A bit of update is in order

These long blogging absences have got to stop. Apologies.

Fortunately for me, my unemployment period lasted less than 3 weeks, so hooray for me. Sort of.

I go from one large company to an even larger corporation, but a completely different line of work. I'm still trying to determine if it suits me well or not. The schedule is interesting in that I work nights for 12 hour shifts, 1900 - 0700, but I've adjusted to that, so long as I get a sufficient amount of sleep, which means I must sleep in until 2-3pm in the afternoon after hitting the sack around 7:30-8am. My schedule will stay the same: Wednesdays through Fridays, and working every other Saturday. Either way you cut it, if you're working the other side of the schedule, you're working half the weekend. Since I'm no longer a young party person, I don't really miss having Friday night off, I'd rather enjoy a quiet Sunday/Monday/Tuesday out and about, running errands and such.

Spring training is in full swing and couldn't be happier that the dawn of the 2010 Major League Baseball is upon us. Currently watching the debut of Stephen Strasburg in the Tigers/National game. Strasburg the bright spot in the game pitching 2 scoreless innings, now the Nats are getting smoked by the motor city kitties. No televised Red Sox game today (not until Sunday will there be next one) but they are looking good so far this spring. It's a shame a lot of the young kids won't make the club at the beginning of the season as there is limited space unless an injury occurs. With a rotation like Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Matsuzaka, Buchholz; starting lineup of Ellsbury, Pedroia, V Martinez, Youkilis, Ortiz, Beltre, Cameron, Drew, Scutaro; bench of Hermida, Varitek, Kotchman, Lowrie ; Bullpen of Papelbon, Okajima, Wakefield, DelCarmen, Ramon Ramirez, Bard, Bonser - that makes a full team of 25 (and yes that is all from memory). Much has been said about what is perceived to be a smaller offense - I don't believe the hype. Ortiz will be back to form much more quickly this season, Beltre, Cameron & Hermida will be better than expected so long as they mesh well with the team.

With our family's new Nintendo Wii, I HAD to get the current MLB video game. I'm currently embarking on a full 162 game season. I lost the entire first series against the Yankees, after leading in early innings, losing big in later innings as the Yankees are prone to do (as I was still learning the controls, so I will grant them that). Since then I have swept the Royals in that series, including a game-winning home run by Mike Cameron in the top of the 9th to win it 2-1, and CG shutouts by Beckett over Greinke and Lackey vs. the Twins (Mauer is rated 100 for contact and a very tough out).

On the music front, is it possible to already nominate 3 of the worst songs of the year? All equally awful: Bedrock, Hey Soul Sister, and Party in the USA (although there is an amusing mashup with Notorious BIG of Party & Bullshit by Hathberger).

For last year's worst song, I'd have to say Empire State of Mind because of the Yankee World Series implications. Ugh. Love NYC but HATE THE YANKEES.

Oh, and we taught Sierra to boo the Yankees. Good times.

Too Early? Nah I don't think so. Best of 2009 albums.

5. Florence + the Machine: Lungs

4. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

3. The XX: xx

2. Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

1. Passion Pit: Manners - I can't get enough of this album, truly. So many great tunes that could be turned out as singles, there is not one throw away track on this album. Sure it goes with the current 80s retro synth trend but it goes way beyond that.

So that's how we end the first decade of the 2000s. What will the 2010s bring? Who knows but I'm looking forward to it!

Top 10 Albums Ever, IMHO, a distraction.

To distract myself from what's going on around me (see yesterday's post just below), I'm going to list my top 10 albums. Something simple, but maybe it will create some interesting comments or you can even list your top ten if you so desire. I won't judge you.

1. Death Cab for Cutie: Transatlanticism
2. Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid
3. Cure: Disintegration
4. Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
5. Sigur Ros: Takk...
6. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand
7. Barenaked Ladies: Gordon
8. Depeche Mode: Violator
9. The Smiths: Meat is Murder
10. Coldplay: Parachutes

Thank you to all the well-wishers, I am feeling a little better today, but who knows when the next wave will hit me. Anyone who's suffered grief before will understand - I compare it to treading water in the open ocean. You may or may not see land nearby. You can be treading water just fine, then a huge wave will suck you under, then you resurface, just trying to keep afloat, keep it together. Even for those of us some people consider "the strong ones", it's still the same. Tomorrow I will see the family and I'm sure it will happen all over again.

