I am constantly amazed at how much music is available for free on the Internet. It seems like every other day I stumble upon something interesting and different to listen to and/or download. Today's discovery is theRADIOcom. It's a lot like Sirius XM only you don't have to pay 15 bucks a month for it.
12.06.2008
12.04.2008
Pandora played the second part of "Tubular Bells" from this set yesterday. I had "Boxed" on LP when it first came out...oh, what was it? 30-35 years ago?For some reason I always give Part 2 short shrift. Maybe it's because I hate that "Sailor's Hornpipe" section at the end. But there's a completely different take on it here, with a prelude featuring an obviously drunk Vivian Stanshell. It is hilarious.
But the crowning glory of "Tubular Bells Part 2", IMHO, is the "Piltdown Man" section. I recall being totally freaked out on first hearing it, when TB first came out. You're about 45 minutes into a modern progressive symphony and then all of a sudden there's this bizarre bit of McCartney-esque pop but without the honey sweet vocals. Instead you've got what sounds like a cross between a caveman clearing his throat and that mumbling, grumbling scrooge who shows up at the tail end of the Beatles' "You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)". When the Piltdown Man starts howling like a werewolf on a full moon night you realize that Mike Oldfield had more up his sleeve than you might have expected up until that point.
One of the biggest disappointments in "Tubular Bells 2" was the revisiting of the Piltdown Man section. It turned a creepy, rollicking slice of weirdness into something just plain childish and stupid. I actually enjoy most of TB2, but I always make sure I've got remote in hand so I can kill that part.
12.03.2008
Yesterday was my son's 14th birthday so we were going to take him out for dinner. He could choose the place. Initially he didn't want to go anywhere. He wanted his mom to make some lasagna, but there wasn't really enough time for that so he decided on Pizza Hut, where he could get one of their pasta dishes that he likes so much.
That was fine with me. I love Pizza Hut. Just as long as we don't go to either of the ones in Shawnee that I've boycotted. There's one in Seminole that we've never had any problems with, so that's where we went.
He ordered his pasta. The wife and I decided to share a pizza and I got a salad to go with it. My wife doesn't like the salad bar at Pizza Huts. She says they don't have a very good selection. Which may well be the case, but they do have the absolute best ranch dressing in the universe. I don't normally eat ranch dressing but I drench my salad with it when I'm there. I see it this way: as long as they have lettuce and that awesome ranch dressing they've got a good salad bar. Needless to say, my wife disagrees.
We didn't order an appetizer, but it wasn't too long before the pizza arrived. We began eating, thinking that Bryan's pasta was on the way. But by the time we'd finished a slice each his dish had still not arrived.
Anyway, to make a long story short, it was quite some time before my wife finally asked the waitress if his food was ready. She checked on it, then came back and told us she had accidentally neglected to enter the order into the computer. She apologized. None of us were in the mood to make too big a deal out of it. She asked him if he still wanted it. He was hungry. He said "Yes" and she said it would be about 8 minutes. She apologized some more.
I guess you just can't get good service at ANY Pizza Hut anymore. I don't think we'll out and out boycott this one like I did the ones in Shawnee. It appeared to be an honest mistake, whereas the last time I was at the Shawnee location it was evident that the cooks were fucking around. I wasn't too happy about it, especially as it was Bryan's birthday. But we got fed, so that's saying something. And the food was good, as it always is at Pizza Hut.
That was fine with me. I love Pizza Hut. Just as long as we don't go to either of the ones in Shawnee that I've boycotted. There's one in Seminole that we've never had any problems with, so that's where we went.
He ordered his pasta. The wife and I decided to share a pizza and I got a salad to go with it. My wife doesn't like the salad bar at Pizza Huts. She says they don't have a very good selection. Which may well be the case, but they do have the absolute best ranch dressing in the universe. I don't normally eat ranch dressing but I drench my salad with it when I'm there. I see it this way: as long as they have lettuce and that awesome ranch dressing they've got a good salad bar. Needless to say, my wife disagrees.
We didn't order an appetizer, but it wasn't too long before the pizza arrived. We began eating, thinking that Bryan's pasta was on the way. But by the time we'd finished a slice each his dish had still not arrived.
