The Picks of Hump Day
Grimey's run this evening...
1) Roxy Music -- Avalon (6ch/2ch SACD).
2) Hoodoo Gurus -- Stoneage Romeos (remastered and expanded)
3) Superdrag -- In the Valley of Dying Stars
4) Stiff Little Fingers -- Your Head is Full of Ideas that Don't Mean a Thing
5) Nick Lowe -- The Wilderness Years
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
The Books of 2005:
1. Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hunter S. Thompson. (Finishing a book started in 2004.)
2. Learning How To Die, Greg Kot.
3. Perfectly Legal, David Cay Johnston.
4. Get In The Van, 2nd ed. Henry Rollins.
5. The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, Phillip Hoose.
6. Guide to Wildlife Photography, Moose Peterson.
1. Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Hunter S. Thompson. (Finishing a book started in 2004.)
2. Learning How To Die, Greg Kot.
3. Perfectly Legal, David Cay Johnston.
4. Get In The Van, 2nd ed. Henry Rollins.
5. The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, Phillip Hoose.
6. Guide to Wildlife Photography, Moose Peterson.
One Count Fraud, One Count Conspiracy to Defraud, Seven Counts of Filing False Securities Information
It doesn't make up for this completely...
...but it helps.
I always believed that Bernie was a fraud, but now it's official.
Today, I'm surprised. I'll wait for the sentencing phase to figure out if I'm "pleased."
My sympathies to his wife and family, although none were extended to me when they terminated my employment. Hell, I didn't even have the courtesy of a merged document.
It doesn't make up for this completely...
...but it helps.
I always believed that Bernie was a fraud, but now it's official.
Today, I'm surprised. I'll wait for the sentencing phase to figure out if I'm "pleased."
My sympathies to his wife and family, although none were extended to me when they terminated my employment. Hell, I didn't even have the courtesy of a merged document.
Monday, March 14, 2005
What's the Opposite of Damning with Faint Praise?
There are a few bands that I keep coming back to, year after year, to find solace, inspiration, or a good soundtrack for a long lonely drive.
No surprises among a number in this bunch... The Beatles are perennial favorites. I return to the Descendents every few years for a good high-tempo shakeup. Elvis Costello & The Attractions are popping up higher and higher in my playlist as time goes by. And XTC, what can I say? If there's nothing else to listen to, a good time can be had from anything from Black Sea to Drums and Wires to Wasp Star.
Then there's this little Aussie combo who call themselves Hoodoo Gurus.
I was fortunate enough to catch one of their shows stateside circa 1988. This was after a friend from the dorm flipped me a dubbed copy of Mars Needs Guitars! b/w Stoneage Romeos. Straightforward as it gets -- 3-chords, 2 guitars, no waiting. The songs are mostly intelligent pop songs about girls and good times, minus twee pretensions or skull-thumping rock-star 'tude. Dave Faulkner and Brad Shepherd are the formidable front of this quartet, having put forth about 10 studio albums and a scattering of live recordings, EPs, and impeccable singles.
I lost track of them somewhere around the release of Kinky, but like I said, I keep coming back to them time and again over the years. Unfortunately, they haven't done much touring stateside since being dropped from US distribution.
I caught up again in 2003 when I went to Sydney and talked shop with the bloke behind the counter at Red Eye Records off King Street. He (whoever he was) tipped me off to the newly reformed incarnation of the Hoodoos, called The Persian Rugs. They were credited with one EP and one full length CD, which I happily snapped up and wore thin over the next month. News had it, also, that they were reforming the band to do the 2004 Big Day Out tour in support of the forthcoming Mach Schau. As timing would have it, I missed that. But I did catch up with Mach Schau, which is as fine a record as anything they've ever done. Import only, alas. Doesn't seem like the US market caught up to them along with me.
And here in '05, there's more new Gurus goodness to be had -- the DVD retrospective, Tunnel Vision. Region 0 PAL encoded, so it'll play OK in many computers, but not so much in every TV configuration (unless you have multiscan). If you're not a Gurus fan, I don't know if this will win you over to them, but if you are, this is a "gotta getcha one." Even with the tanking dollar, there's still a favorable exchange rate with Australia, so find a copy if you're so inclined.
The set includes vids from their entire career, some live footage, and even a bonus documentary.
