FreakyTrigger...and MORE! (but not MUCH more)

FreakyTrigger - Wasting Time Since 1999
'Nuff said.

I'm so depressed...one of my favorite blogs, The Taco Jockey, is no more.
What happened, Taco Jockey?
I know you quit working at Taco Bell and found a job at another fast food joint...but I have no idea where or even IF you're blogging about it.
:(

Graveyard shift has me worn out most of the time. This explains my scant blogging of late.
Sleep deprivation hallucinations have me in their sway.

Movie Review: Stay

Click HERE for an excellent review of one of the best films I've seen in a long time, Marc Forster's Stay.

Curtis Haynes, Rest In Peace, my Brother

Curtis Haynes 1957-2006

I first met Curtis Haynes back in 1981 when I was attending Seminole Junior College. If memory serves, he was working at the local Pizza Hut. Somehow I struck up a conversation with him and was delighted to learn that he was a huge fan of what we used to refer to as "underground music" (punk, late 70's new wave, early 80's alternative). He had a passion for this music that I could really relate to and our conversations were always centered around this common interest.
Curtis was a Christian. We shared this in common as well, and he was one of a very few acquaintances of mine who was just as enthusiastic about the latest Resurrection Band album as he was for a fresh release by Husker Du.
I visited Curtis in his home several times and considered him a friend. We drifted apart but it seemed like every few years we'd run into each other. Curtis had a contagious smile and his eyes would light up when the conversation would return to music. I can still hear his laugh.
Just such a great guy.
I was shocked and stunned to see his name in the obituaries of my hometown newspaper. At first I thought it couldn't be THE Curtis Haynes that I remembered. I read the obit, looking for touchstones, and my heart sank when I recognized the names of his wife and brother listed as "survivors". Even then I couldn't fathom that it could be my old friend, after all, he was only 48 (and to be honest, I'd always thought he was even younger than that...he certainly had a youthful exuberrance about him).
My fears were confirmed, however, when I visited the funeral home website and saw his picture there, the Joey Ramone t-shirt being all it took to drive it home that yes, this was THE Curtis Haynes.
I wish we had been closer, but I feel very blessed to have known this brother in Christ. And I am saddened that our serendipitous meetings sprinkled across the years have come to an end in this life.
And finally, I look forward to our next "serendipitous meeting"...
Goodbye, old friend.

Overdose

Mirko Aretini has produced a rather unique conceptual video, "Overdose", utilyzing the music of Sigur Ros ("Sven-G-Englar").

Genesis - Midnight Special 1973

Oh, yeah!
The internet as Time Machine!
For whatever reason I have had no luck with YouTube, a website that offers videos uploaded from it's users...don't know what's been wrong, probably on my end, but lo and behold today it seems to be all cleared up and I have just revisited my ancient past viewing Genesis' Midnight Special performance of 1973!!!
How it takes me back!
Just a wee lad of eleven years, I was, and why I was allowed to stay up until after midnight on Fridays is something you'd have to take up with my parents. But I remember it like it was only yesterday, sitting in my father's recliner with all the lights out, transfixed and hypnotized by the spooky visage on the screen...
That would be Peter Gabriel, in full face make-up and bat-wing costume intoning the lyrics to "Watcher of the Skies" after Tony Banks eerie Hammond B-3 organ introduction. I sat in silent wonder, in awe of this new combination of rock music and theatrics. I became a Genesis fan there and then, and to this day I remain one.
The video on YouTube is the entire performance they did on that night in September of 1973 and also features a rousing (if slightly truncated) rendition of what may well be my all-time favorite Genesis number, "The Musical Box".
But don't take my word for it...check it out for yourself:

I Draw You

I have received lots of encouragement for my other blogs from a guy named Brock, who somehow stumbled upon one of them and left nice compliments. I was very flattered because when I checked out his work it proved to be exceptionally good.
Brock is currently working on a project called I Draw You, and the concept is that the reader sends a link to a photo of himself/herself and then Brock will convert it into a drawing in his own unique style. The results thus far have been nothing short of amazing.
The waiting list is a bit long, but I went ahead and sent a photo anyway...
We'll see what comes of it, but I have no doubt it will be interesting and impressive.

Poetry Jukebox

Thought I was gone forever, didn't ya?
So did I.
But I'm back long enough to throw out this link to the Poetry Jukebox, a clever little site, I must say.
A few new poems on my own Bipolar Confessional, as well, but things don't look good for Nausea & Bliss...sorry, Charles, but the time has come for me to hit the ole Delete button on that one...and I will...
...soon.

Correction

Alas, my brain wasn't functioning at it's optimum capability when I posted yesterday's bit about the changes at XM. For some reason I had it in my mind that The Torch was getting completely booted from XM, but having re-visited XM's website I found that it was still going to be available as an Online-Only feature.
That still sucks, cuz i rarely listen to XM Online, but it's better than no Torch at all.

