In my last post I mentioned that I would be putting up a review of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club concert. Turns out I didn't go. I was supposed to attend with my brother, but he got sick and couldn't make it. This left me with the option of going by myself but I didn't want to be that guy. You know the guy, look around at any show and you'll see him. He'll be standing at the back of the venue, drinking a beer and clutching a t-shirt, looking around for a familiar face (in vain). He'll go down front when the band is on, and he'll get lost in the crowd. But he'll never feel completely comfortable and it won't change the patheticness of being alone at a concert. It's kind of like being a teenager and going to a party with a friend where you don't know anyone. Then your friend disappears for hours. You may still have a good time with the music and food and all, and you'll find a way to be included in the festivities, but it's never comfortable.....
Now, I've been that guy before. I've seen some great concerts as that guy, like David Bowie/Nine Inch Nails, The Damned, Alice Cooper, The Supersuckers and Tower Of Power to name a few. However, at this point in my life I don't really need to do that anymore. I've seen plenty of shows, so it's just not necessary, unless of course, it's a "can't miss" show or one of my all time favorite bands. B.R.M.C. doesn't qualify. Not that they aren't great, and I know from their live CD that the show would have been really good...I just didn't feel like being that guy on that night. I'd already been home, had dinner and put my daughter to bed. Going back out to a concert just didn't appeal anymore.
So what did I do? I went to Wal-Mart. I bought 2 liter sodas, milk, cookies, and a Who CD. It looked like I was throwing a bad party. The Who CD is a new compilation called "Greatest Hits Live". And that's what it is. the band released a live compilation exclusive to the fan club a few years ago that I was somewhat disappointed with, but this one is much better. Disc one is all the original band doing their thing so you know it's good. disc two is interesting...the first half is recordings from the 1989 "big band" tour. I've always complained that this tour gets glossed over in retrospectives but it's represented well here (some would say too well). The remaining songs are from the last few tours-a few with Enthwistle and some with the latest line-up. But it all sounds good. Well worth it-and I didn't have to join a poorly run fan club.
So there you go. Otherwise, we've been buying stuff for the babies and to get ready for the babies which I'll cover next time.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
What's What
Haven't posted anything for a while, so here's a catch-up.
Life Section:
Wednesday was, as we all know, St. Patrick's Day. For the first time in I don't know how long I had the day off from work and was actually able to celebrate the holiday. I went to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dogtown with my father and brother. Dogtown is St. Louis's Irish neighbourhood (although most of North County would have qualified when I was growing up). the city of St. Louis has a parade too, celebrated the weekend before, but it's pretty lame. Lots of big floats and a long parade route, but basically what you'd expect from a big city parade. Dogtown is different.
First of all, Dogtown is a relatively small place for a parade so there's much more of a crowd and it's more of a party atmosphere. Also the people who march are basically in their family clans or with official organizations, so it just feels different. And any floats that happen to come by are pretty much flatbed trucks with kids step dancing, or SUVs with persons of local prominence inside them. That's it. But it's a lot of fun specifically because of how basic it is. These are people who have heart, celebrating their heritage and community, as opposed to the "Everybody's Irish on St. Pat's" bullshit you get from other parades and parties. It's the real McCoy, or O'coy maybe in this case.
Anyway, at the end of the parade route is St. James the Greater Catholic Church. This is the meeting place for families at the parade, as opposed to the front half which is where all the bars are and is the meeting place for drunks (not that there weren't a few to be found). This is where we spent most of our day. Beginning about an hour before the parade officially starts they begin serving corned beef and cabbage with those awesome little potatoes. You can get other stuff too I think, but why? There's also Irish coffee and whiskey shots. Now, for some reason there was no Guinness. Makes absolutely no sense under the circumstances and is completely inexcusable. Someone ought to be excommunicated for that. Well, maybe not, but it needs to be fixed.
The entertainment inside the church was a pretty decent Irish folk band called The Irish Aires. They played two fairly strong sets with a few of my favorites thrown in. Unfortunately they were playing for old ladies and kids, who applauded lightly when prompted, and were mostly uninterested. I'd like to see them in a bar or with a larger audience-or with a Guinness in hand-it'd be fun. there was also a festival of step dancing with two or three local schools represented. All in all a fun time and a good way to celebrate your Irishness-and yes I've got quite a bit, from both sides (some from Dad's side and a lot from Mom's). I tend to gravitate towards my Irish roots more so than anything else, because it's more fun and more comfortable than the German-though Strassenfest is being held closer to home this year so I'll probably visit that too.
