Category: tunes

Music. Bands. Songs. Concerts.

Posted on

tommy of concierge

Many a night started off right sitting here.
I know, I’ve been listening to this album for nigh on a month straight now – but I still crave it on the drive to work in the morning. Even with new and excellent distractions like the Mono and Dungen albums, I find myself still coming back to it, over and over. I like it so much I gotsta get it to you, so here ’tis – fresh and steaming, the 2nd cut off the Arcade Fire album Funeral. Enjoy. In addition, I dunno what language this guy is singin’ in, but the album is just indomitably rad? but don’t take my word for it, listen to this and be convinced. The intro paragraph is over, but here’s more music from Dungen and Arcade Fire.

Remember the last time I was in Taiwan? Yeah, I do too. Anyway, I was there for two whole weeks that last time. That’s the kind of stint where a brother starts feelin’ right comfortable near the end. I mean, the hotel is where I’ve gone home to for two weeks every night, so the hotel gets to feeling quite a bit like a surrogate home. And the hotel work puts us up in while in Taipei is nothing but class, class all the way I tell you. I mean, I’ve written about the princely way guests are treated, the plush accommodations, and awesome staff – because they really do cater to your every whim. I love staying there, I love heading to the bar each night for a bloody mary or two, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m half way ’round the world from my real life – I might not mind staying at that hotel forever. Anyway, this is going somewhere, I promise.

Last time I was there, I had accumulated some twenty-odd nights of patronage at the hotel this year, and they give you little perks based on the amount of time you stay within a year. I had gotten little manicure kits, free massages and spa treatments, free laundry services, free food, candies on my pillow, all sorts of awesome little goodies. And, having really connected with the bar staff and spent a couple nights going out and karaoking with them, I was more than satisfied with my two-week stay. On my day of departure, the hotel left a feedback form in my room. Having had such an enjoyable stay, I felt obligated to let them know. So, before I went to bed that night I sat down and filled out this little form.

I mentioned how much I enjoyed the stay, and in the write-in portion made sure to compliment the entire staff of Henry’s Bar – giving special nods to Tracy and a friendly waiter who always mixed my bloody mary’s extra well. I also mentioned that the wireless access point that served Henry’s Bar seemed to be flaky. Other than that, I left that little form on my pillow – a glowing review of a well-enjoyed fortnight. And that was that, I had all but forgotten about that little form. Until yesterday, that is.

Yesterday I went to check my “mailbox” at work (really just a big hanging-file cabinet with a folder for me, and everyone else, in it). Lo and behold, a letter from the hotel! Get a load of this (click for a larger version):

Your opinion counts.

Oh man, that is classic. First off, it tells me that this hotel most likely responds to each and every piece of feedback they receive – which is just another example of how rad the place is. Second, on the whole it’s just crackin’ me up. They make it sound like the spotty wireless in the bar ruined my otherwise spotless trip to Eden, like I was gonna be doing serious work in a smoky bar half-torn on bloody marys. I only wanted an internet connection to surf around and maybe read Fark or something. And I love how they acknowledge my comments about the bar staff and waiter in particular, just awesome. If I was a VIP at twenty-some nights, I’m gonna be a freakin’ rock star the next time I go. What a great letter, I love that hotel.

Did you guys read this? Do people not read? Or don’t care that this was why we voted for war? Sorry, I almost managed a whole entry. This blog has inline media, and as a rule that means I don’t type as much. For more reading, check out this site – pretty interesting stuff.

G’night, Dave out.

Posted on

and my brain folds

Leave now or be ever remembered by the void your bones create in lava.
Mmm… post rock. How many times have I written of thee and thy apocalyptic sound? How fitting that I find another great band tonight, and listen to their clamour as I read about the impending asplosion of Mt. St. Helens. For real y’all, that thing is ready to blow. It might as well be shooting molten earth from my speakers right now as I bang my head, in a mathy kinda way, to some old Mono albums. Rad. Right now I’m drinking straight out of a two-liter bottle of root beer, I don’t even care. Intro paragraph over.

