Random Thoughts
Those Lusious Red Lips
Do these lips seem kissable?
Sure they do.
To see who they belong too, click the title link. or click here
So what is this picture about. Well, it's Sean Dobbins 5th Birthday tomorrow.
The family went over to celebrate with lasagna, presents and an ice cream cake. Mom pointed out Sean's lips were getting sort of red. I could see this was due to the red frosting on the cake, so while they were busy commenting on Sean I was quietly smearing my lips and teeth with red frosting. I waited for them to look over. When they did it was a riot of laughing. Suzanne was laughing so hard, Paul couldn't understand what she was saying. She was motioning for the Canon G1 Digital camera.
Thursday, December 27, 2001, 09:21 p.m.
Shopping for Christmas Presents
There was a funny bit about men vs. women shopping, which was borne out by a recent trip to the shopping mall. To see the graphic, click here.
Tuesday, December 25, 2001, 08:59 p.m.
Big Muff
Mom and dad went to some lame Christmas dance program tonight. I was watching "Friends", but during the commercials I decide to make some noise. I had the bass plugged into my guitar amp. I kept playing louder and louder; adding more distortion and more volume on the amp. I can only think I had the Fargo Forum article in the back of my mind. It was called "What's all the noise about?"
'Veteran rockers list five steps for becoming a Fargo noise band'
"Step three: Go to a music store like Marguerite's Music in Moorhead where you can pick up a used bass guitar (remember, nothing fancy) and a Big Muff fuzz petal. As far as an amp, ask for the loudest cheapest thing you can get. Don't forget to put as many sticker as you can on these items."
It's a rare day when I don't come up with something interesting when I'm playing. In the past I would use my cheap Radio Shack mini cassette recorder and record my playing. I would also write down the notes or chords I play. Then I would title the music so I could refer to it later. In this case I called it Big Muff. Tonight I thought I should stop using the cassette recorder and use my big Tascam 424 Mark III. Not only do I have it hooked up, but why settle for something crappy when I can go first class. I fired up the POC300, opened Acid Music and quickly whipped up a decent backing track. I recorded my distorted bass and the Acid tracks. Then I thought about chords to go with the noise I was playing on the bass. This didn't take long too. It was pretty interesting because I used a lot of 9th chords: A9 C9 B9. And even within these chords I played with the shapes over each bar. I over dubbed my electric guitar and acoustic guitar. I played my electric so clean it sounded like the acoustic guitar. I ended up with a strong stereo field- which I love.
Thursday, December 20, 2001, 11:07 p.m.
The Return of Little Big Man
Victor and I went to A&W today. Victor surprised me with a Concordia hat. "Take that off", he should know better than that. I'm a MSUM alumni.
We got on the subject of General Custer and the last Civil War veteran. This got me talking about Jack Crabb. I'm not sure Victor knew who this was. (A Fictional Charactor from the book/movie: "Little Big Man")
My name is Jack Crabb and I am one hundred and eleven years old.
With this in mind I remembered the sequel came out not to long ago. I must get it: "The Return of Little Big Man", by Thomas Berger
Update
I ran across this reference to Concordia College in the Onion.com today. Of course it's fake but it's a fun coincidence.
Wednesday, December 12, 2001, 01:12 p.m.
Grumpy Old Craig
I've noticed I haven't had much patience for anything lately. Everything seems to piss me off, and I have to 'count to ten'. I think this why I'm only getting 50 percent of the work load I use to be able to do in my 20s- I'm counting all day long. Ha ha.
I guess I'm getting old.
Have you notice that nothing works as it should. Everything seems to breaking down, nothing lasts. It seems like you have to be an expert in everything to get by now-a-days or pay a fortune to people you can't trust to keep on top of it for you. Auto Mechanics, Accountants, Financial Advisors, Computer gurus (You need a dozen of those), etc.
I don't have a real complaint about this. I'm not against progress- anything but (I'm even for human cloning). I just point this out as the next phase of product development. Companies that ignore this will be hurt. Companies making self-diagnosing or self-evident products will have success. Realize I'm not talking about psuedo helpful products like Microsoft software. Microsoft is the king of making products easier to use which end up being much more complicated. No,I'm talking about products you can use and forget. Products you don't need a Ph D in Electrical Engineering to understand. That work when they should and how they should without a 500 page manual.
Monday, December 10, 2001, 10:49 p.m.
Still Fab, Why we keep listening to the Beatles
By Charles Paul Freund at Reason.com
This is an interesting look at the Beatles. Not as a rock band but as pop band with music hall roots. The point is, it's this mellow melodic aspect to the Beatles sound that has made them popular for so long- not a ground breaking rock sound.
On a related note. The Beatles vs the Rolling Stones- the great band debate of the 60s.
During the 70s you could argue The Who vs Led Zeppelin
During the 80s it's U2 vs (I don't know, drop me an email if you do. Bruce Springsteen?)
During the 90s it's suddenly women Sheryl Crow vs Alanis Morisette.
I think Sheryl Crow writes better songs and certainly had more musicanship but Alanis Morisette writes more powerful songs and is stronger live.
Monday, December 10, 2001, 10:41 p.m.
Sean and Tim Dobbins
My sister is printing her own Christmas cards this year. Paul took a picture of my nephews with a digital camera. I designed the card. They go out this week. Click Here for a sneak preview. This is an Acrobat file so you will need the reader or plug-in
Monday, December 10, 2001, 10:36 p.m.
