Wow...Not Even On The Television News Yet

Seriously. Channel 31 is more concerned that it's fucking snowing.

I can completely understand how someone can feel such a way. I've made it known that the Colorado Department of Revenue and Qwest aren't two of my favorite things. The IRS only sort of gets me down. My biggest gripes are with the inherent inefficiency in bureaucracy. I got in a (verbal) fight with a sociology professor about that once. Fucker.

There's some creepy (to me) details in CNN's Story:

Texas plane crash pilot: 'I have just had enough

It's crappy to crash a plane into an occupied building, for sure. My band mates also mostly avoid political and religious talk, because it could potentially tear the band apart. We're there to make beautiful music together, not bitch about the man. If something's really bothering any of us, though, it's not unusual to vent a little to each other. Both of my bands are quite therapeutic that way. They're awesome for me.

The Internets Are Good For Something

Even if I can't get over selling people mp3s, the internets are pretty cool for discovering music. On one of my frequented fora, someone posted about the bass sound on this:



It's totally got that earthquake kick drum, too. I do dig the blended/biamped glitchy fuzz tone bass. I wish that I could pull off sounding like that, but usually my fuzz sound sounds nothing but cheesy. I need to work on it, I think. I'm getting closer, though. I remember hearing playback on one particular recording, and being amazed at exactly how overdriven my sound is at times. Greg and I have sculpted some very nice bass sounds for the eminent BLC record. The funny thing is, it's mostly just a good passive DI, with the electric grandmother mic'ed about ten feet out. He used the 1176 to even out some of my excitement, much like McDonald did. (BTW--I've heard some of that guy's new stuff, and it's going to slay listeners when they hear it)

The moral of this long-winded post is that I'm checking out more of Oxbow's catalog.

Bass Parts.

I went ahead with my Christmas money spending spree on the interwebs.

1. Since I'm drop-tuning again (BLC doing some seriously malevolent new stuff), I decided to "do it right" and invest in a Hipshot D tuner. The way I figure it, if it works, it'll be bad ass. If it doesn't, I can recoup some of the cost and sell it on Talkbass.
2. I've been desiring a heavier bridge for the orange one for a long time (since I got it). The Leo Quan bridges are over-rated (no sweet features), in my opinion. A better bet (for about the same price) is the Hipshot model A (adjustable string spacing and quick release, and Graphtech makes piezo saddles for it if I get that jonez). I couldn't seem to find a Gotoh string-through, bolt-on replacement for the orange one. I did find a hilarious engrish-infested website for Gotoh, though (I can't find it now, but it had a hilarious translated description of their electric sitar bridge).
3. I also picked up some Mallory capacitors for the school bus bass (and new potentiometers) and the long-neglected white one. I think that the paper/oil cap in the orange one is cool, but takes up a lot of space in the control cavity. I probably should've picked up some more black/white cloth-covered wire, but I think that I'm safe to wire two basses.
4. I got a couple of Electrosocket jack plates for the school bus as well as the green monster. Side mount jacks are truly Satanic (not even reliable). I hope that these are indeed an improvement over a couple of pieces of bent metal.

I'm still trying to justify blowing some money on a digital recorder (it seems like it would be helpful for demoing the stuff that I'm writing if it's user-friendly--I don't want to deal with a computer, but a multi-track would be helpful, especially for my addled mind). I really wanted to get the stable of basses solid before taking that plunge. I've also fixed two power amps and a preamp using bonus/gifted holiday money. My realization that I'm up to my ass in dysfunctional equipment really lit a fire that preempts the purchase any new toys.
----------------
Now playing: Black Sabbath - The Wizard

Really Funny In A Really Inappropriate Way

This might be the best PSA I've ever seen.

They Could be Talking About My Band

One of the funniest exchanges that I've read recently:

Q: Hi guys! does anyone know how to get the crazy ambient effects that Geezer did with Black Sabbath in tracks like "The Dark", "E5150" or "Stonehenge"?

A: Sounds like he was using a volume swell with flanger and maybe some delays on "The Dark" and "Stonehenge". Sounds real spacious.

A: I think smoking pot and channeling Satan helps too.

These poor souls don't know what a flanger can do (no one really digs the flanger). I think that it's a Tycobrahe flanger. Chicago Iron is making copies of it that sell for $550. It's wicked, though. Hear it here.

Wow.