Today (yesterday, for those who don’t understand my nightly posting schedule) was a good day at work. Not because I got some praise or anything, but because I worked hard and got a lot done. And at the end of the day, or, around 7pm, I had my junk ready and was able to head home with a clear conscience. Sometimes the best days are when I’m just busy enough that I’m hovering right above that “one more task and my brain folds” line, and that’s what today was. I was right at the limit of my multitasking, a limit which I consider to be pretty respectable. The day ended well too, with a free communal meal at Anthony’s place, where I managed to draw a couple cold ones off the keg before it sputtered out. Yeah, just about the right end to a productive day.

I contrast days like today with their antithesis, days I like to chalk up to dissolution. Maybe I’m the only one who has these days, I dunno, maybe I’m the only one who can sail through them without guilt. I’m talking about days where I come into work, and literally don’t do a dang thing unless it’s unavoidable. Most of the time, you end up doing something, because just being there seems to make people want to ask you questions or answer e-mail. But there are those rare days where my brain checks out and I’m just sitting there. I dunno, in the beginning when I started working at my job – I was new and there wasn’t much to do, so I would always go home feeling guilty for taking a paycheck. Nowadays, things are so busy I relish the slow times, giving myself one-off “working vacation” days when there’s nothing pressing to attend to. It’s just, sometimes, you get a bit tired of it all – and need to check out. Or, at least, I do.

You guys wanna hear some crap? Well, if you remember, I was recently complaining about having to shell out two deductibles to our auto insurance because a) Sharaun’s car got broken into, and b) her windshield cracked down the middle when she washed it with cold water on a hot day? Well, that was the second windshield she’d been through on that car since we bought it, only a year ago. We got it back two on Friday, today is Wednesday. Today a rock flew up and shattered her windshield. Again. For the third time her windshield is broken.

You can imagine the scene. It’s circa 3pm yesterday and I get a phone call at my desk, “Why can’t I just have an effing windshield?!?!” “What?,” I reply. Through sobs I hear, “A rock just flew up and broke my windshield!!” A frustrated teary scream and then, “I don’t understand!! Why?!?!” “Calm down,” I urge, holding back my own rage at the fates for casting us this hand, “We’ll get it fixed, I know it sucks but it’ll be OK.” Why y’all, why? Like I said, the insurance agency must be taking one hell of a toll and paying out their ass for all the hurricane damage – so they’ve got adjusters on the roadside chucking rocks at passing cars to make up for losses. Well we’re done, stop breaking our junk and leave us alone.

11:30 in the PM, time for me to put away the root beer, turn off the lights, and hit the hay. G’night. Oh, and, hey new kid, the block welcomes you. Dave out.

Posted on

to narrowly avoid divorce

This moll will break yo ass down!
Yeah, Sunday afternoon and I’ve done absolutely nothing all day. Did the first “real” test of the Winch Witch today, using the new “all-drill” winch mechanism. What’s better, it worked… it totally worked. Now it’s just tweaking and refining. Now I’m sitting here wasting my day away in a way that’s only afforded to the people of the modern day. No crops to harvest or animals to kill for dinner – the worst challenge I have to face is my bothersome headcold and rubbed-raw nostrils. And, having just thrown in the Fellowship of the Rings, it seems like I’m only planning to get lazier and lazier. I’m sick, I deserve it, right?

Last night Sharaun and I had a fight; the likes of which we haven’t had in a long time. I’m talking a real humdinger. Seems like the biggest fights always stem from the most minuscule and ridiculous things. This one, for instance, started with me asking Sharaun why she had turned on the air without closing the bedroom window first, and soon escalated into swearing and yelling (both the swearing and the yelling mostly done by yours truly). So dumb. Thankfully, we were able to smooth things over soon enough, and with apologies were able to narrowly avoid divorce. I’m glad we rarely fight, it’s a waste of time.

I know I haven’t stopped talking about it, but really, the new album by the Arcade Fire is hands-down the best album released this year. I worked in the yard yesterday for nearly five hours, and I listened to that 47min album the whole time. Over and over and over as I huffed and puffed and sweat in the grass and dirt. Happy the whole time. Don’t take my word for it, go out and buy it, or download it, or something. Just get it in your ears for God’s sake! You’ll be a better man for it.