********
We're getting a minivan on Wednesday to hold our three kids. Thanks, Johnny!
Speaking of getting stuff for the kids, a shower was thrown for Valerie on Saturday afternoon. Normally one doesn't have a shower for a second child but with twins, well, an exception can be made. Got some nice clothes and some very useful stuff. thanks to Dad and Susan for getting it together, and to everybody who came!
********
Music section:
This was also a big week for CDs for me too. In keeping with the Irish theme, the Dropkick Murphys released a new live disc this week, "Live On Landsdowne". Anyone familiar with DKM knows exactly what to expect. Punk rock flavored with traditional Irish arrangements and instrumentation and a lot of fun. This set focuses on their last few albums, and while I prefer the earlier stuff, this is still pretty cool. A little too heavy on the Boston thing (the band's hometown-not the 70's group), but that's a minor complaint. Worth the cash-I give it 31/2 out of 5 Daves.
Another big release was from a band called Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with their new one, "Beat The Devil's Tattoo". It's a little difficult describing this band. Their sound mixes garage band rock with psychedelic effects, adds some Muddy Waters style blues-stomp stuff and throws in a little pop for good measure. It's an interesting mix, and it doesn't always work. When it does, however, it's really, really good. This new record is growing on me more with each listen-it might be their best yet. "Conscience Killer" "Evol" and "Bad Blood" are great songs. 4 out of 5 Daves. I'm going to see them Tuesday night so I'll post a review here.
Finally, the new CD from Drive-By Truckers called "The Big To-Do" came out on Tuesday. It's a solid effort, focused on the gritty rock side of the band. The opening emotional punch of "Daddy Learned To Fly" is worth the price alone, and songs like "After The Scene Dies", "This F**kin' Job" (which has no f-bombs in it oddly), "The Fourth Night Of My Drinking" "Get Downtown" and the guaranteed smile producing "Drag The Lake Charlie" make it worth staying. Maybe not their best release, but certainly not the worst. I just can't help but like these guys. Four out of Five Daves.
********
So that's pretty much it. If everybody in the house can just get rid of these colds we've been fighting for a week plus we'll all be great. Talk to you soon.
Life Section:
Wednesday was, as we all know, St. Patrick's Day. For the first time in I don't know how long I had the day off from work and was actually able to celebrate the holiday. I went to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dogtown with my father and brother. Dogtown is St. Louis's Irish neighbourhood (although most of North County would have qualified when I was growing up). the city of St. Louis has a parade too, celebrated the weekend before, but it's pretty lame. Lots of big floats and a long parade route, but basically what you'd expect from a big city parade. Dogtown is different.
First of all, Dogtown is a relatively small place for a parade so there's much more of a crowd and it's more of a party atmosphere. Also the people who march are basically in their family clans or with official organizations, so it just feels different. And any floats that happen to come by are pretty much flatbed trucks with kids step dancing, or SUVs with persons of local prominence inside them. That's it. But it's a lot of fun specifically because of how basic it is. These are people who have heart, celebrating their heritage and community, as opposed to the "Everybody's Irish on St. Pat's" bullshit you get from other parades and parties. It's the real McCoy, or O'coy maybe in this case.
Anyway, at the end of the parade route is St. James the Greater Catholic Church. This is the meeting place for families at the parade, as opposed to the front half which is where all the bars are and is the meeting place for drunks (not that there weren't a few to be found). This is where we spent most of our day. Beginning about an hour before the parade officially starts they begin serving corned beef and cabbage with those awesome little potatoes. You can get other stuff too I think, but why? There's also Irish coffee and whiskey shots. Now, for some reason there was no Guinness. Makes absolutely no sense under the circumstances and is completely inexcusable. Someone ought to be excommunicated for that. Well, maybe not, but it needs to be fixed.
The entertainment inside the church was a pretty decent Irish folk band called The Irish Aires. They played two fairly strong sets with a few of my favorites thrown in. Unfortunately they were playing for old ladies and kids, who applauded lightly when prompted, and were mostly uninterested. I'd like to see them in a bar or with a larger audience-or with a Guinness in hand-it'd be fun. there was also a festival of step dancing with two or three local schools represented. All in all a fun time and a good way to celebrate your Irishness-and yes I've got quite a bit, from both sides (some from Dad's side and a lot from Mom's). I tend to gravitate towards my Irish roots more so than anything else, because it's more fun and more comfortable than the German-though Strassenfest is being held closer to home this year so I'll probably visit that too.