Since my recent dream, I've been thinking about Brian Jones a lot. I was really surprised (completely vibed out, actually) to hear that they're "re-examining" his death during a quick check of my news feeds this morning before setting out into the world. I found this from the New York Times this afternoon:

Police to Re-examine Death of Brian Jones

Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: August 31, 2009

Forty years after the guitarist Brian Jones, below, a founding member of the Rolling Stones, was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool, the British police say they will re-examine the case after receiving new information from an investigative journalist, Reuters reported. Jones, who helped create the Rolling Stones in 1962 (and is said to have come up with the group’s name, taken from a Muddy Waters song), was found dead on July 3, 1969, at his home in East Sussex, which once belonged to A. A. Milne. At that time Jones had recently left the band. A coroner’s report gave the official cause as “death by misadventure,” though subsequent films and books (including “The Murder of Brian Jones” by Anna Wohlin, a girlfriend of Jones who was with him the night he died) have suggested that foul play was involved. British officials did not describe the new information or identify who had given it to them. A Sussex police spokesman told Reuters, “These papers will be examined by Sussex Police, but it is too early to comment at this time on what the outcome will be.”

"Like A Pillow For Your Ear."

That's what Andrew told me about my tone recently. He got to experience it when he saw Ross Etherton and the Chariots of Judah at the Larimer Lounge a couple of weeks ago. I obsess about tone quite a bit. I really want the bass to sit in the mix and hold down the low end without a lot of effects or equalization.

I need a little bit of string/finger noise, though, so that I can hear the attack of the note (and make sure that I'm playing cleanly, because it'll let me know if I'm not). Most of the time, I think that I achieve what I'm after. What I'm not after is some treble-infested crap--that's what guitars are for.

I found this on the interwebs--it seems that someone else basically (bass-ically) agrees with me, even if I use round wounds most of the time. It was a funny read first thing in the morning.

Blackjack.

I don't know if it means that the BLC is more "underground" or less "underground" this year than last--it isn't congruous with the name--perhaps a name-change is in order (then it would sound like Chinese restaurant--Good Fortune Town). We're still on a plateau but that's totally cool, since the only really interesting thing that we did in the last year was that live score for the Bruce Bickford animation. Every time I see the results of such a contest, I'm really curious about what goes through a voter's mind. Did they get "instructions for the jury?" The spurious regressor in me really would love to get the data and make some bullshit hypotheses up.

I'm stoked that Ian won, though. His record really doesn't do it for me, but when he opened for us at the Artopia (just before the break dancers), he blew me away solo. I don't understand how some groups didn't garner more (or any) votes--certainly some folks work a lot harder than we do.

Apparently, we're out of cat food. Damn.

----------------
Now playing: Steve Reich - Pulses

Hilarious Search Results.

I monitor the FEEDJIT Live nonsense, and I'm frequently amused by the search terms that get hits here. I'm confounded by my Laramie reader, especially. Whoever you are, you totally ought to email me, totally (I'm callin' your ass out).

My favorites are below (poetry, really):

• i accidentally drank dishwasher soap
• homeless guy named josh
• whores i've fucked in rantoul illinois
• galanti guitar wiring bypass
• what is "420 situation"
• vocabulary scramble for eyl
• black hoes
• alembic pickups magnet dimension
• formaldehyde endo paste banned in the united states
• ivory snow box with marilyn chambers and baby with finger in mouth
• wired black hoes
• tie dye grill cloth fender
• what is an apt comparison
• absorbine jr, king soopers

Busy Weekend.

I guess I'm supposed to be "tweeting" stuff like this. LRC says that I'm supposed to use that for "I'm taking a dump" type posts. I can do that here--why would I want to subscribe to something else for people who aren't savvy enough to use feeds and aggregators and whatnot? Oprah is doing it, so perhaps I will. Maybe someday.

Friday night was my amazing tacos and vodka. I've actually been a light-weight since my ancient Chinese secret. It's a lot cheaper to catch a buzz since my Lenten booze fast.

Saturday, I awoke to no snow aqui (where was the 4 feet, dude). I cruised down to LRC's pad--it was 'nother story there--big car-sized snow boulders in the road and shit. Lame.

I wanted to see a movie to get out of the rain. We missed Fast and Furious, and I actually wanted to see He's Just Not That Into You, because Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore are in it (hot chicks to me).

During the movie, I got a call back from dude who's bass I was interested in. I arranged to meet him later, after the kids were in bed.

