The Unlikely Professor

The scum sucking bastard that executed one of my best friends, Rob Finch, in 2001 has finally paid the ultimate price for what he did.

His death in the electric chair was far more peaceful and kind than what he did to my buddy and his girlfriend.

I wish Rob was here today.

I arrived at the 9.30 Club much later on the 2nd night for 2 reasons: 1) I knew the show wasn't sold out, so it wouldn't be as crowded; 2) I didn't think I could handle another 30 minutes of JP Incorporated.

Instead of my bike being the 4th parked in front of the club, last night it was 1st, and only 1 other guy (on a sportbike) showed up. The night before, there was a classic/vintage Moto Guzzi 850 (beautiful!) and, hysterically (and after the show), a guy with a cruiser (missed the brand) trying to zip his drunken ol' lady into her chaps. I got a kick out of that.

Anyway.

Despite my late arrival, I was able to get right up to the barrier in front of the stage. I was a tad grumpy because not only did work suck yesterday, but the band (through Mutato Muzika) did not respond (at all) to my request for a brief (gear-related) interview. I spoke harshly to a woman that tried to push past me - she gave me a well-deserved dirty look.

The stage layout for the 2nd night was a little more crowded than the 1st night; drums & keys bank were in the same place, but there was an extra keyboard centered at the back of the stage. They changed the lights from the hex-and-box setup on night one to a tall-box setup for night 2.

When the lights dropped, 3 videos from the Freedom of Choice album played on the screen - "Girl U Want", "Whip It", and "Freedom of Choice". Not nearly as interesting as the short film from night one, and actually kind of annoying knowing a) we were about to hear those songs and b) I can watch those videos on YouTube any time I want.

Not off to an auspicious start!

The band, being more confined on the stage - both Jerry and Bob 2 were relegated to keyboard duty for the vast majority of the set - seemed less energetic than the night before. Jerry sang lead (front & center) on a few songs, but mostly the set was the more stereotypical electronic-era Devo.

They even wore the Devo hats for the entire set - plus, there were tons of Devo hats in the crowd, including one on a young woman wearing an entire dress made of rubber standing near me. Mark tossed a few of the hats into the crowd during "Whip It" as well. The band's remaining attire was plain gray jumpsuits accented with red duct tape - which they wore for the entire show. I think they were wearing Doc Martens boots, too.

Josh didn't have as hard a time with this set's material as he did the first night; nearly all the beats were very straightforward and there was no messing around with shifting time signatures or shenanigans like that.

Bob 1 played guitar for the entire set and except for one solo break, stood right next to the drums the whole time. He played his old Ibanez "potato" guitar for the entire set. By his own admission, Bob pawned the guitar in the mid-80s for $250 so he could buy cocaine; it somehow ended up in the possession of pro skateboarder Jason Jessee, who some years later graciously gave it back to Bob. Kind of a happy story there. I was able to confirm that Bob 1 used a Line 6 POD XT Live and I was able to independently confirm (through various web sources) that Bob 1 is an enthusiastic Line 6 proponent.

Bob 2 played keyboards for almost the entire set, only playing guitar on a few songs - but most importantly (and fun-ly), he took the lead role with an *actual* encore - "Secret Agent Man", during which Bob 1 sang lead vocal. It was a lot of fun.

Anyway, I figured out that Bob 2 plays an Ibanez Talman TC420 guitar, but I still have no idea what amp or modeler he uses. Jerry played a Korg TR series keyboard (mostly) and his flipped-over Steinberger bass. Mark only played keyboards and sang, including a long, Michael Jackson-laced stint as "Booji Boy" during their extended version of "Beautiful World" to close the set proper. Mark used a Dunlop Dimebag DB01 wah pedal; I also spied a BOSS DS-1, the classic orange distortion pedal, and either a DD-20 "Giga Delay" or RT-20 Rotary Ensemble, beneath the keyboard bank.

Here's the overall set:

• Girl U Want
• It's Not Right
• Whip It
• Snowball
• Ton O Luv
• Freedom of Choice
• Gates of Steel
• Cold War
• Don't You Know
• That's Pep
• Mr. B's Ballroom
• Planet Earth
• (pseudo-encore) Be Stiff
• Beautiful World
• (actual encore) Secret Agent Man

They had a "ring girl" in an amusing jumpsuit (complete with erogenous zone diagramming) come out with cards marked "Track 1", "Track 2", etc. throughout the album portion of the set. It was funny the first couple times.

After they played "Beautiful World", the house lights came up and the show looked like it was over. The crowd kept chanting "de-VO! de-VO! de-VO!" though, and after 5-6 minutes of that, the band re-took the stage, the lights dropped, and they launched into "Secret Agent Man", which is probably my favorite song of theirs after "Girl U Want". Tons of fun. After that song, however, the roadies started unplugging stuff, so I knew the show was well & truly over.