Anyway, to make a long story short, it was quite some time before my wife finally asked the waitress if his food was ready. She checked on it, then came back and told us she had accidentally neglected to enter the order into the computer. She apologized. None of us were in the mood to make too big a deal out of it. She asked him if he still wanted it. He was hungry. He said "Yes" and she said it would be about 8 minutes. She apologized some more.
I guess you just can't get good service at ANY Pizza Hut anymore. I don't think we'll out and out boycott this one like I did the ones in Shawnee. It appeared to be an honest mistake, whereas the last time I was at the Shawnee location it was evident that the cooks were fucking around. I wasn't too happy about it, especially as it was Bryan's birthday. But we got fed, so that's saying something. And the food was good, as it always is at Pizza Hut.
12.02.2008
12.01.2008
Magnetosphere revisited (audio by Tosca) from flight404 on Vimeo
by
Robert Hodgin
(audio by Tosca)
...more to come...
Go ahead, call me a Scrooge. I've got a mighty "bah humbug" for what Christmas has turned into. Or perhaps I'm the Grinch, plotting and scheming, hatching ways and means to steal Christmas.
I wanted to write a lengthy post about how much I despise concepts like "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday". I decided against is because I don't know if I can adequately express my contempt for them. But here's what I think.
Unfortunately the so-called "Black Friday" has become an integral aspect of the holiday season. This fact nurse my cynical nature and re-enforces my long standing opinion that Christmas has become much too commercialized. Which is certainly not a new idea. But when you consider that people are actually standing in line overnight to be the first to snag a sale item...when you take into account the herd mentality that seems to possess and overcome these bargain hunters...just watch video from store security cameras when the doors are opened. Have you ever seen such a ridiculous mob? The glee on their faces! The palpable excitement! THE COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE!!!
Okay, that's an exagerration. But hey...why don't you talk to the family of the Wal-Mart employee who was trampled to death beneath the feet of one of these hordes last Friday? See what they think about "Black Friday" now.
Do I think the people who trampled him underfoot did it on purpose? Of course not. It could have happened anywhere because this kind of greedy excitement is the culprit. It's nursed and encouraged by retailers who are more concerned with "getting out of the red" than with crowd control.
I guess it all evens out in the long run...I heard that the person who accidentally knocked the unfortunate Wal-Mart employee to the ground was able to get her son a Guitar Hero for just around fifty bucks, so I guess that makes up for not stopping to help the guy up. Okay, so I DIDN'T hear that. It may not have been a Guitar Hero. But that's exactly what happened. And it's a bloody shame.
I understand that this tragedy was not typical. But the "greedy excitement" is widespread. And it sickens me that this is part of what Xmas is all about now.
I wanted to write a lengthy post about how much I despise concepts like "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday". I decided against is because I don't know if I can adequately express my contempt for them. But here's what I think.
Unfortunately the so-called "Black Friday" has become an integral aspect of the holiday season. This fact nurse my cynical nature and re-enforces my long standing opinion that Christmas has become much too commercialized. Which is certainly not a new idea. But when you consider that people are actually standing in line overnight to be the first to snag a sale item...when you take into account the herd mentality that seems to possess and overcome these bargain hunters...just watch video from store security cameras when the doors are opened. Have you ever seen such a ridiculous mob? The glee on their faces! The palpable excitement! THE COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE!!!
Okay, that's an exagerration. But hey...why don't you talk to the family of the Wal-Mart employee who was trampled to death beneath the feet of one of these hordes last Friday? See what they think about "Black Friday" now.
Do I think the people who trampled him underfoot did it on purpose? Of course not. It could have happened anywhere because this kind of greedy excitement is the culprit. It's nursed and encouraged by retailers who are more concerned with "getting out of the red" than with crowd control.
I guess it all evens out in the long run...I heard that the person who accidentally knocked the unfortunate Wal-Mart employee to the ground was able to get her son a Guitar Hero for just around fifty bucks, so I guess that makes up for not stopping to help the guy up. Okay, so I DIDN'T hear that. It may not have been a Guitar Hero. But that's exactly what happened. And it's a bloody shame.
I understand that this tragedy was not typical. But the "greedy excitement" is widespread. And it sickens me that this is part of what Xmas is all about now.
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