We picked up the minivan of doom. The dumb asses broke a bolt off in the timing cover and replaced it for twice the price. I bit my tongue, because my Mexicans would've done it cheaper (free+parts) but it probably would've involved Bondo, a sledgehammer, JB Weld, or a die grinder (likely all four). The coolant that I smelled a couple of weeks ago was indeed a fucked up water pump--I called it but didn't press the issue at the time. Whoot to me for my nose diagnostic (when driving trucks, you have to use all your senses).

<bass nonsense>

I went to Aurora to investigate the bass. Indeed it was clean, with the modifications that are required to make a 1951 design usable with modern strings and amplifiers. I'm still lukewarm about the schoolbus bass (the color needs to grow on me still):



Dig that goofy strap con los conchos, hombres. That'll go away. It only requires Grover strap locks, and some of those white felt washers (I have a bunch of 'em 'round here somewhere). It has a modern bridge, a fret job, a decent case (with keys, of all things), a setup for heavy-gauge roundwounds (I'll have to fix that), an extra set of new strings, the original bridge (in the case), a Lindy Fralin ham-backer (I'm a believer in the Lindy's hand-wound creations)--the original single-coil pickup is also in the case. I was looking for a twangier toned bass, and this one delivers--I haven't fingered it out enough to use it for BLC yet, but it's tempting. We're doing just fine with the ultra-dark JZ tone on the orange one (with over-wound Lindys).

It was cool to get an instrument that I've had on my list, and meet another local player. None of my friends actually know much about bass guitars (everyone I know plays guitar, it seems). Certainly, my pals appreciate good bass tone, but how to obtain it is sort of mysterious to them. Along those lines, I love the title of this post, even if I think that it's lame to not do your own electronics.

</bass nonsense>

After picking up the bass, I went to Tito's show. I saw Spoke Shaver (Josh Cool's new band, not what I expected, but I need to tap his luthier skills for this damn Rick) as well as Lonesome Tommy and His Lovely Lushes (looking forward to a full-band at the Meadowlark). LRC got zapped by an energy vampire and wasn't coherent enough for any more, which was a bummer because the harmonium rock afterwards looked very very very interesting to me.

Today, I cleaned house and took it easy. Then, I went to rehearsal. We ran through the set for Saturday, and basically rocked. We haven't played together as a band in a non-writing or recording session in several months, and there was only one significant stumble (which we played through--Greg was distracting me--I fucked up a chorus on one of the "hits"). It's nice to be playing with a solid group that doesn't really get cobwebs. I think that the key is that we're focusing evenly on new material as well as old material for the show. The new, old, new, old format is great for the set. I'm so excited to play a 'real' show since our last three were "events." Indeed, this one is an event, too, it appears, but it's at our "home" venue. It's going to be fun.

<recording angst>

Apparently, my Hammond parts from Friday are going to be kept, even though I 'bout had a nervous breakdown recording 'em ('how the fuck am I going to get there from here'--it was totally slow-motion playing). It almost sounds like I had lessons, so that paid off for mom (truly a funny story), but it's so damn legato and liturgical that it's not exciting by any means. I'm holding down eight finger chords and paralyzed with terror while I await the next measure--it wasn't relaxed at all. I don't even know the names of the chords--minor sevenths with suspended fourths or something--I nailed the last chord, which is what matters for the song (is he going to beat her?). Tension and release and then, maximum tension (Gm + Gmaj, interpolated and arpreggiated, and lots of tremolo/vibrato on both).

</recording angst>

Hee Hee.

This is great. I totally want it.

Cool Version.

I accidentally learned this one today while noodling around with chords. The internets confirmed that I had it correct--I lucked out and found this video (worth the TOS risk). I love that they're doing the screw driver part. Still one of the coolest, easiest lines ever.

Funny.

Somehow, this search page sends one to this page. I probably have a most wanted poster in Saudi Arabia.

I think that it's quite funny.

Insert The Biggest White-Guy Afro Ever Here.

Damn...that's hilarious.

Or, the so-called "Wall of Sound." Spector changed everything as far as production goes, especially in country (he's better known for the pop stuff). This one has fucking castanets (and hand claps) and great drumming, which I've been totally desiring since the flamenco stuff came about. Glad that chick didn't get shot in the face.



This is one of the songs that I first danced to at a party (for the girl that I paralyzed in fourth grade's birthday party with her older sister and her pretty friends). It has a decent beat, seriously. And...castanets for us lacking the rhythm.

I don't dance, really, but I do move, if I'm moved. I don't even want to shoot women in the face because of the Spector--so much for my Judas Priest lawsuit, right?

