Category Archives: music

music, photos 3 Comments

Another New Toy

I have decided to try some home recording.

To that end, I purchased the Behringer Eurorack UB802 Mixer. It’s certainly no comparison to the Mackie mixer I got to use back in my Recording Technology days, but the price was right, and it’s good enough for home recording. After all, I haven’t done this in a while…

If what I turn out from this little experiment doesn’t suck (very much), you can expect to get a sampling when it’s ready for prime-time. If it does suck, you can expect me never to mention this venture ever again.

Update: A couple hours of experimentation yielded a one-verse cover that doesn’t entirely suck. However, I have remembered something. Something very vital to the success of my little experiment.

I can’t *stand* the sound of my own voice. OMFG.

It’s just one verse of a Depeche Mode song, me plunking away on my Casio and singing my little pea-pickin’ heart out, but if you really want to hear it, e-mail me and I’ll send you a URL where you can download it.

Please be gentle.

music 6 Comments

New Toy

So, this is what’s been occupying my time for the past two days: Aaron’s (early) birthday present to me. *squee*

See, a few days ago, I told Aaron that I was going to splurge one last time with my new Amazon Visa before I lay off the spending. Of course, he asked what I was going to buy, and I told him: an iPod Mini. And he got this look on his face and said that maybe I shouldn’t really buy one right now…

*facepalm* I should know better than to buy myself stuff right before my birthday. I’ve done that before, and thrown Aaron for a loop. Luckily, I hadn’t actually purchased a Mini yet, so all was well… except that I’d managed to ruin a really, really keen birthday surprise.

It’s still keen, though. I’m still all a-squee about it, although I can tell that it’ll soon become part of my normal gear, like my wallet and my lomo.

Wanna know what’s on my iPod?

The Afghan Whigs / Air / Bob Mould / Catherine Wheel / Coldplay / The Cure / Depeche Mode / Fischerspooner / The Flaming Lips / Flogging Molly / Folk Implosion / James / Keane / Lou Barlow / Peter Gabriel / Smashing Pumpkins / Sugar / Tegan and Sara / The Violent Femmes / The White Stripes

…among other things. @whee!

drumcorps 3 Comments

So Close

I was just congratulating myself on getting the first draft of the 2005 LSM brochure done, and remembering to print directions to the corps director’s house, since I’m carpooling up to Saginaw with him tomorrow (instead of my normal carpool buddy). Not quite 11:30, and I can go to bed in time to get a satisfactory amount of sleep before having to leave at 9:15am or so.

Then I remembered: I haven’t polished my horn yet.

Shit.

*trudges upstairs with silver polish and an old towel*

drumcorps

You May Be Right: I May Be Crazy

But I’m still planning to go to the LakeShoremen January Camp in Attica MI tomorrow. Leaving bright and early, before 8am, to get to Clawson (north of Detroit) by 10am, to carpool up to the Michigan Christian Youth Camp in Attica by 11:30 or noon. Rehearsal lasts from noon to 6pm, after which there’s an optional pizza party and some cleanup to be done. Then back to Clawson, and back home to Toledo.

This could suck.

Aaron and I usually do our laundry and shopping on Sundays, so we went out and tried to find an open laundromat tonight. Hit the ATM, topped off the gas tank, no luck finding anyplace to wash our damn clothes. Everyplace closed up early due to the FUCKING SHITTY WEATHER. So, Aaron’s going to just do everything tomorrow while I’m off drumcorps-ing. That’s awfully cool of him.

Plus, I’ve promised to turn around and come home if the road conditions suck, and to keep the phone on while I’m driving. (Quite opposite of what most people would say, true, but we rarely have the need or desire to have the cell phone on. It’s just good to know it’s there if I get in trouble, or if Aaron starts to worry.)

So… wish me luck! (I must be nuts.)

drumcorps

Malaguena, Motley Crue-style?

Now that’s a reality show I might get sucked into: Tommy Lee enrolled at the University of Nebraska, taking Chemistry classes and marching in the tenor line. Playing Malaguena. Now, I’m not a big Tommy Lee fan, but I can deal with watching a rocker take on marching band and The History Of Rock And Roll class.

For more drumcorps-related blogging weirdness, such as P.E.A.R.T: The Robotic Drum Machine, check out this site: They’re So Old, They Played On Stone Bugles. Heh.