Halloween Songs

I promised a Halloween movie post tonight, but scheduling conflicts have made it impossible to view some of the movies I planned on blogging about and I want to do this properly (even if it shows up in November!). So as a substitute, here's my idea for a Halloween playlist along with a few words about the selections. I'm doing it as I go along but I think it'll be fun.

DAVE'S HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST 2009

1. Science Fiction/Double Feature-The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack
-How else would it start? Fun mood-setter, and more socially acceptable than Sweet Transvestite.

2. The Number Of The Beast-Iron Maiden
-A classic song. Contrary to popular belief the band are not devil worshipers, they just throw in a little dark stuff in from time to time along with their history and literature based songs.

3. Welcome To My Nightmare-Alice Cooper
-The master of Shock Rock with one of his signature songs, and a quintessential tune for All Hallows Eve.

4. Halloween-Misfits
-The premier horror rock/punk band. Almost any song would do (Ghoul's Night Out and Skulls come into mind), as it's all required Halloween listening.

5. Fire-The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
-Alice's predecessor. Freaky song, especially that intro.

6. Boris The Spider-The Who
-Creepy crawly. Also funny. Dig that voice from Entwhistle. Cool.

7. A Ghost To Most-Drive By Truckers
-Okay, so it's got nothing to do with scary, but there are ghosts and skeletons mentioned. Besides, any chance to get some DBT into a playlist.

8. The Legend Of Wooley Swamp-Charlie Daniels Band
-More of a true horror story than Devil Went Down To Georgia, but that one is certainly an acceptable alternate.

9. The Man Comes Around-Johnny Cash
-What's scarier than the Apocalypse and final judgement?

10. Night Prowler-AC/DC
-The scariest character on the Highway To Hell.

11. Nasty-The Damned
-A celebration of scary movies, and it was on The Young Ones T.V. show. Awesome.

12. My Girl Wants To Be A Zombie-The Briefs
-More great pop punk, and it's the only Zombie song I can think of that's not by Rob Zombie. Wow, that's a weird sentence.

13. Murder By Numbers-The Police
-Inside the mind of a killer. Surprisingly dark stuff.

14. Black Sabbath-Black Sabbath
-Genuinely creepy song, don't listen late at night with the lights off.

Okay, I think that's enough. There are certainly more I could list here but I think that's a good little mix of fun and slightly scary stuff. Maybe we'll do this again next year and I'll actually think it through next time.

And yes, I know that Monster Mash isn't listed. Too easy...and I'm sick of it before I even hear it. Sorry. Have fun with it if you gotta, but I'll stick to what's above. And Midnight Rambler by The Rolling Stones. That should've been on there too.

Quick Updates

Here's a quick update as to what's going on lately.

1. Valerie's grandmother passed on last week. Condolences go out to all of the family. I only had the privilege of meeting Grandma Garvin on a few occasions but she always struck me as a kind, generous, intelligent woman with a good sense of humor and pleasant outlook on life. I know she will be missed by many but she will still be with us in our hearts, and once again in Heaven. I plan to have a cherry/vanilla Dr. Pepper in her honor (even if I have to make one).

2.. My basement is leaking again. The water seems to be coming in from the same place as it was last Spring, so apparently building up the grade of the yard didn't do it. My yard just holds water, so I suppose sooner or later it would find its way to a crack in the wall.

So I have to get someone out here to look at the problem and give me an estimate on fixing it. Here's the thing though, no-one will come have a look until I take down the drywall. I'm not sure why...must be an insurance thing. What I want is for someone to come to the house, take down the drywall, fix the crack and put the drywall back up. I am not giving up on this idea, as all I've talked to are waterproofing/crack repair specialists. My next step is to try a basement remodeling company and some general contractors.

However, the possibility of having to do most of the work myself looms large. I have never worked with drywall before, nor have I wanted to. All I know is it requires special tools and requires goggles, gloves and possibly masks. Doesn't sound like fun to me. I may need some help on this one, but let's see if I can't hire a guy first.

3. On a lighter note, I've been watching the six hour documentary "Monty Python:Almost The Truth" on IFC. Still haven't caught it all but that's what DVRs are for, and I'm sure I'll get the DVD when it comes out. I've been enjoying it immensely. I've been a fan for years, and it was nice finding out a little bit of information I didn't know (us Python geeks already knew a lot of this stuff), and being reminded of sketches I haven't thought of in quite a while. For some reason I haven't been watching as much Python as I used to, I'll have to remedy that.