My/our supervisor who is blissfully unaware and out of the country - I'll be the first familiar face she sees when she comes back (I'm storing her vehicle at my place), and I'll have to break the news to her, and I've been thinking about how to do that. I won't have to do that until next Monday, and I'm sure all the same things will hit me all over again. Maybe not quite as hard or in a different way, but it will still hit me all the same.

Thanks to The Girl who made us a fantastic breakfast this morning, I was not expecting that. Thanks to her for putting up with my zombie ass.

The Redbeard and Sierra Show, episode 1

First, read Jayne's post and her comments section. (Apologies to those who previously got a dead link before. The programmer has been sacked. Oh wait, I can't fire myself. --edited 7/24/08)

Second, watch this.

The After-Party

The stage in the daylight over a sea of automobiles.

Well, thank you McDonalds. We will try not to throw trash at your employees while sweeping.


The cheap seats. Reeeaaaallll cheap.


Nighttime lights of the stage.

Some more links to follow for more coverage:

Story by WCAX CBS channel 3. - Do NOT miss the link to the video coverage. Reporter Jack Thurston is super duper excited to be in the presence of Sir Elton. Most likely the best story of his young career to date.

Slide show - Champlain Valley Expo

We couldn't stay for the whole thing, Sierra was getting tired. But he did some favorites before we left:

The Bitch is Back
Tiny Dancer
Levon
Believe
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Daniel

and a couple of others we didn't know.

Monday Dance Video? & Elton John Day!!

Since I haven't really embarrassed myself yet here on this blog, I thought it was about high time that I did. Ok so I was bored today and saw Erika's vlog entries and her link to the news people doing dances, and I've been thinking about doing this one for some time, so here it is! If only I could dance as crazy as Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory.

Also today is Elton John Day. We don't have tickets. Sold Out. But it's an outdoor concert at the fairgrounds, sometimes we can hear the concerts from our house a mile away. We need to do laundry anyway. Laundry place is right in front of the fairgrounds. So is McDonald's. So we walk from the laundromat over to McDonald's picnic tables and hear it for free.

The stage where Sir Reginald Dwight will be playing. (Actually, probably not, this is the second stage they have set up today for a country music festival.)



Local music store displaying Elton John's Red Yamaha Piano, valued at $80,000.



The store was closed so I took a picture from outside the window. I'll take a better one when the shop is open. It was a foggy rainy day Sunday when these were taken. It appears Elton brought the English weather with him.

In honour of Sir Elton John coming to my town on Monday!

Read here ---> http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2291076,00.html#article_continue

Mmmmm.... Eating Elton John....

We Interrupt this Historical Series for these words.

Google reader has changed my life. Never miss another blog post with Google Reader! Use it today! And subscribe to all your favourite blogs, for instance redbeardonredsox.blogspot.com! It's way easy and fun to use!

Ok, now with that shamelessness out of the way... I got an idea from the geniuses at Surviving Grady. Ok, actually it's the same idea, with different results. It's the Random iPod game!

Take your iPod/MP3 Player/computer music library and put it on random. List the next 5 / 10 / 20 how many ever tracks you want, I like seeing what kind of music people listen to.

Here are my random 10 to get us started:

1. The Shins - Pam Berry. Short 1 minute interlude track from an otherwise brilliant band.

2. Death Cab for Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed. Fantastic track from their breakthrough album Plans.

3. Big Audio Dynamite - The Bottom Line. The first reincarnation of the Clash with their classic 80s post-punk anthem.

4. Santogold - Shove It (feat. Spank Rock). I love this newcomer, I never get sick of this album.

5. The Ramones - Beat on the Brat. Classic punk tune.

6. Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench. Foos rock, they have never ceased to amaze me since Dave Grohl and the boys burst on the scene shortly after Kurt Cobain and Nirvana passed away.