********
We're getting a minivan on Wednesday to hold our three kids. Thanks, Johnny!
Speaking of getting stuff for the kids, a shower was thrown for Valerie on Saturday afternoon. Normally one doesn't have a shower for a second child but with twins, well, an exception can be made. Got some nice clothes and some very useful stuff. thanks to Dad and Susan for getting it together, and to everybody who came!
********
Music section:
This was also a big week for CDs for me too. In keeping with the Irish theme, the Dropkick Murphys released a new live disc this week, "Live On Landsdowne". Anyone familiar with DKM knows exactly what to expect. Punk rock flavored with traditional Irish arrangements and instrumentation and a lot of fun. This set focuses on their last few albums, and while I prefer the earlier stuff, this is still pretty cool. A little too heavy on the Boston thing (the band's hometown-not the 70's group), but that's a minor complaint. Worth the cash-I give it 31/2 out of 5 Daves.
Another big release was from a band called Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with their new one, "Beat The Devil's Tattoo". It's a little difficult describing this band. Their sound mixes garage band rock with psychedelic effects, adds some Muddy Waters style blues-stomp stuff and throws in a little pop for good measure. It's an interesting mix, and it doesn't always work. When it does, however, it's really, really good. This new record is growing on me more with each listen-it might be their best yet. "Conscience Killer" "Evol" and "Bad Blood" are great songs. 4 out of 5 Daves. I'm going to see them Tuesday night so I'll post a review here.
Finally, the new CD from Drive-By Truckers called "The Big To-Do" came out on Tuesday. It's a solid effort, focused on the gritty rock side of the band. The opening emotional punch of "Daddy Learned To Fly" is worth the price alone, and songs like "After The Scene Dies", "This F**kin' Job" (which has no f-bombs in it oddly), "The Fourth Night Of My Drinking" "Get Downtown" and the guaranteed smile producing "Drag The Lake Charlie" make it worth staying. Maybe not their best release, but certainly not the worst. I just can't help but like these guys. Four out of Five Daves.
********
So that's pretty much it. If everybody in the house can just get rid of these colds we've been fighting for a week plus we'll all be great. Talk to you soon.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Good Day
In contrast to my last post, today's weather is fantastic. It reached just over 70 degrees today. I actually prefer it in the upper 80's, but I like this too. Jacket weather, Nice. As I type this the sun is shining brightly, I've been able to open the windows in the house (one of my favorite parts of Spring), and Tessa took a trip to the park with Grandpa and I which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Darn near perfect.
Now I know we're not out of the woods yet. Beginning tomorrow it's supposed to rain for like five days straight, and temperatures should be back down in the low 50s/high 40s. Plus, all us native St. Louisans know that another cold snap could be just around the corner. A late March snow is not unheard of-and I recall a few Aprils that felt more like February. But today is good.
Got some stuff to write about soon, but for now this will do.
And, despite the post title, I resisted the urge to write this whole thing as Doug McKenzie.
Now I know we're not out of the woods yet. Beginning tomorrow it's supposed to rain for like five days straight, and temperatures should be back down in the low 50s/high 40s. Plus, all us native St. Louisans know that another cold snap could be just around the corner. A late March snow is not unheard of-and I recall a few Aprils that felt more like February. But today is good.
Got some stuff to write about soon, but for now this will do.
And, despite the post title, I resisted the urge to write this whole thing as Doug McKenzie.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Winter Bringdown
So February's gone. I tend not to blog much in February, but then I tend not to do much at all. I'm just not a Winter guy. And you can't get more Winter than February.
Lately I've been reading "Ghost Rider" by Neil Peart (Rush lyricist and drummer extraordinaire). In the book he mentions his "soulscape", which he believes to be the lake house he purchased in Quebec. There are passages where Peart describes the snowfall (in feet no less!) around the lake in terms of it being nearly perfect. His soulscape in winter during the winter season of his soul. Nice and poetic. perhaps, and certainly appropriate for that man at that time, but not for me. Ever.
For those unfamiliar with Neil Peart's story, he lost his only daughter in a one car accident. Then his wife succumbed to cancer a year later, though everyone close to her say that she died of a broken heart. Once cancer invaded her body couldn't fight the infection, but it's possible that she just didn't want to. The loss of her only child was too great and this gave her the excuse she needed to just give up and die. It's all so sad. And probably not the greatest book to read while expecting children.
