The Hopes

This site has been so dead that even the spammers didn’t find it interesting. So be it.

For years I’ve been saying that it would be a great thing to put an analog cassette player into a pc and use it as a dubbing device. Great idea right? Ok not everyone was as enthusiastic as I was. I had this stash of great treasures from my listening past that would be SO AMAZING to digitize and keep with my mp3s… I’d listen to the files I generated and an amazing document of my rich past would exist that I could listen to again and again.

Or so I thought.

I took out my first tape. A cassette of a Waterboys show from First Avenue in October of 1988. It was a tremendous night and an amazing show on a very emotional day. A few hours earlier we laid one of our good friends to rest after a sudden, unnecessary death. There was no shortage of heavy emotions that day. My recollections were vivid and in super HD and uber ultra stereo.

So… with great anticipation I put an audio cassette tape into my new USB gizmo and started it up. What came out was a hissy, lofi representation of an amazing day. It was disappointing. I’ve been rendering and processing this day for over 20 years. My internal CGI has filtered and edited the events, eliminating the uneventful and mundane. Sadly, all that was gone and I was left with a crappy recording buried in bushels of tape hiss.

There are some things that a cool gadget won’t improve. Your memory doesn’t need dolby. Mine could use a backup though. There’s been some serious data loss through the years.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
The BBC has commissioned a flash game version of various battles that occured in 1066. From Wikipedia I understand that that year is a turning point in world history. This should contain your daily dose of Vikings, Englishmen and I’m sure that I would have paid more attention in history if I’d had this game. There weren’t enough taunts in text books. Since this is war there are splashes of virtual blood. Not for kiddies, but it’s history, it’s a video game and it’s from the BBC.

 
Here’s the link. Get ready for some horrible taunts. There’s nothing better than calling enemy troops “Fox Beard!”

 

Our oldest and most beloved Guinea Pig began a download slide during the past couple weeks. What we thought was a tumor under his chin was actually an insanely large build up of fluid. After a quick exam, the tech just typed one line on the screen. In the status field she typed “Not Doing Very Well.” After much research it was decided that Piggy was suffering from congestive heart failure and there was no way out.
 
Our rodent put up a good fight, but late this afternoon, Piggy left this trail of tears, much to the distress of his humans. My eldest took it hardest, calling the day we liberated Piggy “His Best Day Ever.”
 
A couple things:
 
You need to understand that Guinea Pigs aren’t like dogs or cats. Dogs can recite the Declaration of Independence and it’s interesting, but it’s not that remarkable. If a Guinea Pig moves his head, everybody feels like they’ve seen some sort of apparition. Expectations are lowered and the Guinea Pigs deliver in spades.
 
Don’t snicker. He was our pet and we loved him. We know he’s not a German Shepherd or some exotic Egyptian cat. He was much cooler. Got it?
 
One of his most memorable traits was his complete lack of interest in moving. He could sit in one place for hours on end. The vet suggested this could have been part of his undoing. If you have a pig, make him run around, for God’s sake. Piggy was great at sitting outside on the lawn and taking it all in. He always seemed very wise even though sometimes while drinking at the water bottle he’d lose track of what he was doing and we’d have to gently tap him to remind him he was standing with a water tube in his mouth

 
Piggy was our first huggable pet and we’re really missing him.

 
 
We’ve been in the same house for 11 years. It’s a small house with a ton of irritating issues, but it fits us and for better or worse it’s ours and we’re stuck with each other. I recently heard an interview with Woody Allen whee he described his parents’ relationship as a quiet truce. That’s us and the house.

 
 

Despite it’s having too little of everything (too little space, too little water pressure, too few shelves, too few closets) our house has received a free pass for now. All it took was 30 bucks and an order from Amazon. Our new life changer is the Delta 75152 Water Amplifying Adjustable Showerhead with H2OKINETIC Technology. Somehow by using a combination of of alchemy and air, our rotten little shower has become the best part of our day. I actually see times in the future where we battle for shower time. It’s a miracle. Somebody should write a folk song about it.

 
 

Even though I know there is big money in blogging, Jeff Bezos is not giving me a taste on future sales. The magicians and clerics at Delta have not programmed me to hype their silly shower heads. I’m doing this for the good of humanity. Someday you’ll thank me.

I hope everyone hasn’t already seen this. I just saw it and it absolutely blew my mind. None of these videos are related. Kutiman is a genius.

 
 

I must have missed the Elvis Perkins memo….

 
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In the interest of keeping up with my promise to myself of updating the blog every time that WordPress has an update, here’s a new entry.
 