In general, the second night wasn't as good or as much fun as the first night. The band seemed lower energy (Mark interacted with the crowd very little) and the material, being much more heavily keyboard based, wasn't as interesting to me. Naturally, highlights were "Girl U Want", "Whip It", "Gates of Steel" (the only song they played both nights), and "Secret Agent Man". The Booji Boy portion of "Beautiful World" went on far too long to be interesting and although Jerry sang the song quite well, Booji Boy's falsetto was pretty irritating after about the first 30 seconds. "Ton O Luv" and "That's Pep" sounded really good as well, and "Be Stiff" was a lot of fun thanks to Jerry's herky-jerky "dance" moves on stage.

Overall I'd have to say I liked the first night more than the second night, but the good aspects of the band remained throughout - they are obviously well rehearsed and very tight. Although I identify more with the material from their first album than their third, they played well - and for a bit more than 60 minutes this time.

Photos are forthcoming.

Devo's currently on a club tour, playing in their entirety what are their 2 best albums; Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice.

Opening the show is JP Incorporated, a 1-man act that features a skinny dude in a wig and fake beard/mustache singing over pre-recorded audio tracks w/video accompaniment. He does fake TV theme songs. They are not good, but some of them are kind of funny. Tonight I'll be showing up at 8.45 or 8.50 so as not to have to take in his set a second time.

Devo started a tiny bit before 9 with a short film from before their first album came out. It portrays 4 factory workers with fake faces on leaving work and going to band practice, then jamming out on "Secret Agent Man". After that, they cut to a college lecture hall; everybody in attendance except Mark Mothersbaugh is in a surgical cap & mask as the band struggles to get out of yellow cocoons while Mothersbaugh sings "Jocko Homo".

The band came out to a pretty sparse stage laid out with the drums on the left (as you look at the stage) and a bank of 5 keyboards on the right. Two mics at the front of the stage near each of those, and an empty space center stage. Bright lights all across the back of the stage - hexagons up top, squares down below.

Except for drummer Josh Freese, who is only 36 years old, the guys in Devo are all ... well, pretty old. Let's just say the collective age of the band is pushing 300. However, their age does not seem to affect their energy and Mark, Bob 1 (Mothersbaugh), Bob 2 (Casale), and Jerry (Casale) never stopped moving. There were some obvious choreographed moves throughout the show - fun and almost a necessity given the small stage area available to them. Mark worked the crowd well, jumping off the stage (but staying behind the barrier) several times, most notably during "Jocko Homo" to have the crowd help sing "We are Devo!" and "D - E - V - O!" as appropriate. Bob 1 soloed from the wings a couple of times, but otherwise he stayed near center stage.

Mark is the leader and sings most of the songs. He also plays keyboards. Bob 2 plays a little keyboard, but mostly he just plays guitar. Bob 1 is the main guitar player and sings backup vocals. Jerry plays bass, sings backups and sings lead on a couple of tunes.

I couldn't identify Bob 2's guitar, but I'm working on that. It kind of looked like a Reverend, but the headstock was wrong for that brand. Bob 1 played a G&L strat-style guitar with 2 of G&L's proprietary P-90 style pickups. Jerry played a tiny-bodied, headless Steinberger bass; he's left handed, but his bass is a righty; he just flips it over to play. When Mark played guitar, he played a Fender Strat, lefty flipped over righty, with a BOSS DS-1 distortion pedal mounted on the face of it. He only played on a couple of songs.

There were no amps on the stage at all, and I could tell that at least Bob 1 was playing through a Line 6 POD XT Live. Based on the tones the guys used, I see no reason to believe Bob 2 and Mark were not also using similar devices. Mark's keyboards were Moog, Roland, and Yamaha from what I could see.

Mark worked the stage like he's been doing this his entire life, and indeed he pretty much has. One of the highlights was his ritualized ripping of the Devo sanitation suits. They came out wearing bright yellow (and I mean BRIGHT YELLOW) jumpsuits that are obviously not made of a very sturdy material. During the 2nd song, Mark started ripping the suits off the other band members. After the suits were shredded pretty well, during an instrumental break the band removed what was left of them and tossed the remnants into the crowd. Under their jumpsuits the band was wearing black T's & black shorts, plus knee pads. Knee pads? Yes, knee pads. A nice small detail that I think many people missed was that, though DEVO was on all the jumpsuits, on Jerry's the logo was on the opposite side so it wouldn't be hidden by his guitar strap. That made me smile. Frankly, the whole jumpsuit thing made me think of my days playing with The Hypersonic Secret. I miss them boys! Anyway, Devo did not wear their stylized pyramid hats (which I suspect may make an appearance tonight) and I only saw 2 of them on fans.

Bob 1 is a phenomenal guitarist and Bob 2 isn't far behind. When people think of Devo, they think "electronic band". They're wrong. Devo is a punky rock band with a shit-ton of electric guitar going on. The 2 guitarists rarely play the same thing at the same time, and indeed they are quite often playing against each other to great effect.

The drummer has the hardest job in the band, keeping track with the frenetic beats and shifting time signatures, but Josh did an excellent job and never dropped a beat despite the herky-jerky nature of the parts.

