Jan
31
2006

Shameless Plug

(Add / View Comments) (0)Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 03:44:43 pm
(Posted Under: Circus Mexicus, Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music)
Just a shameless plug for how I'm going to spend May 20, 2006!

Circus Mexicus Flyer

http://www.azpeacemakers.com/circusmexicus/
Jan
29
2006

Doug Hopkins on Myspace

(Add / View Comments) (0)Sunday, January 29, 2006 - 10:37:13 pm
(Posted Under: Rants, Music Music, Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene)
Today, my associated (Katie) and I were alerted to a "Doug Hopkins Myspace page".

Four words: Fucking tacky and disrespectful.

It has no association to Lost Horizons (despite the photos being directly ripped from there) nor myself or Katie.

It disgusts me so much, I refuse to even link to it. If you really want to see it, it's not too hard to work out.

Further proof that Myspace is the waste land of the internet. *Cough* Yeah, like there was much doubt!
Now Playing: Ghetto Cowgirl - Same Sad Story
Jan
29
2006

Circus Mexicus Opener

(Add / View Comments) (0)Sunday, January 29, 2006 - 07:56:57 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Circus Mexicus, Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene)
The Opening act for Circus Mexicus has been announced. David Lowery and Johnny Hickman from Cracker.

Johnny opened last May, and all reports were that he was amazing. In particularly Katie highlighted him doing a Green and Dumb duet with Roger, which apparently was amazing. Seems like a great opener to have. I'm sure this will also mean we'll be at Johnny Hickman pre Mexico parties.

Though, I must say, it's still daunting to think that the Peacemakers have an opener for Circus Mexicus, when they themselves play for four hours! I need to start working out soon, just to be ready! [wink]
Now Playing: Cracker - Low
Jan
27
2006

Mood Swings

(Add / View Comments) (0)Friday, January 27, 2006 - 11:01:05 pm
(Posted Under: No Category)
I want a shotgun, fly to Kenetucky and blow your fucking head off. Did I say that out loud?
I love that quote.

Come on, I've had a rough day. It's getting better though, it's finally Friday night.
Now Playing: Marc Norman & Thomas Laufenberg - Mood Swings (Acoustic - Yucca Tap Room, 04/27/2005)
Jan
25
2006

Australia Day Live

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, January 25, 2006 - 09:28:24 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Rants)
A spectacular 2 hour concert celebrating the great Australian spirit, humour and pride, will kick start the national day for 2006.
Aside from ridiculously crap musical line up, it's hosted by Gretal Colleen and those two wanks from Australian Idol.

Australian spirit, humor and pride? Check please!
Now Playing: Susan Vega - Luka
Jan
24
2006

All The Hot Chicks....

(Add / View Comments) (0)Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 04:26:20 pm
(Posted Under: Geek, Rants)
All the hot chicks work in dedicated server companies apparently. Who knew!? [smile]

Furthermore, I thought this was great, from DNSMadeEasy's support page:



Chick holding phone, feet on desk, one hand randomly placed on keyboard of powered off laptop, smiling at the ceiling. - yes, really makes me want to buy deedicated server hosting from this company! Hilarious. [lol]

Anyways, are there really as many hot chicks providing customer support for these hosting comapanies as their websites would have you believe? [biggrin] Ahhh, looking for hosting comapnies gets boring after 5 minutes (can you tell? [smile] ). Let me write an SMTP client in C... [smile]

Edit... Well maybe she's supposed to be recieving phone support. But hey, let's assume the former, it's a much better piss take. [smile]
Jan
24
2006

Yesterday's Bushfires / Sunset

(Add / View Comments) (0)Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 02:34:43 pm
(Posted Under: No Category)
Just as a follow on regarding the bushfires and sun, there was a cool photo on the Herald Sun website today, on their Photo Gallery.