Get while the gettin's good, as this may be the last new output from the Gurus for some time. The rumors indicate that the Gurus are on semi-permanent hiatus.
Then I guess I'll have to discover what I can out of Paul Kelly's back catalogue -- another Aussie fave around the house here.
There are a few bands that I keep coming back to, year after year, to find solace, inspiration, or a good soundtrack for a long lonely drive.
No surprises among a number in this bunch... The Beatles are perennial favorites. I return to the Descendents every few years for a good high-tempo shakeup. Elvis Costello & The Attractions are popping up higher and higher in my playlist as time goes by. And XTC, what can I say? If there's nothing else to listen to, a good time can be had from anything from Black Sea to Drums and Wires to Wasp Star.
Then there's this little Aussie combo who call themselves Hoodoo Gurus.
I was fortunate enough to catch one of their shows stateside circa 1988. This was after a friend from the dorm flipped me a dubbed copy of Mars Needs Guitars! b/w Stoneage Romeos. Straightforward as it gets -- 3-chords, 2 guitars, no waiting. The songs are mostly intelligent pop songs about girls and good times, minus twee pretensions or skull-thumping rock-star 'tude. Dave Faulkner and Brad Shepherd are the formidable front of this quartet, having put forth about 10 studio albums and a scattering of live recordings, EPs, and impeccable singles.
I lost track of them somewhere around the release of Kinky, but like I said, I keep coming back to them time and again over the years. Unfortunately, they haven't done much touring stateside since being dropped from US distribution.
I caught up again in 2003 when I went to Sydney and talked shop with the bloke behind the counter at Red Eye Records off King Street. He (whoever he was) tipped me off to the newly reformed incarnation of the Hoodoos, called The Persian Rugs. They were credited with one EP and one full length CD, which I happily snapped up and wore thin over the next month. News had it, also, that they were reforming the band to do the 2004 Big Day Out tour in support of the forthcoming Mach Schau. As timing would have it, I missed that. But I did catch up with Mach Schau, which is as fine a record as anything they've ever done. Import only, alas. Doesn't seem like the US market caught up to them along with me.
And here in '05, there's more new Gurus goodness to be had -- the DVD retrospective, Tunnel Vision. Region 0 PAL encoded, so it'll play OK in many computers, but not so much in every TV configuration (unless you have multiscan). If you're not a Gurus fan, I don't know if this will win you over to them, but if you are, this is a "gotta getcha one." Even with the tanking dollar, there's still a favorable exchange rate with Australia, so find a copy if you're so inclined.
The set includes vids from their entire career, some live footage, and even a bonus documentary.
Get while the gettin's good, as this may be the last new output from the Gurus for some time. The rumors indicate that the Gurus are on semi-permanent hiatus.
Then I guess I'll have to discover what I can out of Paul Kelly's back catalogue -- another Aussie fave around the house here.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Glossy
And one from the archives:
Been playing with the Intellisharpen and Velvia Vision PS plugins from Fred Miranda. It looks way better at full res, but this still gives you some idea. You want richer color and selective sharpening? This works as well as some of the Nik products that I've demoed, and for a lot less.
(Oh, that's a glossy ibis, by the way. Taken last summer at Assateague Island NWR.)
And one from the archives:
Been playing with the Intellisharpen and Velvia Vision PS plugins from Fred Miranda. It looks way better at full res, but this still gives you some idea. You want richer color and selective sharpening? This works as well as some of the Nik products that I've demoed, and for a lot less.
(Oh, that's a glossy ibis, by the way. Taken last summer at Assateague Island NWR.)
Cultural Ephemera
Haven't made many new music purchases lately. My last swag bag came from the Hastings store in Tullahoma, TN. I found a used copy of Quadrophenia and I've been wearing it out.
At least I was until I went to the Elvis Costello & The Imposters show last night.
Wowza. I believe I'm going to have to revise my list of Top Concerts now. Maybe I didn't have the proper appreciation for Elvis the C. last time I saw him play the Ryman, but nah... well, actually, I didn't, but being as objective as possible, the Imposters blew it out. I had already amassed most of the Rhino 2-disc reissues of the back catalog, but I think I'm looking down the barrel of dangerous monomania. I get this way sometimes when I see a live show I really connect with.