4. As an addendum to my list from last time, I've also seen Extreme and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Oh, and Manda and the Marbles, and the 45s and probably more.

6. Just realized I promised a Halloween themed post, but I haven't been catching up on my scary movies like I should have been because of all the Monty Python stuff. I'll get to it on Wednesday.

That's it, and that's enough. Going to bed.

Bands I've Seen Live

Okay, so my brother totally sniped me and printed a list of bands he's seen. I had been working on my own list for a while now, completely without knowing that Derek was doing the same thing. So not to be outdone I present my list of bands I've seen live. I've tried to include only national artists (obscure some of them, but national!), and bands that I remember clearly seeing. I know I've forgotten a few, and there are some bands not on here because I can't actually remember if I saw them or not-now that's a guy who goes to too many concerts! Many of these artists I've seen multiple times. Some I've only seen as headliners, some as openers, some at festivals. A few of them I've been drug to kicking and screaming...but for the most part I've gone to by choice...and overall I've had a really good time!!!

The List:

AC/DC
10,000 Maniacs
Aerosmith
Alabama Thunderpussy
Alice Cooper
Alice In Chains
Allman Brothers
Anthrax
April Wine
B*Witched
Bachman Turner Overdrive
Bad Brains
Bad English
Bare Jr.
Betty Blowtorch
Big Head Todd & The Monsters
Billy Joel
Black Crowes
Blues Traveller
Bob Seger
Bon Jovi
Bongzilla
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Charlie Daniels Band
Cheap Trick
Cinderella
Corrosion Of Conformity
Damn Yankees
Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds
David Bowie
Def Leppard
Dio
Dog's Eye View
Dokken
Doobie Brothers
Dream Theater
Drive By Truckers
Drivin N' Cryin'
Dropkick Murphys
Eddie Spaghetti
Elton John
Enuff Z'Nuff
Eric Johnson
Ernie Isley & The Jam Band
Fates Warning
Fear Factory
Fight
George Jones
Georgia Satellites
Gin Blossoms
Glenn Tillbrook
Glimmer
Great White
Gretchen Wilson
Hayes Carll
Hank Williams III
High On Fire
Hurricane
Iggy Pop
INXS
Iron Maiden
Jackyl
James Taylor
Jamey Johnson
Jason Mraz
Joe Cocker
John (Cougar) Mellencamp- under both names
John Fogerty
Johnny Lang
Judas Priest
Kenny Wayne Sheppard
KISS
Lars Fredericksen & The Bastards
Little Jimmy King
Living Colour
Los Infernos
Loverboy
Lynrd Skynrd
Mastodon
Metallica
Monster Magnet
Motorhead
Mr. Big
Murder By Death
Murray Hammond
Nasville Pussy
Neil Young
Night Ranger
Nine Inch Nails
Old 97's
Page/Plant
Pearl Jam
Pink Floyd
Power Of County
Power Station
Primus
Puddle Of Mudd
Queensryche
REO Speedwagon
Reverend Horton Heat
Rolling Stones
Roxette
Rush
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
Sammy Hagar
Scorpions
Sheryl Crow
Soul Asylum
Spice Girls
Spin Doctors
Spineshank
Stray Cats
Supagroup
Supersuckers
Swampass
Testament
The Commodores
The Damned
The Eyeliners
The Hacienda Brothers
The Immortal Lee County Killers
The Lost
The Marshall Tucker Band
The Pretenders
The Tragically Hip
The Who
Tower Of Power
U2
Unband
Union
Van Halen
Vince Neil
Whitesnake
Widespread Panic
Wilco
Will Dailey
Willie Nelson
Yes
Yngwe Malmsteen
ZZ Top

Interesting Call

So as most people know I spent about six years or so performing stand-up comedy. I stopped in 2001, roughly the same time I got serious about being in a band. I'm not sure if the two were really related or not, but I do know that the frustrating parts of being a comic were becoming much bigger than the fun parts. And if I wasn't having fun on stage telling jokes then I didn't see much point in continuing. I was angry when I got out.