Anyway, as a result of losing his entire world, Neil took off on a motorcycle trip from Canada to Mexico in search of the "healing road", if such a thing exists. He made it back home after Christmas and spent the winter in his lake house. However, when the first signs of Spring came, it was too difficult for him to handle and took off again for more travels.
The whole thing got me thinking. If I ever hit that level of depression and desperation I would have to do the opposite. I have a hard enough time with winter weather as it is. The cold temperatures settle into my bones bringing aches and stiffness. Winter wind just rips right through me, making me wear coats hats and scarves as armor against their sometimes brutal force. I don't view snow as a beautiful white covering on the ground that brings the clean fresh start of Spring. I see it as the white linen sheet that covers the dead and dying like in a hospital. The cold, grey days seep into the soul and make the spirit cold and grey as well. Depressing, I know, but that's how it feels. Sorry.
So if I ever get there, do everything you can to get my butt down South for the season. Depression in the winter would kill me.
Okay everybody, don't freak out. I'm not actually that depressed-I have a lot to focus on that takes my mind off of the Winter blahs. I feel them, but I don't revel in them. I have a wonderful family who I plan to keep around for all my years, thank you very much. There are always new things to discover and learn, new music to hear, books to read and movies to see.
Besides, March is here so the thermometer should be on the rise soon, usually a week or two after St. Patrick's day we can start putting away the heavy coats. Tessa's second birthday is coming in April. The twins will be here in May. Iron Maiden is doing a U.S. tour.
Life is good for me. And in case you're wondering, it's good for Mr. Peart too. He's returned to drumming and the musician's life he loves, and has remarried and has a new baby girl (the events in the book are about ten years old).
So yay for happy endings.
Lately I've been reading "Ghost Rider" by Neil Peart (Rush lyricist and drummer extraordinaire). In the book he mentions his "soulscape", which he believes to be the lake house he purchased in Quebec. There are passages where Peart describes the snowfall (in feet no less!) around the lake in terms of it being nearly perfect. His soulscape in winter during the winter season of his soul. Nice and poetic. perhaps, and certainly appropriate for that man at that time, but not for me. Ever.
For those unfamiliar with Neil Peart's story, he lost his only daughter in a one car accident. Then his wife succumbed to cancer a year later, though everyone close to her say that she died of a broken heart. Once cancer invaded her body couldn't fight the infection, but it's possible that she just didn't want to. The loss of her only child was too great and this gave her the excuse she needed to just give up and die. It's all so sad. And probably not the greatest book to read while expecting children.
Anyway, as a result of losing his entire world, Neil took off on a motorcycle trip from Canada to Mexico in search of the "healing road", if such a thing exists. He made it back home after Christmas and spent the winter in his lake house. However, when the first signs of Spring came, it was too difficult for him to handle and took off again for more travels.
The whole thing got me thinking. If I ever hit that level of depression and desperation I would have to do the opposite. I have a hard enough time with winter weather as it is. The cold temperatures settle into my bones bringing aches and stiffness. Winter wind just rips right through me, making me wear coats hats and scarves as armor against their sometimes brutal force. I don't view snow as a beautiful white covering on the ground that brings the clean fresh start of Spring. I see it as the white linen sheet that covers the dead and dying like in a hospital. The cold, grey days seep into the soul and make the spirit cold and grey as well. Depressing, I know, but that's how it feels. Sorry.
So if I ever get there, do everything you can to get my butt down South for the season. Depression in the winter would kill me.
Okay everybody, don't freak out. I'm not actually that depressed-I have a lot to focus on that takes my mind off of the Winter blahs. I feel them, but I don't revel in them. I have a wonderful family who I plan to keep around for all my years, thank you very much. There are always new things to discover and learn, new music to hear, books to read and movies to see.
Besides, March is here so the thermometer should be on the rise soon, usually a week or two after St. Patrick's day we can start putting away the heavy coats. Tessa's second birthday is coming in April. The twins will be here in May. Iron Maiden is doing a U.S. tour.
Life is good for me. And in case you're wondering, it's good for Mr. Peart too. He's returned to drumming and the musician's life he loves, and has remarried and has a new baby girl (the events in the book are about ten years old).
So yay for happy endings.
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