Category: Music

Let Us Smash Some Pumpkins

Many don’t understand my taste in music, and never will.  I’m fine with that.

Friday night, Lyndsey and I saw the Smashing Pumpkins.  A group that gained notoriety in my pre-teen days.  It wasn’t until my later teens that I became curious, and later, enthralled.  Primarily due to a couple of girls I had an interest in singing the lyrics while on the bus to high school.

With songs ranging from “Today” that is sweet sounding and generally a happy tune, to “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” which explains the human rat race in a post apocalyptic world, their lyrics run the spectrum.  Their gritty guitars and electro synth stylings are quite literally music to my ears.

I was nervous about this concert, as Lyndsey has some serious mobility issues.  Our seats were right off the floor – but I knew she would have to do a tremendous amount of walking.  It wasn’t too bad on her, she was a trooper.  Due to her issues, the ushers advised us to take a different exit.  Instead of going out where everyone else does.  We got a little bit of a backstage tour.  One that was closely guarded so we had no opportunity or way to go venturing.

I was disappointed that the group isn’t whole, as they have continued without their original bassist, but sometimes that’s the way life goes.  Billy Corgan has received a lot of flak over his political views, which I honestly do not care about.  He was a professional and didn’t use his band to continue those views while on stage.

It was an enjoyable evening on this year, the year of concerts for me.  So far there have been three.  One of which, the Foo Fighters, I was unable to attend.  I have one more left.  Alabama with Travis Tritt.  Two acts I never thought I’d be able to see.

Pre-Occupied

Lately I have been pre-occupied with many things, which have diverted my attention away from accomplishing a single task.  So I’m going to merely list some updates as to what’s been going on since I last posted.

Hope is in sight:  My truck is still broken.  We got a deal on a complete fuel pump assembly on eBay.  It’s brand new and OEM, so I’m not too concerned about it working.  Last Saturday I tried to install it, but this job is meant for someone who either works on vehicles all the time, or has power tools.  Since I am neither, I couldn’t do the job.  My dad called last night and my step-uncle agreed to do it for me.  My dad is having it towed to his house today and I anticipate it being completed before any bad snowfalls occur.

Family Memories:  My mother-in-law gave us some priceless family photos to scan into the computer.  Some dating back to 1906!  I’m not sure if she knew it, but many of these “old” photos were actually scanned and printed out by someone already.  Who that is I don’t know.  Some of these pictures need some help, as they have cracks on them or have pieces ripped off.  I hope to sharpen up my photoshop skillz and fix ’em. 

There are several “cards” which I find quite moving.  They are what I would call “death memorial” cards.  They were given out (by the church?) when someone died.  My wifes’ family is from Dubois county, which is rich with German heritage.  This card is written in German and Latin.  I find the artwork on the back quite moving.  What do you think?

Music, Music, Music:  I finally caved and bought an iPod.  I refuse to pay retail for one, so I went second hand on eBay.  I got a nice 30gb model, which is big enough for what I need.  I didn’t buy this iPod for personal entertainment, but to convert all of our CD’s into electronic media.  This way we can get rid of the enormous space they take up.  Once everything is done, we’re going to put them into storage.

I have imported them all into iTunes and discovered one interesting thing.  CD’s over time, with scratches and other defects can sound like old LP’s.  Some of the tracks I have imported have that “scratchy” sound made infamous by LP’s.  Now I have a monumental task of going through roughly 2500 songs and re-importing the ones whose quality doesn’t meet my standards…ugh

Once all is complete, I won’t be lugging any CD’s on trips anymore.  Just an iPod and a FM transmitter/docking station.  It’s a dream come true.

Continue reading “Pre-Occupied”

Scanning The Past

In the 90’s I was a big country music fan.  My love of this particular genre of music brought me to a vicarious situation in 1998.

My girlfriend at the time and I went to see Garth Brooks at Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY.  We got the tickets extremely cheap ($36 each).  They were almost the best seats in the house, 3rd row center.  If it weren’t for the drunk girl in front of us who lost her bladder control and the crazy guy with his extremely large cowboy hat, I think it would have been an amazing concert.