Devo is just about the tightest band you can possibly imagine - they came out, played 60 minutes and split. The house lights came up and the crowd chanted "Devo! Devo!" but to no avail. I could tell that many in the crowd were disappointed they didn't play "Whip It", "Girl U Want" or "Freedom of Choice", but they did play "Satisfaction", "Mongoloid" and "Jocko Homo". They're not kidding around when they say "we're playing an album each night" - the encore was only 2 songs long and neither of them was "Whip It", which of course is on the Freedom of Choice album they're playing all of tonight. For the encore they played "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA" from their 2nd album, Duty Now for the Future, and Gates of Steel off Freedom of Choice.

I was disappointed they only played for 60 minutes. My ticket was $45, which I feel was mostly a fair price, but I rather expected a 90 minute set for the money. My band plays 60 minute sets and we usually only charge $10.

Here's the full set from the first night:

• Uncontrollable Urge
• (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
• Praying Hands
• Space Junk
• Mongoloid
• Jocko Home (this is the "Are we not men? WE ARE DEVO!" song)
• Too Much Paranoias
• Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy
• Come Back Jonee
• Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin)
• Shrivel Up
• Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
• Gates of Steel

A couple of knuckleheads got booted from the floor between "Sloppy" and "Shrivel Up"; Jerry even commented on it from the stage. I'll say this for the security staff at the 9:30 Club - they do NOT fuck around. As soon as these 2 frat-boy meatheads started scuffling, security was THERE and it was over. They manhandled the 2 dudes right off the floor and we never saw them again.

Devo is allowing photography on this tour - the restriction is "no pro gear allowed", so I'm not showing anybody my cheesy iPhone photos. I'm taking a real camera tonight - although not my "pro" camera - so I'll post pix another time.

Munroe's Law:  a person in a geek argument that can quote a relevant xkcd comic to support his/her position automatically wins the argument.  This is the only force in the universe that supercedes Godwin's Law.

These things have been clogging up my brain lately.

1.  Rihanna.  I get it that your boyfriend beat you up.  That sucks.  It's never OK for him to do that.  But why wait til you have a new perfume to market to finally go on TV and tell the whole story to Diane Sawyer (or whomever it was you told)??  That seems incredibly self-serving and totally trivializes what you went through.

2.  Joss Stone.  Wow, what a voice.  Her cover of Queen/Bowie's "Under Pressure" is awesome.

3.  Why won't the congresspeople stop arguing about whether or not abortion should be covered by healthcare reform bills?  They cover Viagra, why not abortion?  Abortion is still legal, like it or not, and that should be the fucking news, people.  If you don't like the law, get it changed - then it won't matter what the healthcare reform bills cover.  Stop stalling and arguing over bullshit.  It seems kind of hypocritical to cover old men getting boners and not cover young women that don't want babies getting abortions.

4.  I think the quickest way to fix the healthcare system in this country - if, indeed it even really needs fixing (I'm conflicted, but then again I have employee-sponsored health insurance) - is to put every public servant, especially everybody in Congress, on Medicare/Medicaid.  They'd fix that shit up in a hurry.

5.  Dvorak.  Why hasn't Apple made a Dvorak keyboard for the iPhone yet?  Bastards.

6.  In the last two weeks, I have I heard/read somebody say/write last week that for gay people, living in America is like "being in prison" or like "being a slave".  My first thought was "well that guy has obviously never been in prison", because anybody that has been in prison knows exactly what it's like, and anybody that hasn't, doesn't.  When I last checked, gay people are not restricted as to where they may venture, the jobs they may pursue (well, except in the military, really but I hear tell that's going to end), and are not confined to small, restrictive spaces against their will.

Therefore, gays in America are living a life akin to somebody in prison.  Sure, they are sometimes treated like second-class citizens and of course there's the whole gay marriage issue, but those things are beside the point.  When you say "being gay in America is like being in prison" you alienate people like me that would otherwise support your position by exaggerating your point.

Same with the whole "being gay in America is like being a slave".  Anybody who says that and truly believes it has never studied the history of slavery in America.  There is a massive difference between being a slave in 1809 and being a gay person in 2009.  Just because you're not "allowed" to get married doesn't make you a slave.  It's not fair, that is absolutely true, but that is not the same as being enslaved.

Last thought on this matter - don't these people read/hear about what it was like to be gay in America in the 1940s or 50s?  How much worse was it then than it is now?  It's not a justification, just a reminder to look at progress as progress and - as in all other aspects in life - be happy with what you have while you work patiently and kindly to change the things you disagree with... and to not make bad analogies.

7.  That shit at Ft. Hood is unbelievable, but seriously a big part of me was glad it wasn't another high school or college.  I'm also glad that a woman (and I hereby will cease calling base security "rent a cops" as I have done - derisively so - in the past) is the one that shot the rampager, for 2 reasons.  1)  Somebody shot the bastard, but he lived and will face trial.  It'd be easier on my wallet if he was dead, but these assholes usually kill themselves, so it's nice to see one face some righteous indignation in a courthouse; 2)  I guess women can handle combat after all.  Let's remove the restrictions prohibiting women from taking combat roles in the military and let them shoot at motherfuckers just like the men.

Yes, I understand that some women will not be fit for combat duty.  However, I challenge this position by saying: neither are some men.