Back in high school, I started smoking a pipe for a couple reasons. My fake-uncle (you know, your dad’s good friend who your family for some reason starts calling “uncle?”) had smoked one for as long as I can remember, and I was reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I can remember sitting out on the screened-in porch in Florida, smoking my pipe while turning the brittle yellowed pages of the coverless copy of The Fellowship that I’d picked up from the local used book store. I used to smoke whatever I vanilla-ey stuff I could pick up from the smoke shop in the mall, but soon developed a taste for more quality tabac. Now I have a nice pipe collection and a few varieties of smoke, but I rarely sit down with a pipe anymore. Every time I think about it, I remember how much I used to enjoy smoking my pipe. I think the fact that Sharaun won’t abide my smoking in the house stops me more often than not.

Last night I set the TiVo to record the first presidential debate, in hopes that it’ll give me some further insight into the upcoming election. At this time, I would still classify my current allegiance as somewhat tenuous… although still aligning with my inborn lean to the left. Having lunch the other day with an uber-politico friend of mine (a hardcore Independent with equal amounts of doubt for each major-party candidate) only helped to muddy up my mind on the whole thing. As sad as it sounds, I’m really looking to these debates, and the discussion and answers that come from them, to help me decide. I mean, I know it may sound superficial and “American” to rest my vote on a media event, a Jerry Springer -esque showdown if you will, but I have to admit it will probably play a big role in my decision. At this point, however, I just can’t see myself voting for W – which doesn’t leave me with a lot of options. I just don’t know.

I was going to write about how I’ve never been to a funeral, but I changed my mind because I want to go to bed more than I want to write about how I’ve never been to a funeral.

Dave out.

Posted on

a bigger desk this time

Workin' hard to make a better blog for you.
A quick entry before bed. No bloggin’ lately because I’ve been working on the new calendar and PermaLink features for the site. They are both up and working now, with some minor changes still needed (calendar needs to “grey out” days without entries, and should give a more elegant 404 page when you try to click on an entry in the future).

Anyway, I’ve been feeling pretty sick. I think I’ll just go ahead and clear the blog “cache” by posting all the half-written entries from this week, right now…. so… get… umm… ready. Because here comes some disjointed, unfinished stuff, but I gotta get rid if it.

Written sometime on Tuesday, during my non-presenting time at the customers:

Conference room, two people openly sleeping in their chairs with no shame. Full of Starbucks and watching a catering van pull up out front. Must be lunch, looks like sandwiches… I was hoping for something more extravagant. As much as I complain about presenting the same thing over and over again, I actually really enjoy going out and meeting with customers. I like when people recognize you from the last time you were here, I like answering questions and feeling smart, and I like the “worldly” feeling I get from traveling. So far I’ve answered five or so questions, and otherwise just sat here taking notes to keep busy. Figured I’d try and write a bit.

Slept from takeoff to landing on the flight today. Put on my little flash MP3 player and let the Arcade Fire drive my dreams. I woke up with my mouth hanging open as we hit the runway, hoping that I hadn’t been snoring, but pretty sure I had. Now I’m stuck singing the songs in my head as this guy presents and these people ask questions. Falling asleep hard, just caught myself with my eyes closed and head falling forward.

Across town, dodging lunchtime traffic on the 808, another customer and another presentation. A bigger desk this time, darker wood and more chairs – same sleepiness. Three more hours and I can head back to the airport for the jet home. At least then I can sleep.

Written sometime yesterday, before I felt too crappy to keep going:

I’m no longer afraid y’all, this is the best album released thus far this year. At first I was hesitant, thinking it might have been puppy love, a crush with no long-term emotional roots. I was wrong, it only gets better each time. Arcade Fire you’re my hero.

And finally, written right now:

I’m tired. A more proper entry tomorrow, I promise. Dave out.

Posted on

does this count?

Old dude in black and white.
10pm on a Monday night. Trying to decide whether or not to iron tomorrow’s monkey-suit tonight or wake up early and get it done. Since I have to split around 5:30am to make my short flight, I don’t think I want to wake up early. But, I really don’t feel like ironing right now. If I was in Taiwan, I’d have already sent tomorrow’s shirt and pants to be pressed, and some unseen laborer would’ve hung them nicely in my closet. Where are my unseen laborers? Owell. The nice thing about tomorrow is that I’m really only going to press flesh; I’m not even presenting. I’m there for “face time,” and to answer any questions that might come up. To me my motivation is more like a free lunch and a day away from the office… nearly as noble, right?