I was angry at bookers who would bump comics off of shows with no warning, even when the comics traveled for the gig. I was angry with the promoters who completely misrepresented themselves and the shows they booked, be it financially or otherwise. I was angry at the audiences for only wanting to laugh at the easy jokes-and by this I don't necessarily mean dirty jokes or blue humor (I never minded that)-but lazy comedy. I mean, if I'd have heard one more comic say "The difference between men and women is...", or do any type of airline humor ("Why do they have to call it the terminal?") I would have gone ballistic. And these hacks were getting the biggest laughs while I saw tons of really inventive and genuinely funny comics die a horrible death at the hands of a brain dead drunken public. It got to me and my sense of integrity,

Most importantly though, I was mad at myself for letting this stuff sour me on this artform that I loved and harden me to the point of not wanting to do it anymore. Sure, I punked out, but I was miserable and I made the only decision I could at the time. I still beleive it was the right one.

As a result of all this, I didn't set foot inside a comedy club for about three years after I quit. When I did go back it was because some friends wanted to go, or because a comic I used to work with (and enjoyed) was in town. Over the past few years, though, some "edgy" stand up comics (meaning offensive to prudes and requiring a brain to appreciate the jokes) have gotten big enough to make me pay attention again. Mitch Hedberg (RIP), Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifinakis, Maria Bamford and Steven Lynch are among those who are making me laugh and making me feel that there is still some good left in the whole comedy thing after all.

I mention all this because I had a message on my machine tonight from Jim "The Dad" Keith, a local open-miker I used to work with back in the old days. He said that Art Vieluf (comedy club owner/booker and all around swell guy) was back in town and had reopened Comedy Etc. in Fairview Heights Il., my "home" club where I worked consistantly. Tonight was the first open mike night and Jim was calling a lot of the old gang, thinking it would be a hoot to get us all back together again. Nice thought.

My first thought was that it sounded just like Jim, not only the sentiment but also the last minute info. I thought it was interesting and I hoped it worked out well for all involved, but I have passed that point in my life. And I have.

But, y'know, in the back of my head I started to wonder if I could get five minutes together to do onstage. Hey, I've got the Library story, right? And there's gotta be something that's not totally dated and still funny from the old act...but...no...not now anyway. It would be nice to see Art again, and if I ran into any of the old crew it'd be fun to catch up. I'd even be up for trying to top one another's jokes offstage again.

I called my good friend and old comedy partner Tim Heeley and he kind of had the same idea that I did. We'll probably go out there one night here soon, but I'm not sure either of us will get onstage. Maybe just for the heck of it, for the challenge of seeing if I could do it again. I don't know that I could get back into it, I'm not sure I could go through all that again. To be fair, a lot of the same problems listed above exist in the music world too, but it's different somehow when you've got your band around you, like a gang. The responsibility, the disappointments and the victories are all shared. In stand-up, it's all on you. So be in a band, have a day job, be a father to a one year old and soon twins, be a responsible husband and get back into stand up comedy? Probably not gonna happen. But I still might go.

Completely Unrelated Stuff:

1. The debut record from Monsters Of Folk is really good. Not entirely folk, but not anything else either. Great for morning drives.

2. Halloween movie based posts coming up. Stay tuned, kids, oooh, it'll be scary! Heh. Count Floyd reference.

3. There is an organisation that I think we should all be aware of. Go here to support FSITO. Be sure to click on the media section to see all the PSAs. They are worth your time, trust me.

4. If you didn't understand that link, you weren't supposed to. See? that's the attitude that kept me out of comedy.

Later.

P.S. Spellcheck not working. Apologies.

Two Eggs Are Better Than One

For those readers I may have who don't already know, my wife Valerie is pregnant.

With twins.

That's right. Twins. And we have an 18 month old with Tessa. That makes three kids under three. Three in diapers-at the same time. Conventional wisdom says "never let your kids outnumber you." Oh well.

I went from looking at Mustangs to looking at Mini-vans overnight. Useful, but not cool.

We are both excited about this, though a little daunted by the changes that are coming. At first it just seemed overwhelming (especially to Valerie-can't blame her, she's carrying them!). The big questions all hit at the same time. How can we afford this? Who will watch them while we're at work, and can we afford a sitter? Will anyone babysit three kids under three? Is our house going to be big enough? How do we get the extra cribs, high chairs and other furniture and supplies? How can we send three kids to college a year apart? Can we have a full term pregnancy physically? How about mentally? Do we really have to get one of those big ugly strollers?