 

If this is accurate, I had no idea that “Sully” was already in the water when the air traffic controller guys figured out what was going on…
 
 

 
 
 
Don’t tell me the music is derivative. Don’t even mention Springsteen, OK? Just don’t do it. You know why? Because The Gaslight Anthem Rock!. Do you know why Letterman said “My God That Was Good!” when they finished their performance on his show? Because The Gaslight Anthem ROCK!!!!
 
 
Do you know why I don’t think the lyrics are hokey and don’t care about that hat the singer wears all the time? Because The Gaslight Anthem ROCK! I know, it’s subtle, let me try one more time to get this across to you. It doesn’t even bother me that they have a song called High Lonesome AND a song called Great Expectations. THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM ROCKS!!!!!
 
 
Did you hear the ’59 Sound coming through on Grandmama’s radio? 
Did you hear the rattling chains in the hospital walls? 
Did you hear the old gospel choir when they came to carry you over? 
Did you hear your favorite song one last time? 
 
Hey, they ROCK and they deal with mortality. That’s deep. 
 
What about this from High Lonesome? 
 
“As I drove home 
And at night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet 
It’s a pretty good song 
Maybe you know the rest 
Maybe you know the rest” 
 
They’re even aware of their influences and where said influences are in regards to their sleeves. They’re the greatest. The pitcher of Kool Aid is waiting. Have a drink.
 
 
Onto the videos…
 
 

 
 
One more time
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I fear I’ve found that without dying pets, I don’t have the inspiration needed to move forward and actually post something. Our pets are still healthy so I’ll tempt fate and go on without the aid of ailing rodents.
 
 
It looks like our outdoor holiday festooning is going to finally shut down… Our neighbor euthanized his polar bear, seal and gnome tonight so tomorrow I’ll have to cyrogenically shut down our inflatable snowman. I may keep the lighted polar bear in the tree (henceforth known as the lookout bear) since it’s been known to make people stop in the middle of the street in front of our house. As long as they don’t get out and try to get some sort of donation from us in the process I love that.
 
Pandora’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” radio was a letdown. There was even an REO Speedwagon (rhymes with Oreo Speedwagon…) song. I was definitely looking for more “Bohemian Rhapsody” and less “Keep On Loving You.” If you haven’t heard Pandora.com before it’s a service that takes an artist or song and creates a whole playlist similar to said artist or song. I will say that my own well honed “Guy Clark Radio” is perfect. I’ve been taking songs out of that for a couple years now and it’s all spun gold. If you want to hear it let me know. There was one golden moment this summer where there were two consecutive, different songs about girls from Dallas named Alice. Beat that. Better playlists through technology.
 
In a related note I’m missing TD Mischke’s show since he was thrown off the air for asking inappropriate questions to an internal secretary on the air. What’s the deal with that? He was respectful. He wasn’t being all Howard Sternish. Details are here. Anyway, the related note part of this is that one of the greatest Mischke escapades was his interview with an author of a book discussing the actual wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Click here for some real entertainment.
 
Not much more to report here. Rosalyn has shown us to be the only “Guitar Hero: World Tour” expert drummer. Did I tell you that I got her a real drum stool for the kit? I’m very romantic.
 
Also I acquired a ukulele for Christmas and have enjoyed putting it into it’s cardbard box and taking it back out very often. I try to play it and don’t enjoy that so much since I’m a very slow learner, but it will come, right? It has to get better. I’ve played Somewhere Over the Rainbow so much that I’m starting to channel Judy Garland, or is it Rufus Wainright??? No clear answer.
 
My eldest’s hard working basketball team eeked out it’s first victory in forever today. Very impressive with my eldest clocking in with a basket. It was quite exciting. It was sort of like watching the Miracle on Ice with fewer spectators, no ice and a lot less at stake….
 
 

Well. Everyone is in bed and I have about 20 beers in the refrigerator so I guess the rest of my night is planned out.

OK, I’m listening to NPR and they’re talking about blogging. They talked about how Mircoblogging was a new trend. I thought it was an old trend and didn’t do it because I didn’t want to be more square than I already am as an 84 year old man. It may still be an old trend, but I’m going to do it because I don’t have a lot to go on tonight…. It used to be that I didn’t have anything to say. Now I’m microblogging.  
 
Google Reader has started recommending new RSS Feeds to me. It came up with a winner. Dare I say, it’s essential. We all talk about eating at work instead of going out. We all do. I’ve heard you all talking about it. Now there’s a guide to which frozen meals are good and which ones are scary bad. I haven’t read all the posts, but they like the Lean Cuisine Steak Tips Dijon and so do I. Can there be any doubt as to how essential this is? Thank me later.
 
Click here for the link…