Really Real Rage; Damn The Man

Today, I wasted two hours at the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder's office to not register or title a truck. The problem comes down to what the revision number is on the 'Statement of Fact' form. The content is exactly the same, but my revision number wasn't acceptable to the bureaucrats.

I came uncomfortably close to a homicidal freakout with the shotgun of doom. I got home and was reduced to freaked-out pacing and yelling at the cat. I decided that I ought to play some bass for therapy (as I often do), instead of shooting those giggling bureaucrats with rat-shot in the face. They're on the list now, however.

The 'Frito Bandito' (Mahoney's new nickname) inspired me to fill said truck and park it in their lot with rotting garbage. This is what I will do early next week. I need to pick up some restaurant waste so that it's totally awesome. I'm sure that I'll get a ticket, but maybe we'll make the news. Free advertising, friends...

I tried to watch TV, but I had to turn it off because I was this close (holding fingers close together) to getting medieval on its ass.

Because I was completely pissed off, I totally broke the orange one. I was learning a fucking INXS song, of all things:



I broke the pick guard off at the output jack. It was hanging by a screw, and that made me angry enough to start drinking.

I needed an excuse to replace that hinkey 'parchment' one. I opted for a brown tortoise one, a la the hot rod (wicked, but with a side-mount jack) precisions from a few years ago. I'm thinking that I ought to go all out, though, since it'll be in pieces, and just do all the mods that I want to do now, since I can do it outside of the bass, and then basically drop the new setup in.

I'll be internet shopping tonight.

A YouTube Friend.

Seriously, though. I like to make connections to Europe on the YouTube. SlikkTim rocks. I love that bouncy stuff. Tasteful.

His drum & bass dub is hilarious, especially since I can't play my way out of a paper sack on drums:

It's Working!

Finally got this crap functional. I also managed to move all of my old posts (going back to April 2002).

Sweet.

I Wonder...

I've been considering doing videos of me playing so that if I get hit by a bus, there's no question WTF I'm doing. It could be helpful, and there are a lot of YouTube videos of some dude with no social life playing bass, like this:



I'll admit that I have no clue as far as webvideo production. Apparently, headphones are involved, a goofy t-shirt, a squire p-bass (a la bassfuzz.com--which is simply brilliant), and poor right hand technique (out of time, anyway).

Dude! That line doesn't even get into that upper register stuff until after the bridge/solo in the third verse. Oh well....such are the interpretive bass lines of YouTube.

I really do love this song, and it's scheduled to re-appear here shortly in a big rant against commercial music delivery systems. It's probably the straightest line that The Ox ever played. Sad that there's no Keith, but I'm certain that he would've taken up enough space that those tinkly piano lines wouldn't have made an appearance.

These Are For LRC.

YouTube is awesome for a la carte entertainment. I heart YouTube. Here you go....

Overwhelmed? These wisenheimers (what my grandparents call me all the time) should put you in a better mood:



The Kubrick movie is better, but I think that you've seen this one, actually. I think that I've seen all of the Vietnam movies. My favorites are Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. But Johnny Depp is in this one (so hawt):



I've been listening to this record a lot lately. LARD is my favorite Ministry side project. Pailhead is cool, but I can't get over the whole straightedge thing. Jello Biafra is a weird dude to hang out with, but I dig the exuberant vocals:

Yahoo Media Player Rocks.

I'm totally enjoying the easy playin' of websites using this one. It's especially sweet on pedal manufacturer sites, and stuff like this (I think that it's a Zoom H2 used to record).

Currently, I'm obsessing about hand held recorders, again. I just need to get some funds together for a H4. I think that's my best bet, after using Josh's to do up the BLS stuff. It's mighty powerful, even if it feels plastic and cheap. It's priced right, and sounds amazing. It could be cool to bootleg shows, record rehearsals, and do some writting (since I gave away my 8-track, I can't get all crazy with songwriting--I don't even require 8 tracks for writting, though). I'd like to record some of my friends that do the 'dude with a banjo' thing.

Back to the topic...check out the easy easy yahoo media player.

Wow.

I can't believe that I found this on the YouTube. This is my favorite NMH song, and unreleased. Probably a top five song for me. It's too bad that the sound quality sucks. Jeff apologizes for the lyrics being unfinished at the beginning.

Wonderful.

Monster Cables Suck, String Cleaning Gizmo, etc.

The hinkiness of Monster Cable isn't any real news to me, but I was starting to get annoyed. Luckily, the offending cable was found out--it seemed to be cutting out when the loud drums were hitting the hollow body. This caused the jack to vibrate and short the hinkey plug.

