May
30
2005

Almost A Month

(Add / View Comments) (0)Monday, May 30, 2005 - 10:30:21 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Arizona Trip)
To continue on from the last post, it dawned on me writing it that I've almost been back home for a month - 4 calendar weeks tomorrow. It's really hard to believe. It seems like I've been back for a little while, but really doesn't seem like I've been back for the same amount of time I was there! This time a month ago I was asleep, soon to wake up to my last full day in Tempe. Bizarre!

Lean on me. Set me out. Ten tones of apathy, for a half gram of love.
May
30
2005

Tempe Photos and New Photo Software

Tempe Photos are now online!

(Add / View Comments) (0)Monday, May 30, 2005 - 10:14:55 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Arizona Trip, Development)
Finally, the complete set of my photos from the my trip to Arizona are online.

Tempe Photo Album.

On my return I'd created a couple of static HTML pages to show off the photos of the bands - something quick, to get stuff up. For the whole set of photos, I knew I'd need something better - no way I could sit there pumping out HTML for 1300+ photos. A couple days in, I started working on some code, to associate metadata with photos and pump out the pages dynamically. As with most things I do, it started out quite simple, and grew and grew. I've since enhanced it to the level where it can serve as an online photo gallery, with multiple albums, which support multiple pages. Pretty cool. I'm still working on it.

It would have been really cool to have written it pre going to Arizona, it would have made photos easier while I was over there. Of course, given how crazy work was leading up to my trip, there's no way it could have happened, even if I'd thought about it. But it would have been cool! I have it for next time.

Furthermore I've made a small enhancement to my blog - the ability to associate photos with a blog entry - as indicated with a camera icon (need to find a sexier one though) near the title of the blog. Another thing that would have been cool for while I was in Tempe. I've gone through and associated my new photo album pages with the relevent blog entries.
May
24
2005

Reliving Flagstaff!

(Add / View Comments) (0)Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 07:11:50 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Arizona Trip)
One thing I failed to mention about the Peacemakers @ Flagstaff - on return to Tempe, I got an IM from someone who was interested in the setlist for the show, as he'd recorded the video and audio. Not only did I see the Peacemakers in the flesh, but I was able to a show to my already extremely large collection of Peacemakers bootlegs that I was at!

I arranged to have the CD sent to Tempe, but apparently it was returned to sender. But, it arrived (here in Melbourne) today! The audio anyway, still got to look into getting the DVD (which is going to be soooo cool). It's too cool to have the show I was at on CD. Out of all my Peacemakers boots (got to be pushing 90 these days), this is obviously my favorite!

It's soooo freakin' cool cool reading the track list off of Steve's setlist setting right in front of me.

Such a great show - scored Steve's setlist, got a venue poster the next day, now have the audio and hopefully will get the video soon.

I was a banker out of money, but I wouldn't change a thing.
May
23
2005

Stuck On Stoopid

(Add / View Comments) (0)Monday, May 23, 2005 - 08:47:34 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene)
Brian Blush is back in town. Town, being Tempe. [wink]

Katie saw him tonight (probably his first appearence in Tempe after retreating to Detriot after the Refreshments breakup), and while talking with her, I broke out Malfunction Junction (Luck & Trouble, Brian's band in Detriot, album). The album I swore I'd never play again, after the first time I listened to. (I may have put it on once or twice after, but it seems like I really never did listen to it after the first time, with none of the songs except for D+F+S sounding at all familar). Inspired largely to hear Change The Station, which Brian said at Sugar Daddies tonight he wrote for Doug Hopkins.

When I first got this album, I fucking hated it. Period. Bad recording, and very little about it did anything for me. To the extent that, Brian, my second favorite Tempe guitarist (second to, of course, Douglas) was 'dead to me'. Relatively speaking anyway, nothing would diminish the brillance of Brian with the Refreshments. But in terms of current day Blush, the album made me loose any sort of interest - and Stevie (Larson) slide from 3rd to 2nd on my list of favorite Tempe guitarists.

So, it's a big suprise listening to Malfunction Junction tonight, and really not being able to see why I hated it so much back when I got it. I don't even remember recognising that Brian was singing on it, though if I didn't, I don't know how.

Not liking it must have been a combination of expecting the trademark Refreshments sounding Blush (and not getting it [wink] ) and not being thrilled with music or life at the time. The only song I can remember being able to listen to was D+F+S (Drinking + Fucking + Sleep), obviously largely to the ripping off of Robin Wilson's Nothing At All ("I believe in nothing at all except drinking and fucking and sleep") and the seeming guitar rip off from Blue Eyes Bleeding (as well as the line "come home for Christmas babe, come on please" ripped from Blue Eyes Bleeding). Listening to it tonight, I'm totally digging it. Very interesting! I can't even really notice the "hardly produced" sound that bugged the hell out of me originally (to the extent of not being able to listen to it)! Now I'm totally feeling like "what I have been depriving myself of?!?". Even listening to Mexico (Refreshments live cover) which the first time made me want to violently throw the CD against a wall - seriously), I can no longer see my issue with it, and dig it. Really bizarre!

