Thursday, August 27, 2009

Twofer

Once again, it's On Stage Thursday. This week, I knew the band, but picking just one song wasn't exactly possible. So, instead, tonight you get a twofer. Even getting to that point was tough.

People who hang out with me much have all heard the phrase "I hate Nickelback." Of course, if they spend about another five minutes with me, they learn that I really don't hate Nickelback, they put on a hell of a show, have a good time, and are quite seriously talented. What I truly hate is my lack of a five-string bass, so that I can play the badass bass lines that Mike lays down.

Nickelback-Never Again


Never Again... Driven, fat, beautifully deep bass. Yes, the lyrics are violent, and harsh, and not really happy and fun. Hell, I think it scared the shit out of my ex wife the first time she heard it (we happened to be driving home after our wedding, ironically enough). Of course, I also contend that the world can be violent and harsh, and isn't always happy and fun, but that's not the point of On Stage Thursday. Through good speakers, the bass on this song cuts straight to the center of your body, threatening to pick you up and toss you backwards.

And for the second:

Nickelback - "Far Away" Video


Far Away... An entire change of pace. An absolutely beautiful bit of songwriting, with a very subtle and almost unnoticed bass part. Lyrically, this song conveys as much emotion, syllable-for-syllable, as anything on popular radio today. The video hits some very tender spots, Dad finally quit fighting fires after over 20 years, so I can empathize firsthand with the fear and concern, which makes it even that much more powerful for me.

Now, it's late, I'm tired, I'm off to bed.

zzzzzzzzzz,
Lokidude

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Fear the IRC

Today on #gunblogger_conspiracy

<RobbAllen> You put your IRC in, you take your IRC out, you put your IRC in and you shake it all about.
*RobbAllen realizes all of a sudden that the Hokey Pokey is Rule 34 in musical format.

Gah

Dear iTunes: Your auto-complete feature for song info is nifty, but QUIT OVERRIDING MY DAMN CHOICE IN CAPITALIZATION! Yeah, I'm looking at you, Jobs. Bad implementation! Fix it! kthxbai

Lokidude

Sunday, August 23, 2009

News of the Weird

I'm not sure what I can possibly add to this. There's just epic levels of wrong involved in this one.

I'm pretty much reduced to this:

Billy Madison - Industrial Revolution Puppy





Just... wow

Lokidude

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Sometimes /b/ provides epic humor

via Silver, we get the wonder that is Metallolcats!

It's that time again!

Thursday night, which means it's time for another edition of "If I Ever Play On Stage..." Tonight, a little guilty pleasures music of mine.



Mark White is my hero, playing lefty, with a whammy bar, and often in gloves. And laying down some mighty licks.

Also, tonight's music brought to you by early 90's Seattle coffee, and Mr Yuri Orlov, who's now added to my blogroll, for being that cool.

Enjoy,
Lokidude

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sympathy for the Wasted

Jimmy Buffet singing "Margaritaville" on one stereo, the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" on the other. It makes the fuzzy overlap area kind of interesting.

In other news, Pearl Jam being played on my local classic rocker makes me feel old. Music I listened to in school, while excellent, should not qualify as classic rock.

I feel some days like this is the Assisted Living House of 'Dude.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I promise, I'm not calling anyone Betty...

In contrast to the last song in the "If I Ever Play On Stage" file, tonight's submission has a very active and complex bass line. Which may, in the end, be why I love it so much.

Tire Trouble in Turn 4

(At least I kept it out of the SAFER barrier...)

The tires on my beloved truck have been marginal for a while now, but I've been holding out buying new ones, as it doesn't get driven much, and I figured I could wait until closer to winter before I had to worry. Yeah, that's what I get for making plans. I go out last night to wire in my CB antenna and set up to mount the CB, and I notice the right front on my truck has maybe 10 pounds of air in it. I know it's going flat, and plan today around getting the tire fixed, hoping there's enough tire to fix. For the record, this makes three tires, on three vehicles, in about six weeks. Ironically, all of them were right fronts as well.

Anyways, I finally get the tire off today (learning in the process that the star wrench from the truck is in the Volkswagen back home, yay), and take it to the tire shop, only to find out that the sidewall has separated, causing the leak. This means I have to buy four new skins, about 2 months earlier than planned. And I get this news two days before payday. Hooray for broke.

Dad's going to do some checking with the mechanic at his work, and see if he can pick me up a set of the Dueller A/T Revo tires that they put on the work trucks and save me some cash. Either way, this means I'll have to cancel one of my runs down, most likely. Probably for the best, though, cutting out one of a pair of 1000 mile round trips in a five-day period.

Man, this is gettin old...

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Performance Anxiety...

Wow, I'm a bit nervous now. A blog has been set up for my 10 year class reunion (watch me feel old), and they linked to me. People I actually know in meatspace might read what I write now. Means I might have to, yaknow, write something every so often. I told myself when I started this little project that I was writing for myself and nobody else, and that holds true, but if I end up with an audience, I oughta give em something.

To all of you from the Class of 2000 that end up reading this, welcome. 10 years is a long time. Lets catch everybody up on what's gone on in that stretch. In the past decade...

I've had about half a dozen jobs, my current one for the last half of that time.

I've acquired about a half-dozen ex girlfriends (most still on good terms) and one ex wife (terms on that one not so good.)

I've owned more cars than I care to count, but now have it pared down to three, including a vintage VW project car.

I've lived in three states, and all my moves have involved work. I love my job, it's taken me good places, at times I was ready to go to them.

I met my current fiance, about 9 years before we realized that we are, in fact, a match you read about in story books.

Welcome to the House of 'Dude, and enjoy.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

If I Ever Play On Stage

I've been putting together a list for a while of songs I'd love to play if I ever play bass in public. The latest addition:

Steve Earle - Copperhead Road


The bass part isn't complicated at all, but I just love the song, so it's on the list.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Home

Back home, after another ass-long driving weekend visiting family. This time I saw an aunt I haven't seen in months. Now, Monster Hunter International. Review as soon as I finish.