Packers did their part this afternoon, now I just need the Cowboys to do the same tomorrow. Then I can go to Dallas to help my team get to the Super Bowl!

I didn't manage to get back to Emo's this week afterall. And I didn't get out last night either. After the Jaguars are done tonight I'll find some music downtown for sure.

NFC Championship

I did it. I bought a ticket to the big game!!!


All that has to happen is the Packers and Cowboys must win this Saturday and Sunday. This will be my most intense weekend of football watching EVER. I'm not sure I can handle it alone, so I may have to go down to Billy's and watch with other Packer fans tomorrow.

If the Cowboys lose, I will be very pissed.

If the Packers lose, I will cry.

Damn You Pizza Hut

"Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" covered by Smash Mouth and originally by ? and the Mysterians (who did "96 Tears") was a great simple catchy song--the kind that I love--but since you have used it in every one of your ads for what seems like forever, no one can listen to it without thinking they're listening to a commercial. I hate you, and your pizza isn't that great either.

Big Ten

I didn't watch much of the game due to bowling, but I think I made a mistake in rooting for LSU. As much as I hate Ohio State, their loss (again) is really making my conference look bad. I've heard some commentators demote the Big Ten to WAC level. Yuck!

I Quit

I gave my notice yesterday--I'm now off the bowling team! It is the end of the fall season and next week is our "fun" bowling party, whatever that entails. I haven't decided if I will go or not. I gave bowling a good shot, 1.5 years straight really. Maybe I just need a break. Or maybe I am done for good. The last game I bowled was a season low 80--though, granted, I was trying some new stuff out, like throwing the ball as hard and as far as I could.

Live Music

I'm finally seeing more live music like I always wanted to, and most of it local acts. I've been to Club 710 several times in the last few months and a handful of other places. This past weekend, besides going to the required Mad Cowboys show on Friday, I went to Emo's on Saturday. I saw a few songs by three bands that I don't remember the names of, one of which was pretty good. I also watched the whole Applicators set. It was their last show before breaking up. A Bill Named Sue was there; he knew several girls in the band. I think everyone in Austin must know ABNS (like it or not). He's a good guy. Chick bands can be fun to watch (even when they aren't very good), but this band was fun to watch and pretty good too. The drummer was particularly awesome. She was beatin' the hell out of those drums. Also amusing was seeing the drunken mosh pit (actually only a few drunken idiots) get mixed up with what I assume must've been some of the band members' parents. One lady got shoved by a falling mosher so she ended up colliding with another spectator by accident. Of course, she turned around and politely apologized. No one was hurt as far as I could tell, except maybe the drunken guy.

Emo's free week continues until Thursday so head on down for a bit, if only just to scope the place out. I hadn't been there in forever. Actually maybe never--maybe I've only been to Emo's Lounge. I may go down there again on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Wildcard Sunday

OK I'm 0-1 today. I wanted the Cowboys to win next weekend so that the Packers might come to Dallas, but with the Giants' victory I have another reason. And, it was nice to see Chris Chambers a significant player in the Chargers win. Besides football, I did a helluva lot of straightening up the apartment today. Crazy.

Jaguars

That was a fun game to watch. All Jaguars in the first half, all Steelers in the second half. Then Garrard makes up for previous mistakes with a great 4th down run. Since I lived in Jacksonville for awhile they are my second home team, so its nice to see them advance. I don't dislike the Steelers, just like the Jaguars more.

I would've liked to see the Redskins win today since I haven't been paying any attention to the Seahawks, but oh well. I will pay them plenty of attention next weekend.

As far as tomorrow goes, I hope Tampa Bay wins since Tom Coughlin is a jerk. (He was coaching the Jaguars when I lived there) I don't care so much about Chargers/Titans, but I guess I'll go for the Chargers since they have Chris Chambers. Vince Young is great and everything, but I am a Badger, not a Longhorn!

Too Warm

This is supposed to be the good part of the year to run outside. While it's sunny and nice out, it was 70F when I ran Town Lake at 11 am today. Too warm for me, I overheat easily! Please get back down to the 50s so I can enjoy it like I did earlier this week!

By Popular Demand

youtube video
Fast forward to 3:45 for "the play!"

Totally Gay

I've always sucked at dancing and it pisses me off! I am going to take dance lessons starting next Tuesday. I took an introductory class tonight but wasn't comfortable enough to try out what I learned in the ballroom afterwards.

Snow!

I went up Nort for a week over Christmas like I usually do. Last year I made a bad decision to fly into Chicago and drive the rest of the way. My flight was delayed and I ended up driving in dense fog at 3 am before pulling off the road to go to sleep. Bad weather, and not even the kind you might enjoy for a bit during the winter.

This year I had a much better trip. There was alot of snow! And, my flights weren't affected at all! I did have a pretty miserable time driving from Eau Claire to Madison on the Saturday before Christmas to see my friends' band, but once I got there I had a great time. Also made sure to drink some good Wisconsin beer.





Shoveling snow was even fun! I imagine after doing this once a season the novelty wears off.


Here is my sister who guilted me into helping her shovel the driveway. Some of you may appreciate that she had bought a bottle of Boone's Farm (which I have never bought nor suggested) and drank it all before I got a chance to try it.

I also got my yearly run around Lake Wingra done my first day there, and met my goal of not stopping at all quite easily. Last year I had to stop and walk. This year I'm in better shape!

New Year's Eve

Somehow I was up until 6:30 am on New Years day. I don't know how it got so late, I didn't notice at all, and wasn't super wasted either. I guess I must've had fun playing Guitar Hero, singing Karaoke, drinking, and watching a TV show for people learning Spanish which was like a soap opera only the people talk very slowly, and there's a quiz at the end. Huh? Thanks Mike & Emily!