On TV: Mostly it's been standard TiVo fare. A couple of recent discoveries: The "Henry's Film Corner" on IFC. I hadn't pegged Rollins as a movie buff, but his half-hour dedicated to film reviews & entertainment industry agitprop is fun, if nothing else.
Nights before bed I've been winding down with Henry Rollins spoken word and Monty Python eps from the A&E box set. I need the humor and the oblique approach to a world otherwise swirling with much absurdity these days.
Photography: I'm booked to go to the Smokies this May for the Digital Landscape Workshop Series. I found it through Moose Peterson's website, which was a site that a friend of mine showed me when I was contemplating some photo equipment purchases.
Work: Please. Nothing to report.
Life events: This week, I was diagnosed with my first cavity. Dammit. My mouth hadn't been bothering me until I went to the dentist. During the exam, though, it was POKE POKE POKE on the ol' dental surfaces, and I was subjected to a sensation I'd never felt before -- a stainless steel pick poking a hole in the weakened enamel of one of my molars and a "zing" to the nerve beneath. The dental tech called it a zing, anyway. If that was a zing, I don't wanna EVER feel a "zang." Now my upper jaw just aches dully like it used to when I'd had orthodontics.
Otherwise, I'm kinda suffering from a potent combo of stultifying boredom and spring fever.
March Madness usually provides the cure.
Haven't made many new music purchases lately. My last swag bag came from the Hastings store in Tullahoma, TN. I found a used copy of Quadrophenia and I've been wearing it out.
At least I was until I went to the Elvis Costello & The Imposters show last night.
Wowza. I believe I'm going to have to revise my list of Top Concerts now. Maybe I didn't have the proper appreciation for Elvis the C. last time I saw him play the Ryman, but nah... well, actually, I didn't, but being as objective as possible, the Imposters blew it out. I had already amassed most of the Rhino 2-disc reissues of the back catalog, but I think I'm looking down the barrel of dangerous monomania. I get this way sometimes when I see a live show I really connect with.
On TV: Mostly it's been standard TiVo fare. A couple of recent discoveries: The "Henry's Film Corner" on IFC. I hadn't pegged Rollins as a movie buff, but his half-hour dedicated to film reviews & entertainment industry agitprop is fun, if nothing else.
Nights before bed I've been winding down with Henry Rollins spoken word and Monty Python eps from the A&E box set. I need the humor and the oblique approach to a world otherwise swirling with much absurdity these days.
Photography: I'm booked to go to the Smokies this May for the Digital Landscape Workshop Series. I found it through Moose Peterson's website, which was a site that a friend of mine showed me when I was contemplating some photo equipment purchases.
Work: Please. Nothing to report.
Life events: This week, I was diagnosed with my first cavity. Dammit. My mouth hadn't been bothering me until I went to the dentist. During the exam, though, it was POKE POKE POKE on the ol' dental surfaces, and I was subjected to a sensation I'd never felt before -- a stainless steel pick poking a hole in the weakened enamel of one of my molars and a "zing" to the nerve beneath. The dental tech called it a zing, anyway. If that was a zing, I don't wanna EVER feel a "zang." Now my upper jaw just aches dully like it used to when I'd had orthodontics.
Otherwise, I'm kinda suffering from a potent combo of stultifying boredom and spring fever.
March Madness usually provides the cure.
Wheeling
Last weekend, I spent a good bit of time just watching the gulls at Centennial Park wheel around in the sky, trying my best to capture the action of birds in flight... just to get more of a feel, and to be out and about actually getting some time to myself with some new gear.
This one, I think I was following one gull along in the viewfinder and snapping shots in an arc, and the other birds happened into the frame.
Happy accident, I think.
(Hm. Let's look at the EXIF... this was a D2H, f12, 1/500, 105mm micro AF lens.)
Last weekend, I spent a good bit of time just watching the gulls at Centennial Park wheel around in the sky, trying my best to capture the action of birds in flight... just to get more of a feel, and to be out and about actually getting some time to myself with some new gear.
This one, I think I was following one gull along in the viewfinder and snapping shots in an arc, and the other birds happened into the frame.
Happy accident, I think.
(Hm. Let's look at the EXIF... this was a D2H, f12, 1/500, 105mm micro AF lens.)
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Monday, February 28, 2005
The only way I'm posting this is by firing up VirtualPC, which I don't think I should have to do.
And not only can I not post things through Safari/Firefox/OmniWeb/IE on a Mac, I can't edit my template.
