sounds familiar

Last night there was a storm here. Not a “storm” in the Florida caliber I’m used to, but definitely more of a storm than we usually get. It was rainy, and really windy. At a couple points during the night I woke up to the whipping of the wind outside our window. I love the sound of a storm, if I was smart I woulda been the dude who recorded it and made millions putting it out on a series of “Earth Sounds” cds. Anyway, ’round about 4:30am I woke again to the rain and wind and decided to put on my glasses and go check out what it looked like. I got a glass of water and went to the sliding glass door to look, but couldn’t see much so went back to bed. I was lying there, listening to the storm, and I started imagining that I was in a boat at sea. It was the old times, y’know? with wooden boats like in pirate and pilgrim movies. I was out on the ocean, on some cool journey to some far away place.

I used to know a guy who lived on a boat. When I was manager at the record store, he was a salesperson. One night he asked a couple of us guys to come back to his place and hang out. Man, that boat was so cool. It wasn’t very big, but it smelled all “boaty” like that stuff they treat wood with. In the cabin it had all the trappings of a little efficiency room: TV, fridge, microwave, stove, etc. It was really cool and all old-timey nautical decorated, and I just loved that boat smell. Maybe it was because that little self-contained cabin area tapped into my “enclosed space” fantasies, all womby and stuff. He just had it moored at this little marina, where he payed a docking fee and a hookup fee for electricity and sewage or whatever. I remember him saying that it wasn’t as cheap as I may have thought, but man did I dig that whole idea. You could pick up and leave whenever you wanted, go out for days, whatever. Awesome. We got tight on Jack that night and hung out above deck telling stories under the stars – it was totally awesome. I guess Florida has some things going for it, the Jimmy Buffet lifestyle that the weather affords is certainly one of them. I’d never get Sharaun to agree to moving onto a boat though, and I dunno how much I’d really want to “live” there either. Owell, cool to think about.

When I was a kid, I didn’t like to take any time away from playing with friends. I would spend as much time as I could enjoying myself, and didn’t like to get interrupted with other things I had to do. From this dislike of playtime stoppage, I developed a habit holding in my poops. Oh yeah, I totally said it. While I no longer hold my poops (in fact – I now revel in them, marking them not only as necessary but also totally enjoyable), I did for a few gradeschool years? I think about 3rd through 5th. When I was outside playing and I could feel nature calling, I’d simply ignore it. If it got really bad, I’d sit on the ground with my leg folded underneath me to help add some “you get back in there” pressure to my innards. Why I disliked the poopin’, I have no idea? I think I was just trying to save time or something. Why I’m writing about this, I also have no idea. Other than it might make me laugh one day when I get senile and can jog my memory by reading it.

Hmmm? talked about boats, check. Talked about poop, check. What else was it that I was supposed to talk about?

A friend at work is letting me borrow a machine that rips any video input source to MPEG video for the PC. You just plug in an S-video or RCA source, and it encodes and outputs MPEG video to your PC in real time. I wanted to borrow it so I can rip and archive a couple old VHS tapes I have. One of them is “A Day in the life of Dave,” a 24hr autobiographical documentary I made in high school, and the other is of a videotaped “fitness challenge” that my 5th grade class participated in. (Yes Shaine, you’re in there crab-walking with the rest of us). I know the idea of me in any kind of “challenge” seems an alien one, let alone the “fitness” kind? but I was in 5th grade and relatively un-ruined by Nintendo and potato chips at the time. Anyway, I’m gonna rip ’em and upload them to the web? as I do nearly everything.

Ahem… Dave. Is. Out.

Yesterday while getting the link for the blog to talk about Explosions in the Sky, a new group I’ve been digging, I was poking around their webpage and realized they were playing in Sacramento that very night. I quickly informed Ben that, pursuant to the conditions of our rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, we would have to attend. Even though I’ve only had their stuff for a few days, I had already decided I liked them a lot – as they reminded me a lot of other post-rock (see, I know the jargon) outfits I enjoy, like Mogwai. So Benz and I decided to pull off the last-minute show, and Sharaun came along as well.