I’m sitting here looking at my desk before me, and I’m disgusted by how messy and cluttered it is. Here’s just a rundown of what I can see: a bottle, one-fourth full, of generic tropical-flavored Tums antacids; a Diet Coke; electric nosehair trimmers; a ziplock bag full of Garbage Pail Kids; stacks and stacks of CDs; a plush monkey; spindles and spindles of blank media; a wedding-cake groom figurine; a vintage cassette walkman; two cans of Play-Doh; a wireless universal garage door keypad; piles of mail; fingernail clippers; pipes and pipe tobacco; an empty prescription bottle of allergy medicine; one plastic troll with bright blue hair; one plastic troll with bright red hair; an incense burner shaped like a wizard; an empty glass on a coaster; loose batteries; a faucet attachment for a sink; and it goes on and on. I gotta get less pack-ratty.

I don’t really have time to be writing right now, on top of having nothing to say – I should be sleeping. Instead, I’m sitting here listening to the Arcade Fire and staring at my Word doc. I think I’m going to take some vacation soon. Not that I’ve been taxing myself at work lately or anything, I just started thinking. We’re not going anywhere for Christmas this year, so the five or six days I usually reserve for that are just going to go unused if I don’t do something with them. I was thinking, since Sharaun’s off for a while now – that we could maybe take a trip or something. Maybe run away and hide out somewhere for a while, just us. I used the word “thinking” a lot in this paragraph.

Midnight and my fingers don’t seem to be writing anymore. They keep asking my brain for more words, but he mutters back something about being sleepy and kinda hot. Sharaun’s been asleep on the couch for hours, so I’ll now go through my light-turning-out, door-closing, wife-waking routine. Today on the phone I laughed at a joke I wasn’t really listening to, just because the teller of the joke was laughing, and then realized that can be dangerous. What the heck, or who the heck, am I laughing at? What am I associating myself with, what did I just find funny? Better not to laugh when you’re not paying attention, this today I learned.

Hey Kirby corporation, you send one damn vacuum representative to our house each week; we still haven’t bought your $2000 vacuum, despite your kind offer for a “payment plan.” The day I take out a line of credit to pay for a damn vacuum is the day my identity has been stolen. Your van-ferried teenage salespeople in loose-fitting khaki’s and reeking of Hilfiger cologne can’t market for crap, the 2hr training session they went to only makes them come off like pre-pubescent used-car salesmen. Stop coming to my house, we know our vacuum sucks. It’s made of plastic and came from Wal Mart, yours is all metal and can tow a boat or suck up piles of my dead skin – I don’t care. My wife hates you and so do I.

It’s gone! He already took down the site, just as I was getting to like it. Owell. Loaded the Arcade Fire and Grand National to my MP3 thumbdrive and I’m ready for the flight tomorrow. Not related to anything, I found this in my old journal and loved it so much:

I describe, visually in the form of a Venn diagram, my ability to detach.

Dave out.

Posted on

red marks on my thighs

Whatever.
Sometime Saturday the weather turned, and I wore my first jeans of the fall. Sure, I still coupled them with sandals, but that’s how I rock fall fashion y’all. We even got a cold rainy Sunday, a Sunday what found me asleep on the couch at a friend’s apartment – enjoying being asleep on a foreign couch, being warm inside while it’s cold outside, the sound of football in the background as I wake myself snoring, good company, a full belly. Womby, it was great. Sorry guys, it’s the music that makes me write like this – what music you ask? Well, only what’s possibly the most awesome album to hit my ears this year. For those who don’t care, the next full two paragraphs will be about this album, so you may skip ’em. Onward then.

Effing-A people, the new music boat docked at my place long enough this weekend to rub some electrons on the platters of my hard disk – and impart to me some gorgeous new tunes in digital form. Here I was over the last month or so, trying to make the days’ memories stick to my brain, but with no new soundtrack to aide in the process. The Killers’ and Polyphonic Spree’s album sections in my head are already at their allotted memory-to-music fill-points, so I’ve got stuff going in up there with no album set as a trigger. Damn shame. How shall I earmark the passing of these days? Thankfully, the indie world has heard my cry, and bestowed upon me a new batch of tunes. And I’m not talking mediocre here, I’m talking some of that instant-like stuff, love-at-first-listen kinda junk.