7. Los Campesinos! - Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks. Great new twee indie pop band out of Cardiff, give them a listen.

8. Death Cab for Cutie - Death of an Interior Decorator. I swear, they don't always sing about death! Still one of the most fantastic bands of the past few years.

9. Editors - Escape the Nest. Just brilliant.

10. Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Happy. Sort of a one-hit wonder from the 90s, I really had higher hopes for this band after buying their cassette as a teenager after seeing them on MTVs 120 Minutes.

Ok, have at it!

*Ted, I know you're musically challenged so you may obstain.

Desert Island Disc

If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only listen to one CD over and over, what would it be?

Mine without a doubt would be Alison Krauss and Robert Plant's Raising Sand, for many reasons which I would love to go into detail, but I'll withhold that for the comments section.

How about you? You've been tagged.

[edited 11:30am 6/12/08] WAIT!!! I CHANGED MY MIND!!!

I want Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid as my Desert Island Disc. Utterly brilliant disc, I'm so glad to have been introduced to them, I need to go check out their back catalogue as well. I just listened to it twice the whole way through, and I could do with another listen to be completely honest.

Friday Friday Friday

In honor of winning an award for superior animation this week, I give you The Chemical Brothers' The Salmon Dance. No turkeys or rugs were abused in this video, but possibly some fish and bears or people. I don't know, for some reason my employer's server is running impossibly slow today so I can't preview the video and vouch for its safeness, so enter at your own risk. I do not assume responsibility if you are offended by the content, hence furthermore enjoy. It is a kick-ass tune. Sammy the Salmon, take it away...

Inscription on the Statue of Indie Music

Not like the brazen giant of major label fame,
With denied demo tapes astride from land to land;
Here at our eclectic, varied gates shall stand
A mighty woman with dyed hair, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Outsiders. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her wild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep mainstream music, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your different, your weird,
Your disaffected masses yearning to listen freely,
The ostracized youth of your teeming shore.
Send these, the ones big record companies shun to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The Fiery Furnaces Gig Review

Take me out tonight, because I want to see people and I want to see life. - Steven Patrick Morrissey

Earlier in the morning yesterday, I downloaded some music (legally, of course, I pay my music service well) so I could expand my knowledge on the band I was to see that night.

During my commute to work, I had my mp3 player at random (I'd like to cross out Creative and write Apple iPod, so you guys and gals would think I'm more upscale), and for some reason, it chose only songs that were only able to be produced in the studio and difficult to listen to and reproduce on a live stage. I started having my doubts about the gig.

Then I thought to myself, they're not going to play things that aren't difficult or not crowd pleasers and pull an Andy Kaufman maneuver.

I get there after the doors open. There couldn't have been more than 40 in the room, so I start to get nervous. I grab a beer, the opening band comes on, and I shuffle to the front of the room by the band My Dearest Darling. The room starts to fill up during their set and by the end of their surprisingly good set, the room swells with probably over 250 bodies.

One noticable thing about My Dearest Darling. The bassist and drummer switched places 3 times or so during their set. Why this is I am unclear, but I think the shorter guy was the better drummer and the taller one was the better bassist.

Fiery Furnaces take the stage and after another beer, I am near the stage again, but not as close as I was at first, about 3 or 4 back, and in clear view of Eleanor and the band. First song played was the only one I knew with any certainty, Navy Nurse. The rest was for the most part was unexplored territory, and enchanting it was. Older favourites such as Single Again and Blueberry Boat were played as well as newer live versions from Bitter Tea and Widow City.

Early on in the set, it was revealed that bassist Jake was playing so hard that his wrist bled over the top of the bass. Helter Skelter Paul McCartney has nothing on this guy. Jake took it like a champ and kept playing, sans bandage. Truly Jake is a Les Claypool for the next generation.

Matthew is a mad master of the keys. Whilst everything aurally seems to be in chaos, every dissonant cluster chord has been carefully and meticulously planned. Ray Manzarek of Doors fame he is not; only so much more.