The show was at the Cap Garage, a nice little place in downtown Sac where we’ve seen other acts like Pedro the Lion and Hot Hot Heat. I generally like the place, although it’s way small and therefore gets really loud. This time I got smart and brought along three pairs of earplugs, just in case. It was a four-band night, and oddly enough Explosions in the Sky weren’t the last up – some local Sac band was. That was fine by me, since it was midnight by the time EitS finished anyway. Oh, and finish they did! After sitting through about five mediocre songs from another local band, the second opening act came on. A dude by the name of Lazarus was up. He mostly strummed his guitar solo and had occasional soft drum, keyboard, and rhythm backup. This guy sounded like he was about to commit suicide at any moment. He was seemingly so bitterly depressed or tortured that it was all he could do to croak out some apologetic intros to his Prozac-needy songs. The portrait of loneliness and loss, his songs had us all considering suicide by the end. I’m not saying he wasn’t talented, he was – quite talented. His stuff would be good for rainy days or breakups; or rainy days when you’ve just been broken up with, and your entire family just died in a fire, and you just learned you have cancer. Yeah.

Then came EitS. Holy crap. Right out the gate I knew they were here to rock. Tuning up and soundchecking their instruments, it was obvious that their amps went to 11. I decided that, image be damned, I would put in my earplugs and enjoy the show while also preserving my hearing for the years to come. Yeah I looked funny with neon orange foam in each ear, but it was cool with me. Heck, I’m old now? I gotta start thinking about my kids. What? Anyway, the band went from one wordless tune to the next with no pause in between. It was sometimes hard to tell song from song, with only an extended bit of feedback separating what may or may not have been different tunes. It was like one huge In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida/Mountain Jam/Thick As A Brick/Moby Dick/Dark Star/Get Ready epic. Their playing was tight and powerful, and sounded excellent. They ended with a crushing version of The Only Moment We Were Alone from The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, grinding three guitars and smashing the drums into a wash of total noisy awesomeness. After their hour+ set, the crowd showed their appreciation with a lengthy round of applause. We split after a couple songs from the closing band, as we were eager to get some sleep and not too interested. All in all, a great show and a fun evening – and a deal for $7. I took some pictures, maybe I’ll post them.

Right now I haven’t shaved since before Thanksgiving. While it’s liberating in the sense that I loathe shaving, I’m torn trying to decide if it looks nasty or not. Sharaun seems to like it, which is I guess all that matters – but I’m still undecided. It itches. But last night at the show I saw a guy with this immense, wild, lumberjack beard – and I just loved it. I would love a crazy stranded-on-a-desert-isle beard, and I might just try and grow one. The more unkempt the better. Wonder why Gilligan and them never grew beards? Guess they either figured out how to shave with coconuts, or managed to salvage some dull-proof razors from the Minnow. Hmmm?.

Oh, and out of some sense of pity for today’s kids I decided to actually watch the new He Man. And guess what? It’s not bad at all, in fact – it’s really good. Now, the new Transformers, that computer animated crap sucks. But the new He Man was good, a lot like the old one I used to love. The action figures are still gay looking though, too pretty boy if you ask me. I think I was a little hard on the Cartoon Network the other day, there are some great kids’ shows on there. The new Justice League looks awesome, He Man ain’t bad, and I saw a couple more previews of stuff that looked pretty decent. So to the youth of America, I apologize. Your toons aren’t all that bad, just mostly bad. Oh, and stay off the fighting trading-card monster crap? that junk will rot your brain.

Bonus points to anyone who can tell me the artist of each epic song mentioned in the concert review. Dave out.

Back from a weekend where I purposely set out to do nothing, and totally accomplished my goal. Then again, for a weekend of doing nothing I sure managed to do a lot. Friday night Pat called an impromptu get-together at his place for some Kings game watching and poker playing. Saturday day I did absolutely nothing, aside from downloading the new Myst game to check it out. I never play PC games, but I loved the original Myst. Saturday night we had dinner with a variation of the standard crew – and then closed the night in the hot tub. Sunday I took in Sharaun’s indoor game, and we went home and put up the Christmas tree before the Alias crew came over for tri-tip and tater salad. Not a bad weekend.