But the story only begins here.  While leaving the concert that night, I had a seizure while trying to merge into another lane of traffic to leave the parking lot.  Most of what I remember after that is quite hazy to this day.  I do remember several specific things though.  I came to in an ambulance in the parking lot, after leaving an area hospital we arrived by cab back to my truck.  I then had my unlicensed girlfriend drive us back home.

She didn’t know how to get back home, so I set her on a path and napped while I could.  When we got onto Highway 37 I told her to, “stay on this highway.”  Needless to say I woke up and saw Bedford Junior High School and she had a puzzled look on her face, not knowing where she was.

If you can imagine, this is the memory from just one night.  Imagine the memories I have held within the 500+ 35mm negatives I just finished scanning for my mother.  I recently asked her for the negatives and pictures from that night in question, as I have a blown up picture of the concert.  It is damaged and I want to replace it, but with a good quality piece.

Instead of just giving me what I had asked for, she gave me everything she has.  My mother hasn’t made the switch to a digital camera yet, she prefers a disposable 35mm for now.

To some people what I’ve done is just a waste of time, but to me I’ve just preserved the memories of an awkward time of my life.  It covers a time span of about 3 years, 1994 – 1997.

Once I’m done cropping and restoring I’m going to burn these to a DVD for my mother to keep.  I’ll keep what I want and  upload them to flickr.

Take a Listen, If You Can

There are many creative minds at work at the CSR.  Many of us enjoy the video production/editing fields.  There are 2 ladies with Ph.D.’s, a jewelry maker, and the list goes on from there.

For most of us, the CSR is just a stepping stone.  I hope it is for me, as I’m tired of assembling NSSE survey packets.  It’s mind numbing work, and when you’re scolded for speaking, it’s just that much worse.

A fellow co-worker makes his own music.  It’s electronic and kind of a mix between new age and techno.  It’s the best thing I’ve heard or seen in a while, so I thought I’d share.  I think with the right exposure, this kid and his music could really go places.

He’s a little leery of allowing it to be downloaded so I have a selection of his songs setup for streaming, but I have been made aware of some issues.  This will only work with IE, as it’s setup with Windows Media to stream.  I’ve personally tried Safari and Firefox with no luck.  So you are warned!  I am currently working on a way for all platforms to play, but I don’t have it in place yet.

Listen Here: Music by Luc

If anyone out there has any better ideas, please let me know!  I tried last.fm, but to add one of their “playlists” you have to have a minimum of 15 songs.

If anyone out there has any better ideas, please let me know!  I tried , but to add one of their “playlists” you have to have a minimum of 15 songs.
Or, if there’s enough support, he just might let the nice people who read my blog download it.  If he does, I will add links.

UPDATE:  I somewhat solved the problem.  If you cannot view or play the media player, click on the link directly below the song title, it will play the song on your systems native player.

Major Props

I am by no means a music critic.  I know everyone has their own tastes in that department.  I never turn a deaf ear to something new though, a good lesson I learned from ROX actually.

For my birthday I received Bob Seger’s new CD, “Face the Promise.”¬† I must say I enjoy it tremendously!¬† It’s his style, in the 21st century, and I can’t get enough of it.

One song in particular has a special meaning in my heart at this moment, due to my daughter’s pending movement to an undetermined location.¬† You may have heard it on the radio, “Wait for Me.”¬† I almost cry every time I listen to it.¬† The song is me through and through when it comes to my little girl.¬† As one line states,”In the cool of the night, in the heat of the day, if your ever in doubt, I’ll be on my way.¬† Straight to your side, I guarantee, I’ll be around if you wait for me.”¬†

Something many people, including me, did not know is he disappeared from the music world to be a part of his children’s life.¬† More props¬†to Mr. Seger on that one!

If you do decide to purchase this, be careful.¬† There are 2 versions, one with a bonus DVD, and one without.¬† The bonus DVD has many extras, and really make it worth the extra couple of bucks.¬† 2 music videos are included, “Like a Rock” and “The Fire Inside”.¬† Also there is some “lost” footage from a 1978 concert in San Diego, and “Making of” footage.

According to his website, http://www.bobseger.com, he is coming to Indy on 11/18.¬† I wonder if I can get dad to spring for a couple tickets?¬† I guess I’ll ask tonight.