Why I Hate Homework...

My son's homework that is. Every night it's at least three assignments, and on top of it, they're also taking their CBE's this week. Part of the problem is time management is not something a nine-year-old grasps intuitively. TV, internet, video games, Harry Potter all fight for his attention and homework comes in a distant second. Our only rule on homework is it has to be done before dinner. I'm sure there's a way to show mathematically the time allotted divided by homework load equals a very small number of minutes.

That, and much of it is writing -- lots and lots of writing. I try to stay out of the way, available for spelling checks and missing words, but some nights are better than others. He gets stuck or I have to nudge him in the right direction, or sometimes even do part of it to show him why this works and that doesn't. I don't remember 4th grade being this hard... and I know it's only going to get worse. I'm dreading the day Algebra starts...

Thankfully my daughters 1st grade homework is a little easier (plus she has the same teacher as my son had, so I'm prepared). She wants to do it right when she gets home so she can play afterwards. Check back with me in three years...

Everyday Is Halloween

As mentioned below, I've been rehearsing for a show at The Hi-Fi Club in Lakewood on Halloween night.
If you'd like a copy of the flyer Patrick made, go here.

Last Monday's practice went well -- we went through the set twice and knocked off the rough edges
on a couple of tunes and nailed others down -- we're probably 90% there with one more rehearsal to go.
The set contains songs from Bauhaus, Joy Division, Ministry, Misfits, Echo and The Bunnymen, Talking Heads and Concrete Blonde... it's been a great deal of fun to play with a band again, although my fingers might not agree. ;)

Cubs Fan Witness Protection Program

Woe to the guy who possibly cost the Cubs their shot at the World Series. They'll have to put him in the witness protection program, but the Feds would probably off him too.

Or as Craig put it -- "That wasn't a baseball game. It was a lost Seinfeld episode, with George in a front-row seat."

OK, tack this one on to my holiday list...

The Bass Station is one jacked up boombox, yo

802.11b, a 120GB hard drive, and an MP3 decoder, and that is controlled using a web browser. Besides being able to play MP3s, it can also stream audio to other devices in its local area network, double as a file-server for file-sharing. Sure to come in handy for our next breakdancing battle.

Yet More Wine Tasting

It's time again for the big Holiday wine trade shows with four scheduled last Sunday alone. Logic and logistics indicated we could only hit two shows in the time frame and still spend some quality time at each tasting. First off was the Vintage show at their huge warehouse -- 26 tables including some really nice single vineyard Zin's from Ravenswood (Monte Rosso, Barricia, Big River, Teldeschi), including the tightly allocated Old Hill Zin. Bonus points for the tchotchkes (clock, buttons and antenna balls). Also got to try some of Markko's Select Reserve Chardonnay (Late Harvest) and Pinot Noir as well as see Arnie Esterer again.

Other highlights included the Burgess "Enveiere", Domain Drouhin Pinot Noir, Mount Veeder 2000 Cab, Franciscan Meritage Magnificat, Franciscan Simi Valley Lanslide Cab, Veramonte Primus, Kenwood Jack London Cab (and bonus taste of the first Ohio pouring of their "Artist Series"), Dominus, Chateau De Pez, Pride Mountain Merlot, Mayacamas '98 Cab and the fabulous '90 Cab.

Then after a quick trip across I-480, we rolled into the Private Reserve tasting. Once settled in after receiving our "tasting tour t-shirts" we headed straight for the Shingleback (shiraz and cab) and Gatekeeper (shiraz) table (both are brought in from Precept -- and we were not disappointed. Keep an eye out for those two Australian's plus their third wine, Red Knot (shiraz and cab).

Other Hightlights: Chateau Caronnes Ste Gemme Cru Bourgeois Haut-Medoc, Domaine Jean-Marc Bouley (Volnay) Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens, Domaine Robert Arnoux Nuits St. George 1er Cru Les Corvees Pagets and Nuits St. George Les Poisets, Domaine Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee la Cote Rhonde, Franco Cesari (Verona) '98 Amarone Classico Superiore "Il Bosco" DOC. Bridlewood 2000 Arabesque and Syrah, Milliaire '99 Clockspring Vineyard Zin Port, Stuart Cellars '98 Zin Port (even though there's half a case in the basement already) and Duck Pond 2001 Port which is made from Merlot grapes, which is unusual...