From the moment I right clicked the folder called “Funeral” and highlighted “Play in Winamp,” I was rapt. With every listen I become more engaged with this album by some group called The Arcade Fire. Seemingly tailored for me, made near-perfect to what I enjoy about music. It’s presumptuous sure, but I call this as being on my “best of” 2004 list come December. Other music came from God too, Grand National and AC Newman; both sound good – but I’m hopelessly in love with this Arcade Fire. The first song is about kids growing up in their Neighborhood (a theme stretched over four tracks), and talks about every kid’s dream of underground tunnels from best bud’s room to yours. Talks about walking around and growing up and, and, sorry, I just had an orgasm. Enough about this album, it’s that good.

I’m just about finished up with the graphic novels Kristi lent to me, Maus. Two-thirds of the way through the second volume. I’ve been doing most of the reading in the john, I keep the book there so it’s always handy. Sure, your legs fall asleep from sitting there too long, but I don’t mind. What a sad book. To think a comic book could move someone to tears. A grown man, sitting on the toilet, red marks on his thighs from resting his elbows there as he reads a coming book, crying. Crying while reading a comic book on the commode, must look hilarious. Ach! What do you know from funny?

This weekend was our going-away celebration for Steve and Ragan. It was a joint-effort between Kristi and Erik and Sharaun and I, a pretty nice affair. We did it at our place, and drew a pretty nice crowd. Food was eaten and drink was consumed, and hopefully our guests of honor felt particularly honored. Eventually, the fog machine was taken out, and last year’s Halloween supply box was raided. The result was a zero-visibility black- and strobe lit garage, which was a big hit. Somehow the party ended with three guys, me included, playing Mike Tyson’s Punch Out! until 3:30 in the A-M, which is odd to me- but was great fun. Somehow sometime during the evening’s festivities, Steve ended up taking out the shower curtain – and what’s even better, it was caught on camera:

Anybody's guess really.

Prior to the party, I had originally had plans to go skydiving with the crew. However, upon hearing the appalling way that fat brothers are treated at the skydiving place, I chose to stay home. Being that I’m a beefy 240lbs, I’d’ve had to pay $40 extra to jump, and they’d’ve only taken me to 6000ft vs. the 14,000ft everyone else got to jump from. No thanks. I’m not gonna ride in the “special plane” to make a “special jump” at a paltry 6000ft. I play it off funny, but it does kinda run up in ya like a knife.

Found this site this weekend, linked from /., and I love the idea. Now, why can’t I ever be this creative? Tomorrow it’s an early trip by jet over to San Jose for another day of presenting, you know I can’t wait. Dave out.

Posted on

dustin’ smokies the whole way

Sorry if this is your kid.
Just got back from the “urgent care” clinic with Sharaun, but let me tell you, there ain’t nothing urgent about it. Those people move with all the urgency of an turtle. Anyway, Dr. Professional at the clinic diagnosed her injured knee as.. an injured knee, and said she should get an MRI. Mission accomplished though, she got a quick referral to a specialist who’ll really be able to figure out what’s wrong.

Saturday Kristi walked into my place and held out a couple smallish paperback books, offering them to me. Looking at them, they appeared to be graphic novels. Since I’m not really a comic book person, I didn’t know what to think. Turns out these books, called Maus Parts I & II, are part graphic-novel, part memoir, and part history lesson – all about the life of the author’s father, a Holocaust survivor. Finished the first one tonight while the doctors at the clinic must have been using up all their urgency on some other patients, and I’m anxious to start Part II. Interesting stuff and easy reading.

Sitting here listening to some A Silver Mt. Zion, frantic apocalyptic violin and percussion sounding really rad right now. Sometimes I just need to kick back and get my instrumental on, y’know? Words can wreck a song sometimes anyway, and instrumental tunes make for great thinking and working soundtracks. You know, blaring in the headphones as you pound away on the keyboard for your paycheck? Cranking out PowerPoint presentations to give the flashy-graphic addicts their daily fix of 38pt drop-shadowed Arial text and multicolored block diagrams. Wait. Why didn’t I go to trucking school again? I could be smugglin’ an 18-wheeler full of bootleg beer across statelines right now, dustin’ smokies the whole way.

Anyway, I guess it’s time for bed. So until then, when the next the world hears from me will be the customary sounding of my “morning claxon” as I trumpet my own response to the alarm clock’s horrid beeping.

Dave out.