We quickly calmed down, however, and began to get a grip. We totally can do this. It's actually pretty cool when you think about it. Having twins is special. Twin births are on the rise (I believe it's something like 1 in 300 births) but they're not the majority. It's a whole new way to look at parenting but I believe we are up to the challenge. And it's a nice feeling to know that your kids will always have one another-twins are like that. Also, since Tessa will barely be two years old when they come along, she won't remember ever being without her siblings. They'll all be close and that's a good thing. It's going to take a lot of work, patience and love. It's something that one never sees coming, but it's amazing what you can do (and what you want to do)when it's in your heart and all about family.

Now, at this point it should be stated that there are some areas of concern. The biggest concern is that although the ultrasound did show two fetuses, only one registered a heartbeat. The plus side to this is that due to Valerie's doctor having vacation scheduled the tests and ultrasounds were done about a week or so early. As a result the confirmed heartbeat was quite faint, which means it had just started. With twins, it's possible that the other is a little younger, possibly as much as a day or two, and the heartbeat just wasn't there yet. We have another appointment in a week and a half to confirm both heartbeats and it is highly probable that we'll do just that.

But there are no guarantees. We are confident that both twins are in there and are growing, but we would still like to ask for any prayers and good thoughts you can send our way. Healthy, strong and full term. That's the saying around our house these days. Make it one of yours, too, we'd appreciate it.

There are also health risks for Valerie involved. No risks that aren't there for any pregnancy but with a multiple pregnancy the risks are higher. Please keep her in your prayers as well.

So that's the big news. Things seem to be falling into place fairly well already. We've got lots of people willing to donate furniture to us, and our sitter has already expressed her delight in the pregnancy and is more than happy to watch them. We've received lots of love and support already from family, friends and co-workers and we are looking forward to sharing our joy with you all.

Oh, and as long as we're on babies-congratulations to Chris and Amy Teague on the birth of their son Mattingly. And congratulations to Mike and Bridget Wildscheutz. Glad you were finally able to bring Faith home.

That's all for now.

Farm Aid

Farm Aid was yesterday. As with most festival type gigs there were ups and downs, but all in all it was a good experience, and I'd like to think we did a little good for the cause (I think Valerie said that the T.V. news said it raised a million dollars, but I don't know if that's official).

Here's a bunch of random thoughts from the show.

The Good:

-Wilco put on the most surprising set of the evening for me. I've never been a fan of theirs, a few songs here and there but nothing that got me too excited. After hearing their set though, I may have to take a closer look.

-Nobody got booed. Sometimes at these events the artists go on tirades that start off about farming and then get political. John Mellencamp and Neil Young have both been booed from the stage before. Nice to see them both stay on topic, though a little disappointed that they didn't rile up the neo-cons, prudes and squares. (Why do people go see artists who are very vocal about their opinions if they don't agree with them? Do they want to get mad? Are they that clueless? I've never understood that.) However, that wasn't why we were there and they both stayed on topic so fair play to them.

-Speaking of Mellencamp, his set was great. Bookended by hits with a few new songs and a rather challenging acoustic number in the middle. Exactly what a festival gig should be. I've always been a closet fan of his, and now I can officially go public (still don't like "Hurts So Good " though).

-Didn't hate Gretchen Wilson.

-Thought the earlier bands made the most of their limited time and may actually check out some stuff by Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses and Will Dailey.

-Neil Young did a country set, and I'd actually heard some of those songs. Nice set.

-Willie Nelson rules. Even with a set that was clearly off the cuff the guy delivers.

-Apparently my brother and I were on channel 4 news in a crowd shot. So that's cool.

The Bad:

-Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis still sucks. It's much better than it used to be, but still not good. The show started at 1:00. We got there before the doors opened at 12:30, and stood in line for over an hour to get in, missing the first three acts. Don't you think somebody there would have the sense to realize that a sold out show with lawn seating (where people bring backpacks and blankets that need to be checked) would require an earlier door time?

-Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews. Both completely boring and terrible. I thought very briefly(and foolishly) that Matthews might deliver a decent acoustic set and that maybe I just didn't like the sound of the band. Nope, still sucked. And Jason Mraz sucked harder. as I've always said, never trust a soccer mom when it comes to music.

-Didn't hate Gretchen Wilson. She was actually fairly entertaining. Not good, but entertaining. And not country music either. Writing songs about rednecks (and being completely stereotypical while doing it), singing with a slight accent and throwing in a little twang doesn't make your songs country. It's pop with a rock/country sheen on it. You can't open with the main riff to "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and call yourself country. You can't be taken seriously either, but that's beside the point. She also included an instrumental version of "The Star Spangled Banner" in her show. It's pure pandering to the lowest common denominator and it's insulting to Hendrix and America. Other than that her set was okay.