8.  Now, speaking of the military, when we're involved in 2 wars with 2 more on the horizon (North Korea and Venezuela), why are we, as a nation, still insisting that a criminal record or lack of a high school diploma automatically categorizes somebody as "unfit for military duty"??  Just because you're a felon or don't have a diploma, that means you can't be taught how to kill people?  I don't understand that at all.  I can understand not letting a fat kid in, but seriously - a felon might already know how to use a gun and not have a problem shooting somebody in the face and doesn't the military need people like that?

9.  Do people seriously think Windows 7 is going to be all that much better than any other version of Windows before?  XP was stable, why didn't they stay with that?

10.  I tried running all my e-mail through Gmail for 2 weeks.  It was more a pain in the ass than anything else, especially when checking mail with the iPhone.  Too much clutter.  Now I've got it down to just Gmail and school mail, with my Mac mail left on its own.

I don't know how it happened, but my kid is a fuckin crybaby.  Huge.  Massive.  Not only do I not know how it happened, I don't know how to fix it.

Here's an example.

Saturday - soccer game.  First quarter, Coach says my kid is goalie (they rotate goalie duty).  Now, she's played goalie pretty much every game she's been in since she started playing soccer last spring.  She's pretty good at it - gets most of them, misses a few.

A quarter for the 2nd graders is 10 minutes.  My kid is standing in goal, crying - no, SOBBING - less than 3 minutes after the game starts.  Nobody's even made a shot yet.

Why??  She doesn't want to play goalie.  Says (later) she doesn't like the pressure.  Pressure?  They're 7 fucking years old!  Who's putting pressure on the goalie at 7 years old?  Well... ok sure I can see it happening, but it's not happening on our team, the coach shuts that shit down when in happens - nobody's allowed to pick on anybody else on the team for any reason.

I asked her why she didn't just say "Coach, I don't want to play goalie."

Her answer (and this is her answer to 95% of the questions I ask her):  "I don't know."

Seriously?

She'd rather play defense or midfield.  Fine.  Just say so!

Now, she did stop one shot on goal with her chin/neck/upper chest.  I let her cry that one out with no hassle, but in all fairness, she was looking for any excuse to come out of the game and stop playing goalie at that point - just a couple minutes before the first quarter ended.  Sigh.

Anyway, after the game, the coach threw a little pizza party for the team.  They all had a great time.  Four times (FOUR TIMES!) I reminded my kid to eat some pizza, as we had a long day planned and she'd get hungry later if she didn't.  After the fourth time I told her "sweetie, you need to eat something", I told her 2 things:

1.  I'm not telling you to eat again.  You're 7, you know you need to eat, so get it done.
2.  If you don't eat, you're going to be hungry later when we don't have any opportunity for a snack.  I'm telling you now this is going to happen so that when it does and I say "tough shit", you know NOW that getting upset THEN is not going to fly.

Her response:  "OK I'll eat."

She didn't.

After that, we headed over to our old neighborhood (sorta) so she could audition for a community theater production of Mulan.  It's her favorite movie, she loves performing, and even though the casting call asked for 8 years old as a minimum, the wife got permission for our kid to audition.  I got her there right at 2 p.m. (starting time) and she was #28 (out of 40-some-odd).

She was steady and ready, she'd practiced her songs although she couldn't decide what to sing.  She said she'd decide when the time came and it was her turn.  I thought that was pretty ... I don't know, mature I guess.  Anyway, I thought it was smart.  She knew not to expect a big role with lots of lines, but she wanted to audition anyway.

The called the kids in by pairs to take their pictures, which I thought was smart.  Then they called them in groups of 6 or 8 to learn a simple dance.  After that, groups of 6 or 8 to sing.  Then groups again to DO the dance.

We didn't leave until 4.30.  I can't remember a time when I was so bored.  I mean, I hope she gets a role, it'll be fun and a great experience for her, but holy fucking shit was the audition a drag for me.

It was at some church, and naturally for the last 20-30 minutes of my waiting around, the praise band was rehearsing in the main part of the church.  The music barely leaked out through the double doors, but they had the rather horrible male lead singer jacked right into the speaker system that spread throughout the entire building.  He was really just horrible - warbly and off pitch.  I guess I can't really say he was off pitch because I couldn't hear the music once his voice started blaring out of the speakers, but I can say that if there was a key to the song that they simply could not get through, it wasn't an obvious choice or even one of the 15 major keys I've been trained to recognize.  Maybe it was a minor key... but it would have had to be some exotic, eastern European niche minor key.

Anyway, I do drag on don't I?  I feel as if I've been neglecting my LJ here and just making brief posts on Facebook.  FB doesn't really lend itself to the long, random, dragged-out post like LJ does.

She felt good about her audition.  She sang her backup song, which IMO she knows better but is harder for her to sing as it's a little out of her range right now.  She said the director told her "you have a very nice voice" and she was justifiably proud of that compliment.  She said she remembered the whole dance and felt good about her performance of it.

At about 3.30 she came over to me and said, "Papa, I'm really hungry."

I wanted to say "told ya so!!" but I resisted the urge.

I stared blankly at her for probably 30 seconds before she said, "Nevermind."