I've never been a fan of molded plugs. Mine are usually Rapcos (or Horizons, as the case may be) with Neutrik plugs. Switchcraft (more expensive) makes a good connector, too. My cables all have the lifetime warranty, but I usually just cut 'em up once they fail (so no 'lucky' trashman attempts to use 'em). Expensive, oxygen-free wire, silver solder and shit just isn't a selling point for me. Maybe for studio wire (a la Greg), but not for a live rig.

After the cable silliness, practice was pretty okay. It'll be better next time because the momentum won't be lost.

I got called out on dead strings! I really don't think that anyone listens to my playing, much less my tone. The current set was a week old for the Meadowlark show (I usually change 'em two days before a show, but BLC is okay with dead dead strings, so it's optional). They're just a little over three weeks old, and grimy enough that intonation is fucked up. Unfortunately, playing this much means a $20 investment in strings every other week. What to do?

The internets learnt me about this. Nichols turned me onto this denatured alcohol research. Boiling strings is stupid. I used to do that when I was a teenager (poor), but it only works for about a day with Rotosounds; the silk wraps come off, too. Now that I'm using medium-gauge los cheapies (sans silk), recycling strings seems to make more sense. This weekend, in an absinthe-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder blur, LRC and I built two of "the bass string cleaning tube." She's pretty handy with heavy inhalants like PVC cement. We needed two wine corks for the project as well, so we drank ourselves silly.

I'm cleaning my spare set at the moment. I'll switch 'em out for practice on Wednesday. I need to save $20 in strings to break even with this gizmo. It seems reasonable. If it works, I'll give one away to some poor SOB (sorry ol' bassist).

Indeed, if the gizmo works, I'll probably switch back to stainless, with the relatively short (couple of days) half life. They start out brighter than nickel wounds, but when they start to die, you're done.

I Love You, Tube

Fuck You, Arapahoe Community College (aka The Man)

Apparently, when one attempts to access this very web site from the computer lab of Arapahoe Community College, one receives the following message:

Access To This URL Has Been Blocked
Access to this URL is blocked from the CCCS network in accordance with the system's Computer Use Policy, SP 3-125c due to the rating of its content. Request for accessing this URL(s) may be granted only by your college president. Your request for access must include your computer IP address(s), computer name(s), reason why you need access to this URL(s), and the dates when such access should start and end. Please include your name, position title, email address and phone number. It may take up to 2 business days to grant the requested access after your president has approved your request.

Amazing.

Network Solutions Sucks

Those cocksuckers have apparently discovered my cell number. I get at least two marketing calls per day. I have a year before this domain registration expires. I'll fire those assholes, I swear. I'm unimpressed by calls from Bangladesh while I'm trying to have a real tele-talk with my girl.

Fuckers. I hate them.

Holy Jeebus

Those last posts certainly render better within the edit mode of the blooger. It's pretty to me, I promise.

And I Thought That My Blog Was Jacked Up (wtf is with my server?!?)

here

I like these people a lot, but I was trying to locate JH's stunt double's (see photo) bit about the queen of rimshots, which sounds completely obscene to me (but mildly erotic--some cyberpulp (tm) show review or something, apparently). It appears that their php navigation is fuckeed. There's a reason that I had to feex (tm) a lot of stuff for the redcloudrock.com (final notice of expiration received today--a pretty site at one point). I hope that they get their hosed site up to snuff soon.

They need to publish their shit more regularly. I'd like to see something monthly at the bear minimum. Can't be a hipster if your rag is obviously out of date, right?

Anyhow, the queen of rimshots is a mighty drummer, and now in my top three--with warner and mikey. Chick's got skills and shit (and will probably kick my ass for that comment). It's pretty intimidating to play with a drummer that's as gifted as she is. I'm glad to do it, though--you only improve by playing with people that play circles around you. Last night with the microphone on the kickdrum, the paint was coming off the walls.

Yay for loud! I want to know why John doesn't invest in a noise suppressor of some sort. Dude's got a problem. I love his sound, but that insidious hum sucks. Myself, I think that I need to seek a less distorted sound. It seems to be working, but I think that the preamp on channel dos is a little too much. Wednesday will be a switch to channel one for a cleaner sound. I'm not Shannon Stein.

(beer, bmx, and menacing looks, and the stunt double--this is the one that got published)

if this shit goes berserk

it's totally google's fault. i'm trying something new to get the new features. i'll be back in a terminator sort of way (to save you from the t-1000--that was a horrible date movie).