And Eleanor, unassuming in her own style. Vocal intensity is her forte. However, not as one usually expects female vocalists. She is more of a vocal percussionist, attacking each sung syllable with a drummer's precision on a snare. The rhythms flow out of her like an engine piston, as if there was a fourth instrument in the band. Lyrically, she sets forth a positive future while reflecting on a stormy past, and the juxtaposition of the two set the tempo for most of the songwriting - "I'll never get married again/When I was single/My pockets would jingle."

Audience participation was minimal until toward the end of the set. Eleanor announced to the room that this is a derockracy, she will take secret ballots on slips of paper on the stage that they would do the song with the most votes before the end of the set. Place Freebird joke here.

Now it wasn't fair of me to classify them prior as electronica, this couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, their set last night didn't feature a guitar, just bass, drum, and keys. And not in the way you would think like Keane. Other YouTube vids feature guitar, sometimes two, sometimes other percussion and instrumentation. I have the tremendous feeling that no two shows are the same as they tweak theme and variation. Let's call them indie and leave it at that. Let's also say they are a much better and different band live than they are on their studio CD.

Gig Tonight

For the past 6.5 years, my live music going has been a virtual vacuum.

Tonight, for the first time since before 9/11, I am going to a gig.

The tickets were cheap, I got permission from the wife, and the child should be in bed before I go. And all I had to do was buy scrapbook supplies and pizza to appease the benevolent dictator.

The last show I went to was Dave Matthews Band in 2001. Tonight I will be seeing The Fiery Furnaces, indie electronica band that pushes the experimental envelope, should be interesting to say the least. They have been highly recommended by BBC Radio 6 Music's Marc Riley's Brain Surgery, so I thought I'd give it a go. The Brain Surgery also suggested Thomas Tantrum whom I adore. I don't know what that says about my taste in music, but Robert's your father's brother. Now how to ask the benevolent dictator that I want to go to the Neko Case gig next week...

Have another video.

I Forgot

Two last favourite Canadians:

- Great Big Sea
- The Arcade Fire (they even made my top 10 list of songs/albums for 2007.)

Have a video.

Sierra Updatia

My girl the movie star, complete with cell phone and disheveled hair...

She is saying at least one new word a day lately, here are some of the latest:

-bath (this weekend she went into the bathroom, pointed at the bath and said it, she's catching on quite fast lately)

-no way

-go away (which sounds a lot like no way)

-wind (appropriate after yesterday's windstorm, I was quite impressed by this)

A propos of nothing, does anyone like Amy Winehouse's new hairdo? Shock - horror!

(photo c/o yahoo.co.uk / hellomagazine.com)

Top 10 Songs and/or Albums of 2007

10. Feist: "1 2 3 4" - Fantastic breakout for the Canadian anti-folkie and former Broken Social Scene member. Questionable move to allow Apple iPod to use her song and video for their commercial (Selling out? But it's Apple, they're the anti-man.), but a beautiful cheery simple little tune that I don't mind getting stuck in my head. Her follow-up "My Moon My Man" also is quality.

9. Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - Although this came out last year, this has been a big year for Americana and her appearance at Austin City Limits really pushed her to the forefront of the genre. Still working with The New Pornographers, Neko's star shines bright into 2008.

8. Adele: "Hometown Glory" - Londoner Adele garnered loads of radio play based on her mySpace offering in 2007. Brilliant singer with soul, expect lots to come from Adele.

7. Band of Horses: Cease to Begin - This was a great find with regular rotation on BBC 6 Music and Sirius 26 Left of Center. Hints of Americana in this Indie band. Wonderful stuff.

6. The Arcade Fire: Neon Bible - A wonderfully diverse and big sound from this Canadian "gang". I was fortunate enough to catch the PBS Austin City Limits and see the intensity and change of instrumentation (hurdy gurdy to accordion to percussion) on this accomplished group. A huge year for these fine young men and women from Montréal, we haven't seen the last of them, no matter how big they get.