We watched some more cartoons after we got home and had a good day overall, although she did get pretty cranky about bedtime.  Unfortunately for her, I'm not swayed by "I'm not tired".

Sunday was more soccer, she didn't play goalie and had a better experience overall.

-----

On Sunday I also took my goddam G4 PowerBook to the Apple Store to have somebody look at the fucking hunk of shit.  Of course, I didn't know you needed an appointment for the "Genius Bar" (aka Tech Support) so I wasn't able to get anybody to check it out, but I did get an appointment for next weekend.

One of the sales staff - nice guy - offered to check it out for me.  Here's a rough transcript of our conversation.

Him:  What's the problem?
Me:  The thing won't stay connected to my wi-fi hub.
Him:  Do you have any other computers?
Me:  Yes - 3 Macs and 2 PCs.  None of them has this problem.  One of the Macs is a 10 year old G4 tower that's in the basement running 10.3.7 and it NEVER gets disconnected.
Him:  Well ... let me check your settings...
Me:  (waiting patiently as he scrolls through my System Preferences areas, checking everything relevant)
Him:  Everything looks fine to me.
Me:  Exactly, that's why it's so goddam infuriating that it randomly disconnects from the wi-fi.
Him:  Hmm... did you...
Me:  Yes, I removed, cleaned the contacts, and reseated the airport card.
Him:  Hmm... did you...
Me:  Yes, I verified that it works fine with an ethernet cable plugged in - it never drops the network that way.
Him:  Let me make you an appointment...

Also in the world of anger I'm in where Macs are shitty and I'm forced to use a PC at home (I try not to do anything non-music related on my old G4 tower to keep its system lean & mean), my old-old G3 iBook has stopped powering up.  It worked fine 4 days ago when I used it, but today - notafuckingthing.

What's so frustrating is that other than some minor shit, I've never had problems with any of my Macs.  On this iBook, one of the circuit boards failed and I had to replace it.  Man, it's a fucking pain in the ass.

The big consolation for me here is that these things appear (for all intents & purposes) to be hardware issues.  I'm still not a fan of Windows and/or PCs because of SOFTWARE issues.  I think Windows is a hunk of shit.

Right now I think my Macs are hunks of shit, too... at least the portable ones.  No problems with my towers (home OR work).

In the late 1970s, AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) was more or less created by the radio.  "What's the single" people wanted to know, as in "where can I make my money."  This attitude permeated both the bands, the stations, and especially the labels.  If the label A&R people didn't "hear a single", the band went nowhere.

You know the classic AOR bands - Styx, Boston, The Eagles, etc.  Their music litters classic rock radio nowadays.  You buy one of their albums to get the hit(s) - "Come Sail Away", "More Than A Feeling", "Hotel California" - and when you listen to the whole album, you realize there's a depth to these bands, to their music that you never experienced because you only ever heard 1-3 songs off that album on the radio.  Yet you took a chance and, instead of buying their greatest hits album, you bought the album with those 3 big hits.

That's when you heard their influences, their experiments, their indulgences - and often why those hits were so huge back in the day.

Did you know Foreigner was one of these AOR bands?

You've heard the hits from their debut album - "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold As Ice" and "Long Long Way From Home", but you've never heard the deep tracks.

"Feels Like the First Time" and "Cold As Ice" have what may be 2 of the most recognizable classic rock riffs, coming from guitar and piano respectively.  I'd go so far as to say that just hearing the opening piano riff played by Al Greenwood in "Cold", everybody that's listened to the radio at any point in their life can recognize that song immediately.

"Starrider" - a psychedelic semi-prog track about hitching a ride with a passing flying saucer.  It doesn't get much more weird than this and this is the 3rd track right after the 2 BIG hit singles that open the album.  The lyrics are weird and spacey, the music is widely textured and ... well, spacey.

"Headknocker" - if KISS had recorded this song, it would've been a #1 hit.  Straight-ahead aggressive cock-rock.  Focused heavily on the interplay between Lou Gramm (lead vox) and Mick Jones (guitar) that propelled Foreigner to fame & success.

"The Damage Is Done" - pretty cool song that builds steadily, keyboard based for the first part and it really works.  There's some nice proggish breaks here, with acoustic guitars and harpsichord sounds from the keys.  When the backing vox and electric guitar finally come in, the song rises to excellence.

"Long Long Way From Home" - not the huge huge hits that the other 2 singles were, but an incredible - and concise - song nonetheless, with an absolutely ripping sax solo from Ian McDonald.  As a matter of fact, the bass playing of Ed Gagliardi drives this song ahead and McDonald's horns are exactly what this tune needed to be extra-cool.  Probably my favorite track on the album.

"Woman Oh Woman" - weird, trippy keyboards and acoustic guitars drive this song, that is until Gramm hits the chorus and raises the bar.  The guy's got pipes and embodies "blue-eyed soul".

"At War With the World" - manic, speedy riff-driven song that, like "Headknocker", typifies the early forays into cock-rock that would dominate the late 1980s and be the staple of what we affectionately call "hair metal".  Aggressive, even to the point of bravado, but carefully layered with organ and backing vox that make it completely accessible.  Highlights the precise drumming of Dennis Elliot and features a crazy synth solo.