I'm totally digging the album now. A few tracks, I don't overly do much for me (Hennesay and Down For The Count - both kinda really Byrds-ish, and The Difference), but Attitude, S.O.S, Change The Station, Worse Case Scenario, D+F+S, and Falling are all favorites.

Definately need to rip MP3's and sent them to work. It's really cool (and bizarre) "discovering" this album, after all this time. It's not the first time - it took me quite a while (3 months) to actually like (and soon love) Dead Hot Workshop; and moreso Satalitte / Stephen Ashbrook, who I really couldn't get into for 7 years, and then really got into after hearing the recording of his American B-Sides CD release party in 2002. But regardless, hating Malfunction Junction so violently and really digging it now, is still bizarre. But way cool. It's interesting to wonder whether being to Tempe has had any impact on this.

On a side note, I find it hilarious, all the Brian Blush and Steve Larson animosity talk and innuendo on the Peacemaker's website with Brian's return to the valley; and that tonight Steve called Brian up to the stage at Sugar Daddies to play. [lol]

I think Stoopid will probably be very happy with this, I know she was never that impressed by my violently negative reactions to Malfunction Junction. Which is pretty sweet, given that I'm truely stuck on her! [wink]
May
15
2005

Shoot Straight, From The Hip Y'All

(Add / View Comments) (0)Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 12:54:34 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene)
Today I finally opened up Ghetto Cowgirl's 'Excuses For Losers' (debut album), which I'd picked up at Zia's my second day in Tempe, as I'm fearful of wearing out Ten Tons (latest, also brought at Zia's that day).

Since I've been back all I've really listened to has been Ten Tons and the Marc and Thomas Yucca recording (27/04) that Alan recorded and gave to me, my last night there. So finally breaking opening Excuses, I was looking forward to hearing Same Sad Story it being on of my favorites from the Yucca recording, and seeing Marc all those times I did. However, it's a suprise that the coolest part of the song isn't in the recorded version. It seems a whole first verse has been added, since Excuses was recorded...

Momma's gone crazy because her baby's cut down
By some teenage cop chase, war out of bounds
Was the wrong time, wrong place, wrong end of the gun
Sad...

Shoot straight, from the hip y'all
Soft gun and the trigger slipped
Well, could have been, could have been your brother
Shoot straight, shoot to kill, yeah
Blame your each other, blame yourself
God is a bullet, have mercy on everyone



Yay for having the acoustic recording from the 27th! Not only because I was there, but because that intro is the best part of the song.

Speaking of which, I miss going down to Yucca and seeing Marc play.
May
13
2005

Further Channel 10 Rant

(Add / View Comments) (0)Friday, May 13, 2005 - 04:06:08 pm
(Posted Under: TV)
I love channel 10 so much. Last week (probably due to jetlag) I crashed out and missed Ed, which is the first time I've ever missed an episode that I knew the airing time of (ie: missed the first 5 episodes of the 3rd season because I didn't know that channel 10 had put it back on daily at 1pm). I make a point not to miss it last night, and what do you know, it's not on - no doubt due to the return of Big Brother, as Big Brother up late is in it's time slot.

Channel 10 suck!

It's no suprise really that I've barely watched any TV since being back in the country!
May
10
2005

1001

(Add / View Comments) (0)Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 09:28:17 am
(Posted Under: Music Music, Arizona Trip)
Too cool!

Last night I Katie and I were talking about the location of old Tempe bars, and I came across a web page that listed most hang outs in the Phoenix area, including the ones now deceast - including the Sun Club. Everyone knows was #1001, because of Dead Hot Workshop's album '1001' - named after the address of the Sun Club - the Sun Club on the front cover, the demolished Sun Club on the back cover. In anycase, the web page said that it was 1001 8th Street. Makes sense, I know where 8th Street is, Mayberry Studios is on it, and 1001 would be somewhere down that end - the photo in 1001 looks like that part of Tempe

Katie was driving past there today, and checked out where 1001 would be. As it turns out, the Sun Club once stood where Dos Gringos now is. It's really cool that we took photos of Dos Gringos at the last day, especially now based on the fact that it was the location of the Sun Club all those years ago!

Switch Styles

About Style Switching.

!Weblog Index

Apr May 2005 Jun
SU MO TU WE TH FR SA
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31

Categories

RSS FeedRSS Feed