So if you want to see the .XML version of this [soon to be very rarely updated] blog, the path is http://home.comcast.net/~andyaxel/blogger/rss/atom.xml.
See you once Blogger fixes their technical difficulties.
Difficulties somewhat fixed. Still having issues, but whaddyagonnado?
(Anyone want to recommend a new blogging platform that I can access via a web browser on a Mac? Without me having to run a web server? Leave it in comments.)
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Aliens Raped My Eyeballs
So far as I know, this is a completely original construction from my fevered brain:
A race of aliens, strangely resembling the bounty hunter Bossk (albeit brighter green in skin tone, and brighter yellow of eye) , took over the planet after my failed mission to sail two fake battleships through an indoor lock system.
Their weapon? A pair of long, nearly invisible filaments which they could insert silently into your lachrymal ducts, and then a bioelectric current would shock you internally.
I awaken, my wife asking me what was I dreaming about -- and I recall muttering, "Aliens raped my eyeballs."
So far as I know, this is a completely original construction from my fevered brain:
A race of aliens, strangely resembling the bounty hunter Bossk (albeit brighter green in skin tone, and brighter yellow of eye) , took over the planet after my failed mission to sail two fake battleships through an indoor lock system.
Their weapon? A pair of long, nearly invisible filaments which they could insert silently into your lachrymal ducts, and then a bioelectric current would shock you internally.
I awaken, my wife asking me what was I dreaming about -- and I recall muttering, "Aliens raped my eyeballs."
Acronymitis
I've noticed that when I see 3-letter abbreviations on Tennessee license plates, my feverish recall of acronyms kicks in.
AEL - auto exposure lock
BSD - Berkeley Systems Development
CVB - Camper Van Beethoven
DMA - direct memory access
EDS - Electronic Data Systems
FCS - frame check sequence
GRE - generic routing encapsulation
HST - Hunter Stockton Thompson (RIP)
ISP - Internet service provider
JRE - Java Runtime Environment
KSU - Key System Unit
LVM - "left voice mail"
MSA - Metropolitan Statistical Area
NID - Network Interface Device
ORU - Oral Roberts University
POC - point of contact
QOD - quote of (the) day
REM - Michael, Peter, Mike, and Bill
SQL - "sequel"
TDS - terrestrial data service
UTM - uniform terrestrial mercator
VRF - virtual route forwarding
WTF - what the f***?
XTC - the best pop band ever
YYZ - cheezy Canadian sci-fi set to music
ZZZ - the interest quotient in this post
I've noticed that when I see 3-letter abbreviations on Tennessee license plates, my feverish recall of acronyms kicks in.
AEL - auto exposure lock
BSD - Berkeley Systems Development
CVB - Camper Van Beethoven
DMA - direct memory access
EDS - Electronic Data Systems
FCS - frame check sequence
GRE - generic routing encapsulation
HST - Hunter Stockton Thompson (RIP)
ISP - Internet service provider
JRE - Java Runtime Environment
KSU - Key System Unit
LVM - "left voice mail"
MSA - Metropolitan Statistical Area
NID - Network Interface Device
ORU - Oral Roberts University
POC - point of contact
QOD - quote of (the) day
REM - Michael, Peter, Mike, and Bill
SQL - "sequel"
TDS - terrestrial data service
UTM - uniform terrestrial mercator
VRF - virtual route forwarding
WTF - what the f***?
XTC - the best pop band ever
YYZ - cheezy Canadian sci-fi set to music
ZZZ - the interest quotient in this post
Monday, February 21, 2005
UPDATE: I've gotten a couple of emails regarding some of the content in my post below. According to those readers, I should not have said that Mr. Thompson should have turned the shotgun on Judith Miller or "Jeff Gannon."
And that's absolutely right.
Thompson used a .45. One Reporter's Opinion regrets that error.
And that's absolutely right.
Thompson used a .45. One Reporter's Opinion regrets that error.
I doubt that many people are unclear about the handle* on my blog, or at least I was until I started publishing this random detritus more regularly. I am not a reporter, nor, as the saying goes, do I play one on TV. I have too much respect for the profession to make much of myself as a journalist. A journalist journals. I don't have the discipline. I don't think that I couldn't have it -- it's simply not a practice that I've subscribed to much. So much of the journaling process seems to be introspective, mindless wankery, and I'd rather have something to say or a picture with which to say it.