5. Bloc Party: "The Prayer", "Flux" - Fine dance-oriented rhythms from Bloc Party. I once posted that the Red Sox should play "The Prayer" in the locker room pre-game on Surviving Grady, someone must have been reading because after I did, they went on a fantastic winning streak. Guaranteed to hype you up.

4. Sigur Ros: "Hiljomalind" - More gloriousness from what you would expect from Sigur Ros. This single was released this fall prior to an acoustic tour, which made a stop in Camden, London for the BBC Electric Proms. Chills. Every time I listen to Sigur Ros.

3. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand - Ok, I know what I said about Led Zeppelin a few weeks ago, but this combination is absolutely brilliant. A different twist on Americana - a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. I don't think I'll grow tired of this album any time soon.

2. Editors: An End Has a Start - Sophomore effort from Birmingham's Editors doesn't disappoint. Having heard this album first before their debut The Back Room, I can see the forward progression in their musicianship, and I have made them my new favorite band.

So why haven't I made Editors my #1? Because:

1. British Sea Power: "Waving Flags" - From the upcoming 2008 album, this anthemic single reminiscent of Embrace has really summed up the year for me. Such a euphoric feeling comes from this track and I can't hardly wait at all for the full length album. British Sea Power really rivals Editors for being my favorite new band, but I simply must wait for the new album to be able to make that distinction.

Next time: Movies of 2007!

5 Worst Songs of 2007

5. Fergie: "Glamorous" - Fergie teaches us how spell again and "if you don't have no money take your broke ass home" (broke broke in the censored version - Huh? WTF?). Nod to the casting of Freddy Rodriguez of Six Feet Under.

4. Soulja Boy: "Crank That" - I've only heard this once or twice and I can't make it all the way though it, it's sooooo bad. Apparently its got an accompanying dance that Ellen DeGeneres has got a hold of on her show, which is surprising that it's making its way into middle age moms' ears, given that it's so unlistenable.

3. Avril LaVigne: "(Hey Hey You You I Wanna Be Your) Girlfriend" - Now try to get this earworm out of your head. Just try.

2. Rhianna: "Umbrella" - 'Nuf Ced.

1. Sean Kingston: "Beautiful Girls" - This song was inescapable this summer. It had not only one but two censored versions here in America: one with the word "suicidal" muted and one replacing "suicidal" with "in denial", which is even worse. To think that this country is so politically correct that uptight parents are so up in arms about the word "suicidal" in the chorus, they actually think that kids hearing the word might get them to go on and do the deed. Not suprisingly, these censored versions more often than not appeared on Rupert Murdoch's conservative ClearChannel station evil empire.

Happy Boxing Day! Feel free to list any honorable mentions in the comments - any songs you'd like to rid your memory of for this year?

Shake it shake it

The Only Non-Led Zeppelin Fan

Tonight, as heavily promoted, will be the Led Zeppelin reunion concert at the O2 Arena in London. To be quite honest, I really couldn't give two farts about this. Now, I know this might sound like musical heresy, but to me, they are just all right. I know, they have influenced countless musicians, blah blah blah, and if you tune right now to any classic rock station, there's at least a 50% chance they are playing Led Zep right now.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate them, that's too strong. I'm just terribly indifferent to the Led Zep movement - maybe it was just before my time, maybe it was because they straight-up ripped off songs of other artists without due credit. And just the thought of a Led Zep renaissance makes me cringe: 24 hours of "A Whole Lotta Love" really doesn't excite me, as if they aren't overplayed already.

This is how we do

What? 3 posts, three days in a row? This must be some kind of miracle, sign from the heavens, or desperate times calling for desperate measures. Not that I have a whole lot of free time between work and family, but given the occasion I will blog. Not that anyone is reading but at least for my own satisfaction, and hopefully readers will come.

So this goes out to my boy Blue. You know who you are, and if you are reading this Blue or if you know Blue, you are welcome back to the fold anytime. Do what you must, and happy and safe journeys on your way if we are not to cross paths again. But we will be waiting for the prodigal son to return.

Go Sox tonight! I'll be finishing my Manny being Merlot tonight, and possibly be picking up another bottle, maybe Caberknuckle, for Game 7 tomorrow.