XM Radio: New Channels and Bad News

A couple of new channels already added to the XM line-up and 8 more coming on April 17, in case you haven't heard.
The ones currently on the air are XM49 (I think) Big Tracks, which is sort of a late-period version of Top Tracks. Classic rock for people born after 1970, I suppose would be one way to look at it. I ran across it the other day and it wasn't too bad, although I am definately of the older demographic that would prefer Top Tracks, if I hadn't already been burned out on EVERYTHING they play there.
Then there's XM84, The Chill, which the website describes as "the smooth side of electronica"... I've listened to a few songs there in the last 30 minutes and basically it sounds like a full channel of what XM77 AudioVisions' Star Streams plays. That's okay, I guess, ifn' they'll take Star Streams off of AudioVisions and replace it with more new age or space music. That chill-out stuff never really fit in the XM77 format, IMO, and it's better to have a channel devoted to it for the rare occassions when I'm in the mood. If they don't axe Star Streams from XM77 I may just write a letter urging them to do so.
And I would have been a LOT happier if they had made a channel of IDM, ambient and non-trance cutting-edge electronic music instead of playing it safe and going with a chill-out channel. Maybe it will evolve into that when people start falling asleep to all the chill. :)
As for the 8 other channels, I'm most excited about XM34 EnLighten, the Southern Gospel channel moving from Online-Only status to regular XM. Call me corny, I love that stuff.
Liquid Metal is coming back to the regular line-up after having been in Online-Only limbo for the past year. That's probably a good thing, because one can only tolerate so many hair bands on the Boneyard before craving some REAL metal (and Squizz sure doesn't fit the bill).
The bad news...and IMO this is REAL bad news...XM51, the Music Lab is being shuffled off to Online-Only status. :( How can they do this to me? I LOVE the progressive stuff there. They say they're going to move what they call "the ethereal side of progressive" to XM76 Fine Tuning, and that'll be fine and dandy as long as they get rid of the superabundance of celtic music currently in vogue there (nothing against celtic music, but a little bit goes a long way). The "harder" progressive is going to Deep Tracks, so who knows how that will affect that channel...could be an improvement, IMO, but it's bound to tick a few people off.
Other new channels...
.S. Country - XM 17 - Country Superstars of the 80s and 90s
Flight 26 - XM 26 - Modern Hits 90s & Now
XM Hitlist - XM 30 - Today's Hit Music
enLighten - XM 34 - Southern Gospel
XM Liquid Metal - XM 42 - Heavy Metal XL
The Heat - XM 68 - Rhythmic Hits
Escape - XM 78 - Easy Listening
Viva - XM 91 - Latin Pop Hits

That new country channel looks to be replacing XM11 Nashville, which is still gonna be around, but it's been co-opted by Clear Channel and will have commercials, so that kinda defeats the purpose of satellite radio in a way, don't ya think? I'll never listen to Nashville again, I can tell you that, nor will I bother with the other Clear Channel stations, Kiss - XM 21, Mix - XM 22, Sunny - XM 24, or WSIX - XM 161 (note that the first 3 on that list used to be commercial free XM channels...oh well, I never listened to 'em anyway).
Another sad aspect to the new line-up, at least as far as I'm concerned, is the complete removal of The Torch from both regular and Online-Only XM. That was good stuff most of the time. That REALLY sucks.
The Fish has changed to The Message, and one can only hope that it will lose some of the more "pop hit" type stuff that drags it down. I would be very pleased to see a much more hardcore spiritual basis employed on that channel, with more praise/worship and more solid, unmistakeably CHRISTIAN music...If I never hear another secular hit dressed up with a few mentions of Jesus name on that channel it will not be soon enough for me.
The more I listen to this Chill channel the more convinced I am that I will probably never listen to it again. Big disappointment that they went this route.

Buck Owens, R.I.P.

Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens, Jr. 1929-2006

One of the most treasured memories I have is of my father and I watching the Buck Owens show every Sunday afternoon when I was a young child. Dad was a huge fan of Owens, and he was one of my favorites in the days before I discovered rock 'n' roll. Even then I counted myself a fan...after all, the Beatles were, right? Though I had come to a point where I believed the Fab Four could do no wrong, I still acknowledged that Owens' version of "Act Naturally" was superior to theirs.
And I even remember being asked to sing "Tiger By the Tail" at family gatherings when I couldn't have been much older than 5. As such, that may be the earliest memory I can recall...
Without a doubt Buck Owens' music, his charisma, his performing ability and his unmistakeable voice were a big part of what initially turned me on to music.
And so it is with a heavy heart that I now listen to my copy of his Greatest Hits, having just learned of his passing away at the ripe age of 76 earlier today.
I couldn't even begin to count all the smiles that he's responsible for with his charming sense of humour (sample lyric: "I got the hungries for your love and I'm waiting in your welfare line", not to mention all the corny jokes he told on Hee Haw). And he has touched my heart deeply with his more serious music ("Together Again" will remain a country and western classic for all time).
He was one-of-a-kind and will be missed dearly.