I'm not huge on attaching pictures directly to a blog post, but that was one is just too good not to.
Jan
23
2006

Walk Into The Sunet

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosMonday, January 23, 2006 - 08:51:51 pm
(Posted Under: No Category)
It's pretty impressive to me that you can tell there is a fire when there is that fire red errie sun in the sky. I walked outside this afternoon for a smoke, and knew immediately there were fires somewhere by the sun. What I also find interesting is the completely different (and also eerie) rays of light that such a sun spills over the earth. It was really cool standing outside of work, having a smoke and viewing this. It would have been awesome to have had a camera handy at the time.

I did break the camera out when I got home and took some good shots. When I first got home, the sun was cool, though somewhat subdued. However, after the first set of photos were taken, in the span of around half an hour, the sun broke out full, burning bright fire red briefly, before dropping below the clouds, instantly transforming into the type of sun you see day in and day out. Fortunately I had taken a photo of the ground while the light being thrown was sunburst red across the pavers, and then a comparison one as the usual sun reappeared, illistrating what I started out saying.

Sitting outside putting the photos together / online and writing this blog has been quite nice. Especially after a grueling day of work. Nature rocks.
Now Playing: Dead Hot Workshop - A
Jan
21
2006

Crank The Air All Day

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 03:54:53 pm
(Posted Under: No Category)
Crank the air all day, I want out, cause it's hot in here!

Literally I have had the air cranked all day, and it's not doing much!

Can't wait til the day dust moust rains - of course, being Melbourne, that'll be tomorrow. [wink] But yeah, it's damn hot in here. Dust Mouth is so relatable today.
Now Playing: Dust Mouth - Sledville
Jan
17
2006

Walked From Here To Hell Today

Roger Clyne on 'A'

(Add / View Comments) (0)Tuesday, January 17, 2006 - 08:41:06 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music)
Ahhh, I just ripped Scotti-Stock - that feels better. I used to have it at work, but apparently never on my PC at home. At of course, reaching for a CD is just too hard. [wink]

Nothing new, I said this on the Dead Hot board at the time, but still to this day Roger's performance of A still blows me away. I was fairly excited about the fact that Rog did a song with Dead Hot, but to be honest, couldn't imagine him pulling off Babb's vocals adequately. It's wasn't a dig towards Roger, he's an incredible singer, and right up their on my list, but I couldn't see him doing Brent's vocals justice. How wrong could I be. The first time I heard the track I had to actually remind myself that it was Roger singing, not Brent. Still to this day that happens. Roger's phrasing is absolutely perfect, and true to the original. Just a great moment in rock.

There's so much more I could ramble about regarding the greatness of the Scotti-Stock, but I'll leave that for another place, another time.

I'm gonna get me some peace some day.
Now Playing: Dead Hot Workshop w/Roger Clyne - A (Scotti-Stock)
Jan
14
2006

If I Never Hear Allison Road Again....

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 02:32:04 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music)
...it probably would be too soon. Okay, so that's a bit harsh. But man, talk about a song being done to death. I've had my music collection on random today, and Allison Road has come up too many times. Theoritically I thing I only have two copies (Up and Crumbling and New Miserable Experience), but it seems like I've pressed skip more times than that.

Back in the day it used to be fairly high up on my 'not favorite' songs - or you can substitute that with 'not Hopkins' songs. [wink] I thought it was a really solid pop song - nothing earth shattering, but a good solid pop song. These days, if I hear it one more time... [smile] Like I said, a bit of a harsh comment towards my beloved Blossoms (strike me down [wink] ), but the song really has been done to death, and it's hard to get excited when it comes on. [smile]

Conversely, back in the day, Hands Are Tied didn't really do it for me. It was my least favorite of the rockers - too much of an alterative slant to rival the likes of Hold Me Down or Hey Jealousy. But these days, Hands Are Tied is the shit!