NP: Jassen -- Juno 106's Swan Song

It's October 2nd, Right?

Liz got all the plants in off the deck on Tuesday and Wednesday in anticipation of the clear cold night (and the threat of frost), but we awoke to f'ing snow flying past the window. Then, in typical Ohio weather fashion -- the sun came out. It did look interesting on the radar though, striaght-line lake effect snow streaming off the lake, right to my house!

Cat Town. Go. Now.

It's William Faulkner's Birthday today -- go read "Light In August".

Sportscasters I Loathe, Part 27

Add Trev Albert to my growing list of guys that make me grab for the remote. Joing Bob Trumpy and Cris Collinsworth in the hall of shame.

The restraint that Rece Davis showed from choking him was commendable... I tried to sit through College Gameday Final this morning, but kept flipping over to A&E to watch the great NRBQ show (side note -- Keith Richards has finally become a talking skull -- frightening).

I've got blisters on my fingers!

I did something tonight, I haven't done in six years: I went to band practice.

There's a Halloween gig coming up in Lakewood and I'm playing bass for a cover band -- playing all your alternative Halloween favorites, such as "Bela Lugosi's Dead", "Psycho Killer", "Every Day Is Halloween", "I Want Your Skull" and who knows, depending on just how much alcohol is involved -- "Monster Mash" (as re-imagined by Ministry).

My fingers will be hurting tomorrow...

On the drive to practice, the sun was setting behind a localized rainstorm which made it look as if it were behind a smoky orange gauze curtain, very ethereal and hypnotic looking. The only other time I'm seen a sky that color was on the way to the Smiths "The Queen Is Dead" tour at Public Hall going over the same bridge (Valley View)...

The Man In Black

Just passing this link along as nice tribute to Johnny Cash. It's down at the bottom of the page. While it's no Wall Of Voodoo, it's my second favorite cover version...

alternative to what?

Matt Welch (via the Columbia Journalism Review) casts his keen eye on the recent Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) convention in SF and finds the current batch of Alternative Weeklies somewhat lacking.

All the newspapers looked the same — same format, same fonts, same columns complaining about the local daily, same sex advice, same five-thousand-word hole for the cover story. The people were largely the same, too: all but maybe 2 percent of the city-slicker journalists in attendance were white; the vast majority were either Boomer hippies or Gen X slackers. Several asked me the exact same question with the same suspicious looks on their faces: "So . . . what's your alternative experience?"

Hello, Cleveland! If that's isn't hitting both targets (Free Times / Scene) with one missive...

While all the points contained in the piece won't be news to most bloggers, it is a strong overview of who is out there and what buttons they're pushing with Journalists (with a big J).

Richard Karpel (AAN Executive Director) responds:

Too bad he didn't read the papers instead of just looking at them. Because the notion that alternative newspapers are all "the same" is an absurdity that could only be uttered by someone who hasn't read any of them. Does anyone who has spent fifteen minutes with, for instance, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the Chicago Reader, have any doubt that one is from Mars and other is from Venus? Is there a New Yorker aware of The Village Voice and New York Press who doesn't know they are vastly different in both substance and style? Are there residents of Seattle who can't tell the difference between Seattle Weekly and the Stranger? Or Cleveland Free Times and Cleveland Scene? Or, or,or .... (emphasis added)

Obviously he's never looked at the two side by side -- without looking the cover (especially if they're flipped over so the back page is showing) you'd be hard pressed to differentiate between them.