So let me indulge in a trifle more mindless wankery:
Hunter S. Thompson, a journalist in the proud American tradition of the craft, is gone.
There are a number of zygotic thoughts running around my head, but I'm doing my best to avoid much handwringing until a bit more information is made available. That said, and in the wake of the controversy swirling around the margins of the putative world of American journalism, take note. Here was a man who asked hard questions, demanded hard answers, and lived a hard life. He embodied his profession, and goes to his grave a consummate professional.
Why he didn't turn the shotgun on Judith Miller or "Jeff Gannon" will remain, for me, one of life's cruel and eternal mysteries.
Yet we may never have the real answers behind his final moments. And so ends the life of one of America's most original contributors to essays and letters; an enigma to the last.
Selah.
* For those who don't know, the title is ganked from a song from The Minutemen:
what could be romantic to mike watt? he's only a skeleton. his body's a series of points with no height, length, or width. in his joints he feels life. his strongest connection between the yelling & the sleep. pain is the toughest riddle. he's chalk. he's a dartboard. his sex is disease. he's a stopsign.
So let me indulge in a trifle more mindless wankery:
Hunter S. Thompson, a journalist in the proud American tradition of the craft, is gone.
There are a number of zygotic thoughts running around my head, but I'm doing my best to avoid much handwringing until a bit more information is made available. That said, and in the wake of the controversy swirling around the margins of the putative world of American journalism, take note. Here was a man who asked hard questions, demanded hard answers, and lived a hard life. He embodied his profession, and goes to his grave a consummate professional.
Why he didn't turn the shotgun on Judith Miller or "Jeff Gannon" will remain, for me, one of life's cruel and eternal mysteries.
Yet we may never have the real answers behind his final moments. And so ends the life of one of America's most original contributors to essays and letters; an enigma to the last.
Selah.
* For those who don't know, the title is ganked from a song from The Minutemen:
what could be romantic to mike watt? he's only a skeleton. his body's a series of points with no height, length, or width. in his joints he feels life. his strongest connection between the yelling & the sleep. pain is the toughest riddle. he's chalk. he's a dartboard. his sex is disease. he's a stopsign.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Great Backyard Bird Count, Day 2.
Turkey vulture:
Carolina chickadee:
Cardinal:
Goldfinch:
Downy woodpecker:
Tufted titmouse:
Blue jay:
Carolina wren:
Red-breasted nuthatch:
House finch:
(Third day called on account of rain. No pictures. The final count was something like 24 distinct species in our backyard alone -- and most of those appeared within the first couple of hours of viewing on Day 1...)
Turkey vulture:
Carolina chickadee:
Cardinal:
Goldfinch:
Downy woodpecker:
Tufted titmouse:
Blue jay:
Carolina wren:
Red-breasted nuthatch:
House finch:
(Third day called on account of rain. No pictures. The final count was something like 24 distinct species in our backyard alone -- and most of those appeared within the first couple of hours of viewing on Day 1...)
Friday, February 18, 2005
Great Backyard Bird Count, Day 1
So I get home a little early from work, and I'm fussing around the kitchen when my wife starts screaming, "OH WOW! WOW! WOW!!!"
And, this is what she was seeing, although my capture of the moment is thanks to a lot of photo retouching...
Mind you, this is through a crud-covered screen and a window that's taken several long days of rain -- but that's a Cooper's Hawk with a rock dove in its talons. She saw the whole incident in living color. I was doing my best to capture the moment on digital film, with only moderate success.
Still. Pretty cool.
We filled out our GBBC form with several birds, including (1) Cooper's Hawk, and (1) rock dove [deceased].
So I get home a little early from work, and I'm fussing around the kitchen when my wife starts screaming, "OH WOW! WOW! WOW!!!"
And, this is what she was seeing, although my capture of the moment is thanks to a lot of photo retouching...
Mind you, this is through a crud-covered screen and a window that's taken several long days of rain -- but that's a Cooper's Hawk with a rock dove in its talons. She saw the whole incident in living color. I was doing my best to capture the moment on digital film, with only moderate success.
Still. Pretty cool.
We filled out our GBBC form with several birds, including (1) Cooper's Hawk, and (1) rock dove [deceased].
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
