Sunday, December 17, 2006
i've been asked more questions this morning than i have on many previous sunday mornings. struck me as odd, as usually the only words i speak pertain to my bag choice (paper, plastic or none) when i get my paper, and the dunkin' order (may i help you, would you like anything else, which today was asked twice, usually just once)
but on my way into get the paper, someone stopped and asked me if i knew when the liquor store was opening. (i believe state law says noon on sundays, but could be earlier as this is the holiday season) so i told him noon, he thanked me and off we went in separate directions. but i was wondering why he would ask me what time the liquor store opened, particularly as i was clearly headed towards the supermarket. and what made me look like an authority for when the liquor store was going to open? i dunno. stuck me funny.
then when i got home, KO asked me if i had heard any mice in my apartment. no mice, i did in my last apartment, but that was in part a house in need of updating, living in the woods, and it being a basement apartment. accoring to batlady, there were more cats in the neighborhood, there was less of a mouse problem, but there were less cats to help control the population. apparently, one of the ladies that lived here before i did had a gerbil, and for whatever reason one day let it roam around the apartment. only it found some way down into the basement where it lived for a little while and has since presumably died (stuck in the walls). KO was looking at one of the holes in the walls (the basement is finished, but has access to various cleanout traps) and saw what looked to be more recent rodent droppings. so he thought he'd ask. (i'm thinking greybelly seed snatcher.)
he also asked me about the hot water - the old hot water heater had a fatal leak, so he replaced it a few months ago. told him not a problem, and i've had hot water. the only time i ever ran out of hot water was usually on weekends when KO would do laundry, i'd do my dishes and then expect to take a hot shower. (i figured out shower then dishes to avoid that.) but post-install, things have been fine. plus the new tank is 10gal bigger and has a faster recharge. very nice for those days when i want to take an extra long hot shower. now i don't feel so bad.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
thank you.
Music pioneer Ahmet Ertegun dies at 83
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
NEW YORK - Ahmet Ertegun, who helped define American music as the founder of Atlantic Records, a label that popularized the gritty R&B of Ray Charles, the classic soul of Aretha Franklin and the British rock of the Rolling Stones, died Tuesday at 83, his spokesman said.
Ertegun remained connected to the music scene until his last days — it was at an Oct. 29 concert by the Rolling Stones at the Beacon Theatre in New York where Ertegun fell, suffered a head injury and was hospitalized. He later slipped into a coma.
"He was in a coma and expired today with his family at his bedside," said Dr. Howard A. Riina, Ertegun's neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Ertegun will be buried in a private ceremony in his native Turkey, said Bob Kaus, a spokesman for Ertegun and Atlantic Records. A memorial service will be conducted in New York after New Year's.
Ertegun, a Turkish ambassador's son, started collecting records for fun, but would later became one of the music industry's most powerful figures with Atlantic, which he founded in 1947.
The label first made its name with rhythm and blues by Charles and Big Joe Turner, but later diversified, making Franklin the Queen of Soul as well as carrying the banner of British rock (with the Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin) and American pop (with Sonny and Cher, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and others).
Today, the company, part of Warner Music Group, is the home to artists including Kid Rock, James Blunt, T.I., and Missy Elliott.
Ertegun's love of music began with jazz, back when he and his late brother Nesuhi (an esteemed producer of such jazz acts as Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman) used to hang around with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington in the clubs of Washington, D.C.
"My father was a diplomat who was ambassador to Switzerland, France and England before he became ambassador to the United States, and we lived in all those countries and we always had music in the house, and a lot of it was a kind of popular music, and we heard a lot of jazz," Ertegun recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. "By the time we came to Washington, we were collecting records and we amassed a collection of some 25,000 blues and jazz records."
Ertegun parlayed his love of music into a career when he founded Atlantic with partner Herb Abramson and a $10,000 loan. When the label first started, it made its name with blues- edged recordings by acts such as Ruth Brown.
Despite his privileged background, which included attending prep school and socializing with Washington's elite, Ertegun was able to mix with all kinds of people — an attribute that made him not just a marketer of black music, but a part of it, said Jerry Wexler.
"The transition between these two worlds is one of Ahmet's most distinguishing characteristics," Wexler said.
Black music was the backbone of the label for years — it was Atlantic, under Wexler's production genius, that helped make Franklin the top black female singer of her day.
"We had some pop music — we had Bobby Darin ... and we developed other pop artists such as Sonny and Cher and Bette Midler and so on," said Ertegun. "But we had been most effective that set a style as purveyors of African-American music. And we were the kings of that until the arrival of Motown Records, which was long after we started."
But once music tastes changed, Ertegun switched gears and helped bring on the British invasion in the '60s.
"If Atlantic had restricted itself to R&B music, I have no doubt that it would be extinct today," Wexler said.
Instead, it became even bigger.
In later years, Ertegun signed Midler, Roberta Flack and ABBA. He had a gift for being able to pick out what would be a commercial smash, said the late producer Arif Mardin, who remembered one session where he was working with the Bee Gees on an album — but was unsure of what he had produced.
"Then Ahmet came and listened to it, and said, `You've got hits here, you've got dance hits,'" Mardin once told the AP. "I was involved in such a way that I didn't see the forest for the trees. ... He was like the steadying influence."
One strength of the company was Ertegun's close relationships with many of the artists — relationships that continued even after they left his label. Midler still called for advice, and he visited Franklin's home when he dropped into Detroit.
His friendships extended to the younger generation, too, including Kid Rock and Lil' Kim.
Besides his love of music, Ertegun was also known for his love of art, and socializing. It was not uncommon to find him at a party with his wife, Mica, hanging out until all hours with friends.