"Fool For You Anyway" - solid ballad, but honestly not hard to see why they put it towards the end of the album.  Sounds a lot like Hall & Oates with a better rhythm section and kookier keyboard sounds.  Nice acoustic guitar solo, though the slide-on-acoustic tone is a little harsh.  Probably the only throw-away track on the album.

"I Need You" - A rockin' album exit with some nice psychedelic tinges.  Not a hugely special song, but a satisfying end to an often overlooked album.  Gramm really pushes it here, which does make the song a bit more exciting, but the lyrics are a little corny, which is distracting.

The 2002 remaster of this album is the one to have - everything is crisp and clear and especially on the really popular songs, you can hear parts that get compressed into the mix on the radio.  You also get bonus "demo versions" of 3 songs ("First Time", "Woman" and "War") that give nice insights into the differences between a demo and a single - or even just the arrangement that makes the album.  There's also a demo of a song, "Take Me To Your Leader", that didn't make the album.  Interesting song, but definitely reasons why it was left off the original issue.

Another round of grading papers... you saw the pretty picture one student drew on his exam last week.  I guess the upside to class last night was that he didn't bother to show up to get it back.

Of course.

I've started another 8-week US History II class and they turned in their first essays on Monday.  "What is the most important law passed since 1900?" is the core question, but that's not what I'm here to talk to you about today.

If there's one thing I get across to the students in my classes this semester, it will be this:

There is a difference between AFFECT and EFFECT.

I got one paper that used them interchangably and got it wrong every. single. time.  Argh!  Am I such a grammar fascist?  Why am I like this?  Did I become a teacher just to indulge my inner desire to correct people??

In other news, 6 whole students in my Western Civ class took advantage of my "turn it in 2 weeks early and get a chance to rewrite it" program for their research papers.  6 out of 52.  There's actually 63 students on the roll, but 4 withdrew and the others just stopped showing up.

I don't know why, but I'm not enjoying my teaching as much this semester as I usually do.  I need to figure that out or next semester is going to be really tough.

I was curious about something... wondering which president appointed the most justices to the Supreme Court.

 

The top 2 aren't surprising - George Washington (11) and Franklin Roosevelt (8).  Washington because he was the 1st president and FDR because he was president for 14 years.

There's 4 presidents that appointed 5 justices (Jackson, Lincoln, Taft, Eisenhower) and 5 presidents that appointed 4 (Grant, Harrison, Harding, Truman, Nixon).

Just interesting data points, that's all.
 

 

I got 11,400 miles out of my rear Metzeler Z6 tire from May '08 through Oct '09.  I should have probably stopped around 10,500 but didn't - it was very worn and most likely unsafe.  The front was OK, probably another 1,000 miles or a little more in it.  I changed it anyway because that's what you do.

I have a brand-new set of Z6s sitting in the garage, but since I got them I started planning a trip to Dallas in the summer.  I don't want to put them on yet so I can get max miles out of them.

Luckily, I had set aside the tires I pulled off, which were mostly new (maybe 2-3,000 miles on them) Metzeler Tourances.  They're the common "dual sport" tires people put on the R1100GS; I prefer straight-ahead street tires.  Anyway, Tuesday I went down to Dale City & got them (they were in a friend's shed) and made arrangements to have that friend (JVB) (who lives elsewhere now) help me get them on & balanced.

My kid had a friend over playing and the wife had to split right when I got home; I checked in with the kids (they were playing nicely) and hit the garage to get the wheels off the bike.  With the new (Ohlins) shocks, it's a bit more difficult to do so, as neither end really comes up off the floor like they used to with the shorter (weaker) shocks.  Loaded up everything in the truck.

Went inside, got cleaned up, got the kids started picking up the toys & what-not, and made pizza for dinner for everybody.  The kids ate well, 3 pieces each, and had an ice cream sandwich for dessert.  This particular friend of my kid, I like her just fine.

Dropped the friend off on the way to JVB's and got the tires swapped in about an hour.  We could have done it faster, but we chatted too much.  New cores on the valves.

When I got home, got the kid off to bed and set about to put the wheels back on.  Decided to do the brake pads at the same time since they were getting worn - especially the rear.  Used the EBC pads again - once I remembered all the things you have to take off to get them out, it was no problem.  Discovered I need to replace all the pegs and cotter pins - they're getting worn and the cotter pins are wiggly.

I also remembered that before you start riding, you have to pump the brake levers after you spread the pads apart in the caliper - that'll get your attention if you don't, because you grab a hand full of brake lever and get no brake action.

Anyway, the ride to work this morning was a little sketchy - new brake pads don't work great for the first few miles, til they've been heated up well and bedded in.  Plus the Tourances feel VERY different than the street-oriented Z6s.

It was kind of nice having the garage to myself, radio on, tools out, working on my bike.  Very peaceful.  I liked it.  Lately I feel as if I've been running around with too much to do and not really focusing on any one thing.  It was nice to sit down and focus on one thing for a while.