Hero #2: Alanis Morissette
In these days of nothing new and cool to listen to thankfully I can blast Alanis. I guess she's a guilty pleasure. However listening to her albums it does give me direction for my own recording efforts especially integrating Acid Music software with my guitar based songs.
I was going to post links to her site but it's a terrible site. I decided to play devil's advocate here and go with a satirical site:
The Brunching Shuttlecocks| Alanis Morissette Lyric Generator
Don't you just love Alanis Morissette? Doesn't her music just set your heart afire with the passion of misspent youth? Don't you wish you could write catchy pop hits just like she does? Well now you can. Simply fill out this form and our Alanis Morissette Random Lyric Generator will spill out a #1 hit song that you can ride all the way to the bank! Go on! Get miserable!
And this was generated from my concerns about overpriced shopping at the mall...
"Why"
Restaurants, Shopping Malls, Clerks
Why God, Why?
Shopping Malls, Security Guards, High Prices
Why God, Why?
What have I done to deserve this green horror?
Surrounded on all sides with the Hell of High Prices
Like a Ginsberg character, I'm wordy and alone
Why God, Why?
Wheels, Restaurants, sweaters
Why God, Why?
High Prices, sweaters, Clerks
Why God, Why?
What have I done to deserve this green disaster that is my life?
Surrounded on all sides with the Hell of High Prices
Like a Ginsberg character, I'm wordy and alone
Why God, Why?
What have I done to deserve this green misery?
Surrounded on all sides with the Hell of High Prices
Like a Ginsberg character, I'm wordy and alone
Why God, Why?
Why God, Why?
Why God, Why?
Why God, Why?
Why God, Why?.
I suppose some critism is due Alanis. But I still think she's cool- hey she played GOD in the movie "Dogma".
Wednesday, December 5, 2001, 10:51 p.m.
Hero #1: Walter E. Williams
One of the best things about the Rush Limbaugh show is when he's gone and lets Walter E. Williams guest host. As a libertarian, I don't get to see my point of view aired very often. I see his column is being carried on Jewish World Review again. Hurrah.
So, who is Dr. Williams? He is the former chairman of George Mason University's Economics Department, probably the best Economics department in the United States at least that's what the February 2001 Applied Economics Letters said (A British professional journal. The Study was authored by Professors Franklin G. Mixon Jr. and Kamal P. Upadhyaya. They ranked economics departments in the U.S. South. The rankings are based upon faculty research productivity. ie they practice what they preach.)
Wednesday, December 5, 2001, 10:29 p.m.
Fine Music
I was listening to a poor version of this song this morning, and it still brought a tear to my eye.
Play the song or click the title link to learn more about this amazing peice of music. (Like what it is!)
Saturday, December 1, 2001, 12:24 p.m.
A Cold Winter
My dad's cousin, Gene, sent me this funny story.
It was autumn, and the Indians on the remote reservation asked their new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was an Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets, and when he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared. But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"
"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed, " the meteorologist at the weather service responded.
So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood in order to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"
"Yes," the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."
The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.
Two weeks later he called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"
"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever.
"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.
The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting wood like crazy."
Friday, November 30, 2001, 02:26 p.m.
British Rock Aristrocracy
After watching Mick Jagger in "Being Mick" on ABC. I got a warm fuzzy
feeling about Mick Jagger. He seemed like a pleasant guy, not like the 'Sympathy
for the Devil' character the Rolling Stones press agent propagated. I started
thinking how much I like the Rolling Stones. I have almost all of their albums.
However I'm such a British Rock Anglophile that at best the Rolling Stones end
up in sixth place. And if I were to think hard about some other British bands
of the 60s/70s they might be relegated even further down..
- The Who
- The Beatles see update
- Led Zeppelin
- Pink Floyd (tied for third)
- Queen
- The Rolling Stones
Update 11/30
Today I mourn the loss of George Harrision. My thoughts are with the family, friends and fans of this wonderful musician.
Thursday, November 29, 2001, 06:08 p.m.
How To Be A Rainmaker
I saw this book at my broker's today. The title caught my attention. Brad handed the book over and I paged through it. It's mostly common sense but I think there needs to be more common sense in sales today.
Looking at Amazon's reader reviews is always interesting. Some thought the book was great some thought it was stupid. I noticed they had 34 sample pages. I didn't think the book was but 50 pages to start with.
Wednesday, November 28, 2001, 10:58 p.m.
Federal Airport Security Is A Joke
I subscribe to Reason's weekly email express. This about the stupid plan that was passed by our stupid representives in Congress.
From the November 20, 2001, Vol. 4 No. 47
But as for actually improving security, federalization does not address the basic accountability issues that have made such a mess of the task. Federal officials are past masters at blame-shifting and question-ducking, so it is hard to see how credible zones of responsibility will be established.
Further, if the goal is to modernize airport security, Congress has opted to buck history. Not a single civilian undertaking of the federal government can be called an early adopter of advanced technology.
Wednesday, November 28, 2001, 10:56 a.m.
Men vs Women
I like Orson Scott Card. He writes smooth, he writes well, and the stories are interesting. I ran across this quote on page 78.
"Poor Mother- she knows nothing at all about her own sons. Women never do understand men. Of course, men don't understand women any better- but at least we don't suffer from the delusion that we do.
Monday, November 26, 2001, 07:40 p.m.