In other news, I have WAY too many Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers live recordings on my hard drive. [smile] No fault of the band at all, but it's getting old skipping those too.
Now Playing: Storyline - Just A Matter Of Time
Jan
14
2006

A Case Of Blush

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, January 14, 2006 - 12:33:13 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene)
At the moment I'm playing with moving all my music to my Linux server. One of the problems is not preserving the file creation dates, so queuing files in Winamp doesn't seemlessly sort in the right order, like when I enqueue them local off my Windows machine.

So, I just queued Satelitte, and Sometimes Just One Time happened to come after I Don't Mind. I've never noticed before, but the riff at the end of I Don't Mind is virtual exactly the same as the intro riff of Sometimes Just One Time. Just an interesting thing I've noticed before. Very reminicent of Brian Blush's re-use of his own licks.
Now Playing: Satelitte - Sometimes Just One Time
Jan
13
2006

Going Wireless

(Add / View Comments) (0)Friday, January 13, 2006 - 09:02:35 pm
(Posted Under: Geek)
Technology is great. It's a Friday night, I'm sitting in the backyard, listening to Marc & Thomas, and blogging, it's pretty sweet!

Last Saturday I picked a a Linksys wireless router. I kinda thought I could hold off, but am definately glad I just went ahead and brought it. It kinda amazes me that a computer that isn't connected is - well - just a computer. It's kinda hard to get excited about a computer that isn't connected to the internet, or at least to the local network. 15 years ago computers were cool. Today, when you're not connected, it's pretty boring. Hence, a laptop isn't too exciting without wireless. I must say, it is the shit. I sat out here last Saturday night, which is really nice.

The router itself was a bitch to setup. I just wanted to unpack it and have it work. Which I'm sure I could have done, if it wasn't designed to be configurable by dummies out of the box. [smile] I actually heeded the stickers on the CD and over the LAN ports, and ran the CD before plugging anything it on. Stoopid wizard, stepping through each step. Basically I wanted wireless access to my LAN. The thing has 4 wired ports, and then for 'internet'. [smile] I figured I'd connect my wired switch up to the internet port (since my internet is out of the switch, and down to my Linux server). The wizard didn't like it at all, not being able to 'find the internet'. Whatever! After wasting half an hour, I decided to go on a search for the web interface. Surely you dont have to use this stupid wizard. Luckily not. I had the thiing configured through that in about 2.5 seconds. Vendors need to quit making hardware configurable for dummies, because it makes it impossible for someone with a clue to configure. The industry aiming hardware to the average Joe is the bain of my existance I tell you! [wink]

Aside losing half an hour of my life in configuring the thing, I'm quite happy with it. I was dubious about the reception I was going to get outside, however it's really good reception sitting outside with the router up in my room, through countless doors and walls. Pretty sweet. And it's pretty friggin' awesome not having to move to spark up a cigarette. The sweet life, I tell you what.
Now Playing: Marc Norman & Thomas Laufenberg - Same Sad Story (Acoustic - Yucca Tap Room, 04/27/2005)
Jan
11
2006

MPPE/MPPC patch in 2.6.15 kernel

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, January 11, 2006 - 11:33:10 pm
(Posted Under: Linux Linux)
Browsing the PPTP Client page today I notice that the announcement that MPPE/MPPC encryption module has been added in the 2.6.15 Linux kernel. Yaaaay, it's about time!! Because of important reasons like that fact that I am too lazy to patch kernels with the MPPE/MPPC patch myself. [smile] Well too lazy to do it and not complain. [wink] Once is fun, beyond that it's work.

Anyways, I'm pleased to read this, it'll make my life a lot easier. [smile] Now please stand back while I upgrade my kernel. [wink] (Well maybe later. [smile] )
Now Playing: The Evergreens - Still Alive From The Waste Down
Jan
08
2006

If You Book Them, They Will Come

(Add / View Comments) (0)Sunday, January 8, 2006 - 11:40:39 am
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Circus Mexicus)
...or something. [smile] I just checked out some May tour dates for the Gin Blossoms - they're playing Vegas. Awesome! On the 20th and 21st! Not so awesome, because I'll be in Mexico. What terrible, terrible scheduling!
Now Playing: Zubia Brothers - Voices
Jan
06
2006

Lost Horizons

(Add / View Comments) (0)Friday, January 6, 2006 - 03:22:53 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene)
Wow, 7th and Mill will never be the same again.