-The idiot behind us who kept yelling out inane comments all night, and yelling at people in front to sit down. I got into it a little with him because of how rude he was. His arguments were that he paid for a seat and wanted to sit. He claimed not to like the same behavior at sporting events too. Well, first of all, sports are entirely different than a concert. In games you only stand when something good happens and points are scored, so I'll concede that prolonged standing is rude in that situation. But a concert is a different animal. You do what the crowd does. If I'm at an arena show and the crowd as a whole decides to sit all night and only stand after certain songs and during the encore, then fine, in that case the two or three people who insist in standing are wrong. However, if we all decide to stand and there are a few cranks who get pissy about it, I don't care about them at all.

True concert goers know the score. We go to see our favorite bands not because we just like a good tune, but because we feel a connection to the music/artist. It's part of our lives. As such, standing/dancing/headbanging/air guitaring is a logical and natural reaction. Also, it's been my experience that once the crowd starts standing and getting into the show the band on stage begins to give a better performance. I've seen many shows where the band has chastised the audience for not standing. A rock concert is supposed to make you feel good and be a form of release. So no-one should be upset by people standing and enjoying themselves. If someone stands up in front of you, move your head so you can see. Even better, get up and join in. You just might enjoy it.

-Billy Joe Shaver apparently missed his plane or something and didn't go on when he was supposed to. It's okay, things happen, but it was disappointing. It also led to major pauses in the show as the event still needed to stick to specific times for the Direct TV broadcast. Shaver wound up getting in late and Willie Nelson brought him out during his set for a few songs, so it worked out all right in the end.

-All the people who left once it started getting late (as if 10:00 was late for a concert) and colder (as if we didn't know it'd be upper 50's in October in St. Louis). It's stupid to leave a ten hour festival with one act to go, and disrespectful to boot. You morons walked out on a friggin' legend. Shame on you. Willie deserves better. Prob'ly a bunch of Dave Matthews fans. You know, idiots.


The Funny

Quotes from the stage:

"This song goes out to...well, y'all know who you are."
-Ernie Eisley

"This is our second appearance at Farm Aid. Or as my band calls it, Willie Aid."
-Jamey Johnson

"With all due respect to Gretchen Wilson, is there anybody here who's not a redneck?" (Lots of applause)
-Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)

"I change my guitar after every song and then play the same thing. It's the same, but it sounds different. Showbiz."
-Dave Matthews

Quote from some random girl:

"Who's the douche bag in the hat?" Said loudly to, and as she passed by, Jason Mraz.

So, a decent day at the ol' amphitheater. Got to hear some good music and see some legends perform. The good stuff outweighed the bad making Farm aid a worthwhile experience, and one I'd repeat if the opportunity came up again.

List Of Ten

Okay, I promised to post something here in between the Farm Aid stuff. There's a big post or two coming up soon but I'm not ready to go with that stuff yet. So instead here's a list.

TEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

1. I have globophobia (fear of balloons).

2. My favorite classical composer is Vivaldi.

3. There is a non cancerous lump in my left lung. I named him "Lumpy".

4. Favorite snack: milk and chocolate chip cookies.

5. At age 37 I am still afraid of the dark.

6. When I feel depressed I go and buy something. Got that from Mom.

7. Last year I got very sick and thought I was dying. I asked God to let me live so I could take care of Tessa, and promised I'd read the Bible start to finish and spend more time in the Word. So far I have failed. Reading the Bible is hard for me. Any suggestions?

8. One of my earliest memories is of being driven to the hospital by my father after falling and cutting my head open. I remember being in the backseat yelling "Faster, Dad, faster!"
I'm sure it scared the crap out of him, but I was just enjoying going fast in the car. Sorry Dad.

9. I still think the band can "make it".

10. I have always been a bit of an introvert with low self esteem. I've just been good at hiding it.
However, in the past few years I've begun to be much more comfortable with myself, and I now like not just aspects of me but me altogether. Flaws and all. I credit my wife, child and most importantly God for helping me turn it around. Thank you.

There ya go. Enlightening? Interesting? Waste of time? Whatever it was, it's been a quick peek into this jumble of contradictions and wonderment that is Dave. At least the stuff I don't mind you knowing.

Farm Aid tomorrow!