Although he was slowed by triple-bypass surgery in 2001, he still went into his office almost daily to listen for his next hit.
Finding those hits were among the most wonderful moments in his life, he said.
"I've been in the studio when you go through a track and you run down a track and you know even before the singer starts singing, you know the track is swinging ... you know you have a multimillion-seller hit — and what you're working on suddenly has magic," he said. "That's the biggest."
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
heeheehee...
TK told me this a while back so i was excited then, but seeing this has me excited now.
i figured out the other day that when it comes to music, the music that i like is generally linked to one song. that one song opens my eyes to them and from that point on, i'm a fan. (and as i'm sure M would attest, it's all downhill from there.) but for me, what blew my mind for The Residents, was High Horses. 20 minutes of carousel music that when listened to thru headphones is just mindblowing (for me at least). only it isn't always the cheerful happy music, only twisted as only the mighty eyeballed ones can. fucking beautiful.
so, some insight to my musical tastes and why.
the first time i heard this transition from a calm, beautiful, relaxing moment into the chaos that erupts when everyone crashes into the opening chords of Kashmir, i had chills run up my spine. i can count the number of times on my hand, that this transition didn't send chills up my spine. they started doing this in 1977, and did it in 1979 and 1980 and each time, chills. from there, it was all downhill.
when i bought Ænima, it was after seeing A Perfect Circle open for Nine Inch Nails. i hadn't realized just how much Tool i had heard on the radio (Stinkfist, Eulogy, Sober, Prison Sex, Opiate) because i had always liked what i heard. but listening to Ænima, i realized it was good and then came Hooker. 4 1/2 minutes of venom, bile, hatred, and mocking. i loved it. Undertow and Opiate followed and i discovered what i had been missing. random trivia: when i bought my current vee-hick-le, Ænima was the first cd i listened to in it. while on the test drive.
back in the day when MTV actually showed videos (or at least more than they do currently, i suppose it was a semi-tranisitional period for them), they showed the video for Comfy Numb off Delicate Sound of Thunder and something about it drew me in. i've since heard umpteen versions which are vastly superior, but this version always holds a special place as the song that woke me up to Pink Floyd. i had a copy of Collection of Dance Songs, but it never hooked me (outside of the Dr. Who theme in One of These Days), but post-Comfy Numb, i listened to Collection with different ears and realized just how good it is.
well, here are 4 bands and some pathetic attempt at explaining why i love them. other bands/songs include:
Thursday, November 30, 2006
arg...
i hate when i want to look something up and i promptly forget what it was. at least i remembered that i wanted to try and find Flight of the Bumblebee. it's actually harder than i thought. i can find some mp3s, but not all of them are loud enuff, or simple enuff (looking for a good piano version if possible). i've figured out how to put ringtones on my phone, and after several years of not having it, i want Flight of the Bumblebee on my phone. right now, i'd be willing to guess that not that many people have the opening bars of Kashmir on their phones, let alone a live version of Kashmir. or something by The Residents. heh. what else can i put on it...
but before i sat down just now, i wanted to look something up, and now i can't remember what it was. must not have been that important. but of course now it's going to bug me. need to do my dishes, took out the trash, will do some cleaning, those i remember. but this i forget. whatever this is.
damn.
Monday, November 27, 2006
this should be shown in all schools. not like i ever had any desire to rot the insides of my nose, but this video certainly gives me a good reason to pass on ever becoming a cocaine addict. Read More......
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
figures. i've been fighting this all morning.
and for some odd reason, it started throbbing when PA called me this morning...
Friday, November 17, 2006
today was a long frakking day. shortly after the phone circuit issue was resolved, the movers managed to set off the fire alarm which required us to vacate the building. and when that happened, le grande fromage showed up to see how things were going. fortunately, he didn't stay long. i was able to get most of the phones working, but there are some issues that have to be dealt with on monday, but at least they can wait for the moment.
had dinner with DB, PA and LG which was nice. the politics here are different than they are in my office, which tends to be more entertaining.
the highlight of my day was a little kid from the neighboring daycare saying "look, he's got an eyeball on his shirt!"
me thinks it's bedtime.
well that was exciting.
i'm over here in the new office, pretty much bored at the moment. the data side of the network is working just fine, but it's looking as tho the voice side hasn't been configured yet. so the work i need to do on the phones has to wait until that is set, but as i was milling about, PA came flying up and asked me to call 911 - someone had fallen (and she was able to get up).
she managed to trip on the rug and took a spill, and ultimately she was ok, but reception is pretty crappy here so i'm trying to talk to 911 (my first call to my best recollection) and i'm not 100% sure about the address, but they were able to get out here. but for a few moments, it was pretty much chaotic.
so a few minutes later, WPD, WFD and an ambulance show up and check out KD. it took some convincing, but she opted to goto the hospital room just to make sure all was ok. she was a little shakey, had a scrape on the bridge of her nose almost between her eyes (no gushing). so off she went, but not before she warned me to be careful not to trip on the carpet (which is what happened to her). i've caught myself a few times in the office, but not had a problem here yet, but it provided 15 mins worth of excitement. and now i guess lunch is on its way over.
i've set up speakers so i'm happy. i wonder if we'll get a desk/table in here soon.
and since i started writing this, KD has returned and she says she's ok. so that's good news.
wow...i've never really cared for Geraldo Rivera, but fox here just showed a clip with an interview they held with him regarding the murder diary of OJ and he said it was "disgusting" and that OJ was "a pig". he also said that he was ashamed of fox (his employer) for actually showing this 2 part interview.
so for a brief moment, i have a tiny shred of respect for him.
aaaaaaaaaand it's gone.
NOW with linky goodness
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg){kind=avatar}