I just read an article (The Days The Music Died) on the demise of Wongs and The Sail Inn, and couldn't even recognise 7th and Mill from the scaled image. Even viewing the larger one took a bit to get my bearings. I can't believe (well, yes I can) how different Mill looks without Wongs. It doesn't even look like Mill Avenue anymore.

Also, I thought the following was a great quote:

"When I moved here, I could see Papago Park from the patio of the Sail Inn," he said. "Now all I see is condos."
Jan
05
2006

Sweet Lady Dell

My New Laptoop

(Add / View Comments) (0)Thursday, January 5, 2006 - 08:18:52 pm
(Posted Under: Geek)
I'm writing this, and the previous post from my new laptop. Dubbed Sweet Lady Dell by KJ. Perfect. It's tempting to swivel my chair and use my desktop, but I need practice on this keyboard. It might be a bit easier if I could put my legs under the desk, and properly more comfortable, however my Linux server is kinda in the way. Those are the trials and tribulations of being wired for sound - or whatver. Speaking of sound, let me turn around long enough to put Ghetto back on.... [wink]

It arrived yesterday, though, I wanted to image it before doing anything on it, so I didn't really get to play with it last night. I took it into work today to make an image of the disk. It's really nice, and outspecs my desktop machine in a lot of areas (RAM, video card, HDD capacity) and rivals my server. Some would say I went overboard. [wink] Whatever. [smile] The only downside is the white trim, which is slightly gay looking. It's as if Dell wanted to make it look like an iBook. The gray ones are nicer looking. But hey, not a big deal.

The thing that really gets me is the 17" widescreen display. The viewable area is actually wider than my 19" monitor, and about 1 1/2" shorter high wise. Why do I need a desktop machine again? [wink] Seriously, if it wasn't for the TV tuner and good soundcard, that'd be a really compelling question. [smile] Tonight the only reason I turned it on was to tape King Of Queens.

In anycase, the new laptop kicks ass. Now I just need to buy a wireless router to complete the experience.
Now Playing: Ghetto Cowgirl - Don't Care
Jan
05
2006

Blaze Of Nowhere

(Add / View Comments) (0)Thursday, January 5, 2006 - 08:02:38 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene)
From the Wikipedia page for Just South Of Nowhere...

Penned by Gin Blossoms guitarist Jesse Valenzuela, this song exemplifies the Gin Blossoms southwestern / Tempe alternative rock sound, mixing 4/4 rock and roll with country, and the use of creative pullups and pulldowns on the guitars of Valenzuela and the other Gin Blossoms guitarist, D. Scott "Scotty" Johnson sound reminiscent of the Jon Bon Jovi song Blaze of Glory. Not surprisingly, in American pop culture around the 1988 (when the Gin Blossoms were first forming and began playing, the film Young Guns came out with Jon Bon Jovi's song as a centerpiece.
Aside from being one hell of a single sentance (that I noticed when I was copying to quote), Blaze Of Glory? [smile] Freakin' hilarious. I can imagine Valenzuela would get a huge laugh out of that! [wink] Hmmm, also note that Blaze Of Glory was circa 1990. [wink] Go Wikipedia, it's your birthday!

I almost titled this Just South Of Glory, but that sounds a bit suggestive! [razz]

Edit...

"Pullups and pulldowns on the guitars"?!?! Are these per chance anything like pull off's and hammers on's? [wink] Who the hell wrote that Wikipedia article? [rolleyes]
Now Playing: Without Warning - Ghetto Cowgirl

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