A little perspective from Douglas Coupland

If someone decides to be a musician now, it means because there is no hope of money at the end of it, it means they really want to be a musician. And if someone is writing now, there is no hope for money at the end of it. So they are writing because they really like writing. So there is this automatic winnowing. Anyone who is mercenary or in it to milk it, unless it is something like genre, which will happen until the sun goes supernova, then… I wouldn’t say it’s good but then it might be a light at the end of the tunnel.

uh, what he says...

Context Is Everything

Damn you, Batty -- as if the Ford commercial wasn't bad enough -- now this song will never leave my head.

Good News / Bad News

Can't have one without the other, pt. 27

Friday, while picking up supplies for the fourth tasting/food pairing on Saturday night, my car decides it's a good time to start making the dreaded "mystery" sound "RRRRRrrrRRRrrrRRRrrr" when I turn the wheel to the right. While this wouldn't be tragic if I were a NASCAR racer, it's difficult to navigate in the real world making only left hand turns. Call the repair place: they can't even look at the car until Tuesday (maybe). Thankfully, it's mostly left hand turns to get there.

Also on Friday, I received the news that I got a commercial gig, scoring :10/:15 spot(s) for a local jewelery store to be shot/edited in October. And it's just enough money that I might be able to pay for the car repair.

Ah well, easy come, easy go...

Update: yep, front brake rotors/pads, that'll be $500, do not pass go.

busy week for music

• Vol. 4 of the Devo comp, "Not Neccessarily Beautiful But Mutated" is out, and contains a cover of Devo's "Gates of Steel" with Chris Foldi handling vocal duties -- check out Spud Talk for more details.
  
• a track for the Klanghausen microsound project called "krell" (not available right now, but will be soon)
  
• a remix of Subliminal Self's "Gravel Roads" -- e-mail Patrick for a copy of his new demo.
  

Flashback

Did anybody else have a nasty flashback while watching the Browns-Falcons Game Thursday? I thought we had time-warped back to 1987 or something when I heard the voice of Bob Trumpy doing the game w/ Don Criqui.

*shudder*

What is it with ex-Bengals becoming annoying sportscasters? (see Cris Collinsworth)

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Just watched the Warren Zevon special on VH1 and I'm swimming w/ emotions -- happy at just how good he sounds on the record (it's not a fluke, and yes, I have them all) -- pissed that it took him dying of cancer to get the recognition that he has long deserved -- and truly amazed at his attitude through it all.

Having been through a similar situation w/ my friend and bandmate Clay Vause, the sessions w/ Warren in the studio were a painful reminder that I never finished the last sessions that IRB did together. After Clay died (about six months after the recording) it was entirely too much to even think about listening to his voice again. Even after six years, it's only been recently that I can even listen to the music again. I'm not even sure what happened to the tapes, let alone where to find a machine to play them (16 track / 1" I believe).

There are three unreleased IRB songs, provisionally titled "nowhere fast", "sandman" and "angels" -- I say provisionally because Clay always had the gift of taking what would have been the easy route of naming the song after the chorus, and turning it into something far more interesting -- for example on "Big-Bang Payoff" there's a song we had always called "Shine" during the demo recording, live shows, etc -- but when it came time to put it on the record, it magically became "Drive A Stake Through My Heart, Kitty!" The other classic was "Claustrophobia" which became "Which Oswald Acted Alone?" -- one that still makes my head hurt today.

Funk #48 1/2

Normally, I don't troll eBay looking for my old stuff (sure, sure), but here's a link to something I'm not sure even I have prints of anymore, an 8x10 of IRB from 1991. Is it worth the $5? uh, no.

And one for the trainspotters, the picture was shot in downtown Kent and the building in the background is the same one that was on the James Gang's first record. It was just refurbished this year and now houses a financial office...

Another Day, Another virus/worm

So, of course after snickering about the inability of my Win95 machine being infected with the msblast worm, comes the Sobig.f variant which has dumped an impressive amount of attachments in my spam folder (thank you old version of Eudora that doesn't open attachments).

The really irritating thing are all of the bounces coming from other accounts that think I'm sending the spam (a common technique, forging e-mail addresses as the sender). Read the headers folks -- it ain't coming from my box...