I need to remember to do that more often.

Gave an exam in Western Civ last night.  The essay question (worth half the test) was basically asking them to explain feudalism in Medieval Europe.

Here's one student's answer



Yeah.  He gets an F.

Went to the State Theater and saw Stryper last night.

It was after a very awkward band rehearsal, so I was ready to be entertained.

I missed the first opener, missed the name of the second opener.  The 2nd opener ... I did not like them.  I will stop short of saying they sucked, because I know it takes guts to get up on stage in front of a crowd that's not there to see you, but I will say that they have a long way to go before their music is ready for any kind of public consumption.

I've seen Stryper now 4 or 5 times at various stages in their career.  First time was back in 1986, down in Lynchburg VA.  My friend Morris & I took a bus down there, stayed with a friend, and saw the show.  Stryper was on their way up at that time.  I saw them a few years later at the Patriot Center, at the top of their game, in a full (albeit college) arena show.  There was another show on their way down, IIRC it was outdoors.  I saw them on their reunion tour (2005? 2007?) and then again last night.

I gotta say... it's a lot of fun to see/hear/experience a proper fucking metal band.  While the days of striped spandex and bulging packages are gone, half the band was wearing leather pants and 3/4 of them have long rock star hair.

Robert Sweet's drum set is, as always, completely out of control and huge, with not 1, not 2, but 3 floor toms and at least 8 cymbals.  His playing is always a little weird to watch - he sits with his knees higher than his hips in some kind of office chair with a high back, and he's not a particularly heavy/hard hitter, so he kind of looks like he's playing at the drums instead of playing them.

Tim Gaines, not technically in the band any more but on tour with the band for their 25th anniversary, plays one of those weird headless basses.  For most of the time, he was pretty buried in the mix, but there was certainly a lot of low end going on.  He had 3 identical Mesa/Boogie rack heads and a pair of cabinets stacked up.  Behind his & Michael's rigs was the keyboard player/extra backup singer guy - good singer and his playing was featured on the 2 ballads the band played, 1 from the newest album Murder By Pride and, of course, their big hit "Honestly".

Michael Sweet's rig consisted of a Mesa/Boogie head and some kind of outboard rack gear I couldn't identify (I was in the balcony - I wanted to watch & listen instead of get jostled around on the floor).  He had 3 Mesa 2x12 cabinets on the floor in front of the drum riser.  He played his PRS Custom 24 the whole night; since their reunion tour it's been painted so now instead of plain black, it's black with yellow racing stripes.  He had a little trouble keeping it in tune at the beginning of the set, but once it settled in, no worries.

Oz Fox had 3 Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabs on stage, but his amp was located stage front behind the monitors, so I couldn't see what he was using.  He played 2 guitars in the set, starting out with what looked to be a new custom Wayne Charvel creation with neat, angular yellow striping.  His other guitar was a classic Jackson tiger stripe, its ancient yellow faded to orange.  Both guitars were Floyd Rose equipped.

They split the show pretty evenly, I'd say 60/40, between new & old material.  They played 8 songs from Murder By Pride and Reborn, including their cover of Boston's "Peace of Mind".  Their new material is, in general, heavier and more "metal" than their old stuff, which, though still very much metal, is more "hair metal" like Ratt, Dokken, and the like.  Stryper was always a little heavier than those bands, but since they featured more in the way of harmony vocals, always a little lighter as well.  An interesting dichotomy.

Speaking of singing, Michael did an excellent job.  He avoided the highest of the high notes at the beginning of the set, but by the time they finished playing their new material and went to close the set with older stuff, he was tagging the high stuff and hitting the notes strong.  Oz, Tim, and the keyboard player sang excellent backups and the harmonies were spot-on throughout.

Oz played a couple of clams, but other than those both guitarists just flat-out fucking ROCKED the material.  They showed off their obvious Iron Maiden/Judas Priest influences with a near-steady stream of harmonized solos and traded off solos with ease, shifting from lead to rhythm effortlessly.  Michael plays a lot of solos, and his style is more linear and fluid than Oz.  Oz plays a bit more... angularly and aggressively, going for weird intervals and more modal stuff.  They both finger-tap with ease and one of the solo highlights was an extended, dual finger-tapped extravaganza.  They hit every note.

They played everything you'd expect them to, starting out with "Soldiers Under Command", throwing down most of The Yellow & Black Attack EP, hitting the highlights from Soldiers Under Command and To Hell With the Devil, and wisely skipping In God We Trust (except for their own remake of the title track as featured on Reborn, which they closed the show with) and Against the Law.  IMO both of those albums kind of sucked.  All in all, the set rocked from front to back and even though the ballads slowed things down, the show didn't drag at all.  One of the highlights was definitely "Open Your Eyes", the lead track from Reborn, which is just plain, good old-fashioned metal mayhem.

What do you mean I don't believe in God?
I talk to him every day.
What do you mean I don't support your system?
I go to court when I have to.
What do you mean I can't get to work on time?
I got nothing better to do.
What do you mean I don't pay my bills?
Why do you think I'm broke?

If there's a new way - I'll be the first in line...
But it better work this time!