Dudes flirt with dudes. Oh yeah that’s right, I said it. Dudes flirt with dudes just like they flirt with girls. We may not call it “flirting,” but it’s essentially the same thing in that it achieves the same results. Now, I’m not saying dude/dude flirting is done with the same goal in mind as dude/girl flirting (i.e. canoodling), but the two are alike in that they both provide the flirter and flirtee with some measure of satisfaction and pleasure. Oh I know, all you hard core dudes disagree with me – but you’re just lying to yourself.

You know when your buddy messes up and you give him constant crap about it? Flirting. When you “mess” with another dude about something, sidling and poking fun at him? Also flirting. Akin to chasing girls around the playground and pulling their hair, dudes punch each other, give each other a hard time, and make fun of each others’ faults. Oh we won’t admit it for flirting, but it is. Make fun of what he’s wearing, call him a “pussy” for checking in with his woman, dog on his back hair… all just flirting.

On the music tip, I am really excited because I convinced Steve & Ragan to come to a show with Benz, Sharaun and I. They’ll be popping their indie show cherries to the crooning of the Decemberists at the Bottom of the Hill in January. Too bad we couldn’t have taken them to a more impressive venue for their first show, but owell. Also in music news, Ben put up some cool video and stills of his bro’s band in action at a concert he took in over Thanksgiving. That’s real rock y’all, don’t be scared. Meanwhile I’ve been stuck listening to the two Explosions in the Sky albums I’ve grabbed from absmi. Much like Mogwai, who I also adore – they are instrumental and noisy, fine fine tunes. I’ve also been enjoying the Neil Youngness of the Magnolia Electric Co. album from Songs:Ohia; and the loud grittiness of a “new to me” but old album from A Minor Forest.

OK, tired of writing. Dave out.

Yesterday I saw a commercial for these new “hip-hop” dolls. Yeah, “hip-hop” dolls. Anyway, the dolls are called “Flavas” (which, according to the website is “pronounced FLAY-vuhz”). The commercial had me laughing so hard. There are these dolls, being posed around by some kids’ hands, with some drum machine laying down phat beats in the background. They even have a “Flava-mobile” that’s all tricked out and stuff. They have two kinds of outfits: street and sport. With names like “Happy D,” “Tre,” “P. Bo,” “Tika,” “Liam,” and “Kiyoni Brown,” flashing across the screen in an awesome “spraypaint” font – I was cracking up. The best part of the whole commercial was at the end though, when one of the dolls (I think it must have been Happy D) threw her hands up and back towards her neck in a classic Flava Flav move. Oh man, I was rollin’. Anyway, I guess they are trying to compete with those Bratz dolls or something. Just the description on the Mattel website it good for a giggle if you ask me. (By the way, Liam and Kiyoni Brown are my favorites.)

Kids’ toys suck nowadays. Even the new He Man and Transformers are utter crap. And what’s with kids’ cartoons these days? All that DigiPokeYugi crap? Kids don’t know how bad they have it. On a tangent, am I the only dude alive who can’t stand anime? I mean, I hate that crap… bad. Cartoon Network plays way too much of the stuff, I wish I had Boomerang so I could watch the real classics like Yogi Bear, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Danger Mouse, etc.

But back to the plight of today’s youth… poor children. Everything they watch is Japanese monsters or robots, fighting in midair with lightning and lines of force accentuating the stupidness of their Matrixy battle. Oh, and don’t forget – you can play along in true Dungeons and Dragons style with some dumbass trading cards. Ugh. No thanks. Give me Cobra Command Center, Castle Greyskull, Liono’s Battle Tank, and some of those “crack-up” Hot Wheels that get “dented” when I throw them at the wall. You can keep your three-magic four-attack Charizard… even a Gummi Bear would bounce his pansy ass to death in a few seconds.

Jeez, hope I didn’t come off as some kinda anti-Japanese curmudgeon in that last paragraph… that’s not what I was shooting for at all. Honest, I like Japanese people as much as any people, and I even respect their animation skillz – it just happens that the stuff they make sucks. I give ’em an A for effort though. Keep drawing guys, one day you’re bound to get it right.

OK, I don’t really have anything more to write. I’m actually surprised I even wrote as much as I did.

And once again, Dave is out.