What do you mean I hurt your feelings?
I didn't know you had any feelings.
What do you mean I ain't kind?
I'm just not your kind.
What do you mean I couldn't be the president
of the United States of America?
Tell me something, it's still "We the People," right?

If there's a new way - I'll be the first in line...
But it better work this time!

Can we put a price on peace?

Peace, peace sells
Peace, peace sells
Peace sells, but who's buying?
Peace sells, but who's buying?
Peace sells, but who's buying?
Peace sells, but who's buying?

(btw, I love the growl Mustaine has when he says "grrrrright")

Dear American Seniors, Veterans, and Handicapped that rely on Social Security:

Guess what?  I'm not getting a cost-of-living increase this year either.  You've gotten one every single year since 1975.  I haven't gotten one since 2000.

I don't feel sorry for you.  I want you to shut up and take it like everybody else that doesn't get one this year.

Love,

Chiba

For the last few days, my iPhone has really been pissing me off.  I hate to admit it, but it's true.  The worst was trying to talk to my daughter the other night - I had to call her back 4 times because the connection

(AWESOME - EXTENDED SPIES LIKE US REFERENCE ON FAMILY GUY!!!)

kept dropping.  Also couldn't get shit for a connection at my mother's house last night.  Today I tried to call a friend and it just. wouldn't. work.  I was so mad I decided to pull a classic Windows "fix".  Turned it off, waited a few minutes, turned it back on.

Sumbitch worked perfectly again.

So tonight I plug it in to the computer to sync & decide on a lark to check for a software update.  Imagine my chagrin when I see that not only is there an update, but it says right in it "fixes issue connectivity degrades until unit is turned off".

Go figure.  Just like a Windows machine.

What the fuck, over?

Already?

The Nobel Commission said:
Just what - seriously - has Obama actually accomplished?

Let's see.

United States - still the #1 purveyor of nuclear weaponry, even if the stockpile is getting a bit long in the tooth.
Iran - testing medium-range missiles and buying fissionable material from Russia.
North Korea - testing medium-range missiles, possibly (probably?) refining fissionable material, and not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel - still fighting with Palestinians and holding tight to their nuclear weapons.
India - still armed with nuclear weapons and not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Pakistan - losing the fight against the Taliban, still armed with nuclear weapons, and not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
England - fighting in Iraq & Afghanistan and still armed with nuclear weapons.
France - not fighting anywhere but still armed with nuclear weapons.
Russia - notoriously inept at controlling their nuclear weapons stockpile.
China - armed to the TEETH with nuclear weapons since 1964.

Where is the success in the "work for a world without nuclear weapons"?  It's all fine & dandy to talk a great line, but somewhere along the line, you have to actually GET SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED.  I envision a world without nuclear arms too, but you don't see the Commission lobbing medals my way.  North Korea and Iran continue to develop nuclear weapons in spite of (or maybe in defiance of) continuous attempts at "negotiation" and "diplomacy".  Shit ain't workin here, people.  Nope.  Not even a little bit.

How about international diplomacy and peace among nations?  Well... not that I habitually quote the Bible, but isn't there something in there about casting the mote from thine own eye before trying to help thy neighbor?  Let's see about that...

Cuba - still Communist, still oppressed, and Guantanamo Bay Prison & Health Resort is still open.
Mexico - suffering from political corruption and an ongoing drug war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Canada - well, they're OK.

Let's look a bit farther afield than that:
Iraq - still occupied by US troops.
Afghanistan - still occupied by US troops with more likely on the way.

Obama hasn't accomplished anything with any of these countries, so where's the peace?

Let's look inside America:
Chicago (Obama's adopted home town) - 16 year old student beaten to death in front of many witnesses and video put online for widespread viewing.  452 murders in 2007 (1 in 6250 residents, ranked 16th for the year).
Washington DC (Obama's current residence) - 182 murders in 2007 (1 in 3226 residents), most with firearms, which were at the time illegal to possess in DC.
Detroit - highest per-capita deaths by murder in 2007 with 396 murders (1 in 2174 residents).
The rest of the top 10 (in 2007) for per-capita deaths by murder (besides Washington & Detroit) - Baltimore (1 in 2222), St Louis (1 in 2500), Newark (1 in 2703), Oakland (1 in 3333), Philadelphia (1 in 3704), Atlanta (1 in 3846), Cleveland (1 in 5000), and Buffalo (1 in 5000).

Where's the peace there?  Where is it peaceful to live in the US?

Shouldn't the person receiving the Nobel Peace Prize actually do something to make some peace instead of just talking about it?

Sheesh.

Dear Nobel Commission:  EPIC FAIL!!  Love, the World

I say again:  WHERE'S THE PEACE??

Dear Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds:

SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!

Instead of telling us how bad the other guy sucks, tell us HOW YOU ARE GOING TO FIX MY FUCKING ROADS.

Thanks.

I

LOVE

BAND

DRAMA!!

You'd think it'd stop once everybody gets over 30, but you'd be wrong.

I like Sons of Anarchy as much as the next guy, but seriously, people - jamming a bottle up a guy's ass is never funny.

Well... almost never.